- USS Conger (SS-477)
USS "Conger" (SS/AGSS-477), a "Tench"-class submarine, was the only ship of the
United States Navy to be named for theconger , an eel found in warm seas at moderate depths, common to both coasts of theAtlantic Ocean .Her keel was laid down on
11 July 1944 by thePortsmouth Naval Shipyard . She was launched on17 October 1944 sponsored by Mrs. W. C. Ploeser, and commissioned on14 February 1945 with Lieutenant Commander H. D. Sipple in command."Conger" tested new submarine equipment at
New London, Connecticut , until she cleared21 July 1945 for Pacific service. At sea betweenBalboa, Panama , andPearl Harbor upon the end of hostilities, she was ordered back to thePanama Canal Zone , and on4 September arrived atKey West, Florida , to provide services to the Fleet Sonar School until6 December . She sailed then for New London andTompkinsville, New York , where she lay until sailing10 January 1946 for her assigned home port at Cristobal, Canal Zone. "Conger" operated in theCaribbean Sea , calling atMemphis, Tennessee , andVicksburg, Mississippi , in May 1947, until23 August , when she sailed for a complete circuit of theSouth America n continent on special hydrographic work, passing through theStraits of Magellan . She returned to the Canal Zone5 October to resume her Caribbean operations, and from11 January 1948 made her base at Key West, Florida. On3 June 1949 her home port became Norfolk, Virginia, and she operated along the East Coast and in the Caribbean assisting in the training of surface ships, taking part in fleet exercises, and perfecting her own readiness for action. She was again transferred in 1952, arriving at New London, Connecticut, her new home port,12 December . From that time through 1960, she continued her East Coast operations, and frequently put to sea with student submariners on board."Conger" was reclassified an auxiliary submarine and given the
hull classification symbol AGSS-477 in 1962. She was decommissioned on29 July 1963 , struck from theNaval Vessel Register on1 August 1963 , and sold for scrapping in May 1964.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c12/conger.htm
External links
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08477.htm navsource.org: USS "Conger"]
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