USS Guavina

History
Builder:	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Laid down:	3 March 1943
Launched:	29 August 1943
Commissioned:	23 December 1943
Decommissioned:	8 June 1946
Recommissioned:	1 February 1950
Decommissioned:	27 March 1959
Struck:	30 June 1967
Fate:	Sunk as a target off Cape Henry, 14 November 1967
General characteristics
Class and type:	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged
Length:	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft:	17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears two propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged 252-cell battery
Speed:	20.25 knots (23.30 mph; 37.50 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (10.07 mph; 16.21 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	300 ft (90 m)
Complement:	6 officers, 54 enlisted (peace) 80-85 (war)
Armament:	10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft; 24 torpedoes) one 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber deck gun two .30 cal (7.62 mm) machineguns

USS Guavina (SS/SSO/AGSS/AOSS-362), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the guavina, a fish which may reach a length of 2 feet (0.6 m) indigenous to the West Indies and the Atlantic coasts of Central America and Mexico.

Guavina (SS-362) was launched by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc., 29 August 1943; sponsored by Miss Marie Roen; and commissioned 23 December 1943, Lieutenant Commander Carl Tiedeman in command.

After shakedown, Guavina was towed down the Mississippi in a floating drydock by tug Minnesota, reaching New Orleans 24 January 1944. She underwent training exercises at New Orleans and at Balboa, C.Z., before reaching Pearl Harbor 5 April to prepare for her first war patrol.

Guavina sailed 6 April 1944, on her first offensive cruise. On 22 April she sank by gunfire two trawlers loaded with lumber and cargo and 3 days later torpedoed a large "maru". Her first big kill came 26 April when she sent torpedoes into two of the merchant ships in a seven-ship convoy. One of them, Noshiro Maru, sank almost immediately after three tremendous explosions. The second maru also exploded, although persistent depth charging prevented Guavina from staying around to observe the sinking.

After standing lifeguard duty off Wake Island during air strikes 21 May – 26 May, the submarine returned to Majuro Atoll 28 May. Her aggressive first patrol forecast even greater service for the nation.

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Wikipedia