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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch on left contributed by ussubvetsofworldwarii.org, on right by Mike Smolinski

Finback (SS-230)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Victor - Tango

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 5 February 1941, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME, Launched, 25 August 1941; Commissioned USS Finback (SS-230), 31 January 1942; Decommissioned, 21 April 1950, at New London, CT.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 September 1958; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1959. Finback received 13 battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,410 t.; Length 311' 10"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 2"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 officers, 54 enlished; 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 Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, 5400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 94,400 gals., four Elliot Motor Co., electric motors, 2740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
18k	Commemorative post mark from Finback's (SS-230) keel laying ceremony at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 5 February 1941.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
21k	Commemorative post mark from Finback's (SS-230) keel laying ceremony at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 5 February 1941.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
16k	Finback (SS-230) slides down the building ways at her launching at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 25 August 41.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
116k	Finback (SS-230) slides down the building ways at her launching at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 25 August 41.	US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
128k	Launching of the Finback (SS-230) at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H. 25 August 41 at 2:40 PM, view showing ship in water being towed to berth No.1 by the tugs Penacook (YT-6) & *Sightseer*.	US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
18k	Commemorative post mark from Finback's (SS-230) launching at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 25 August 1941.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
21k	Commemorative post mark from Finback's (SS-230) launching at Portsmouth Navy Yard N.H., 25 August 1941.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
62k	U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London, Groton, Connecticut: Members of the 4th Command Class at the Submarine Base, February 1942. Those present are, bottom row left to right: Lieutenant Commander Mannert L. Abele; first command would be the Grunion (SS-216). He would be K.I.A. while commmanding the *Grunion, 30 July 1942. Lieutenant Commander Thomas B. Klakring; first command would be the Guardfish* (SS-217), Commander Karl G. Hensel, Officer in Charge; Lieutenant Commander George W. Patterson, Jr., Senior Assistant; and Lieutenant Commander Jesse L. Hull; first command would be the Finback (SS-230). Top row, left to right: Lieutenant Commander Howard W. Gilmore; first command would be the Growler (SS-215). He was postumously awarded the Medal of Honor after he was K.I.A. on the bridge of the *Growler, 7 February 1943. Lieutenant Commander Philip H. Ross; first command would be the Halibut* (SS-232), Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. Taylor; first command would be the Haddock (SS-231), Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Burrows; first command would be the Swordfish (SS-193) and Lieutenant Commander Leonard S. Mewhinney; first command would be the Saury (SS-189).	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-88577, now in the collections of the National Archives. Courtesy of the USNHC. Photo added 10/01/07.
148k	Finback (SS-230) model, circa 1942.	Courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library.
117k	Flasher (SS-249) & probably Finback (SS-230) most likely from April of 1945 when *Flasher* was in Pearl Harbor enroute to San Francisco for overhaul.	US Navy photo courtesy of Ric Hedman TN(SS).
63	Finback (SS-230) underway off New London, CT, 7 March 1949.	US Navy photo.

View the Finback (230)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan

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