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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Patch contributed by Mike Keating

Grampus (SS-523)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Kilo - Echo

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 8 February 1944, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Launched on 15 December 1944; Commissioned USS Grampus (SS-523), 26 October 1949; Decommissioned, and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 13 May 1972; Transferred (sold) under the Security Assistance Program to Brazil; renamed Rio Grande Do Sul; Final Disposition, Sold 18 June 1981 to Verlome Shipyard, Angra Dos Reis, Brazil.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves (of blessed memory)

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, UP 5,400. Fuel Capacity, 113,510 gal., Elliot electric motors, HP 2,740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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Amberjack & Grampus 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. USN 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.
Grampus523kRear Admiral Clark H. Woodward, USN, Chief of Industrial Incentive Division, Navy Department, praised the fortitude of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan for keeping their chins up in the loss of their five sons, as he presented five posthumously-awarded Purple Hearts Medals at a ceremony in Washington. Their five Navy sons went down with Juneau (CL-52). Rear Admiral Woodward commended the parents for inspiration to workers resulting from their visit to more than 200 manufacturing plants and shipyards, 24 January 1944.
Both Grampus (SS-207) & Grampus (SS-523) were sponsored by his wife. (Someone please find a photo of her!)
USN photo # 80-G-44491 courtesy of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy via flickr.com.
Grampus166k Grampus (SS-523) commissioning, Pier 8, Boston Naval Shipyard, 26 October 1949. USN photo from the National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, Cat. No. BOSTS-11270, courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard.
Grampus 525k Commissioning of the Grampus (SS-523), 26 October 1949 at the Boston Navy Yard. A.P. Wirephoto by Paul A. Queenan courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
Grampus 293k Commissioning of the Grampus (SS-523), 26 October 1949 at the Boston Navy Yard. Photo courtesy of ussgrampus.com.
GUPPY 222k Broadside view of a cutout of a GUPPY design. Photo courtesy of ussgrampus.com.
GUPPY 182k Overhead view of a cutout of a GUPPY design. Photo courtesy of ussgrampus.com.
Grampus375kKEEPING SUB ON EVEN KEEL WHILE SUBMERGED (21 March 1951). A.P. Wirephoto courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
Grampus 76k LCDR Eugene Columbus Barnhardt III was the Commanding Officer of the Grampus (SS-523) from October 1951 to January of 1954. Photo courtesy of the National Historical Center via Bill Gonyo.
Grampus 88k Portside view of the Grampus (SS-523) underway, 27 May 1953. USNI / USN Photo.
Grampus 112k Grampus (SS-523), underway, circa 1950's. Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
Grampus 300k Grampus (SS-523), underway, circa 1950's. USN photograph courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Redfin139kRedfin (SS-272) with the Grampus (SS-523) and other subs alongside AS-18 Orion was taken between 1953-55. The "Nodding idiot" on Redfin was converted to the electronic version in 1956. The other 3 boats are from outboard in Migraine II Requin (SS-481) and Migraine I Burrfish (SS-312) and Tigrone (SS-419). The order of the last 2 might be reversed. Text contributed by Larry Derouin. Photographed and contributed by John Hummel, USN (Retired).
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490k Grampus (SS-523) underway August 1957. Photo courtesy of David Wright.
Grampus 88k Grampus (SS-523), coming into the Philadelphia Navy Yard for overhaul, circa early 1960. Courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
Grampus 887k Grampus (SS-523) as seen from the Orion (AS-18)), circa 1960-61. Official USN photo courtesy of John Crawley.
Grampus
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1.83k During the late 1950's and early 1960's Grampus (SS-523) operated out of Norfolk, VA.
She is pictured here in 1960.
Photo by Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
Grampus
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732k Grampus (SS-523) in 1960. Photo by Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images via gettyimages.com.
Grampus 83k Grampus (SS-523) with a fiberglass deficiency at D&S Piers in Norfolk for overhaul, circa mid 1960's. The Redfin (SS-272) is behind her. Orion (AS-18) is in the background with other subs from Subron 6. Courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
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1.68k Some foursome in Barcelona: From inboard to outboard, front to back: Corporal (SS-346) & Trout (SS-566). Grampus (SS-523) & Cutlass (SS-478). Hissem (DE-400) rises above the Cutlass, early May 1964. Photo by Manuel Galilea. Courtesy of Museu Marítim de Barcelona via Fabio Pena.
Grampus 758k Eight page PDF Welcome Aboard the Grampus (SS-523), circa mid 1960's. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Grampus 487k Starboard side view of the Grampus (SS-523), underway, circa mid-late 1960's. Courtesy of Ron Duffy, IC2(SS), Grampus (SS-523) 1966-68.
Grampus 314k Port side view of the Grampus (SS-523), underway, circa mid-late 1960's. Courtesy of Ron Duffy, IC2(SS), Grampus (SS-523) 1966-68.
Grampus 700k Starboard side view of the Grampus (SS-523), underway, circa mid-late 1960's.Courtesy of Ron Duffy, IC2(SS), Grampus (SS-523) 1966-68.
Rio Grande Do Sul (S-11)
Grampus 33k ex-Grampus (SS-523) as the Rio Grande Do Sul (S-11), underway probably off the coast of Brazil. Brazilian Navy photo by SRPM, via José Henrique Mendes, courtesy of naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br, & submitted by Valdo Novaes.
Grampus 34k ex-Grampus (SS-523) as the Rio Grande Do Sul (S-11), awaiting to be scrapped by Verolme Estaleiro, 18 June 1981. Brazilian Navy photo by Renato Gaschler via naviosdeguerrabrasileiros.hpg.ig.com.br, & submitted by Valdo Novaes.

View the Grampus (SS-523)
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
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
Guppy Submarines
ussgrampus.com

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