View source for USS Harder (SS-568)

{{Short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Other ships|USS Harder|Italian submarine Romeo Romei}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:USS Harder (SS-568).jpg|300px|USS Harder (SS-568)]]
|Ship caption= USS ''Harder'' (the three distinctive shark-fin domes are the [[Passive Underwater Fire Control Feasibility System|PUFFS]] sonar).
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1974}}
|Ship name= USS ''Harder''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded= 
|Ship builder=[[Electric Boat Company]]
|Ship laid down= 30 June 1950
|Ship launched= 3 December 1951
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 19 August 1952
|Ship decommissioned= 31 January 1974
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 20 February 1974
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship identification=SS-568
|Ship fate= Sold to Italy, 1974
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Italy
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Italy|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Romeo Romei''
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship commissioned= 18 August 1974
|Ship decommissioned= 31 May 1988
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship identification=S 516
|Ship fate= 
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Tang|submarine}} [[Attack submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|2050|LT|t|0}} surfaced
*{{convert|2700|LT|t|0}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|277|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|27|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|18.3|kn|mph km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|213|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=8 officers and 75 men
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=8 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s (6 forward, 2 aft)
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Harder'' (SS-568)''', a {{sclass|Tang|submarine}}, was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[Harder (fish)|harder]], a fish of the [[mullet (fish)|mullet]] family found off South Africa.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Harder''′s [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] by the [[Electric Boat Company]] in [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]], on 30 June 1950. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 3 December 1951, sponsored by Kay Logan Cole, the widow of [[Lieutenant (naval)|Lieutenant]] S.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Logan, [[executive officer]] of the submarine {{USS|Harder|SS-257}}, lost during [[World War II]]. ''Harder'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 19 August 1952.

==Service history==
After shakedown out of [[Newport, Rhode Island]], ''Harder'' made a 1000-mile (1600-km) submerged passage from [[New London, Connecticut]], to [[Nassau, Bahamas]], while snorkeling. She then engaged in tests out of New London to evaluate fast attack type submarines.

''Harder'' began fleet operations out of New London in June 1953.  Shortly thereafter ''Harder'' departed for the [[British Isles]]. During this voyage, she experienced mechanical difficulties with her then-experimental Fairbanks type 3 engines.  In August 1953, her engines broke down completely off the east coast of [[Ireland]]. She was taken under tow by {{USS|Tringa|ASR-16|6}} and endured the longest tow in submarine history, 2100 miles (3400&nbsp;km) across the Atlantic to [[New London, Connecticut]].

During the next several years ''Harder'' carried out a schedule of training and readiness operations with ships of the Atlantic Fleet and Allied [[NATO]] nations.  Operating from the North Atlantic to the [[Caribbean Sea]], she engaged in [[sonar]] evaluation tests, supported ASW tactical exercises, and participated in submerged simulated attack operations. In March 1959 she participated in SUBICEX, during which she cruised 280 miles (450&nbsp;km) beneath the ice packs off [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], further than any conventionally powered submarine had previously gone.

After completing a three-month advanced submarine exercise in the Atlantic, ''Harder'' switched her home port to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], where she arrived 17 November and joined Submarine Squadron 4. She continued operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean for more than a year, then departed Charleston 24 May 1961 for deployment off the western coast of [[Europe]] and in the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. After reaching [[Bremerhaven]], Germany, on 9 June, she supported ASW operations with ships of the [[Bundesmarine|Federal German Navy]]. The following month she sailed via [[Holy Loch]], [[Scotland]], and [[Rota, Spain]], to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] where she supported peace-keeping operations of the [[United States Sixth Fleet|6th Fleet]]. ''Harder'' returned to Charleston 28 August.

Training exercises and tests evaluating [[ASROC]] and other ASW systems kept ''Harder'' busy until she entered [[Charleston Naval Shipyard]] for overhaul in October 1962.Ready for action in April 1963, she operated along the Atlantic Coast and in the [[Caribbean Sea]] for the next 2½ years polishing her underwater warfare tactics and operating with [[destroyer]]-type ships as they worked on ASW exercises.

''Harder'' again entered [[Charleston Naval Shipyard]] on 22 October for a thorough overhaul and modernization in which she received an 18-foot hull extension to accommodate the new [[PUFFS]] passive [[sonar]] system, a redesigned superstructure, new engines, and improved electrical and electronic equipment. Modernization completed early in 1967, ''Harder'' rejoined the fleet.

==''Romeo Romei'' (S 516)==

''Harder'' was decommissioned on 31 January 1974, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 20 February 1974, and sold to [[Italy]].

Commissioned on 18 August 1974 as ''Romeo Romei'', ex-''Harder'' served the [[Marina Militare|Italian Navy]] until she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1988.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/harder-ii.html}}
{{Portal bar|United States|Italy|Engineering}}
{{US Navy navbox}}
{{Tang class submarine|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harder (Ss-568)}}
[[Category:United States Tang-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1951 ships]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Tang-class submarines of the Italian Navy]]