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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Rock (SS-274) (SSR-274) (AGSS-274)

Radio Call Sign: November - Whiskey - Lima - Golf Tactical Voice Radio Call: "RECORD RUN"

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 23 December 1942, at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, WI.; Launched, 20 June 1943; Commissioned USS Rock (SS-274), 26 October 1943; Decommissioned, 1 May 1946, at New London, CT.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Converted to a Radar Picket Submarine at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; Reclassified, (SSR-274), 18 July 1952; Recommissioned, 12 October 1953, at Philadelphia, PA.; Reclassified Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-274), 31 December 1959; Decommissioned, 13 September 1969, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 13 September 1969; Final Disposition, designated for use as a target. Rock earned four 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, 116,000 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
51k	Rock (SS-274), about to start her way into the waters of the Manitowoc River at her launching June 20, 1943.	*Editors Note: There are over 200 images submitted on these pages covering the following submarines that were constructed at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI,: SS-265 through SS-274, and SS-361 through SS-380. None of them would have seen the light of day if it were not for the efforts of Curator, Asst. Director, Bill Thiesen of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Larry Bohn,* who sent them to NavSource for publication. A special debt of gratitude is owed to these two men and the *Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia* (SS-245) for allowing these photographs to be seen by the lovers of naval history worldwide.
55k	Watercolor print by the artist Tom Denton of the side launching of a Manitowoc built boat.	Courtesy of submarineart.com
17k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of Rock's (SS-274) launching, 20 June 1943.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
32k	Rock (SS-274), starboard view, undergoing sea trials in Lake Michigan, June 1943.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
23k	Rock (SS-274), undergoing sea trials in Lake Michigan, June 1943.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
63k	Rock (SS-274), officers and crew line the conning tower, June 1943.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
126k	Starboard beam view of the Rock (SS-274), underway probably during her trials on Lake Michigan during the summer of 1943. Her fairweather is partly open, lessening the surface silhouette.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
120k	Port quarter view of the Rock (SS-274), underway in the Gulf of Panama, 27 December 1943.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
179k	Port beam view of the Rock (SS-274), underway in the Gulf of Panama, 27 December 1943.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
31k	Port beam view of the Rock (SS-274), probably underway in the Gulf of Panama, 27 December 1943.	US Navy photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
179k	*Rock's* WWII battle insignia.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
179k	*Rock's* WWII battle flag.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
22k	Rock (SS-274), circa late 52-early 53, place unknown.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
63k	Nereus (AS-17) with nine submarines; Tunny (SSG-282), Cusk (SS-348), Carbonero(SS-337), Tilefish (SS-307), Spinax (SSR-489), Rock (SSR-274), Remora (SS-487), Catfish (SS-339), Volador (SS-490) and the Submarine Rescue Vessel Florikan (ASR-9) moored alongside at San Diego for *Subron Five's* Change of Command, date unknown.	US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1955, courtesy of Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
101k	This picture shows the Rock (SSR-274) as a Radar Picket and was taken January 1956. Coming from San Diego and going under the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, to six months in dry-dock and overhaul at Mare Island,Calf., between commissioning and the 1956 overhaul at Mare Island when the nodding idiot was changed/upgraded.	Photo & text courtesy of Francis Sullivan CS3-SS & Larry Derouin.
170k	Bow on view of Rock (SS-274) departing Mare Island on 9 May 1956. She was in overhaul at the yard from 6 January to 23 May 1956.	US Navy photo # 29247-5-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
139k	Stern view of Rock (SS-274) departing Mare Island on 9 May 1956. She was in overhaul at the yard from 6 January to 23 May 1956.	US Navy photo # 29251-5-56, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
78k	Bow view of Rock (SSR-274), departing Mare Island on 28 July 1958.	US Navy photo # 40344-7-55, courtesy of Darryl Baker. The photo is off a negative from the Vallejo Naval Historic Museum. Photo added 03/31/07.
61k	Port beam view of the Rock (SS-274), underway circa 1960's.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
69k	Starboard view of the Rock (SS-274), underway circa 1960's.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
61k	Rock (SSR-274), underway, 1963.	USN photo.
22k	Rock (AGSS-274), at Naval Station Subic Bay, PI, May 1968.	Photo by John Jazdzewski, Boston (CAG-1)
22k	Rock (AGSS-274), at Naval Station Subic Bay, PI, May 1968.	Photo by John Jazdzewski, Boston (CAG-1)
430k	Seven inactive submarines at Mare Island on 30 April 1971. Left to right: Cusk (SS-348), Rock (SS-274), Bashaw (SS-241), Spinax (SSR-489), Pomodon (SS-486), Medregal (SS-480), and Diodon (SS-349). Photo by Ted Stone and negative given to the shipyard in 1995.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.