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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Patch on left contributed by Thomas McLoughlin, others patches by Mike Smolinski.

Sarda (SS-488) (AGSS-488)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Echo - Quebec

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 12 April 1945, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.; Launched, 24 August 1945; Commissioned USS Sarda (SS-488), 19 April 1946; Reclassified Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-488) on 1 July 1962; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 1 June 1964; Final Disposition; Sold for scrap March 1965 to North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, DE for $ 67,535.00. Scrapped by American Marine Salvage Co., Bordentown, N.J.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves (of blessed memory) & Yves Hubert.

As built to the 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.
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Sarda471kMrs. James J. Heffernan, sponsor, Rear Admiral Thomas Withers, USN, and Miss Patricia Heffernan, maid of honor, at launching of Sarda (SS-488) at Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H on 24 August 1945.National Archives Identifier: 12562992
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
Sarda139kSarda (SS-488) is launched on 24 August 1945. Electric Boat photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Sarda454kHon. Arthur J. Frawley, mayor of Lynn, Mass. Presenting the plaque designating the Sarda (SS-488) as a city of Lynn ship to Rear Admiral Thomas Withers, USN, Commandant, at launching at Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. on 24 August 1945.National Archives Identifier: 12562980
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
Sarda522kMembers of city of Lynn delegation at launching of Sarda (SS-488) at Navy Yard Portsmouth, N.H. on 24 August 1945.National Archives Identifier: 12562956
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
Sarda23kSarda (SS-488) underway, shortly after the war.US Archives photo # USN-442627, courtesy of usssubvetsofwwii.org.
Sarda30kCommemorative postal cover marking Sarda's (SS-488), 12,000th dive.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory).
Torsk99kSarda (SS-488), maneuvering in line abreast formation during exercises off Block Island, Rhode Island, in April 1947. Nearest submarine is Sarda. Torsk (SS-423) is next. Both are fitted with 5"/25 deck guns fore and aft. US National Archives photo # 80-G-704269, a USN photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives, US Naval Historical Center.
Sarda91kFlying Fish (SS-229) circa 1951 at rest at a pier with the fleet submarine Sarda (AGSS-488).
Flying Fish is fitted with the large GHG (Gruppen Horsch Gerat) conformal sonar array taken from the German heavy cruiser KMS Prinz Eugen.
USN photo and text from The American Submarine by Norman Polmar, courtesy of Robert Hurst.
Sarda81k Sarda (SS-488) 1956.
In the fall of 1949, she was transferred to SubDiv 21, and her primary mission was shifted from test and evaluation work to school ship duties. She continued that work through the 1950's, interrupting it only for type training; mine planting exercises; ASW exercises; fleet exercises; occasional participation in NATO or joint United States-Canadian exercises off the coasts of the Atlantic Provinces and northern New England
Text courtesy of DANFS. USN photo from Jane's Fighting Ships, 1956-57 submitted by Robert Hurst.
Sarda273kAll a head full in Sarda's (SS-488) after battery can be relieved by flushing in 1959. Photo courtesy of Owen Carlson.
Sarda277kAfter Battery Berthing Stbd, Looking Fwd, 1959.Photo courtesy of Owen Carlson.
Sarda139kCrews Mess, Galley.Photo courtesy of Owen Carlson.
Sarda328kSarda (SS-488) sails into the early 1960's. US Navy courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Sarda54kSarda (SS-488), off New London CT. 1960's.Courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
Sarda112k As a classified AGSS, possibly during the winter of 1962 when Sarda (AGSS-488) returned to the Caribbean for an extended stay. Text courtesy of DANFS.
USN photo.
Diablo 269k Diablo (SS-479), 1964 June 1, Decommissioning Ceremony with Sarda (SS-488) outboard at US Naval Submarine Base, New London, CT. Courtesy of LCDR Tomme J. Lambertson USN(Retired).
Sarda243kIn the winter of 1963, Sarda (SS-488) deployed to the Mediterranean where she operated with the 6th Fleet; and, on her return to New London in late May, she resumed school ship duties. Text courtesy of DANFS.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Sarda542k4 page PDF Welcome Aboard the Sarda (SS-488). PDF courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Sarda870kBruce W. Hauschel next to a painting of the Sarda (SS-488), a Tench-class submarine built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.Photo courtesy of Thresher Base Submarine Veterans via flickr.com.

View the Sarda (SS-488 / AGSS-488)
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
Tench Class Submarines
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ

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