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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Cobbler (SS-344)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Echo - Delta
Voice Call Sign "Membrane"

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 3 April 1944, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 1 April 1945; Commissioned USS Cobbler (SS-344), 8 August 1945;
Returned to Groton on 1 December 1948 for complete modernization under GUPPY II program. Modification included a new snorkel induction mast; snorkel exhaust mast and electronic support measures (ESM) mast installations and a newly configured sail.
Off the New Jersey coast on 7 August 1957, Cobbler and the Tusk (SS-426) collided underwater while conducting operations - neither submarine suffered un-repairable damage.
As a unit of the Atlantic Fleet's Antisubmarine Development Force, Cobbler patrolled in support of Task Force "A" during the April 1961 "Bay of Pigs" landing and subsequent Cuban Blockade.
In 1962 she entered Philadelphia Navy Yard for the GUPPY III upgrade which added 15 feet to her hull to accommodate modern electronic equipment. After modernization, she operated in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico with routine deployments to the Mediterranean as a unit of the U. S. 6th Fleet.
Pursuant to orders and the terms of the Security Assistance Program, Cobbler returned to Groton, CT where she was simultaneously Decommissioned; Struck from the U. S. Naval Vessel Registry (NVR); Transferred (cash sale) to the Republic of Turkey and Commissioned as the TCG Canakkale (S-341) in ceremonies on 21 November 1973.
Proceeding as a commissioned naval vessel of the Turkish Navy, the ex-Cobbler conducted underway training and independent ship exercises with her new crew prior to sailing for Turkey. Canakkale arrived at her home port at the Golcuk Navy Base, Turkey on 15 January 1974 and operated as a unit of the Turkish Submarine Forces until she was Decommissioned on 22 January 1998.
Final disposition and fate unknown.
Researched by CTRC Donald J. Wagner, USN (Ret) for NavSource.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,242 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers, 60 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun, one 20mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four main generator engines., General Motors diesel engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity 118,000, four General Electric motors, HP 2,740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
18k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of Cobbler's (SS-344) keel laying, 3 April 1944, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
669k	Cobbler (SS-344) makes her start down the ways 1 April 1945, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.	Electric Boat photo courtesy of Jimmy Allen.
20k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the launching of the Cobbler (SS-344), 1 April 1945.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
345k	Plankowners of the Cobbler (SS-344), circa April 1945. Facing the photograph on the left side, Thomas Watson Duckworth is the first person on the next to last line of men. A man with a sailor hat is standing beside him on the right.	Photo courtesy of Jimmy Allen.
355k	Plankowners wives pose for a Cobbler (SS-344), group photo, circa April 1945. Elizabeth Duckworth is in approximately the same spot. There is nobody standing behind her, she is dressed in white and the left side of the bookcase is directly behind her head.	Photo courtesy of Jimmy Allen.
362k	Mustached Cobbler (SS-344) crew, circa April 1945.	Photo courtesy of Jimmy Allen.
19k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the commissioning of the Cobbler (SS-344), 8 August 1945.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
59k	President Harry Truman departing the Cobbler (SS-344) after his visit to the sub base at Key West, Florida on November 18, 1946.	US Navy photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
266k	Navy aerial photo of the Cobbler (SS-344) taken in a flank-speed turn, probably in trials about 1947, after she was retrofitted with a topside rudder. I overlaid in the lower right corner a photo of the original steel "Screaming Shoe" logo that EB attached on both sides of the conning tower.	Text & photo courtesy of former crew member George F. Steeg, (ET2 - SS, 1948-49).
103k	Cobbler (SS-344) entering Havana Harbor, Cuba circa 1947.	Photo courtesy of former crew member George F. Steeg, (ET2 - SS, 1948-49).
46k	Cobbler (SS-344), underway, circa 1950's, place unknown.	Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
83k	Cobbler (SS-344), underway, circa 1950's, place unknown.	Submitted by George M. Arnold.
285k	Cobbler (SS-344), underway, circa 1950's.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
78k	Cobbler (SS-344) about to enter the Phila. Naval Yard, 4 September 1962.	USNI / USN photo.
185k	The Cobbler (SS-344), with slow speed directly astern, but with four engines on the line at the Phila. Naval Yard, 4 September 1962.	Courtesy John Hummel.
56k	Cobbler (SS-344), entering Valletta harbor, Malta, Spring 1963 while on her cruise to Rota, Spain and back to New London, CT.	Courtesy of former crew member L. E. Bronson.
55k	Cobbler (SS-344), underway, 1968.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
31k	*Sub Ron 8: Clamagore* (SS-343),(front) Cobbler (SS-344) on her starboard side Corporal (SS-346) on her port side & Blenny (SS-324) bringing up the rear. Circa 1968-71, location unknown.	Courtesy of John Hummel.