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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Quillback (SS-424)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Sierra - Whiskey
Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 27 June 1944, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 10 October 1944; Commissioned USS Quillback (SS-424), 29 December 1944; Decommissioned in April 1952 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH, for Guppy IIA conversion; Recommissioned, 27 February 1953; Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 23 March 1973; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 21 March 1974. Quillback earned one battle star for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,570 t., Submerged: 2,416 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 2"; 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 Fairbanks Morse main generator diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 113,510 gals, two General Electric main motors, 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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Quillback 65k Quillback (SS-424), underway, circa 1945. USN photo.
Quillback 92k Quillback (SS-424), at the Submarine base New London, CT 1945. Courtesy of John Hummel.
Quillback 75k Quillback (SS-424), underway on the surface in 1953 after Guppy IIA conversion. Courtesy of Lee Davenport.
Quillback 18k Quillback (SS-424), underway on the surface, date and place unknown. Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
Quillback 76k Quillback (SS-424), taken from Wasp CVS-18 at Gitmo during ORI in 1968. Courtesy of Ben Brooks. Photo added 03/15/08.
Quillback 101k Quillback (SS-424), welcome aboard pamphlet, circa 1963-64. Courtesy of Mike Keating.
Quillback 596k Quillback (SS-424), welcome aboard pamphlet, circa 1963-64. Courtesy of Mike Keating.
Quillback 36k Quillback (SS-424), underway off Key West, Florida, September 15, 1966. Courtesy of John Hummel.
Quillback 129k Quillback (SS-424), decommissioning article, 29 March 1973 from the Key West Citizen. Courtesy of Mike Keating.
Quillback 65k The Key West water front, on the base just prior to closing forever. The Quillback (SS-424), and Kretchmer (DER - 329) are visible at the top, right of the picture. Quillback was already decommissioned and Kretchmer was preparing for decommissioning. Courtesy of Mike Keating.
View the Quillback (SS-424)
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
USS Quillback (SS424) Homepage
Tench Class Submarines
Guppy Submarines
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan

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