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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

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

Amberjack (SS-522)
Keel Laying - Shakedown Cruise

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Juliet - Tango

To Additional Pages

Guppy Conversion
Post Guppy Life
Decommissioning - Transfer to Brazil
Decommissioning Pamphlet

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 8 February 1944, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Launched, 15 December 1944; Commissioned USS Amberjack (SS-522), 4 March 1946; Underwent "Guppy" Modernization in 1947-48; Decommissioned, simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 17 October 1973, at US Naval Submarine Base, Key West FL.; Transferred (sold) under the Security Assistance Program to Brazil, renamed Ceara (S-14); Final Disposition, fate unknown.

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 single 20mm guns; two /30 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four main generator motors, Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, HP 5,400. Fuel Capacity, 113,510 gal., Elliot electric motors, HP 2,740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
214k	Sections of the pressure hulls of Amberjack (SS-522) and Grampus (SS-523) under construction in the Structural Shop of the Boston Navy Yard ca. 1944. Note: The original print is a Navy copy print which did not include the bottom line of the caption.	U.S. Navy photo from the National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-10259 courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 08/03/06.
120k	Amberjack (SS-522) on 16 Feb. 1946, a few weeks before her commissioning.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
118k	Amberjack (SS-522) in "stream" in Boston Harbor on Apr. 3, 1946.	Boston Naval Shipyard photo # 1349-46, from the National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-10258, courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 08/03/06.
141k	Front and back pages of the Christening & Commissioning program for the Amberjack (SS-522) at Boston Mass, 4 March 1946.	Photo courtesy of Dr. Everett (Bud) Burchell (Plankowner) USN (Retired).
189k	Second & third pages of the Christening & Commissioning program for the Amberjack (SS-522) at Boston Mass, 4 March 1946.	Photo courtesy of Dr. Everett (Bud) Burchell (Plankowner) USN (Retired).
189k	Jim Carroll's Amberjack (SS-522) Plankowner's certificate, 4 March 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
91k	Port side view of the Amberjack (SS-522) in original configuration, circa 1946.	Photo courtesy of Dr. Everett (Bud) Burchell (Plankowner) USN (Retired).
152k	Dockside view at New London, CT., shows the Amberjack (SS-522) possibly being supplied with stocks for her shakedown cruise & Threadfin (SS-410), which served as a training platform for the officers and men learning the ropes at the Submarine School. Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
110k	The opening of the curtain during Amberjack's (SS-522) shakedown cruise is appropriately symbolized by the opening of the bridge on the Thames River as the boat leaves New London, CT., and heads out to sea, Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
156k	Airing out on the conning tower with a seat occupied on one of the 40mm guns abaord the Amberjack (SS-522) during her shakedown cruise, Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
165k	Group photo with the Amberjack's (SS-522) bell in the background during her shakedown cruise, Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
125k	Aboard Amberjack (SS-522) at the Balboa Sub Base at Cristobal, Canal Zone. One of the boats in the background is the Argonaut (SS-475), seen here during her shakedown cruise, Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
118k	Slight change of weather from the Artic which would await the boat in a few months time. One of the crewmember poses alongside one of the 40mm guns aboard the Amberjack (SS-522) in the Panama Canal Zone during her shakedown cruise, Spring / early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
105k	Partial view of the 5"/25 deck gun aboard the Amberjack (SS-522) in the Panama Canal Zone during her shakedown cruise, early Summer 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
121k	Amberjack (SS-522) moored at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, during her shakedown cruise, Spring 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
213k	Newspaper clipping showing the Amberjack (SS-522) coming up for an emergency surface from a depth of 150 feet at a 48 degree angle during her trials off Key West, Florida. Partial caption reads: "The normal surfacing angle is 5 degrees".	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
76k	George Herald (with signal flags)& Wilson, during Amberjack's (SS-522) Arctic Cruise in November 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
208k	Looking forward from the Amberjack's (SS-522) conning tower during her November 1946 Artic cruise. She is about to take a wave over the bow running the length of the boat.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
187k	Looking forward from the Amberjack's (SS-522) conning tower (before modernization). An ice berg is seen in the distance (circled), November 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
197k	Looking forward from the Amberjack's (SS-522) conning tower during her November 1946 Artic cruise. She is taking a wave over the bow runnig the length of the boat.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
173k	Looking aft from the Amberjack's (SS-522) conning tower during her November 1946 Artic cruise. She is coming out of the wave.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
79k	Amberjack (SS-522) and possibly the Requin (SS-481) are seen here during her November 1946 Artic cruise	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
169k	Amberjack (SS-522) surrounded by pack ice during her November 1946 Artic cruise.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
50k	Jim Carroll warming up to the cold during Amberjack's (SS-522) Artic Cruise in November 1946.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.
61k	A bearded Jim Carroll in the Amberjack's (SS-522) maneuvering room, circa 1947.	Photo courtesy of Jim Carroll and submitted by Mike Keating.