USS Clamagore

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox ship USS Clamagore (SS-343) was a Template:Sclass submarine, which operated as a museum ship at the Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum outside Charleston, South Carolina from 1979 to 2022. Built in 1945 for the United States Navy, she was still in training when World War II ended. She was named for the clamagore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A National Historic Landmark, she was the last surviving example of a GUPPY III type submarine.<ref name="nrhpinv2"/> On 15 October 2022, Clamagore, stripped of sail and superstructure was removed from Patriots Point and towed to Norfolk, Virginia to begin final recycling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Construction

Clamagore was built by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut near the end of World War II. She was launched on 25 February 1945 and sponsored by Miss Mary Jane Jacobs, daughter of Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs and commissioned on 28 June 1945.<ref name="danfs_1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Operational history

Clamagore was first assigned to Key West, Florida, and reported there on 5 September 1945. She operated off Key West with various fleet units and with the Fleet Sonar School, voyaging on occasion to Cuba and the Virgin Islands until 5 December 1947, when she entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for GUPPY II modernization and installation of a snorkel.<ref name="danfs_1"/>

Clamagore returned to Key West 6 August 1948 and assumed local and Caribbean operations for the next eight years, except for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean from 3 February to 16 April 1953.<ref name="danfs_1"/>

Clamagore called at New London, Connecticut and Newport, Rhode Island early in 1957, returning to Key West 13 March. Between 23 September and 7 December she took part in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic, calling at Portsmouth, England, and Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. On 29 June 1959, she arrived at Charleston, her new home port, and after a period of coastwise operations, sailed 5 April 1960 to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean for a tour of duty which continued until July, when the submarine returned to Charleston. For the remainder of 1960, Clamagore operated off the east coast.<ref name="danfs_1" />

In 1962, Clamagore became one of only nine boats to undergo the GUPPY III conversion.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> She had a Template:Cvt hull extension added forward of the control room, a plastic sail and the BQG-4 PUFFS passive ranging sonar, which included the three sharkfin sensors on her deck.<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2" />

Clamagore finished her GUPPY III conversion in February 1963, and was transferred to Submarine Squadron 2 (SUBRON2) in Groton, Connecticut.Template:Citation needed

Post operational history

Clamagore was decommissioned on 12 June 1975 and stricken on 27 June 1975 after having served in the Navy for thirty years.<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates" /><ref name="Register" /> She was donated as a museum ship on 6 August 1979.Template:Citation needed

Clamagore arrived at Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Charleston, South Carolina in May 1981,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where she was moored as a museum ship along with aircraft carrier Template:USS and destroyer Template:USS.

Clamagore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark on 29 June 1989.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nris"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">Template:Cite web and
Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Clamagore was the last surviving GUPPY type III submarine in the United States.<ref name="scdahsum">Template:Cite web</ref> The GUPPY conversion submarines constituted the bulk of the nation's submarine force through the mid-1960s.

Due to severe degradation of the hull the Patriot Point museum had, on several occasions, looked for an alternate means to preserve the vessel.<ref name="post">Template:Cite web</ref> On 10 January 2017 the Palm Beach County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve funds for the vessel to be sunk as an artificial reef.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 16 April 2019 a group of retired submariners sued the State of South Carolina to save the Clamagore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In early 2020, the museum formed a plan to sink Clamagore at the Vermilion Reef site before the 2021 hurricane season.<ref name="post" /> The next year, the museum announced plans to scrap the submarine as the cost of preservation was considered unsupportable.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the summer of 2022, the museum began the process of scrapping the Clamagore.<ref>Doomed by deterioration Ships Monthly May 2022 page 6</ref> Its National Historic Landmark designation was withdrawn in September 2024.

• 
  USS Clamagore, 24 November 2003 (the three distinctive shark-fin domes are the PUFFS sonar).
• 
  Interior of USS Clamagore

Awards

• Meritorious Unit Commendation
• Navy Expeditionary Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Navy Occupation Medal with "EUROPE" clasp
• National Defense Service Medal with star

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.{{#if:http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c9/clamagore.htm%7C{{#if:%7C+The entries can be found [{{#if:1|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c9/clamagore.htm}} here] and [{{#if:1|{{{2}}}}} here].| The entry can be found [{{#if:1|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c9/clamagore.htm}} here].}}}}

External links

• Template:Navsource
• Patriot's Point Maritime Museum Template:Webarchive
• Clamagore Veterans Association
• History of Clamagore
  • Template:Cite web