USS Mapiro

USS Mapiro (SS-376), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the mapiro, a fish of the Gobioidea suborder occurring off the West Indies and the Atlantic coasts of Central America and Mexico.

Launching of USS Robalo 9 May 1943, at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, WI.
History
United States
NameUSS Mapiro (SS-376)
BuilderManitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1]
Laid down30 May 1944[1]
Launched9 November 1944[1]
Commissioned30 April 1945[1]
Decommissioned16 March 1946[1]
Recommissioned14 November 1959[1]
Decommissioned18 March 1960[1]
Stricken1 August 1973[2]
FateTransferred to Turkey, 18 March 1960,[2] sold to Turkey 1 August 1973[1]
Turkish Navy EnsignTurkey
NameTCG Piri Reis (S 343)
NamesakeOttoman Admiral Piri Reis
Acquired18 March 1960
Commissioned24 June 1960
Out of service1973
FateSold for scrap, 1980
General characteristics
Class and typeBalao class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement
  • 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2]
  • 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3]
  • 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3]
Armament

Construction and commissioning

Mapiro was laid down by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on 30 May 1944; launched on 9 November 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Philip H. Ross; and commissioned on 30 April 1945.

Operational history

Following trials on Lake Michigan, Mapiro entered a floating drydock at Lockport, Ill.; and was towed down the Chicago and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, La., to be readied for duty in the South Pacific. She sailed for the Canal Zone 31 May, arriving off Balboa 5 June for training. On 28 June the submarine got underway for Hawaii in company with Cutlass (SS-478), arriving Pearl Harbor 15 July.

Mapiro sailed for the Marianas on her first war patrol 4 August, arriving off Saipan the day Japan surrendered, 15 August. She remained on observation patrol until returning to the west coast in September, arriving at San Francisco for deactivation by 25 August.

On 16 March 1946, Mapiro decommissioned to enter the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, Calif., 1 January 1947.

TCG Pirireis (S-343)

In 1960, Mapiro was converted to a Fleet Snorkel submarine. On 18 March 1960 she was transferred on loan under the Military Assistance Program to Turkey. The Turkish Navy renamed her TCG Pirireis (S-343), after Piri Reis (ca. 1465–1554), an Ottoman admiral and cartographer. She left San Francisco on 16 May 1960 for Istanbul via the Panama Canal, with her new Turkish crew. Pirireis arrived in Gölcük on 23 June 1960. She was commissioned into Turkish Navy the day after.

The submarine was struck from the US Naval Register, and sold outright to Turkey, 1 August 1973; she was scrapped by the Turkish Navy in 1973.

In 1983, a second ex-U.S. Navy submarine, the former USS Tang (SS-563), was renamed TCG Pirireis (S-343) reusing the same hull number.

References
  1. Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
  2. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
  4. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
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