Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Grouper (SS-214) (SSK-214) (AGSS-214)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Delta - Bravo

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 28 December 1940, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 27 October 1941; Commissioned USS Grouper (SS-214), 12 February 1942; From 5 March 1950 to 2 January 1951 Grouper underwent conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard to a Hunter-Killer Submarine and was redesignated (SSK-214); Reclassified Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-214), 17 May 1958; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 2 December 1968; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 11 August 1970. Grouper received ten battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
34k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Grouper's (SS-214) keel laying, 28 December 1940, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com. Photo added 04/10/07.
30k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Grouper's (SS-214) launching, 27 October 1941.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com. Photo added 04/10/07.
161k	Grouper (SS-214), sliding down the launching ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 27 October 1941.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
31k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Grouper's (SS-214) launching on 27 October 1941.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
44k	The Grouper (SS-214) sometime during her sea trials, 27 October 1941 & her commissioning, 12 February 1942.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com. Photo added 04/10/07.
19k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Grouper's (SS-214) commissioning on 12 February 1942.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
63k	Grouper (SS-214), in July 17, 1945, off Mare Island wearing Ms 32/3SS-B camoflage scheme. The photo shows 40-mm guns fore & aft, a new 5 in/25 gun forward, anda twin 20-mm mount aft in a space into which a second 5 in/25 gun could fit (submarines normally carried one gun in either location).	Partial text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press. Photo # NH 90800, courtesy of USNHC.
186k	Stern view of Grouper (SS-214), departing Mare Island on 17 July 1945.	USN Photo # 5299-45, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
211k	Bow on view of Grouper (SS-214), off Mare Island on 17 July 1945.	USN Photo # 5303-45, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
26k	Grouper (SS-214), being overhauled in San Francisco after her 12th war patrol, 17 July 1945. Circled areas indicate modifications.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
78k	This close up of the Grouper (SS-214),shows the standard arrangement of the "SJ" radar. The radar was mounted forward of the periscopes. The "SD" radar is visible aft of the other lookout platform above the searchlight. The forward torpedo loading hatch is open, ready to load "fish". Note the newly added 20mm gun pedestal base.	USN Archives Photo # 19-N-87825, courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II, by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
39k	Grouper (SS-214), in July 1945, wearing Ms 32/3SS-B camoflage scheme.	Courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II, by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
71k	Grouper (SS-214) typifies the Gato-class (SS-212-84) at the end of WW II. This photo was taken on 15 May 1950 when the submarine was being prepared for conversion for ASW. By this time all the guns had been landed. The new SS radar had replaced the earlier SJ; the big antenna was for the wartime SV air search set. Note the venturi at the fore end of the bridge. By this time the DF loop for underwater HF reception was generally mounted between the two periscopes.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
196k	Forward plan view of Grouper (SS-214) at Mare Island in late June 1951. Shipyard records indicate she was converted from 15 May 1950 to 29 June 1951.	USN Photo # 9667-6-51, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
197k	Aft plan view of Grouper (SS-214) at Mare Island in late June 1951.	USN Photo # 9669-6-51, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
213k	Bow on view of Grouper (SS-214) departing Mare Island in late June 1951.	USN Photo # 9748-6-51, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
19k	Grouper (SS-214), underway circa post 1951.	Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
30k	Grouper (SSK-214) circa 1953. With the addition of a snorkel and extensive sonar and radar facilities *Grouper* emerged from the Mare Island yard 27 June 1951 to pioneer in research on the deadly submarine-versus-submarine warfare. For the next 8 years, as a unit of Submarine Development Group 2, *Grouper* worked to develop and test concepts of hunter-killer antisubmarine warfare. In this duty she ranged along the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Florida as well as participating in Caribbean exercises. In 1953 and 1955 exercises took *Grouper* across the Atlantic to Rothesay, Scotland, via Iceland.	Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Text courtesy of DANFS.
183k	Grouper (SS-214), undergoing post overhaul sea trials off Portsmouth, NH, May 1960. *Grouper* shared the yard with new-construction Abraham Lincoln (SSBN- 602), Thresher (SSN-593) and with Nautilus (SSN-571) (first refueling) and often had to fight for attention. But Portsmouth's work made *Grouper* distinctive. PUFFS passive ranging hydrophones (ten-footers) are in the three large fins. The billboard-like housing for the "planar array" made for stability concerns - *Grouper* always rolled to port on surfacing. During surface transits strict rig-for-dive was broken to run with the LP blower lined up to blow port side only, because of the list she sometimes developed in weather. Aft of the sail is the Colossus active sonar. It was powered by a large MG set in (converted) #7 MBT . Not visible: Linear array of line hydrophones which ran the length of the starboard side. Prairie and Masker air piping (extra large blower in pump room). All six forward torpedo tubes removed.	Photo & text submitted by former crew member Tom Keaveny.
20k	Commemorative postal cover marking the 20th anniversary of the Grouper (SS-214), 2 Feb. 1942-62.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.