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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch on left contributed by Mike Smolinski, on right courtesy of naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br

Sea Leopard (SS-483)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Echo - Golf

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 7 November 1944, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 2 March 1945; Commissioned USS Sea Leopard (SS-483), 11 June 1945; Moderanized with a Guppy II conversion at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA. in 1948-49; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 27 March 1973; Sold under the Military Assistance Program to Brazil in 1973, renamed Bahia (S-12); Final Disposition, placed out of service by the Brazilian navy and scrapped in 1998.

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
	237k	The top of the poppet & packing of Sea Leopard's (SS-483) construction is just visible under her flag draped bow as she slides into the water at the end of the launching ways at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., 2 March 1945.	USN photo courtesy of Dan Hecker & sealeopard.com.
	80k	Starboard side view of the launching of the Sea Leopard (SS-483) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., 2 March 1945.	USN photo courtesy of Dan Hecker & sealeopard.com.
	64k	Lookouts in the Sea Leopard's (SS-483) periscope shears scan the horizon while the boat is underway, probably off the Florida coast, 1946. She was based out of Key West, Fla., and she remained in Florida waters through 1946 providing services to the Antisubmarine Development Force.	USN photo courtesy of geocities.com. Text courtesy of DANFS.
	91k	Sea Leopard's (SS-483) main 5"/25 deck gun as it appeared when she was based out of Key West, Fla. 1946.	USN photo courtesy of Ed Schuele & sealeopard.com.
	148k	Admiral Robert L. J. Long commanded the Sea Leopard (SS-483), a diesel-powered submarine, the Patrick Henry (SSN-599) and the Casimir Pulaski (SSN-633), nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.	Photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
	98k	Sea Leopard (SS-483) starboard view underway, circa post 1949.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
	34k	Sea Leopard (SS-483) underway on 30 May 1950. During February and March 1950, the *Sea Leopard* participated in maneuvers in the Caribbean.From August through November, she joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, visiting ports of Italy, France, and Sicily, before returning home.	USN photo courtesy of USNI. Text courtesy of DANFS.
	55k	The destroyer tender Yellowstone (AD-27) at Augusta Bay, Sicily, 1950. Ships alongside to starboard; Sea Robin (SS-407), Torsk (SS-423), Sea Leopard (SS-483), Burrfish (SS-312). To port; John R Pierce (DD-753), Barton (DD-722), Shea (DM-30) , and in the background Bauer (DM-26).	Paul Roggeman Sea Robin (SS-407) Web Site.
	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).
	188k	Sea Leopard (SS-483) inboard & the Entemedor (SS-340) in Monaco, April 1957.	Courtesy of Chuck Jensen.
Bahia (S-12)
	651k	Decommissioning of Sea Leopard (SS-483), and transfer to the Brazilian Navy.	From the Key West Citizen, 29 March 1973. Courtesy of Mike Keating.
	42k	A Brazilian Navy UH-12 Esquilo N-7051 helicopter flies over the exSea Leopard (SS-483), now the Brazilian Bahia (S-12) sometime circa 1973-93.	Brazilian Navy photo by SDM, courtesy of naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br, & submitted by Valdo Novaes.
	57k	The exSea Leopard (SS-483), now the Brazilian Bahia (S-12) in drydock DFlt Afonso Pena - G 25 in 1986.	Brazilian Navy photo by Mario R. V. Carneiro/Segurança & Defes, courtesy of naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br, & submitted by Valdo Novaes.
	20k	The sail of the exSea Leopard (SS-483), now the Brazilian Bahia (S-12) on display at the Museu Nacional do Mar em, (National Maritime Museum) at São Francisco do Sul, circa 1993 plus.	Brazilian Navy photo by Luis Carlos de Oliveira, courtesy of naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br, & submitted by Valdo Novaes.