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USS Gudgeon (SS 567)

USS GUDGEON was the fifth ship in the TANG - class of Diesel submarines and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Reclassified auxiliary research submarine (AGSS) in April 1978, and guided missile auxiliary submarine (SSAG) on November 5, 1979, the GUDGEON was decommissioned on September 30, 1983, and was subsequently loaned to Turkey, where she was recommissioned as HIZIR REIS (S 342). Eventually purchased by Turkey on August 6, 1987, the GUDGEON continued to serve with the Turkish Navy and is now a floating museum.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS GUDGEON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS GUDGEON History:

USS GUDGEON was one of six TANG-class diesel-electric attack submarines, the first class of American submarines designed and constructed after World War II. GUDGEON was laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on May 20, 1950. She was launched on June 11, 1952, sponsored by Mrs. Robert A. Bonin, widow of the final commanding officer of the first USS GUDGEON (SS 211), which had been lost with all hands during World War II. The new GUDGEON was commissioned on November 21, 1952, with Commander Robert M. Carroll in command.

Following commissioning, GUDGEON underwent builder's trials and the training and correction work required to place the newly constructed submarine into operational service. She subsequently transferred from the Atlantic side of the United States to the Pacific Fleet. GUDGEON arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on July 18, 1953, where she joined Submarine Squadron 1 and Submarine Division 1. Her arrival began a long association with Pacific operations that continued for the remainder of her U.S. Navy career.

During the following months, GUDGEON carried out local operations and training exercises in Hawaiian waters. These included submarine proficiency work and participation in antisubmarine warfare exercises designed to improve the ability of surface ships and aircraft to detect, track, and attack modern submarines. On April 11, 1954, GUDGEON departed Hawaii for the U.S. mainland and participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises along the Washington coast. She subsequently entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, for an overhaul that occupied the remainder of 1954. Following completion of the work and subsequent trials, GUDGEON returned to Pearl Harbor on March 9, 1955.

After several months of training and preparation, GUDGEON departed Pearl Harbor on July 21, 1955, for her first extended western Pacific deployment. Operating with the Seventh Fleet, she visited Yokosuka, Japan; Taiwan, then commonly identified in contemporary American records as Formosa; Hong Kong; Manila in the Philippines; and Guam. The deployment occurred during a period of continuing Cold War tension in East Asia. The First Taiwan Strait Crisis had recently involved military confrontation between the People's Republic of China and Nationalist China on Taiwan, while the Korean Peninsula remained divided following the July 1953 armistice and the United States continued to maintain substantial naval forces throughout the western Pacific. GUDGEON completed the deployment and returned to Pearl Harbor on January 30, 1956.

During approximately the next eighteen months, GUDGEON alternated local operations from Pearl Harbor with overhaul work, another period of training off the U.S. West Coast, and special operations whose detailed nature was not publicly disclosed. Such assignments reflected the expanding Cold War role of American submarines, which were used not only for fleet training but also for surveillance and intelligence collection near the operating areas of Soviet and other communist naval forces.

On July 8, 1957, GUDGEON departed Pearl Harbor on one of the most notable cruises of her career. Serving as flagship of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force, she began a voyage that ultimately made her the first U.S. Navy submarine to circumnavigate the globe. She initially proceeded to Japanese waters and conducted exercises from Yokosuka.

During August 1957, while operating off Vladivostok, the principal Soviet naval base in the Far East, GUDGEON became involved in a serious Cold War encounter with Soviet antisubmarine forces. Several Soviet destroyers detected the submarine and attempted to maintain contact. For approximately thirty hours, GUDGEON maneuvered in an effort to evade the Soviet ships while being subjected to depth-charge attacks. The incident occurred during a period in which American submarines were conducting reconnaissance near major Soviet naval operating areas and Soviet forces were developing increasingly effective methods for detecting and countering such activity.

After completing exercises and operations in the western Pacific, GUDGEON departed Yokosuka westward on August 26, 1957, and continued her round-the-world voyage. During the following months, she crossed Asian, African, and European waters and called at ports on all three continents. The cruise demanded extensive logistical coordination for fuel, food, replacement parts, and maintenance at a time when diesel-electric submarines depended much more heavily on shore support than the nuclear-powered submarines then beginning to enter the fleet.

One specifically documented late stage of the voyage brought GUDGEON through the Mediterranean. After visiting Cannes, France, she arrived at Barcelona, Spain, on January 6, 1958. She remained there through January 8, the Barcelona call being her final Mediterranean port visit during the circumnavigation. GUDGEON subsequently continued westward across the Atlantic and eventually returned to Pearl Harbor on February 21, 1958. The complete cruise covered approximately 25,000 miles and made GUDGEON the first American submarine to complete a circumnavigation of the globe.

Following her return, GUDGEON underwent an extensive overhaul. She then resumed the mixture of local operations, special assignments, training exercises, and antisubmarine warfare work that characterized much of her peacetime service. She returned to the western Pacific during 1959, operating with Seventh Fleet units in Japanese waters and making calls at Subic Bay in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

During 1960, GUDGEON returned to the U.S. mainland for training and exercises along the Washington and California coasts. Another western Pacific deployment followed in 1961. She again operated with the Seventh Fleet and conducted exercises in Japanese waters, with Subic Bay and Hong Kong among her documented ports. These repeated East Asian deployments occurred against the background of the continuing strategic rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, growing tension between the United States and the People's Republic of China, the continued division of Korea, and the beginnings of increasing American involvement in Southeast Asia.

GUDGEON returned to mainland training during 1962. On January 29, she participated in Exercise Prairie Wolf with destroyer USS CARPENTER (DD 825) and submarine USS TANG (SS 563). The exercise tested CARPENTER's sonar tracking capability and its Asroc antisubmarine weapon system. For GUDGEON and TANG, the training provided an opportunity to practice maneuvering and evasion against a surface combatant equipped with modern sonar and stand-off antisubmarine weapons.

Another western Pacific deployment followed in 1963. GUDGEON again operated with Seventh Fleet forces in Japanese and western Pacific waters and made calls at Subic Bay and Hong Kong. She returned from the Far East to Pearl Harbor on August 1, 1963. For approximately the next two years, she operated primarily from Hawaii, conducting local exercises and supporting fleet training. On November 29, 1965, GUDGEON departed Pearl Harbor for the U.S. West Coast and reached San Francisco on December 9. She subsequently entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a major modernization that substantially altered both her machinery and her external configuration.

The submarine was cut apart and an approximately 18-foot section inserted into the hull. The added space permitted installation of new and larger diesel engines and associated equipment. Her electronic and acoustic systems were also extensively improved. Among the most visible additions was the BQG-4 passive fire-control sonar installation commonly known as Puffs. The system employed three widely separated passive sonar arrays housed in distinctive elevated structures along the upper hull. The purpose of this passive sonar arrangement was to improve the submarine's ability to determine the bearing and range of underwater contacts without transmitting active sonar energy that could disclose her own position. The widely separated arrays allowed acoustic information to be compared for passive ranging and fire-control purposes. The modification reflected the growing importance of passive acoustic detection during Cold War submarine operations.

The modernization was completed in April 1967, after which GUDGEON returned to operational duty with the Pacific Fleet. The 18-foot extension had increased her overall length to approximately 287 feet, while the new engines and sonar equipment gave her capabilities significantly different from those she had possessed when commissioned in 1952.

GUDGEON's return to fleet service coincided with the continuing expansion of U.S. naval operations connected with the Vietnam War. Aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, amphibious forces, logistics ships, and submarines were all operating throughout the western Pacific and Southeast Asian region. Official Navy campaign records identify GUDGEON as qualifying for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal during spring 1968. They also record Vietnam Service Medal qualifying duty from May 5 through May 10, 1968, and from June 6 through June 17. A contemporary photograph documents GUDGEON at Subic Bay during May 1968. Subic Bay was one of the principal American maintenance, logistics, and support bases for forces operating in Southeast Asia.

GUDGEON continued western Pacific operations into 1969. Another documented period of Vietnam Service Medal qualifying duty extended from March 13 through March 26, 1969. She subsequently returned from the western Pacific during May. These qualifying periods establish her participation in operations associated with the Vietnam theater during some of the most active years of American involvement. During 1970, GUDGEON continued operating with the Pacific Fleet. She was photographed underway in the Pacific on July 27. By this stage, nuclear-powered submarines were increasingly dominant within the U.S. attack-submarine force, but modernized diesel-electric boats such as GUDGEON remained useful for operational training because conventionally powered submarines continued to form a large part of the submarine forces maintained by many other navies.

GUDGEON remained active from the U.S. West Coast during 1971. On November 29, amphibious transport dock USS CLEVELAND (LPD 7) put to sea for approximately one week of operations in the southern California training areas during Composite Training Unit Exercise 14-71. During the exercise, CLEVELAND conducted helicopter operations and other training and acted as a high-value surface target for GUDGEON. This allowed the submarine to conduct simulated attack approaches while the surface force practiced defensive operations.

Late in 1972, GUDGEON was again operating in the Pacific. On November 1, aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN 65), then engaged in another deployment associated with the Vietnam War, rendezvoused with the submarine. GUDGEON surfaced to permit a helicopter from ENTERPRISE to evacuate two seriously ill crewmen for medical treatment. The carrier subsequently continued toward further combat operations associated with the air war over Vietnam.

Early in 1973, GUDGEON returned to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for another extensive overhaul. She entered dry dock on February 22 together with USS TROUT (SS 566). The two TANG-class submarines occupied Dry Dock No. 4 during part of the repair period. GUDGEON remained in dry dock until October 3, and her overall overhaul continued until December 21. The work extended the operational life of a submarine that had already been in commission for more than twenty years.

Following completion of the overhaul, GUDGEON returned to Pacific Fleet operations during 1974. Late in 1975, GUDGEON was selected for an important experimental acoustic program. The Ship Silencing Division of the Naval Sea Systems Command directed Mare Island Naval Shipyard to install an exterior rubber coating on the submarine as part of an effort to evaluate methods of reducing underwater acoustic detectability. The approximately $2.5 million project was carried out at Long Beach Naval Shipyard from December 1975 through March 1976 by personnel from Mare Island and Long Beach. Because the installation process required tightly controlled environmental conditions, temporary shelters enclosed the submarine while the work was performed. Rubber tiles were bonded to the exterior of the hull with a thin adhesive layer. Special handling and mooring procedures were subsequently required to protect the coating. Some tiles were mechanically damaged during mooring operations, but the Navy's project assessment recorded no adhesive failures. Testing continued through 1976, with part of the experimental program completed in December. The project was considered sufficiently useful to support continued investigation of exterior rubber coatings for submarine acoustic quieting.

After the coating work, GUDGEON resumed fleet training and test duties. During April 1977, frigate USS COOK (FF 1083) was proceeding north for the U.S.-Canadian exercise Marcot 77 when it carried out antisubmarine warfare exercises with destroyer USS AGERHOLM (DD 826) and GUDGEON before arriving at Esquimalt, British Columbia. The exercise allowed the surface ships to train against a conventionally powered submarine before the larger bilateral exercise began.

During the same year, GUDGEON also participated in further antisubmarine warfare testing involving COOK. After July 8, COOK conducted exercises with nuclear-powered attack submarine USS SNOOK (SSN 592) and GUDGEON in support of Chief of Naval Operations Project 187. These assignments illustrate the extent to which GUDGEON's role had evolved toward test, evaluation, acoustic research, and fleet-training work.

On April 1, 1978, GUDGEON was reclassified from attack submarine SS 567 to auxiliary submarine AGSS 567. Her combat capability was rendered inoperative and she was configured primarily as an acoustic and research submarine. The redesignation formalized a mission that increasingly emphasized underwater acoustic studies, test work, and support for the development and evaluation of antisubmarine warfare systems rather than normal frontline attack-submarine operations. This new role took advantage of characteristics that made GUDGEON particularly useful as a research platform. Her conventional diesel-electric propulsion provided a different acoustic signature from nuclear-powered submarines, and the experimental exterior coating and extensive sonar modifications made her suitable for controlled acoustic tests.

On November 5, 1979, the Navy created the SSAG classification. GUDGEON was redesignated SSAG 567, and her combat capability was restored to an operational condition while her principal acoustic and research mission remained unchanged. She therefore entered the 1980s as an unusual member of the American submarine force: an aging but still operational diesel-electric submarine used principally for research, evaluation, and fleet support at a time when almost all primary U.S. attack-submarine missions had passed to nuclear-powered boats.

During 1980 and 1981, GUDGEON continued Pacific Fleet service from San Diego. Her work included acoustic research and provision of submarine services for surface ships and aircraft conducting antisubmarine warfare training. These duties remained relevant because diesel-electric submarines continued to be operated extensively by foreign navies and could present detection problems different from those associated with American nuclear-powered submarines. By late 1981, GUDGEON was documented at Ballast Point in San Diego alongside nuclear-powered attack submarine USS POLLACK (SSN 603).

GUDGEON remained homeported at San Diego during 1982 and continued to participate actively in Pacific Fleet activities despite approaching thirty years of commissioned service. Submarine tender USS McKEE (AS 41) provided maintenance and support to her during this period.

In June 1982, GUDGEON traveled north to Portland, Oregon, where she participated in the city's Rose Festival festivities. Later that month, she returned to the southern California operating areas and took part in Pacific Fleet exercise Kernel Usher 82-2. Contemporary naval reporting already noted that GUDGEON was scheduled for retirement by the end of fiscal year 1983. She nevertheless remained operational into 1983 while arrangements were completed for transfer to Turkey. Turkey had operated numerous former American submarines and remained an important North Atlantic Treaty Organization naval partner controlling access between the Black Sea and Mediterranean through the Turkish Straits.

On September 30, 1983, GUDGEON was decommissioned at Naval Submarine Base Point Loma in San Diego after nearly thirty-one years of commissioned U.S. Navy service. Commander G. Mike Wilson, her final commanding officer, read the decommissioning and transfer orders. Turkish naval personnel were present for the ceremony. Immediately after decommissioning, the submarine was transferred to Turkey under a five-year lease and commissioned into the Turkish Navy as TCG HIZIRREIS (S 342). Because TCG HIZIRREIS was initially transferred on loan, the former GUDGEON remained on the U.S. Naval Vessel Register after entering Turkish service. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on August 6, 1987. Permanent transfer to Turkey followed on August 17.

During her twenty-one years of Turkish naval service, TCG HIZIRREIS accumulated 19,771 hours submerged and participated in 19 Turkish national exercises and nine North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises. The active career of TCG HIZIRREIS ended on February 9, 2004. Instead of being scrapped, the former GUDGEON was prepared for preservation. On October 29, 2004, she opened to the public as a museum submarine at Izmit, Kocaeli, where she remains preserved as part of the Kocaeli Museum Ships collection.

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