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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Cutlass (SS-478)

Cutlass served both the US Navy and Taiwanese Navy

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Delta - Tango

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 10 July 1944, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 5 November 1944; Commissioned USS Cutlass (SS-478), 17 March 1945; Converted to a Guppy type submarine in 1948; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 15 December 1971; Transferred (sold) to Taiwan under terms of the Security Assistance Program, 4 December 1973, renamed Hai Shih (791); Final Disposition, As of October 2006 still in service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,570 t., Submerged: 2,414 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 4"; 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 7 Officers 69 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, two 20mm guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks Morse main generator engines, 5,400HP, Fuel Capacity, 113,510 gal., two Elliot Motor Co. main motors with 2,740HP, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
	28k	Port side view of the Cutlass (SS-478) underway during WW II, location unknown.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	63k	A clean run boat; crew of the Cutlass (SS-478) stand for inspection at Balboa, Panama, submarine base, April 1946.	Photo courtesy of R. Storm Cilley.
	125k	Several boats at berth at Cristobal, C.Z. Among the boats known to be based there in 1946-47, and what looks to be from left to right are the Conger (SS-477), Cutlass (SS-478), Runner (SS-476) & Amberjack (SS-522).	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
	92k	Cutlass (SS-478) surface bow view at the Phila. Navy Yard, 26 March 1948.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	96k	Several boats docked pierside in 1948. From inboard to outboard: Sennet (SS-408), Runner (SS-476), possibly the Cutlass (SS-478) inboard from the Sea Cat (SS-399).	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	82k	Cutlass (SS-478) port side view, circa 50's with steep sail as a Guppy type.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	254k	British subs visits Norfolk circa middle 1950's plus. Submarines lined up on the pier from outboard to inboard are: Cutlass (SS-478) and Sea Leopard (SS-483) with step sails. Followed by the Sealion (SS-315) & several SSR's which might be the Tigrone (SSR-419) and Burrfish (SSR-312). Both boats are in the Migraine I SSR version. If the last SSR is indeed the *Burrfish, then this picture would have been taken sometime in the late spring of 1956. The USN sailors are in dress whites (indicating the springtime changeover to whites), and the Burrfish* departed Norfolk for the last time on 5 June 56, headed for New London and decommissioning. The tender is Sierra (AD-18), which was always located at the next pier down from the sub pier.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel. Photo i.d. & text courtesy of David Johnston (USNR).
	385k	Stern view: Outboard Hardhead (SS-365) & inboard Cutlass (SS-478) dockside in Genoa, Italy, 1 October 1956.	Courtesy of Carlo Martinelli. Photo added 10/05/10.
	518k	Inboard Cutlass (SS-478) & Hardhead (SS-365) outboard, dockside in Genoa, Italy, 1 October 1956. Both boats sailed for the Mediterranean 7 September 1956 to strengthen the 6th Fleet during the Suez crisis.	Courtesy of Carlo Martinelli. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
	86k	Cutlass (SS-478) port side view, North Atlantic sail (1960's).	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	84k	Cutlass (SS-478) underway, starboard side view, circa 1960's.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
	605k	Cutlass (SS-478) at Genoa Italy, 29 June 1968.	Photo courtesy of Carlo Martinelli.
Hai Shih (SS-791)
	57k	Wardroom of the ex-Cutlass (SS-478) in Taiwanese service as the Hai Shih (791), 2003.	Courtesy of San Francisco Maritime National Park Association
	28k	Captain's room of the Hai Shih (791) 2003.	Courtesy of San Francisco Maritime National Park Association
	29k	ex-Cutlass (SS-478) in Taiwanese service as the Hai Shih (791) 2004.	Authors collection.
	32k	Running submerged and coming up for a look-see on Hai Shih (791) 2004.	Authors collection.
	70k	The Republic of China Navy (Taiwan) invited the press to see the 60-year-old submarine Hai Shih (791) the exCutlass (SS-478) on 7th Nov. 2005.	Photo courtesy of Yu-Lun Miao, staff reporter for the Brocasting Cooperation of China (BCC).
	37k	Accomadations haven't changed much aboard a sixty year old vessel as the Hai Shih's (791) crew berth with the torpedoes on 7th Nov. 2005.	Photo courtesy of Yu-Lun Miao, staff reporter for the Brocasting Cooperation of China (BCC).
	61k	Sixty years of service peering through this scope aboard the Hai Shih (791) on 7th Nov. 2005.	Photo courtesy of Yu-Lun Miao, staff reporter for the Brocasting Cooperation of China (BCC).
	66k	Port bow view of the Hai Shih (791) on October 2006.	Photo courtesy of Perry Huang.
	57k	Hai Shih (791) on October 2006.	Photo courtesy of Perry Huang.

View the Cutlass (SS-478)
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
San Francisco Maritime National Park Association
Tench Class Submarines
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
HISTORIC SUBMARINE DOCUMENTARY AND TRAINING FILMS

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