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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Pickerel (SS-524)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Kilo - Golf

Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 8 February 1944, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Launched, 15 December 1944; Commissioned USS Pickerel (SS-524), 4 April 1949; Decommissioned, 18 August 1972, and transferred (loaned) to Italy, renamed ITS Primo (or Peiro) Longobordo (S-501). Final Disposition, sold 5 December 1977 outright, Decomm. 31 January 1980 & sold 31 May 1981 in Genoa, Italy.
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 20 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, 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.

The following specs have been contributed by Robert (Bob) C. Sowell Jr. ET3 (Retired): No doubt, initially, when her construction began during WW II the plan was for her to have 126 cells forward and 126 aft; however, before her construction was completed in 1949 the new Ni-Cad battery had been developed that produced the same power with half the size and weight. The Pickerel had four 126 cell NiCad batteries, two in the Forward Battery Compartment and two in the After Battery Compartment. This additional battery power coupled with her streamlined superstructure boasted her underwater speed to about twice of that of conventional WWII Fleet type boats.

Click On Image For Full Size	Size	Image Description		Source
	177k	Captain Ignatius J. Galantin at change of command ceremony relinquishing command of Submarine Squadron 7, Pearl Harbor, to Captain R.H. O'Kane, 6 July 1954 aboard the Pickerel (SS-524). 1. Schratz, Paul Richard, LCDR 04.04.1949 00.00.1951 FDC 2. Sweitzer, Henry Becker, CDR 00.08.1951 3. Hopley, Eric Earle, CDR 00.02.1954 4. Paul Lindsay Lacy Jr, a native of Dallas, Texas, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943 and attained the rank of Rear Admiral in July, 1967. After duty aboard the Cleveland (CL-56), he served aboard the submarine Sea Cat (SS-399) in the closing days of World War II. He has commanded three submarines -- Guitarro (SS-363), Pickerel (SS-524) and the nuclear-powered Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Ethan Allen (SSBN-608). Prior to SUBPAC, RADM Lacy was assigned as Manager, Later Design Attack Submarine Project in Washington, D.C. Lacy assumed the duties of Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet on 13 October 1970. He died on Sunday, 14 July 2013. 5. Adams Jr., Will Mont, CDR ~1956 6. Lyon, Harvey Eugene, CDR :RADM ~1958 7. Nicholson, John Harris, LCDR :VADM 06.01.1959 26.08.1959 8. Ellis, Samuel Schild, CDR 26.08.1959 00.06.1960 9. Hanson, Edgar Guest, LCDR 00.06.1960 10. Dyer, Gerald Wesley (Jerry), LCDR 12.11.1962 11. Madera, Harry Paul, LCDR 00.04.1964 12. Shaugnessy, William David, LCDR 00.06.1966 13. Carter, Winfred Gibson, CDR ~1967 14. Pasquinelli, Francis Chris, CDR 00.07.1969 00.06.1971 15. Siegel, Kent R., CDR 00.06.1971 18.08.1972 LDC		USN photo via Bill Gonyo & ADM John H. Nicholson, USN (ret.) List of CO's courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves (of blessed memory).

View the Pickerel (SS-524)
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
Guppy Submarines
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ

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