USS ''Remora'' (SS-487), a , was the only ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to be named for the

remora The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish or sharksucker, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified ...

, a fish with a suctorial disk on its head enabling it to cling to other fish and to ships.

Construction and commissioning

''Remora''′s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 5 March 1945 by the

Portsmouth Navy Yard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

Kittery Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of th ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. She was launched on 12 July 1945, sponsored by Mrs. T. W. Samuels III, and commissioned on 3 January 1946 with

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Robert Sellars in command.

Service history

Training submarine

Completing her

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

shakedown in April 1946, ''Remora'' operated out of New London, Connecticut, as a training submarine until January 1947. Then transferred to the Pacific, she transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

at mid-month and arrived at

Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait junc ...

, Vallejo, California, on 14 February to begin a

Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) was initiated by the United States Navy after World War II to improve the submerged speed, maneuverability, and endurance of its submarines. (The "Y" in the acronym was added for pronouncea ...

(GUPPY-II) conversion. Early in November, she completed trials and on 22 February arrived at

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, her new homeport.

Eastern Pacific

For the next two years, she remained in the eastern Pacific operating primarily off

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but during the summer and early fall of 1948, ranged as far north as the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

. On 1 May 1950 she headed west for her first deployment in the Far East. On 8 June she arrived at

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

, and on 11 June she shifted to

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

, from which base she conducted

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

(ASW) training exercises with units of Naval Forces Far East. Two weeks later the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

began. A unit of TF 96, Naval Forces Japan ''Remora'' patrolled Soya Strait, between

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

and

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

in late July and early August. Later in the month, she headed back to San Diego. During the next two years she underwent overhaul, provided services for the Line School at

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, California, and conducted local training exercises. She returned to the western Pacific in early 1953. Arriving at

Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all ...

on 15 March, she continued on to Japan in April and at mid-month rejoined TF 96. In June she was back in Okinawan waters for patrols and exercises, after which she returned to Yokosuka. On 2 July she headed east, reaching San Diego on 3 August. After the fighting in Korea ended, ''Remora'' remained based at San Diego and through the decade continued to alternate training exercises and patrols in the western Pacific with similar

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

operations off the

United States West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of Calif ...

and in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an waters. She remained in the eastern Pacific during 1956 and 1958, but, during the spring of the latter year, was engaged in extended exercises off

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Pearl Harbor

In November 1961, ''Remora'' was transferred from San Diego to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

. The following year she underwent a seven-month

(GUPPY-III) conversion which lengthened her hull by and her conning tower by five feet. Then, in 1963, she was employed to evaluate antisubmarine sonar in Hawaiian waters. In May 1964, she resumed a schedule of annual six-month WestPac deployments which she continued into 1969. ''Remora'' was one of the last diesel boats to receive the Navy Unit Commendation for "Meritorious Service for operations during the Summer and Fall of 1967." During a shipyard overhaul in late 1967 early 1968, Engine #1 was removed and replaced with a "Prairie Masker" system designed to mask her engines during snorkeling. In July 1969, ''Remora'' shifted home ports, from Pearl Harbor to Charleston, South Carolina. With the exception of one

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

cruise, from 16 February to 26 June 1970, she continued to operate out of Charleston, along the Atlantic seaboard, in the

, and in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, until decommissioned 29 October 1973 at Charleston.

Greek service

After decommissioning from US Navy in 1973, she was transferred to the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

as a sale, and recommissioned ''Katsonis'' (S-115). She served until 31 March 1993, when she was decommissioned.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Remora (Ss-487) Tench-class submarines Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1945 ships World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Korean War submarines of the United States Tench-class submarines of the Hellenic Navy