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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch at left contributed by Mike Smolinski, patches at right are from USS Ronquil Web Site.

Ronquil (SS-396)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Oscar - Delta

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 9 September 1943, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 27 January 1944; Commissioned USS Ronquil (SS-396), 22 April 1944; Decommissioned, 1 May 1952, "Guppy" modernization at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.; Recommissioned, 16 January 1953; Decommissioned, 1 July 1971, struck from the Naval Register, the same day and transferred to Spain, under the Mutual Security Assistance Act; Commissioned into the Spanish Navy as Isaac Peral (S-32); Final Disposition, struck from Spanish Naval rolls, in 1982, fate unknown. Ronquil received six battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 1,526 t., Submerged 2,391 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 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, four Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, 5,400 HP, Fuel Capacity, 116,000 gal., four Elliot Motor Co. electric main motors, 2,740hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
93k	Early 1944 photo of the Razorback (SS-394), Redfish (SS-395), Ronquil (SS-396) under construction and soon to be launched, with prefabricated sections and other building parts for the soon to be constructed Piper (SS-409) & Threadfin (SS-410) in the foreground.	Photo courtesy of John D. Alden, author of The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History
123k	Commemorative postal cover marking the quadruple launching of the Razorback (SS-394), Redfish (SS-395), Ronquil (SS-396) & Scabbardfish (SS-397) launching, 27 January 1944 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
154k	Preparing for the Christening ceremony aboard the Redfish (SS-395) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., 27 January 1944. Two of the submarines behind the *Redfish* are either the Razorback (SS-394), Ronquil (SS-396) & Scabbardfish (SS-397). All 4 boats were launched that day.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
178k	Miss Ruth Roper holds the bottle at the Christening ceremony aboard the Redfish (SS-395) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., 27 January 1944. Two of the submarines behind the *Redfish* are either the Razorback (SS-394), Ronquil (SS-396) & Scabbardfish (SS-397). All 4 boats were launched that day.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
16k	Commemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Ronquil (SS-396), 22 April 1944 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
57k	Starboard bow view of the Ronquil (SS-396) entering Pearl Harbor, circa 1944-45.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
41k	WW II battleflag of the Ronquil (SS-396).	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
61k	Portside view of the Ronquil (SS-396), possibly taken circa January 1947, when she departed San Diego for her first peacetime western Pacific deployment. This patrol lasted 114 days and took the submarine to Tahiti, the Carolines, the Marianas, Japan, and the Yellow Sea.	Text info courtesy of DANFS. Photo courtesy of Robert Hirst.
18k	Ronquil (SS-396), date and place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of USS Ronquil Web Site, courtesy of Max Thiele.
56k	Ronquil (SS-396), in a postwar photo showing her radar antennae, peace-time hull number and name markings, and a pair each of 5-inch and 40-millimeter guns. Some submarines were modified late in World War II for heavy surface firepower for use against smaller ships and craft."	US Navy photo courtesy of Joe Radigan, MACM, USN Ret.
111k	The Ronquil (SS-396), taken February 25, 1949 passing under the Golden Gate Bridge on her way in from extensive cold weather maneuvers in the Gulf of Alaska.	US Navy photo.
225k	Photo of re-commissioning ceremonies aboard Ronquil (SS-396) at Mare Island on 16 January 1953.	US Navy Photo # 15913-1-53, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 11/24/06.
223k	Broadside view of Ronquil (SS-396) off Mare Island on trails during her Guppy II conversion on 30 March 1953. She was under conversion at the yard from 27 May 1952 to 3 April 1953. Note she was fitted with a so-called "step sail"; as shown in other photographs on this page, this was later replaced by a "Northern sail", designed to bring the bridge higher, so that it could be manned in rough weather. She shows a new 100-in sonar dome on deck forward to accommadate a WFA-1 transducer (but designed for the BQS-2 that replaced it). Note also the sleeve, surrounding her raised periscope, that was designed to permit vibration free operation at higher speeds.	US Navy Photo # 16880-3-53, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Partial text courtesy of Fabio Peña & U.S. Submarines Since 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman & James L. Christley. Naval Institute Press. Photo added 11/24/06.
198k	Starboard view of the Ronquil (SS-396) circa mid 1950's.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
50k	Sterlet (SS-392), and Ronquil (SS-396) moored outboard of the ASR in Yokosuka harbor, Japan, 1954.	Courtesy of Grant Riddle / submarinebaseph.com.
46k	Sterlet (SS-392), in Kaoshung, Formosa, tied up alongside the dock and the Ronquil (SS-396) moored outboard. Circa mid 1950's.	Courtesy of Grant Riddle / submarinebaseph.com.
34k	Ronquil (SS-396),at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, with Canadian destroyers anchored in background. Circa mid 1950's.	Courtesy of Grant Riddle /submarinebaseph.com.
31k	Ronquil (SS-396), after "Guppy" modernization, post 1953, place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of USS Ronquil Web Site.
88k	Ronquil (SS-396), surfaced and underway, date and place unknown.	Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
71k	ex Ronquil (SS-396), in Spanish naval service. Named after the Spanish submarine pioneer, Isaac Peral (S-32) is seen at Barcelona, Spain, 22 January 1983. Partially visible is Martín Álvarez (L-12), ex Wexford County (LST-1168).	US Navy photo courtesy of Fabio Peña.
41k	ex Ronquil (SS-396), in Spanish naval service. Another view of Isaac Peral (S-32), at Barcelona, Spain, 22 January 1983. Note retracted bow hydroplane	US Navy photo courtesy of Fabio Peña.