USS Chopper (SS-342)
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| Missing image USS_Chopper;0834203.jpg USS Chopper (SS-342) | |
| Career | 
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|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 2 March 1944 |
| Launched: | 4 February 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 25 May 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 September 1969 |
| Struck: | 10 October 1971 |
| Fate: | wrecked by depth excursion; hulk lost while under tow 21 July 1976 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement, Surfaced: Submerged: | 1,526 tons (1550 t), 2,424 tons (2460 t) |
| Length: | 311.8 ft (95.0 m) |
| Beam: | 27.3 ft (8.3 m) |
| Draft: | 15.3 ft (4.6 m) |
| Depth limit: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Speed, Surfaced: Submerged: | 20.25 knots (37 km/h) 8.75 knots (16 km/h) |
| Propulsion: | four 5400-hp diesel engines four 2740-hp (2.0 MW) electric motors, two propellers |
| Submerged Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 knots |
| Patrol Endurance: | 75 days |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi. (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots |
| Complement: | 66 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | ten 21" torpedo tubes, (six forward, four aft), 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, four machine guns |
| Motto: | |
USS Chopper (SS/AGSS/IXSS-342), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the chopper, a fish common in the rivers of the Mississippi Valley. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 4 February 1945 sponsored by Mrs. G. S. Beebe, and commissioned on 25 May 1945 with Lieutenant Commander S. Filipone in command.
Chopper sailed from New London, Connecticut, on 4 July 1945 for Pearl Harbor, where she lay from 21 September until 24 October. On 30 October she arrived at San Diego, California, her assigned home port. She sailed 2 January 1946 for the Philippines, where she trained and offered local services until 11 May when she returned to San Diego and began local operations. Her next deployment, a simulated war patrol to China, took place from 28 July 1947 to 9 November. After west coast operations through 1948 she departed San Diego 14 March 1949 for her new home port, Key West, Florida, arriving 4 April. Operations in Florida waters and the Caribbean Sea were conducted until 15 September 1950, when she entered the Electric Boat Company yards for modernization. She returned to Key West for fleet exercises and training 23 May 1951.
Chopper departed Key West, Florida, on 7 January 1952 for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea until 20 May. She resumed local operations, then joined in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations in the Atlantic between 12 September and 14 October 1952. Frequent trips to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and local operations continued until 25 May 1959 when she sailed to join in special exercises in the Mediterranean until returning to Key West 9 August. Through 1960, she continued operations off Florida and in the Caribbean Sea, often acting as target for surface ships in training.
- nine years of history go here
On 11 February 1969, Chopper was participating in an ASW exercise off the coast of Cuba with Hawkins (DD-873) when her electrical generators tripped off-line. Chopper was making between 7 and 9 knots at a depth of 150 feet with a slight down angle when she lost power.
Within seconds, Chopper’s angle increased to 45 degrees down and her bow passed 440 feet of depth. Because of the power loss, the Officer of the Deck was unable to communicate with the engine room, but the senior man in the engine room independently ordered both engines back full. Despite the backing bell, blowing ballast, and other efforts to regain control of the submarine, the down angle continued to increase, and within one minute of the power failure, Chopper was nearly vertical in the water, bow down. Chopper’s bow is estimated to have reached a depth of 1011 feet (308 m); her stern 720 feet.
The crew’s efforts began to take effect. Chopper lost the headway that was taking her deeper, and even began to make sternway. Her bow began to rise, reached level, and continued to climb. Chopper began to ascend with a rapidly increasing up-angle until she was again nearly vertical in the water, now bow up.
About two minutes after losing electrical power, Chopper shot through the surface of the ocean, nearly vertical. The entire forward section of the submarine, to the aft edge of the sail, cleared the surface before she fell back. Her momentum carried down to a depth of about 200 feet before she surfaced again, leveled out, and remained on the surface.
Chopper returned to port under her own power. Inspection discovered that her hull had suffered extensive structural damage during the deep dive and rapid ascent. Chopper was decommissioned on 15 September 1969.
Chopper was re-classified, given hull classification symbol AGSS-342, and served as a United States Naval Reserve (USNR) dockside trainer in New Orleans, Louisiana, until 1971, when the USNR Submarine Reserve program was discontinued. She was re-classified, given hull classification symbol IXSS-342, and was used for salvage and rescue training.
In 1976, Chopper was modified to serve as a tethered, submerged torpedo target for Spadefish (SSN-668). On 21 July 1976, while Spadefish was on her final approach, Chopper began to take on water, broke her tethers, and sank.
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
- history.navy.mil: USS Chopper (http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c9/chopper.htm)
- navsource.org: USS Chopper (http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08342.htm)
- hazegray.org: USS Chopper (http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss342.htm)
- USS Chopper Association (http://usschopper.com/)