I visited the Torsk in Baltimore last Saturday. AVGWarhawk and the rest of the Torsk volunteers were very warm and welcoming to me. Here are some photos I took.





































My tour guide, AVGWarhawk


















Some of the volunteers enjoying a well earned break.



























































































































A BIG THANK YOU to all the folks at the Torsk.

Dave

NICE pics!!!!
i,ll post some also as i plan on going to see the USS Requin in Pittsburgh pretty soon.

Very cool pics, Dave. Looks like you had a great time. Wish I could have been there with you.

quote:

Originally posted by tambor198:
Very cool pics, Dave. Looks like you had a great time. Wish I could have been there with you.

Wish you could heve been there too Mr. T. She is a beautiful boat.

My coffee cup collection is growing.

Dave

Nice pictures Dave !!

I see you even got yourself a USS Torsk ball cap. That ball cap makes you look skinny.

Did this ship have it's deck weaponry removed, or simply none installed? I see no AA either.

Great pic's Dave, hope you enjoyed youre time with her...

Wow! Some day...

I notice that they have a Taylor soft-serve ice cream maker, the finest in the business. That's outstanding! That appears to be much smaller than the commercial units I've worked with. I used to be a certified wizard on those things.

quote:

Originally posted by RockinRobbins:
Wow! Some day...

I notice that they have a Taylor soft-serve ice cream maker, the finest in the business. That's outstanding! That appears to be much smaller than the commercial units I've worked with. I used to be a certified wizard on those things.

The ice cream machine on the Torsk is a replacement from the mid-fifties. You can see an original in this photo from the Batfish.


Dave

@Starforce3 the Torsk is a "Guppy" class which where highly modified Balao and Tench subs. They had much better battery capacity and a snorkel and they where streamlined this stuff took up space that was used by the magazine and they also carried less torpedos. They removed all guns from them they served into the late 60s.

USS Torsk (SS-423) (Tench-class)
USS Requin (SS-481) (Tench-class)
USS Becuna (SS-319) (Balao-class)
USS Clamagore (SS-343) (Balao-class)

These 4 museum subs underwent at least one GUPPY (Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program) conversion.

Although, the conversion the Torsk and the Requin had wasn't called a GUPPY conversion but rather a "Fleet Snorkel" conversion.

From Wikipedia:
"When the Navy realized that it would not be able to fund all the GUPPY conversions it desired, it devised the Fleet Snorkel program (SCB 47B) as a means of adding the minimum necessary modifications to fleet boats. The Fleet Snorkel modernization added a snorkel, a streamlined sail, a higher capacity air-conditioning system, and a more powerful electrical system. The deck guns and auxiliary diesel were removed. Unlike the GUPPY conversions, the Fleet Snorkel boats retained their original deck structure, bow, and storage batteries. Submerged performance of the Fleet Snorkel boats was therefore significantly inferior to any GUPPY conversion. Despite their limited features, the Fleet Snorkel boats served almost as long as the more modern GUPPY boats."

Hey Dave, glad you had a good time. I hope to get to see this unique museum sub someday.

Unlike the GUPPY conversions, the Fleet Snorkel boats retained their original deck structure, bow, and storage batteries.

How can the Torsk have its orginal deck design? does that look like the orginal Tench class outline to you? Wiki is wrong here "Fleet Snorkel" was the name given to the program that was set up to give some but not all of the Guppy upgrades do to lowered funding it is still a Guppy class it is an offshot still part of the overal Guppy progarm though. That wiki author(anyone can put anything in a wiki correct or not this is why I rely on Janes military publications they are as accurte and correct as they come also if you look at the refrenaces for that wiki page the person only used a single website for refrenace meaning this wiki reflects the views of whoever made the refenceed webpage you cant say you have correct information when you use a single website made by who knows who as a source! another nail in the coffin for wiki a wiki page about the M-16 cliams that the 3 round burst dosent work if you dont have the trigger pressed the whole time! right funny that it worked for me in Iraq no matter how long I pressed the trigger.) must have been copied right out of a submarine history book that I have they cut a very key word there though austere in this case meaning lacking something that another has in other words the Fleet Snorkel is a Guppy class sans some of the more expensive equipment that a non "Fleet Snorkel" Guppy has. The Fleet Snorkel/Guppys did not have a completey streamlined hull like the full Guppys did and this made the Fleet Snorkel versions slower but still much better than a WWII era sub.

Anyway Guppy/Fleet Snorkel it is still the Torsk and very good pictures dgrayson I forgot to say eariler.

GUPPY is a conversion, not a class.

The Torsk is still a Tench-class submarine with a Fleet Snorkel conversion. She got a snorkel, a modified, streamlined sail, and upgraded periscopes, radar, and radios. They took the deck guns off. She wouldn't have the full blown modifications that the GUPPY variations of conversions received.

Yes your right and Im wrong. The GUPPY is a conversion and the Fleet Snorkel is a part of that conversion. But since Guppies and Fleet Snorkels where made up of both Balao and Tench class subs and because it improved the performance to such a degree All the Guppies are most often listed under their mod program rather than Balao and Tench it is easier to call them GUPPYI,GUPPYIA ect. And you are saying just what I said to you before; Fleet Snorkel is a Guppy class sans some of the more expensive equipment that a non "Fleet Snorkel" Guppy has. Also the Tench and 15 other Fleet Snorkels did not get the full blown Guppy streamlineing that a true Guppy did.I will trust my Janes source over any website out there unless of course it is Janes. Janes can be trusted because its modern and historical Warship,aircraft,and military vechile books and guides are ment to be used by people in the military and for those seeking accurte information. I have a Janes fighting ships of the US Navy and Coast Guard this book goes all the way back to the 1890s and they dont list GUPPY or Fleet Boat as a class either it does list in detail every Balao and Tench class boat that was modified into any form of the GUPPY program. I said GUPPY Class because it is easier to classify GUPPY modified subs that way. And a modified Balao or Tench is so diffrent from one that that was in WWII it really is pretty much a diffrent machine. I bet it also confused the U.S.S.R.s navy intel.

Hey I agree, you can never be too careful when researching information. The Torsk (SS-423) (Fleet Snorkel), the Requin (SS-481) (Fleet Snorkel), the Becuna (SS-319) (GUPPY), the Clamagore (SS-343) (GUPPY III), the Cavalla (SS-244) (SSK), and the Croaker (SS-246) (SSK) are all neat museum submarines because they show the transitions and modifications made to fleet diesel subs into the more modern world that was beginning to be ruled by nuclear subs.

I must say that the Torsk Volunteer Association, Inc. (TVA) is a great example of what can happen when a group of concerned volunteers gets together to help a museum submarine. What a great way to get involved!

Great see we where on the same page the whole time. My Janes Warships book which was printed in 1992 I think does not really mention The GUPPY family seprately I always felt that was sort of confusing and and in a way ingoring a "class" of submarine that was on the front lines for the early years of the Cold War.I think it is a real possiabilty that at the time the Navy would not want them to be publicly listed as a seperate class for funding reasons at that time in the late 40s early 50 the Navy and the Air Force where battling each other for funding so the Navy had to be sneaky.

Great pictures Dave. I'm sorry I could not stay longer. Perhaps grab a beer at the Hard Rock. Next time your in town let me know and I will not schedule anything for that day. Maybe have a key to get you into the radio room. The only problems is if you hang around long enough someone hands you a paint chipper and a brush Again, nice visit and glad to meet you. And for all here, if you are in Baltimore let me know and I will meet you at the Torsk.

quote:

Originally posted by snakeyez77:
GUPPY is a conversion, not a class.

The Torsk is still a Tench-class submarine with a Fleet Snorkel conversion. She got a snorkel, a modified, streamlined sail, and upgraded periscopes, radar, and radios. They took the deck guns off. She wouldn't have the full blown modifications that the GUPPY variations of conversions received.

Snakeyez covers this well. The Torsk did receive here Guppy sail, radios and snokel. She did however keep here Tench lines concerning the hull. Her bow was shortened by 3 feet I believe. She did her frontline for a second time during the Cuban Missle Crisis. Her third frontline duty is to be a museum for all to enjoy and remember.

When Torsk received the Fleet Snorkel conversion in 1951-52, the only external modifications made were the addition of the snorkel gear and sail. No modifications were made to the superstructure, bow or deck arrangement at that time. She still carried her limber holes, full bow and even the 5" deck gun! The gun was removed sometime in 1954. The additional plating on the side of the superstructure covering her limber holes wasn't added until the early 60's. Her bow has never changed - she is still the same length as built. If anyone is interested, we have plenty of photographs of her in the photo album on the Torsk web site - http://www.usstorsk.org

Dave - sorry I missed you when you were aboard. I would have enjoyed talking to you. Did Chris or any of the other guys get you up into the Conning Tower to see the scopes? I didnt see any shots of them in your set above. By the way, those are great pix! If you do make it into Baltimore again, let one of us know. This goes for anyone here that is interested in seeing the boat. Saturday mornings are the best time - our volunteers are aboard and can give a behind the scenes tour if we know ahead of time that you are coming!

Regards,

Gil

quote:

Originally posted by Gilbey423:

Dave - sorry I missed you when you were aboard. I would have enjoyed talking to you. Did Chris or any of the other guys get you up into the Conning Tower to see the scopes? I didnt see any shots of them in your set above. By the way, those are great pix! If you do make it into Baltimore again, let one of us know. This goes for anyone here that is interested in seeing the boat. Saturday mornings are the best time - our volunteers are aboard and can give a behind the scenes tour if we know ahead of time that you are coming!

Regards,

Gil

Gil,

The conning tower was a bit of a mess, so I decided to get pictures of that when I come back. I get up to Philly at least once a year, sometimes more often. I will keep you posted.


My thanks to everyone I met at the Torsk. I felt very much at home. I had a great time. I love that boat.


Dave