Thread by @USAS_WW1

South Carolina, Civil War and Gamecock trend. Charleston, SC is home to USS CLAMAGORE (SS-343). She’s a WW2 Balao-class / Cold War GUPPY II then GUPPY III submarine now being scrapped. Let me show you her today and take you on board… 1/ #WW2 #Submarines #Coldwar #CivilWar

2/ #USNavy #ships #shipping #shipspotting - #VirtualTour of USS CLAMAGORE (SS-343), a WW2 Balao-class / Cold War GUPPY II then GUPPY III submarine being scrapped. @USN_Submariner @CovertShores @submarines4ever @RLitwiller

@USN_Submariner @CovertShores @submarines4ever @RLitwiller 3/ I only toured Clamagore once. It's by the #WW2 / #ColdWar aircraft carrier CV-10 Yorktown. As we approach, note the smaller sail of USS Drum (top), which Clamagore would have resembled as first built in 1945 and the GUPPY III conversion sail (bottom).

@USN_Submariner @CovertShores @submarines4ever @RLitwiller 4/ This submarine cross-section diagram from navsource.org/archives/08/08… courtesy of @lesterpalifka will come in handy. It's of the Balao-class, which Clamagore was part of.

5/ So let's go down Clamagore's hatch to the forward torpedo room. Six forward tubes and four aft: 10 total. 24 x 21" torpedoes carried on board. Now that we're down here, look up; you see the "escape trunk"? Let's proceed aft. Watch your head!

6/ All American WWII subs were named after fish. Clamagore is a blue parrotfish. She was built by Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT, commissioned June 1945 and used for training but no combat. Her GUPPY II conversion made her look like USS Cubera (below).

7/ 1947/1948 GUPPY II conversion added built up sail, snorkel, better batteries and removed the 5" deck gun, 40mm and 20mm MGs. It meant lower surface cruising speed but improved submerged speed and range.... Balao and USS Cubera show what Clamagore's...

8/ ... evolution would have looked like. Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program=GUPPP, but GUPPY sounded better and was a fish, so... Here is the Officer's pantry, wardroom, and staterooms. And this is the vessel's spacious part. Okay, next is the...

9/ USS CLAMAGORE's control room. During the GUPPY III conversion the sub was cut in two. A new 15' was inserted between the two "halves" to extend the control room for sonar equipment.
#shipsinpics #ships #submarines #SouthCarolina #VirtualTour

10/ Here is USS Clamagore’s storage along the corridor, then the Dive Room and then the Radio Room. While some of the sub is from its GUPPY updates, most is nearly 80 years old. #USSClamagore @PatriotsPntFdn

@PatriotsPntFdn 11/ Here we have the Crew's Quarters: galley, mess (where 16 could eat at a time) and crew’s quarters Her sister Becuna had 35 folding cots for 67 hot-bunking sailors. Presumably Clamagore was the same.

12/ The Forward Engine Room (top) and After Engine Room (bottom)! 4 GM diesel motors; 4 GM electric motors; 5,400 shp surfaced; 2,740 shp submerged. Two propellers. Diesels drove the sub on the surface; electrics drove it submerged. Range: 11,000 nautical miles.

13/ #Submarines #WW2 #ColdWar #USNavy - Next what might be an escape hatch(?) and Clamagore’s Maneuvering Room... So what actually happened in this room? @USN_Submariner, do you know?

@USN_Submariner 14/ Next: the After Torpedo Room. There were six tubes fore and four tubes aft that went to sea with 1 torpedo per tube. But there were 14 reloads. 8 fore+6 aft? Then we exit via the rear access hatch. #shipsinpics #ships #shipping #shipspotting #maritime

15/ My rough estimates: 10 officers + 71 men had each ~3.5 linear feet and 100-200 cubic feet of volume; imagine three to six 2'x2' ceiling tiles and the space underneath as your total volume for work, sleep, recreation, food, toilet, etc. #submarine #navy

16/ #USSClamagore - Extra photos... The top left is the stern deck, etc. Top right shows the bow. Bottom left is the same but also shows the diving planes. Bottom right shows knobs from the forward torpedo room. :)

16/ In 2019, there were plans to sink Clamagore as a reef with her hull completely cut away on one side. She's too expensive to maintain for @patriots_point. But those plans were abandoned, so the submarine's fate was in limbo. abcnews4.com/news/local/law…

@Patriots_Point 18/ #USNavy #Submarines - If you liked this thread, my USS Becuna thread is of another Balao-class ship and thus Clamagore’s sister. The photos and information are more detailed and informative.

https://twitter.com/USAS_WW1/status/1539681239610925060