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Becuna file photo [14178]

Becuna

CountryUnited States
Ship ClassBalao-class Submarine
Hull NumberSS-319
BuilderElectric Boat Company
Laid Down29 Apr 1943
Launched30 Jan 1944
Commissioned27 May 1944
Decommissioned7 Nov 1969
Displacement1,500 tons standard; 2,110 tons submerged
Length312 feet
Beam27 feet
Draft17 feet
MachineryFour General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries
Speed20 knots
Range11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged
Crew82
Armament6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x127mm 25cal deck gun, 1x40mm Bofors gun
Submerged Speed8.75 knots

Contributor:

ww2dbaseSubmarine USS Becuna was commissioned in May 1944. She embarked on five war patrols during WW2, two of which, the first and the third, were deemed successful, having sunk two small vessels and two tankers. After the war, she arrived at San Diego, California, United States in Sep 1945, and served with the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet until Apr 1949. Between Apr 1949 and 1950, she served with the Atlantic Fleet, serving largely as a training submarine. Between Nov 1950 and Aug 1951, she received GUPPY IA modernization at the Electric Boat Company in New London, Groton, Connecticut, United States, where she was originally built between 1943 and 1944. She conducted her post-modernization shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea, returning to New London in Sep 1951. In the 1950s and the 1960s, she made several cruises, visiting ports in the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe and crossing into the Arctic Circle, but otherwise she largely remained a training submarine in New London. In 1969, she was reclassified an auxiliary submarine (with new designation AGSS-319) and then placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in Nov. In 1971, her designation reverted to the original SS-319. In 1943, she was struck from the United States Naval Registrar, and three years later she was transferred to the Cruiser Olympia Association of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States to convert Becuna into a museum ship. She is now on display at Penn's Landing on the shore of the Delaware River in Philadelphia.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Dec 2011

Submarine Becuna (SS-319) Interactive Map

Photographs

USS Becuna, late May 1944USS Becuna and USS Razorback at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, 1944-1945
See all 16 photographs of Submarine Becuna (SS-319)

Becuna Operational Timeline

10 Apr 1942 The order to build submarine Becuna was issued.
29 Apr 1943 The keel of submarine Becuna was laid down.
30 Jan 1944 Submarine Becuna was launched, sponsored by the wife of Commander George C. Crawford.
27 May 1944 USS Becuna was commissioned into service, Lieutenant Commander H. D. Sturr in command.
1 Jul 1944 USS Becuna departed New London, Connecticut, United States.
7 Jul 1944 USS Becuna detected a hostile submarine in the Atlantic Ocean and fired four torpedoes at the target; all torpedoes missed and contact with the enemy submarine was lost.
29 Jul 1944 USS Becuna arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
23 Aug 1944 USS Becuna departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol.
26 Aug 1944 USS Becuna crossed the International Date Line, sailing westward.
1 Sep 1944 USS Becuna came across a Japanese soldier in a small boat; after taking the soldier prisoner, she sank the boat with machine gun fire.
3 Sep 1944 In the Pacific Ocean, USS Becuna spotted an aircraft in the distance and believed it to be a friendly Liberator bomber.
4 Sep 1944 USS Becuna moored next to submarine tender USS Holland, took on 43,800 gallons of fuel oil, received repairs, and transferred the Japanese prisoner off board.
24 Sep 1944 USS Becuna fired three torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Luzon Strait south of Taiwan; all torpedoes missed.
25 Sep 1944 USS Becuna fired three torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the Luzon Strait south of Taiwan; all torpedoes missed.
8 Oct 1944 USS Becuna damaged Japanese tanker Kimikawa Maru in the South China Sea with two of four torpedoes fired.
9 Oct 1944 USS Becuna attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, claiming two sunk and two damaged; ten torpedoes were expended, seven of them made contact.
16 Nov 1944 USS Becuna departed Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol.
17 Nov 1944 USS Becuna damaged four Japanese ships: tanker San Luis Maru, tanker Tokuwa Maru, a transport, and cargo ship.
2 Jan 1945 USS Becuna sank two small vessels in the Java Sea in two separate engagements with her deck gun.
22 Feb 1945 USS Becuna fired ten torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, with one torpedo making contact and sinking Japanese tanker Nichiyoko Maru.
22 May 1945 USS Becuna departed for her fourth war patrol on lifeguard station for carrier air crews.
21 Jun 1945 USS Becuna departed for her fifth war patrol.
15 Jul 1945 USS Becuna attacked a Japanese Otori-class torpedo boat without effect.
27 Jul 1945 USS Becuna arrived at Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippine Islands, ending her fifth war patrol.
22 Sep 1945 USS Becuna arrived at San Diego, California, United States and was assigned to the Submarine Force of the US Navy Pacific Fleet.
6 May 1947 USS Becuna entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States for a scheduled overhaul.
22 Sep 1947 USS Becuna completed her scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States.
7 Nov 1969 USS Becuna was decommissioned from service.
15 Aug 1973 Submarine Becuna was struck from the US Naval Register.
21 Jun 1976 Submarine Becuna was transferred to the Cruiser Olympia Association to be converted into a museum ship.
29 Aug 1978 Submarine Becuna was added to the US National Register of Historic Places list.
1 Jan 1996 Submarine Becuna became part of Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.




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Submarine Becuna (SS-319) Photo Gallery
USS Becuna, late May 1944USS Becuna and USS Razorback at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, 1944-1945
See all 16 photographs of Submarine Becuna (SS-319)


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