USS Besugo (SS-321)

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Besugo (SS-321) underway, armed with two 5"/25 deck guns, circa 1950.
Besugo (SS-321) underway, circa 1950, armed with two 5"/25 deck guns.
Career (US) United States Navy ensign
Name: USS Besugo (SS/AGSS-321)
Builder: Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut [1]
Laid down: 27 May 1943 [1]
Launched: 27 February 1944 [1]
Commissioned: 19 June 1944 [1]
Decommissioned: 21 March 1958
Recommissioned: 15 June 1965
Decommissioned: 31 March 1966
Struck: 15 November 1975 [1]
Fate: Transferred to Italy, 31 March 1966,[1] returned 15 November 1975, sold for scrapping 16 April 1976
Career (Italy) Marina Militare Ensign
Name: Francesco Morosini
Acquired: 31 March 1966
Out of service: 15 November 1975
General characteristics
Class and type: Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement: 1,526 tons (1550 t) surfaced
2,424 tons (2460 t) submerged
Length: 311 ftin (95.0 m) [1]
Beam: 27 ft 3 in (8.3 m) [1]
Draft: 16 ft 10 in (5.1 m) maximum [1]
Propulsion: 4 × General Motors Model 16 V16 diesel engines, total 5,400 bhp (4.0 MW)
4 × General Electric electric motors, total 2,740 bhp (2.0 MW)
two propellers [1]
Speed: 20.25 knots (37 km/h) surfaced
8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range: 11,000 nm (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance: 48 hours at 2 knots (4 km/h) submerged
75 days on patrol
Test depth: 400 ft (120 m)
Complement: 6 officers, 60 enlisted
Armament: 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
 (six forward, four aft)
 24 torpedoes
1 × 5 in (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun
four machine guns

USS Besugo (SS/AGSS-321), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the besugo, a fish of the porgie family.

Besugo (SS-321) was launched 27 February 1944 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. P. J. Homer; and commissioned 19 June 1944, Commander T. L. Wogan in command.

Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, Besugo arrived at Pearl Harbor 25 July 1944. She made five war patrols between 26 September 1944 and 25 July 1945 operating in Bungo and Makassar Straits, Java Sea, and South China Sea. During these patrols Besugo sank the German submarine U-183, 23 April 1945 in 04°57′S, 112°52′E.; one 10,020-ton tanker "Nichei Maru"; one LSV, one frigate, and a minesweeper totaling 2260 tons.

Besugo departed Fremantle 29 August and arrived at San Diego, Calif., 26 September 1945. After an overhaul she returned to the Central Pacific, operating out of Guam until transferred to Pearl Harbor 6 May 1946. She remained based at Pearl Harbor for the next eight years during which time she made two Far Eastern tours (10 June21 September 1947 and 31 October 195011 April 1951). In August 1954 Besugo shifted her base of operations to San Diego and the west coast.

Besugo was decommissioned, 21 March 1958 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified an Auxiliary Research Submarine, AGSS-321, in 1962, and recommissioned, 15 June 1965. She was converted to a Fleet Snorkel Submarine in 1966. She was decommissioned and loaned to Italy, 31 March 1966. Besugo was returned to US Navy custody and struck from the Naval Register, 15 November 1975. She was sold for scrapping, 16 April 1976.

Besugo received four battle stars for her World War II service and one for the Korean War.


  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bauer, K. Jack & Roberts, Stephen S. (1991), Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-26202-0

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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