Taurus on Tuesday announced its first entry into the dedicated PDW space, the fully ambidextrous 9mm RPC.
Billed as being built to NATO standards– keep in mind that the company competes for and wins military and police contracts all over the world– the new RPC is lightweight via alloy construction and runs from curved 32-round magazines.
And did we mention that it has a roller delayed operating system, which offers a flatter recoil impulse?
Note the case in the air and the muzzle still on target. (Photos: Taurus)
Controls are fully ambidextrous, with the bolt release/lock and magazine release easily reached from both sides, and a reversible, non-reciprocating charging handle. Note the rear vert Pic rail for braces.
Using a 4.5-inch threaded barrel, the RPC features a single-stage flat-faced trigger, an AR-15 compatible soft rubber over-molded grip, and three integrated quick-detach sling attachment points in addition to fully ambi controls and a Picatinny top rail.
A short M-LOK handguard is standard.
The RPC will be offered in two variants at launch, both with a rear vertical Picatinny rail, either with (MSRP $1098.99) or without ($939.99) a Strike Industries FSA folding brace. That puts it a couple of hundred bucks less than the roller-locked Springfield Armory Kuna and will likely come in under the cost of the Stribog SP9A3 as well.
Expect more on this interesting little guy from NRAAM this week, and know that we are eagerly trying to get one of these in for review.
On 9 April, some 86 years ago, neutral Denmark was attacked and quickly occupied by the Germans in Unternehmen Weserübung-Sud as a stepping stone to the invasion of Norway (Weserübung, proper).
The 9th of April has always held special significance for the volunteer soldiers in the Danish Home Guard (Hjemmeværnet, or HJV) and other parts of the country’s military, with “Never Again April 9th” (Aldrig mere 9. april) as a motto.
Formed just after Liberation in 1945, when the country had a robust Resistance movement, the Home Guard initially was divided into the black guard (sorte hjemmeværn) and the blue guard (blå hjemmeværn), with the terms coming from whether they wore recycled Axis (German panzer) uniforms or donated Allied (RAF blue)!
Formalized in April 1949, HJV combat patrols (kamppatruljer) began to appear across the country, organized at the local Army district level, and remained a fixture in the Cold War.
Thus:
Danish home guard (Forsvarets Hjemmeværnet) under en øvelse i 1980
Danish home guard (Forsvarets Hjemmeværnet) under en øvelse i 1980
Today, the HJV has some 45,000 members, with demographics averaging skilled workers in their 30s to 50s who have prior active military service. HJV members have volunteered to be deployed overseas in the GWOT, to Bosnia, and UN operations in Africa.
This April is also the 67th anniversary of the creation of the HJV’s Special Support and Reconnaissance Company (Særlig Støtte og Rekognosceringskompagni, or SSR), a “stay behind unit” intended to come out after Soviet/Russian occupation to perform direct action.
You know, Danish Wolverines, but with government backing.
The SSR was formed in 2007 from the amalgamation of two previous patrol companies (PTRKMP/HOK and PTRKMP/ELK) that were stood up in 1994, which in turn dated back to the old Special Intelligence Patrols (Specielle Efterretningspatruljer, or SEP) whose official birthday is considered 9 April 1959.
Selected from very skilled Home Guard members, who are typically prior active service, SSR members undergo 400 hours of training in 12 months (one classroom weeknight every week, one weekend in the field every month) before joining their patrol.
To be able to be considered for an SSR training spot, a candidate has to complete a five-day Selection process and ace these minimum physical fitness requirements:
A 2600-meter run wearing running clothes in a maximum of 12 minutes.
Two 20 km marches wearing boots, uniform, basic gear, and backpack totaling 25 kg, incl. rifle, excl. water and food. Each march must be completed in a maximum of 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Two land nav orientation marches (daylight and dark) using 2 cm army maps, with satisfactory results.
Swim test (minimum 300 meters, 15 meters of swimming underwater, deep dive 4 meters to retrieve a dummy, jump from a seesaw)
The unit consists mainly of volunteer soldiers from all over the country and is based at Tirstrup Field in the West and Skalstrup Field in the East.
The SSR is considered part of the country’s Special Operations Command and can be tapped to support the Jægerkorpset and Frømandskorpset.
As such, they wear a green beret with a distinctive and hard-earned sword-and-lightning-bolt cap badge (huemærke).
Not a lot of times you see an Ecuadorian fighter buzzing a CVN with a Rhino of Strike Fighter Squadron 137 (VFA-137) “Kestrels” as a wingman.
You know that Hornet is pushing stall speed to get this photo! Credit: Navy Lt. William Shortal, VIRIN: 260408-N-NO803-9035
Official caption: “Blue on Blue” An Ecuadorian Air Force Embraer A-29 [EMB 314] Super Tucano flies alongside a U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet above the USS Nimitz during a bilateral maritime engagement in the Pacific Ocean, April 8, 2026. The USS Nimitz is deployed as part of Southern Seas, an exercise designed to enhance capability, improve interoperability, and strengthen maritime partnerships with countries in the region through joint, multinational, and interagency exchanges and cooperation.
If you are interested, it looks like the Sidewinder carrying 18E above is the Falcon 12 CO bird 301, BuNo 168866, carrying the NA tail code of CVW-17. It is a Block III circa 2013 bird, construction number E243, and used to belong to VFA-97 until the latter went Lightning.
The Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana’s 2311th Squadron (La Escuadrilla de Combate 2311 “Dragones”) operates all 17 of the country’s Tucanos, purchased in 2009 to replace Ecuador’s elderly fleet of Vietnam-era Cessna A-37 Dragonflies, and is the country’s only combat aircraft type.
If you are a fan of U.S. military arms, especially of the 20th Century, you are well aware of Mr. Bruce Canfield.
The March American Rifleman has an article penned by Bruce on the Short Life of America’s Anti-Tank Rifles. Of note, he includes the early Browning .50-caliber AT variant, the Winchester Model 1918 .50-caliber High Power Bolt Action Swivel Gun, and the T1E1, a .60-caliber experimental design tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in October 1942.
Official caption: “Pfc. V.L. Creswell, Newport, Ark., 25th Inf. Div., an ammo bearer on a quad fifty machine gun, rests while he waits to reload the blazing gun.”
Photographer: Cpl. Tom Nebia (ON), U.S. Army Signal Corps Archives SC 364044.
Creswell, shown with a 110-round belt of linked .50 cal draped over his flak vest, worked a motorized Maxson M45 Quad turret, thus:
Oh yeah
Known as “The Meat Chopper” from its use against infantry, the M45 was designed as an anti-aircraft gun. The electrically powered mount moved at about 60 degrees per second and could elevate to near-vertical and depress slightly less than the horizon for use against ground targets in enfilade. Two 6-volt batteries that were recharged by a small Briggs & Stratton gas engine, coupled to a generator, fed the electric motor on the mount.
Note wheels cranked out when stationary
That comfy gunner’s chair
Note the electronic solenoid for the M2s. Without electrical power via battery or engine, the Maxson was a lawn ornament
To this mount, the design added a central gunner’s seat of luxurious canvas, a large spiderweb-type graduated sight, and four Browning heavy machine guns arranged in a pair on each side, which provided .50 cal suppression in surround sound.
Fully equipped with 800 rounds of ammunition, an armor shield for the gunner, oil, fuel for the engine, and all accessories, the mount topped 2,400 pounds. This size fit in the rear of a large truck, half-track, or could be towed alone on a small M20-style trailer, and their firepower made them very popular with the Joes in the field.
As for Creswell, born one of 10 children in Independence, Arkansas, he was just over 20 in the top photo, his older brothers Bundt and Wimps serving in WWII. He made it out of Korea and returned home to marry Ms. Juanita M Higginbotham on 24 May 1952 before going on to work at National Standard for 26 years. Active in the VFW (Post 360), V.L. “John” Creswell passed in 1996 at the age of 65, leaving behind two daughters and five grandkids. He is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Bend, St. Joseph, Indiana.
Official caption: “Commandoes of the 41st Royal British Marines plant demolition charges along railroad tracks of enemy supply line, which they demolished during a commando raid, 8 miles south of Songjin, Korea. 10 April 1951.”
NARA FILE #: 080-G-428242
If you are curious as to why the RMs of 41 (Independent) Commando are equipped with U.S. arms (the M1 Garands slung), its because the scratch unit was assembled from 219 men sent to Japan in civilian clothes in September 1950, then later married up with their green berets, battle dress, and boots, but had to rely on winter uniforms, weapons, and kit drawn from American stocks.
The above raid, which “involved transporting quantities of limpet mines and explosives ashore in rubber dinghies through the surf and currents” from the submarine USS Perch (ASSP-313), was highly successful in disrupting enemy rail lines and soon gave rise to the nickname the Royal Marines proudly adopted as a trademark of their mission in Korea, “the train wreckers.”
British Commando Unit on Deck of the USS Perch, at Japan, en route to Korea, 1 November 1950. NARA 80-G-421629
The RMs lost 31 very brave men in Korea, with 17 captured as POWs.
Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania this week launched the future NRP Dom João II, a Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV) 10720 series ship for the Portuguese Navy.
The 353-foot, 7,000-ton vessel is designed for minimal manning (48 full-time crew) and can conduct everything from scientific research and drone experimentation to humanitarian relief and disaster support.
With a 308×36 foot flight deck and 650m² of hangar space, the vessel can transport and launch unmanned underwater, surface, and aerial vehicles, as well as carry up to 12 TEU containers housing mission-specific modular systems like a Role 2 NATO hospital or ROV equipment.
Dom João can carry a light battalion (300~ men) for brief periods and 10-12 RIBs to land them in a maritime raid force situation, backed up by at least two Agusta-Westland AW101 helicopters and assorted UAVs. The regiment-sized Portuguese Marines are certainly capable of providing such a force.
Alternatively, Dom João can embark a force of light armor, provided a port is available, with her decks able to stow 18 vehicles, landed on a pier via an onboard 30-ton crane. The country’s army operates a decent quantity of Pandur 8x8s, 90mm-armed Commando V-150s, etc., and could make that happen.
In terms of UAVs, Dom João can also operate as a drone carrier with as many of the bad boys as you can stuff aboard her.
The fixed-wing UAVs are launched via a ski jump. Portuguese Navy image.
The mothership is shown with two notional fixed-wing UAVs on deck (they look like MQ-1C Grey Eagle, but the new MQ-9B STOL may be a better fit) as well as 6 quad-copter UAVs and one NH90 helicopter. The design seems to lack an aviation hangar. Below decks is a modular area to launch and recover AUV, UUV, and USV. Portuguese Navy image.
The Portuguese Navy has acquired a wide range of unmanned systems in recent years, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as UAVision Aeronautics’ Spyro 4N and OGS42N/VN, Beyond Vision’s VTOne and HEIFU Pro, and Autel Robotics’ EVO II Dual 640T Enterprise V2 and EVO Nano; the LSTS’ Seacon-3 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV); and a shelter-based deployable ground control station.
The €132 million tender for Dom João was signed in 2023 and laid down in October 2024.
She will carry the name of the 15th-century Portuguese King who championed maritime exploration, broadening the work of his great-uncle, Henry the Navigator, and is scheduled for sea trials later this year.
While Dom João has no armament fitted, the MPV could be escorted in operations by the Damen-built former Dutch Karel Doorman-class frigates NRP Bartolomeu Dias (F333, ex-Van Nes) and NRP D. Francisco de Almeida (F334, ex-Van Galen) or the three newer Vasco da Gama (German MEKO 200) class frigates, which do.
A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 223, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, taxis on the runway at Bodø Air Station, Norway, March 3, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Henke)
This week’s Fighter Pilot Podcast is on the Harrier, specifically the AV-8B, and has as guests the final skipper, Lt. Col. “Traper” Cumbie, and XO Major Eric “Porky” Scheibe, of the last Marine Harrier squadron, VMA-223, the “Great American Bulldogs.”
The ‘Dogs have a hell of a history, flying Brewster F2A-1 Buffalos at the beginning of WWII, then moving to Wildcats and Corsairs (bagging 146 victories 1942-45), Panthers in Korea, Skyhawks in Vietnam, and the Harrier since 1987.
And yes, 223 supported True Lies back in the day with actual Harriers– you can even see the Bulldog on the side. The trio of Harriers used in the Schwarzenegger flick was real and loaned from the USMC to the production for $100,000 per day, plus $2,400 per flying hour per aircraft.
Some 85 years ago today, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. The first American battleship commissioned in 18 years.
On the 1st anniversary of the German invasion of neutral Denmark and Norway, across the ocean in New York, a class-leading super battleship came to life. And, of note, she had a Chicago-born skipper, the son of Norwegian immigrants.
USS North Carolina (BB 55), the third ship to carry the name in the U.S. Navy, was commissioned this day in 1941, with her plank owner skipper, Capt. Olaf Mandt Hustvedt (USNA 1909), taking command of the most modern battlewagon in the fleet– packed with so much new technology that she was quickly dubbed “The Showboat.”
USS North Carolina during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44717
USS North Carolina commissioning ceremony, at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. Photographed by M. Rudolph Vetter. NH 96673-KN
USS North Carolina quarterdeck scene, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. NH 44718
USS North Carolina officers and crew salute as the flag is raised for the first time, during commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard on 9 April 1941. NH 44719
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox shakes hands with Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt, ship’s CO, during North Carolina’s commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 9 April 1941. At right is North Carolina Governor J.M. Broughton. NH 44721
USS North Carolina via 1938 Janes
North Carolina completed her shakedown in the Caribbean before the Pearl Harbor attack and, after intensive war exercises, entered the Pacific on 10 June 1942, with a long war ahead of her. Although fighting across the Pacific and being officially reported as sunk at least six times by the Japanese, she was a lucky vessel, suffering just 53 casualties.
Hustvedt, who was on Admiral King’s staff by Pearl Harbor and then on Ingersoll’s, went on to become Commander, Battleships, Atlantic Fleet, in 1943, then commanded Battleship Division 7 in the Pacific. He retired from the Navy in 1946 as a vice admiral, completing 41 years of service. He passed in 1978, aged a ripe 92, and is buried at Arlington, Section 7, Site 9044.
If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi As Henk says: “Warship Coffee – no sugar, just a pinch of salt!”
Warship Wednesday 8 April 2026: Front Runner
USN Photo 80-G-08937 via the National Archives.
Above we see the Cramp-built Balao (not Tench) class fleet boat USS Tusk (SS-426), some 80 years ago this week, in April 1946, just after she was commissioned. Note her late WWII style “gunboat” arrangement with two 5″/25s and two 40mm Bofors clustered around her fairwater.
Remember, National Submarine Day is on April 11th, and Tusk, which never fired a torpedo in anger (that we know of), nonetheless has one of the most epic careers in naval history
The Balao Class
A member of the 180+-ship Balao class, she was one of the most mature U.S. Navy diesel designs of the World War Two era, constructed with knowledge gained from the earlier Gato class. Unlike those of many navies of the day, U.S. subs were “fleet” boats, capable of unsupported operations in deep water far from home.
The Balao class was designed to dive deeper (400 ft. test depth) than the Gato class (300 ft.) due to the use of high-yield-strength steel in the pressure hull.
Able to range 11,000 nautical miles on their reliable diesel engines, they could undertake 75-day patrols that could span the immensity of the Pacific. Carrying 24 (often unreliable) Mk14 Torpedoes, these subs often sank anything short of a 5,000-ton Maru or warship by surfacing and using their deck guns. They also served as the firetrucks of the fleet, rescuing downed naval aviators from right under the noses of Japanese warships.
Some 311 feet long overall, they were all-welded construction to facilitate rapid building. Best yet, they could be made for the bargain price of about $7 million in 1944 dollars (just $100 million when adjusted for today’s inflation) and completed from keel laying to commissioning in about nine months.
USS Roncador (Balao) class plans
USS Roncador (Balao) class plans
An amazing 121 Balaos were completed through five yards at the same time, with the following pennant numbers completed by each:
Cramp: SS-292, 293, 295-303, 425, 426 (12 boats)
Electric Boat: 308-313, 315, 317-331, 332-352 (42)
Manitowoc on the Great Lakes: 362-368, 370, 372-378 (15)
Mare Island on the West Coast: 304, 305, 307, 411-416 (9)
Portsmouth Navy Yard: 285-288, 291, 381-410, 417-424 (43)
Our subject is the only U.S. warship named for the cusk or tusk, a large edible saltwater fish related to the cod. The 14th and last submarine to be built by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, she was laid down as the future SS-426 on 23 August 1943, and launched into the Delaware River on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Carolyn Park Mills, wife of RADM Earle Watkins Mills (USNA 1917) who was soon to take over the Maritime Commission from the retiring VADM Emory S. Land.
Mrs. Mills christens the future Tusk, 8 July 1945. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection, SCRC 170
Launch of Tusk, 8 July 1945. The sign on her bow says she was paid for via War Bond Purchases made by the people of Philadelphia. There were eight war loan drives from 1942 to 1945. By the end of the war, 85 million Americans had purchased 185.7 billion dollars of bonds. Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Collection, SCRC 170
With the end of the war, construction slowed, and Tusk was only commissioned on 11 April 1946.
Tusk had a late war “gunboat” style arraignment, including two 5″/25s and two Bofors guns, along with points for detachable 50 cals
Her first skipper was CDR Raymond A. Moore, USN, who seems to just be a placeholder as he was replaced within a fortnight by CDR Marshall Harlan Austin (USNA 1935), who had commanded the Gato-class fleet boat USS Redfin (SS-272) on her 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th War Patrols, sinking a Japanese destroyer and four merchantmen to earn a Navy Cross.
These images were taken the day before her commissioning:
(Cold) War!
Under Austin, Tusk completed her shakedown cruise in the South Atlantic, visiting ports in Brazil, Curacao, and Panama from June to July 1946. She returned to New London in August and the week before Thanksgiving 1946, President Harry S. Truman, ADM William D. Leahy, and Annapolis Commandant, VADM Aubrey W. Fitch, toured Tusk while she was tied up at the Naval Academy.
Photograph of President Truman and Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy inspecting the USS Tusk, a submarine, during the President’s visit to the U.S. Naval Academy. Note the well-turned-out MM1 watch stander’s dolphins and hash mark on the sleeves of his cracker jacks. National Archives Identifier: 198606
Photograph of President Truman aboard a submarine, the USS Tusk, during his visit to the U.S. Naval Academy: (left to right) the President; Vice Admiral Aubrey Fitch, Superintendent of the Naval Academy; Fleet Admiral William Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief; and General Harry Vaughan, Military Aide to the President. NARA 198648
Truman waves from Tusk’s conning tower. NARA 198649
The next year saw Tusk participate in a series of exercises and a minor collision with the hospital ship USS Consolation (AH-15).
Repaired in Philadelphia, she then conducted oceanographic work along the Atlantic shelf with Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
She ended 1947 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for a Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) II conversion, one of 24 Balao and Tench-class subs that received the SCB 47 rebuild.
During the subsequent seven months, Tusk underwent significant modifications to enhance her submerged performance. Four high-capacity 126-cell batteries replaced her original batteries, which had half as many cells, bedded into larger wells. The hull was streamlined by adding a rounded bow, recessing anchors, capstans, deck rail stanchions, and cleats; and eliminating propeller guards, improving hydrodynamic efficiency.
Topside, her deck guns were removed and sail enlarged and refined to accommodate three new masts (snorkel induction, snorkel exhaust and ESM), the snork enabling diesel-powered operation at periscope depth and battery recharging while submerged. The periscope and radar mast were enclosed. A BQR-2 sonar was fitted with hydrophones under the forefoot and its electronics housed in the forward torpedo room. Likewise, her Elliot Motor Co. high-speed drive electric motors with reduction gear were swapped out for low-speed direct drive motors of 2,500 hp per shaft, up from 1,370.
Her step-side Portsmouth Sail had a thinner top than those fitted to other GUPPYs by EB, with a curved trailing edge, square windows, and a sharper lower forward edge. They also had a fitting for the sub’s SV radar screen.
These upgrades transitioned Tusk from a submersible to an actual submarine and, while her surface speed was cut by about two knots, her submerged speed rose from 10 knots to about 15 knots.
After her G.II conversion in early 1948, she emerged looking very different from her original 1946 configuration, and, amid the Berlin Crisis, conducted a simulated war patrol to the Canal Zone in June and July as part of her post-modernization shakedown.
Her skipper during the cruise was CDR Guy F. Guggliotta, USN, another wartime sub driver who had commanded USS S-28 (SS 133), Halibut (SS 232) on her 10th War Patrol, and Raton (SS 270) on her 8th War Patrol, earning a pair of Silver Stars in the process.
Tusk, post GUPPY II conversion with her step side Portsmouth sail, seen off the New London Harbor Lighthouse.
Tusk seen between 1948 and 1962 post GUPPY II conversion with her step side Portsmouth sail, NH 67826
Cochino’s Last Dive
Attached to Submarine Development Group 2 out of Newport for the first six months of 1949, she sortied to the North Atlantic that July with SubRon 8 for a series of multinational NATO exercises that saw her visit Londonderry and Portsmouth in the British Isles.
At this point, Tusk was on her fourth skipper, WWII sub captain CDR Robert Kemble Rittenhouse Worthington, USN, who had earned a Navy Cross during Balao’s 8th, 9th, and 10th Patrols after sinking over a half-dozen small vessels, adding to a Silver Star he earned as a junior officer on four patrols aboard USS Silversides.
As noted of Cochino by DANFS, “huge waves slammed the submarines’ snorkel so violently, and jolted the boat so severely, that the pounding caused an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the release of deadly hydrogen [chlorine] gas,” forcing the stricken sub’s crew to evacuate the surfaced boat in terrible weather, and hunker down on her deck.
The last known photograph of USS Cochino (SS 345) was taken in July 1949. She now lies in deep water north of Norway near 71.35N. 23.35E, sunk stern first on 0146 on 26 August 1949 with no personnel aboard.
Receiving the underwater sonar signal from Cochino “Casualty surfacing,” Tusk worked over the next 14 hours on the rough seas to save first Cochino herself, then, after a second battery explosion made that impossible, to rescue Cochino’s 77 embarked souls via a prow rigged between the two boats on the open sea. Tragically, Tusk wound up trading 11 of her own crew and an embarked Philco techrep (Mr. Robert Wellington) to Poseidon in the deal, with only six later recovered from the sea alive.
A depiction of the USS Cochino battery fire that led to the sinking of the submarine in 1949, and cross-decking to Tusk, by Stanley Borack.
Greater detail from Tusk’s deck log:
Tusk, packed with nearly 150 personnel, many of them injured and suffering from exposure, she made for Hammerfest Harbor, Norway, and tied up at 0845 on the 26th to immediately receive a Norwegian medical team aboard.
Besides an officer (LCDR Richard M. Wright) sent to a Norwegian hospital in Tromso and four men flown home to Westover AFB for transfer to the Navy hospital at Chelsea, Massachusetts, the remaining 72 Cochino survivors crammed aboard Tusk once again two days later tor the return trip back across the Atlantic, arriving at New London on 9 September for a home town welcome.
Truly an epic sea story.
The 1950 Silent Service installment “The Last Dive” (Season 1, Episode 22) covered Cochino and Tusk’s final 14 hours together. A young Walter Matthau, DeForest Kelley, and Leslie Nielsen portrayed Cochino crewmembers, with LCDR Wright appearing at the end of the show, having completed 14 months of medical rehab.
Continued Cold War service
Tusk was assigned to the Submarine School at New London, then Submarine Development Group 2, interspersed with regular Atlantic Fleet exercises.
One of her declassified Dev Group tests now in the public archives is one for the Naval Research Laboratory in 1957, which involved the use of a light pulse transmitter to communicate with aircraft while submerged at depths of 90 feet.
In November 1949, during maneuvers 175nm off the Labrador coast in 40-foot seas, Tusk struck her periscope on the screw of a Navy supply ship USS Aldebaran (AF-10), picking up minor damage but suffering no casualties.
In late 1952, Tusk was assigned to SubRon 10 for a six-month Med cruise with the 6th Fleet, visiting Malta, Gibraltar, Cannes, Piraeus, Izmir, and French Oran.
USS Tusk (SS 426) post GUPPY II conversion 1 August 1952 USN 477116
Tusk would make four further European cruises over the next two decades. Notably, this would include a visit to Fiumicino during the 1960 Rome Olympics, calling in Portugal to mark the 500th anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator, and a 1967 cruise where she would visit Bremerhaven, Aarhus, and Göteborg.
USS Tusk sailing into Malta on one of her Med deployments, pre 1965
Jane’s 1960 entry for the Tench class, with both the Cramp-built GUPPY’d Tusk and Trumpetfish listed incorrectly as members. At the time, the Navy was also operating at least 80 Balaos, including NRF ships and those in mothballs.
Tusk also pulled three shorter Operation Springboard readiness deployments to the Caribbean, a region of growing importance post-Castro. As you can imagine, annual Springboard exercises involved high-profile mock ASW, amphibious landings, and fleet maneuvers around Puerto Rico. It was a common gathering for GUPPYs in the 60s and 70s.
Balao-class Springboard GUPPYs with North Atlantic sails: USS Bang (SS-385) preparing to tie up alongside USS Chivo (SS-341) at San Juan Naval Station, Puerto Rico, during Operation Springboard. Of note, the lowest point on the keel to the IFF antenna atop the lowered snorkel was 49 feet 8.25 inches, while the height to the top of the whip antenna is 78 feet from the keel. You weren’t going to submerge one of these bad boys in 10 fathoms! Bang’s skipper, CDR R.J. Carlin, is giving orders from atop her sail. The bow of a Canadian Ojibwa (Oberon) class SSK is visible in the lower left, and a U.S. Coast Guard HU-16 Albatross amphibian is flying low in the center background. Photograph by PHC CJ Wiitala, USN, released 14 March 1968 by Tenth Naval District Public Affairs Office. NH 98697
Further, Tusk was involved in at least two extensive polar ice operations, including with USS Tench (SS-417) on ICEX ’60 and SUBICEX 1-62 with Skate (SS-578) and Entemador (SS-340).
USS Tusk, USS Entemedor, and USS Skate dusted with snow, 1962, during SUBICEX
Tusk on ICEX March 1960 with Tench
Entering Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in July 1965, Tusk was given a six-month major overhaul that including removing all her engines, motors, and generators for rebuild, receiving a new periscope with a built in electronic sextant for taking star shots while still submerged, and picking up the tall streamlined fiberglass/plastic clamshell “North Atlantic” style fairweather typically seen on most American GUPPYs after the mid-60s.
The new sail allowed extra room for the growing number of masts and aerials, a higher observation platform for lookouts, and a more habitable position for watch standers while on the surface. Tusk also received the new Prairie Masker bubbler system, increased air-conditioning capacity, additional storerooms, and additional fresh water tanks as part of the modifications.
Balao class GUPPY II sister USS Catfish post refit 1960s North Atlantic sail. Tusk had the same layout.
Balao class GUPPY II sister USS Catfish post refit 1960s North Atlantic sail. Tusk had the same layout.
Rejoining the fleet in January 1966, Tusk was transferred to SubRon 8.
Submarine Squadron Eight at New London, 1968, with a wild mix of eight Cold War fleet boat conversions. Left to right: USS Sea Robin (SS-407)(GUPPY IA with Portsmouth style step sail); Tusk (SS-426)(GUPPY II w North Atlantic sail); Sea Owl (SS-405)(Fleet Snorkel w EB style step sail and large Project Kayo BQR-4A horseshoe passive sonar array); Sablefish (SS-303)(Fleet Snorkel w North Atlantic sail); Halfbeak (SS-352)(GUPPY II w North Atlantic sail); Blenny (SS-324)(GUPPY IA w North Atlantic sail) and Becuna (SS-319)(GUPPY IA w Portsmouth step-sail). The eighth unidentified submarine on the left has PUFFS passive underwater fire control arrays for the BQG-4 system. NH 88415
Tusk (SS-426) at New London, Connecticut, June 1, 1968, as part of SubRon 8. USS Becuna (SS 319) is across the pier. Sailors on deck, civilians observe from the pier. Courtesy of D.M. McPherson, NH 86627
By 1969, Tusk had been transferred to SubRon 2 but was still based out of her traditional New London home. She was known as The Front Runner, so dubbed “due to its reputation for excellence and high-performance.”
This was supported by her being awarded the Fire Control “E” for several consecutive years and the Battle Efficiency “E” for fiscal year 1973.
Tusk underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 11 February 1970, as part of SubRon 2. NHHC K-81809
USS Tusk 1972 Provided by Tom Robinson QM2 (SS)
While on her fifth European deployment on 12 August 1972, while off the coast of Spain, the well-traveled Tusk made her 10,000th dive and surface, a benchmark few submarines have reached. Of note, Tusk’s Balao-class sister USS Spikefish (SS-404) had set the 10,000 record first in 1960 and earned the title of “The divingest Submarine in the World,” which was later claimed by another Balao, USS Piper (SS-409), who logged 13,724 before her decommissioning.
Speaking of decommissioning…
Under the Cog
In 1960, the ROC (Taiwan) Navy embarked on the Sea Shark Project, designed to create a submarine force.
This morphed into the Wuchang Project and, in October 1964, after months of wrangling, Capt Wang Xiling, the ROC naval attaché stationed in Rome, overcame diplomatic difficulties and ordered two 58-foot SX-404 class midget-submarines with a displacement of only 40 tons from the Italian commercial shipyard Cos.Mo.S. SpA, Livorno. Two CosMoS CE2F/X100 human torpedo chariot-style frogman SDVs were acquired as well.
ROCN 58-foot SX-404 class midget submarine Haijiao (Sea Dragon) (S-1) between 1968 and 1973
To avoid complications, the components were shipped from Europe to Tamsui and then assembled in Taiwan by CoS.MoS personnel. The two SX-404 boats were commissioned on 8 October 1969 as Haijiao (Sea Dragon) (S-1) and Hailong (Sea Dragon I) (S-2), and were immediately put to work as training vessels of the Wuchang Submarine Squadron for the nascent ROCN sub force. The CNO of the fleet, ADM Feng Qicong, personally handed out the country’s first dolphin badges that day to the program’s members.
By late 1970, and with two years of midget sub operations under the ROCN’s belt, Capt Wang Xiling, then moved to the embassy in Washington, persuaded the U.S. to sell two submarines to Taiwan as training vessels, citing the need to enhance the navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities. In other words, “tame mice” for the ROCN’s two dozen destroyers and frigates to play with.
On 21 April 1971, the U.S. confirmed the planned handover of two surplus GUPPY IIs, initially designated “Project Poseidon” by the Navy, and renamed “Project Mercury” in December. In March, 1972, the first batch of ROCN personnel receiving the Project Mercury submarines arrived at the U.S. Naval Submarine School in New London for training.
Tusk’s sister, USS Cutlass (SS 478), was transferred to the ROCN as ROCS Hai Shih (Sea Lion) (SS 91) on 12 April 1973, her hull number later changed to S-791
By May 1973, with Tusk just returned from a three-month Caribbean training cruise that saw her call at Guantanamo Bay, Ocho Rios, Port au Prince, and Montego Bay, she welcomed aboard 81 officers and men from the Republic of China to commence training for turnover.
In anticipation of the new (to them) vessels, Taiwan laid up its SX-404s and redesignated the Wuchang Submarine Squadron as the Republic of China Navy’s 256th Squadron (Submarine) in August 1973.
On 18 October 1973, Tusk was decommissioned at New London and was simultaneously transferred, by nominal sale, to the Taiwan Navy. Her name was struck from the Navy list on the same day.
She became ROCS Hai Pao (Seal) (SS 92) in the same ceremony, with LCDR David H. Boyd, USN, turning over the boat to CDR Cheng Kuo-Yu, ROCN. Kuo-Yu had served in the Wuchang Squadron since 1969 and had spent seven months in Sub School in New London before beginning training on Tusk/Hai Pao.
Jane’s 1975 entry on the Cutlass/Hai Shih and Tusk/Hai Pao. They have since changed their hull numbers to S-791 and S-792
Amazingly, both of Taiwan’s GUPPYs, for decades the last remaining Balaos in service, are still in operation with the 256th Squadron, training ROCN submariners for the current front-line subs, the Dutch Zwaardvis-class ROCS Hai Lung (Sea Dragon) and ROCS Hai Hu (Sea Tiger), which were delivered in 1988.
Nonetheless, they are still officially combat-ready and undergo regular dry docking, inspection, overhaul, and sea periods.
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2005
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 internals
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 Zuoying Naval Base Oct 2017 Tuo Chiang-class corvette
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 sail
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 circa 2014 Keelung
ex USS Tusk, now ROCS 海豹(seal), SS792 control room
ROC President Tsai Ing-wen attended the “2017 Naval Goodwill Flotilla Launch Ceremony and Submarine Indigenous Construction Design Initiation and Cooperation Memorandum Signing Ceremony,” emphasizing that submarine indigenous construction is the most challenging aspect of the national defense autonomy policy and a responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief to the nation. The ROC Navy’s Tusk/Hai Pao (SS-792) is moored to Tsai Ing-wen’s left fore-south.
When the first two domestically built Haikun (Seagull)-class SSKs arrive in service in 2026 and 2027 (?), Cutlass/Hai Shih and Tusk/Hai Pao are expected to be retired with the 40-year-old Dutch boats rotating to fill the roles of the old GUPPYs.
The President of Taiwan presides over the naming and launching ceremony of the prototype submarine built domestically, the future ROCS Haikun (SS-711), on September 28, 2023.
Epilogue
Tusk’slogs and plans are in the National Archives.
There is at least one blog and one crewmember reunion group (who last met in 2017) to cherish Tusk’s memory and those who served on her.
Her U.S. service is remembered in Cold War classic maritime art.
“Cat and Mouse” by Wayne Scarpaci shows the GUPPY II USS Tusk (SS-426) with a Lockheed (P2V) Neptune flying overhead in ASW training.
Her skipper during the Cochino rescue, CDR Worthington (USNA ’38), had been on subs that earned a dozen battle stars and sunk 100,000 tons of shipping during WWII, earning him a Navy Cross, Silver Star, and three Bronze Stars. He didn’t need more medals. He retired from the fleet as a Captain on the staff of the Twelfth Naval District in San Diego in 1962, capping a very busy 24 years of active service. Worthington received an M.S. in Physics and Electronics from UCLA and worked for Lockheed Corporation on the design and construction of the pioneering submersible Deep Quest,which achieved a depth of 8,000 feet during a test dive. Leaving Lockheed in 1975, Worthington returned to the sea, sailing as master on several ocean vessels in Caribbean and Alaskan waters. He passed away in 1996, in San Diego, leaving a wife and two children behind. His papers are in the U.S. Naval War College Archives, of which he was an alumnus.
Thanks for reading!
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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