USS Corporal

	USS Corporal underway in 1969 (the three distinctive shark-fin domes are the PUFFS sonar).
History
United States
Name	USS Corporal
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	27 April 1944
Launched	10 June 1945
Commissioned	9 November 1945
Decommissioned	28 November 1973
Stricken	28 November 1973
Identification	SS-346
Fate	Transferred to Turkey, 21 November 1973
Turkey
Name	TCG 2. İnönü
Acquired	21 November 1973
Commissioned	12 February 1974
Stricken	2 September 1996
Identification	S 333
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced; 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; 2 × propellers; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced; 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;
General characteristics (Guppy II)
Class and type	none
Displacement	1,870 tons (1,900 t) surfaced ; 2,440 tons (2,480 t) submerged ;
Length	307 ft (93.6 m)
Beam	27 ft 4 in (7.4 m)
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion	Snorkel added; Batteries upgraded to GUPPY type, capacity expanded to 504 cells (1 × 184 cell, 1 × 68 cell, and 2 × 126 cell batteries) ; 4 × high-speed electric motors replaced with 2 × low-speed direct drive electric motors ;
Speed	Surfaced:; 18.0 knots (20.7 mph; 33.3 km/h) maximum; 13.5 knots (15.5 mph; 25.0 km/h) cruising; Submerged:; 16.0 knots (18.4 mph; 29.6 km/h) for ½ hour; 9.0 knots (10.4 mph; 16.7 km/h) snorkeling; 3.5 knots (4.0 mph; 6.5 km/h) cruising ;
Range	15,000 nm (28,000 km) surfaced at 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 4 knots (5 mph; 7 km/h) submerged
Complement	9–10 officers; 5 petty officers; 70 enlisted men ;
Sensors and ; processing systems	WFA active sonar; JT passive sonar; Mk 106 torpedo fire control system ;
Armament	10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; (six forward, four aft); all guns removed;
General characteristics (Guppy III)
Class and type	none
Displacement	1,975 tons (2,007 t) surfaced ; 2,450 tons (2,489 t) submerged ;
Length	321 ft (97.8 m)
Beam	27 ft 4 in (7.4 m)
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m)
Speed	Surfaced:; 17.2 knots (19.8 mph; 31.9 km/h) maximum; 12.2 knots (14.0 mph; 22.6 km/h) cruising; Submerged:; 14.5 knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) for ½ hour; 6.2 knots (7.1 mph; 11.5 km/h) snorkeling; 3.7 knots (4.3 mph; 6.9 km/h) cruising ;
Range	15,900 nm (29,400 km) surfaced at 8.5 knots (10 mph; 16 km/h)
Endurance	36 hours at 3 knots (3 mph; 6 km/h) submerged
Complement	8–10 officers; 5 petty officers; 70-80 enlisted men ;
Sensors and ; processing systems	BQS-4 active search sonar; BQR-2B passive search sonar; BQG-4 passive attack sonar ;

USS Corporal (SS-346), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the corporal, an alternate name for the fallfish, found in streams of the eastern United States.

Construction and commissioning

Corporal was launched 10 June 1945 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Connecticut, sponsored by Mrs. H. C. Wick; commissioned 9 November 1945, Commander Edward E. Shelby in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

Service history

Corporal cleared New London 8 January 1946 for her base at Key West, arriving 25 February. She took part in antisubmarine warfare projects and fleet exercises off Florida and Bermuda and in the Caribbean until returning to Groton 26 February 1947. After extensive modernization, she returned to Key West 2 March 1948.

She continued to conduct training and join in exercises off Florida and in the Caribbean until her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet from 16 July 1952 to 15 October. Returning to local operations off Key West, she also participated in large-scale fleet exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. She cruised to the British Isles from 11 March to 16 May 1957, and upon her return to Key West, continued training and services to the Fleet Sonar School. Through 1958 and 1959, she operated frequently in ordnance tests, and from August 1959, when Charleston, South Carolina, became her home port, cruised widely along the east coast. In December 1960 Corporal sailed to visit Germany and then join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.

USS Corporal was converted to a Guppy III configuration and continued to operate throughout the 1960s and early 1970s in various capacities during the Cold War. She made regular "Northern" runs across the Arctic Circle above the North Sea, regular "Mediterranean Cruises", frequently operated in the Caribbean and trained submarine sailors in conjunction with the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut.

In 1967 USS Corporal collided in Rhode Island's Block Island Sound with the 30-foot sloop Medea IV,^[7] whose owner afterward claimed "they never offered us assistance or asked us if we were damaged."^[8]

Helicopter landing

During naval exercises off Key West in April 1956, a US Navy Sikorsky H-34 helicopter, serial number 51, made an emergency landing on the Corporal's deck because it experienced serious mechanical problems during an anti-submarine warfare exercise in which the Corporal had been serving as the opposing force. After close cooperation by radio and hasty preparations by the submariners, the distressed helicopter managed to touch down safely aft of the submarine's sail. The incident marked "the first time a helicopter made an emergency landing on a submarine." At the time of that emergency landing, the submarine was under the command of Lieutenant Commander E. O. Proctor, and those aboard the helicopter were Commander W. F. Culley and Lieutenant J. K. Johnson.^[9]^[10]^[11]

TCG Ikinci İnönü (S333)

She was decommissioned, struck from the US Naval Register, and transferred (sold) to Turkey, under terms of the Security Assistance Program, 28 November 1973. On 12 February 1974 she was commissioned TCG Ikinci İnönü (S333) ("Second İnönü"), the second of three submarines named in honor of the Second Battle of İnönü in the Turkish Independence War.^[12]

She was dropped from the Turkish Naval rolls on 2 September 1996, and scrapped. Today, a section of hull containing the stern torpedo tubes is preserved at the Naval Museum at Istanbul.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
^ ^a ^b U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 11–43. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242
^ "Special Incident Report: CINCLANTFLT INST 3100.8" (PDF). U.S. Navy. September 4, 1967. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
^ UPI (September 5, 1967). "Yachtsman Reports U.S. Sub in Hit-Run Crash with Sloop". Bridgeport Post.
^ "USS CORPORAL". Archived from the original on 2004-08-12.
^ "HelicoptorLanding". Archived from the original on 2005-04-27.
^ Baird, J., Staff Sergeant, USMC. (1956, October). 'Copter on a Cold Sub Deck. Naval Aviation News, 26.
^ Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Pt I: The Western Powers (1982) Naval Institute Press, Annapolis ISBN 978-0851772257 p121

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.

External links

official web site USS Corporal SS346
Photo gallery of Corporal at NavSource Naval History
https://web.archive.org/web/20041024221458/http://www.turkishnavy.net/submarine/liste.htm
http://www.denizaltici.com/submarine-service.htm

[FriedmanSubs1-dates-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.

[Register-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.

[FriedmanSubs1-specs-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311

[FriedmanSubs1-specs_305–311-4] U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311

[FriedmanSubs2-chap2-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 11–43. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.

[FriedmanSubs2-specs-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242

[incidentreport-7] "Special Incident Report: CINCLANTFLT INST 3100.8" (PDF). U.S. Navy. September 4, 1967. Retrieved 2017-04-09.

[yachtsman-8] UPI (September 5, 1967). "Yachtsman Reports U.S. Sub in Hit-Run Crash with Sloop". Bridgeport Post.

[9] "USS CORPORAL". Archived from the original on 2004-08-12.

[10] "HelicoptorLanding". Archived from the original on 2005-04-27.

[11] Baird, J., Staff Sergeant, USMC. (1956, October). 'Copter on a Cold Sub Deck. Naval Aviation News, 26.

[12] Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1982, Pt I: The Western Powers (1982) Naval Institute Press, Annapolis ISBN 978-0851772257 p121

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