1944 to 1967
USS Piper (SS409)
Keel laid by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery Maine, 15 March 1944,
launched 26 June 1944, commissioned 23 August 1944, decommissioned 16 June
1967.
Balao Class
Length: 311' 8"
Extreme Beam: 27' 3"
Mean Draft: 15' 3"
Displacement: 1,526 tons (surface), 2,401 tons (submerged)
Design Speed: 20.25 knots (surface), 8.75 knots (submerged)
Design Depth: 400 feet
Armament: 21 inch torpedo tubes; 6 fwd, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes, one
5"/25 deck gun, one 40 mm, one 20 mm, two 50 cal machine guns
Propulsion: Twin screw, diesel electric drive
Engines: 4 Fairbanks Morse - 5,400 shaft horsepower
Main Motors: 4 Elliot Motor Co. - 2,740 shaft horsepower
Batteries: Gould Storage Battery Co. - 252 cells
Fuel: 118,300 gallons
Submerged Endurance: 48 hours at 2 knots
Patrol Endurance: 11,000 nautical miles, surfaced at 10 knots
Design Complement: 6 officers, 60 enlisted men.
Guppy: Snorkel conversion in 1951
Although built late in World War II, Piper completed 3 successful war
patrols in the Pacific, winning four battle stars before the end of
hostilities. She was responsible for sinking more than 6,000 tons of
Japanese shipping.
After the war, Piper operated out of the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in
Groton Connecticut until her decommissioning in 1967.