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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch at left contributed by Harold F.(Carl) Carlson, center by Mike Smolinski, on right by Francisco Javier Santos Vazquez

Picuda (SS-382)

Radio Call Sign: November - Juliet - Whiskey - Bravo
Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 15 March 1943, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; Launched, 12 July 1943; Commissioned USS Picuda (SS-382), 16 October 1943; Decommissioned, 25 September 1946; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London Group; Recommissioned, 19 June 1953, after snorkel conversion at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH; Decommissioned and transferred (loaned) to Spain, under terms of the Security Assistance Program, 1 October 1972; Commissioned into the Spanish Navy as Narciso Monitorial (S-35); Purchased outright by Spain, 18 November 1974; Struck from the Naval Register, 18 November 1974; Final Disposition, deleted from the Spanish fleet, 30 April 1977, name transferred to former Jallao (SS-368); fate unknown. Sold 12-31-84. Picuda received six battle stars for World War II service.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves, HTC, USNR (ret.)

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 1,526 t., Submerged 2,391 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2 kts; 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 single 40mm gun mount, one single 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear, Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, 5,400 HP, Fuel Capacity, 116,000 gal., four Elliot Motor Co. electric main motors with 2,740 shp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
Picuda & Pampanito 56k Keel laying of the Picuda (SS-382) (left) and Pampanito (SS-383) (right) on 15 March 1943, Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH. USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Pampanito 19k Picuda (SS-382), commemorative launching card at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH. 1943. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Picuda 103k Photo of the crew of the Picuda (SS-382) believed to have been taken by a subtender off Saipan in 1944. My father, the late E. L. Edwards, Jr., is depicted on the left without a shirt. He was a Motor Machinist's Mate 3d class. Courtesy of Lee Edwards.
Flasher 1.10k This photo and the inset were originally thought to be Flasher (SS-249) underway off the Atlantic coast following her commissioning on 25 September 1943.
It is a Government design 2/1/1 configured Balao class boat. If we assume the date on the photo is correct, we can use this to narrow down the list of boats. I think the date is consistent with the features in the photo, i.e. the crew topside are wearing heavy coats, which corresponds to a late fall New England location.
So, using these parameters I can narrow the list down to Archerfish (SS-311), Burrfish (SS-312), Sand Lance (SS-381), Picuda (SS-382), Pampanito (SS-383), and Parche (SS-384). There isn't much more to go on in the photos. I think what happened is that Flasher was also running trials on this date and the photographer got his boats mixed up. Electric Boat was still building Gatos when Portsmouth was already pushing out Balaos. EB had a much larger contract for a greater number of Gatos than did Portsmouth and therefore took longer to complete her production run. For a period of time it would have been common to see brand new Gatos and brand new Balaos sitting next to each other at the piers in New London. 		US National Archives photo # 80-G-450241 & 80-G-450235, from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
Photo i.d. & text courtesy of David Johnston (USNR).
Donaho 75k In 1940 and 1941 Lt. Glynn R. Donaho was Commanding Officer of the submarine R-4 (SS-81). When the United States entered World War II on 7 December 1941, Lieutenant Donaho was Prospective Commanding Officer of the new submarine Flying Fish (SS-229), which he placed in commission a few days later and operated with distinction during six war patrols in the Pacific. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander at the beginning of 1942 and to Commander in September of that year.
During 1944 and several months of 1945 he commanded both a submarine division and the submarine Picuda (SS-382), conducting further notably successful combat operations against Japanese shipping. Donaho finished the Pacific War as a battleship force staff officer.
He is pictured here as a Vice Admiral. 		Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99330, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, submitted by Bill Gonyo.
Picuda 137k A pre-war photo of the Kokusai Kisen KK - owned steamer Atlantic Maru in harbour. Atlantic Maru (5,873 grt) was torpedoed and sunk on 30 March 1944 off Guam, at position (12 degrees 15'N, 145 degrees 42'E), by the submarine Picuda (SS-382), while employed as IJN transport. Photo courtesy of Alex Duncan from "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" by Roger W. Jordan, courtesy of Robert Hurst.
Photo added 01/08/13.
Picuda 187k 22 May 1944:Off Pratas Island, South China Sea. At about 1800, LtCdr Albert L. Raborn’s Picuda (SS-382) comes across gunboat Hashidate towing crippled passenger-cargo ship Tsukuba Maru (damaged on 20 May 1944 by 14th Air Force B-24s), accompanied by salvage vessel Sonjo Maru. Picuda fires four bow torpedoes and sinks Hashidate. She also severely damages Tsukuba Maru with the same salvo at 21-18N, 117-12E. Sonjo Maru makes her escape and reaches Hong Kong. Text & photo courtesy of combinedfleet.com. via Tommy Trampp.
Picuda 187k 21 September 1944: Awaji Maru, carrying 500 tons of ammunition, 600 passengers and 67 crewmen, is struck in the engine room by two torpedoes fired by LtCdr (later Vice Admiral) Glynn R. Donaho's Picuda (SS-382). Awaji Maru lists to port, then splits into two parts. Her cargo begins to explode. Abandon Ship is ordered. At 0705, the forward part of the ship rises vertically, then sinks, the rear half quickly follows. Text courtesy of combinedfleet.com.
Photo courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
Picuda 60k WW II battleflag of the Picuda (SS-382). USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Picuda 103k Starboard bow view of the Picuda (SS-382), after entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for inactivation 27 March 1946. Text from DANFS. USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Picuda 103k Picuda (SS-382) off Isle of Shoals, Portsmouth, NH., August 1953. Courtesy of A. Krause Jr.SO2 (SS). Photo fix courtesy of Jim Kelling.
Picuda 337k Picuda (SS-382) "ship's party" in Key West, FL 1954. Courtesy of A. Krause Jr.SO2 (SS).
Picuda 176k Redfin (SSR-272), Tench (SS-417), Picuda (SS-382) at San Juan, P. R., 14 March 1954. Photo courtesy of John Hummel, (USN) retired.
Picuda 389k Port side view of the Picuda (SS-382), after refit and conversion at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard NH, somewhere in the Atlantic, 23 Feb 1954. USN photo # USN 636381 courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Picuda 32k Picuda (SS-382), surfacing, circa 1950's, place unknown. Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
Picuda 103k Picuda (SS-382) is cruising down the Cooper river after a yard overhaul. She was overhauled twice at the Charleston S.C. Navy yard. Once in 1958 and 1961. USN photo courtesy of Robert Hall.
Picuda 49k Picuda (SS-382) alongside her tender, circa Sept / Oct. 1958. Courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Chopper 249k Change of command at Subron 12 Key West Fla.in the 1960's aboard the Bushnell (AS-15). Barracuda (SST-3) upper right. Other boats there are Sea Cat (SS-399), Picuda (SS-382), Atule (SS-403), Sea Fox (SS-402), Threadfin (SS-410) & Chopper (SS-342). Photo courtesy of John Hummel, (USN) retired.
Picuda 109k ex-Picuda's (SS-382) plaque. The translation from the Latin may read as "under the wing of the dragon, every man is a tiger". Taking "under the wing of the dragon" as the surveillance or protection of the dragon to the man. (It is very difficult to translate the Latin text into Spanish and Spanish into English. But the idea is this: that every man is a tiger standing alongside his friend the dragon;) Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USNR), Ric Hedman & John Hummel.
Photo & translation courtesy of Sergio Cocciarin.
Narciso Monturiol (S-35)
Jallao98kNarciso Monturiol Estarriol. Born in Figueres, Girona, 28 September 1819. Died in Sant Mart de Provenals, Barcelona, 6 September 1885. Spanish inventor, primarily dedicated to submarine navigation. Photo & text courtesy of Francisco Javier Santos Va'zquez via Fabio Pena.
Picuda 2.1k The crew of the Picuda (SS-382) line her deck durinng her transfer ceremony to Spain on 1 October 1972. Photo from the Ida Woodward Barron Collection from Flickr.com via Stephen Gower.
Picuda 1.7k The crew of the ex-Picuda (SS-382) line her deck in whites sometime after her transfer to Spain on 1 October 1972 and renamed Narciso Monitorial (S-35). Photo from Flickr.com via Stephen Gower.
Picuda 59k Narciso Monitorial (S-35) plaque. It is 7 inches in diameter and weighs 1.3 kilograms of pure bronze. Photo courtesy of CMDR Peter Curto via Sergio Cocciarin.
Picuda 313k The crew of the Narciso Monitorial (S-35) line her deck as her flag is taken down during decommissioning ceremonies on 31 December, 1984. Photo courtesy of CMDR Pedro Curto via Sergio Cocciarin & Jim Kelling.
View the Picuda (SS-382)
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
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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