Allied Warships

Torsk (SS-423)

Submarine of the Tench class

USS Torsk sliding down the slipway during launch 6 September 1944.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Tench
Pennant	423
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	22 Feb 1943
Laid down	7 Jun 1944
Launched	6 Sep 1944
Commissioned	16 Dec 1944
End service	4 Mar 1968
History	USS Torsk fired the last two torpedoes of the war, sinking Japanese Coastal Defense Craft No. 13 and No. 47 on 14 August 1945. The sinkings of these last Japanese ships of the war completed the Navy's mission, begun on 7 December 1941, to sweep the seas of Japanese merchant vessels and warships. After the war, Torsk's role as a training vessel helped her establish a world record of 11,884 dives. Torsk underwent a Fleet Snorkel conversion in 1952, and later was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her operations during the 1960 Lebanon Crisis. She later took part in the Cuban Blockade, which earned her the Navy Commendation Medal. Decommissioned on 4 March 1968 and placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training vessel at the Washington Navy Yard. Placed out of service and simultaneously struck for the Naval Register on 15 December 1971. USS Torsk was turned over to the state of Maryland to be used as a museum in the Inner Harbor at Baltimore on 26 September 1972.

Commands listed for USS Torsk (423)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Bafford Edward Lewellen, USN	16 Dec 1944	23 Sep 1945

2	Lt.Cdr. George Woodruff Forbes, Jr., USN	1948	1950

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Notable events involving Torsk include:

21 Jan 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) arrived at Newport, Rhode Island from New London, Connecticut for torpedo trials.

23 Jan 1945
With her torpedo trials completed, USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN), arrived at New London, Connecticut.

11 Feb 1945
With her trials and initial training completed USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) departed from New London, Connecticut bound for Port Everglades, Florida.

16 Feb 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) arrived at Port Everglades, Florida.

21 Feb 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) departed Port Everglades, Florida for the Panama Canal Zone.

25 Feb 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) arrived in the Panama Canal Zone.

6 Mar 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) departed the Panama Canal Zone for Pearl Harbour.

23 Mar 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

8 Apr 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley, USNR) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour together with USS Staff (Lt. W.A. Upton, USNR), USS Florikan (Lt. D. Hima, USN), USS PGM-21 (Lt. L. Gardiner, USNR) and USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN).

16 Apr 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Kii Suido and off the north-east coast of Honshu.

16 Jun 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) ended her 1st war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

8 Jul 1945
USS Catfish (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Overton, USNR) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour together with USS Coolbaugh (Lt.Cdr. S.E. Zimmerman, USNR), USS Pruitt (Lt. D.B. Harby, USNR), USS Howard (Lt.Cdr. F.W. Diehl, USNR), USS Stickleback (Cdr. H.K. Nauman, USN), USS Plaice (Cdr. R.S. Andrews, USN), USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) and USS Sargo (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Hingson, USN).

17 Jul 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to proceed to Guam and then head on to her patrol area in the Sea of Japan.

2 Aug 1945
Around 1500K/2, USS Devilfish (T/Lt.Cdr. S.S. Mann, Jr., USN) and USS Torsk (T/Cdr. B.E. Lewellen, USN) departed from Guam for their 4th and 2nd war patrols. USS Devilfish was ordered to patrol off the Bonin Islands and USS Torsk was to patrol in the Sea of Japan.

They were escorted until around 1845K/2 by USS SC-1275 (Lt.(jg) M.L. White, USNR).

The submarines parted company with each other around 1530K/5.

10 Aug 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) passes through Tsushima Strait.

13 Aug 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Kaiho Maru (873 GRT) off the west coast of Honshu, Japan in position 36°17'N, 136°09'E.

14 Aug 1945
While operating in the Sea of Japan USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) torpedoed and sank the Japanese corvettes Kaibokan 13 (745 tons) in position 35°44'N, 134°38'E and Kaibokan 47 (745 tons, both offsite links) in position 35°41'N, 134°38'E.

9 Sep 1945
USS Torsk (Cdr. B.E. Lewellen) ended her 2nd war patrol at Guam.