USS ''Pomodon'' (SS-486), a ''Tench''-class submarine, was the only ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for the ''Pomodon'' (an obsolete synonym for '' Hemilutjanus'') genera of snapper.

Construction and commissioning

''Pomodon''′s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 29 January 1945 by the

Portsmouth Navy Yard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuou ...

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

. She was launched on 12 June 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Lorena Neff, and commissioned on 11 September 1945.

Departure

Departing Portsmouth 6 January 1946, ''Pomodon'' slipped through the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck o ...

and set her course for the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

Zone for further training. By May the submarine was back north to

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, for several days operations before an availability and upkeep period at New London. Slipping out of the Submarine Base at New London, ''Pomodon'' set her course southward again; transited the

arriving

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, on 12 October, and joined Submarine Squadron 3. After alterations at

Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the eas ...

from 25 October 1946 to 26 July 1947 had made ''Pomodon'' the first

Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) was initiated by the United States Navy after World War II to improve the submerged speed, maneuverability, and endurance of its submarines. (The "Y" in the acronym was added for pronounce ...

(GUPPY) submarine in the Pacific Fleet, the submarine returned to San Diego on 28 July and began operations in the area as part of Task Forces 52 and 56.

Korean hostilities

At the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in July 1950, ''Pomodon'' was deployed to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. In January 1951, ''Pomodon'' was again modernized at

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

and in May 1951 she returned to service as the most modern and advanced GUPPY submarine in the Submarine Force. ''Pomodon'' departed San Diego in November 1951 for a six-month deployment with the

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Forces in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, followed by operations in the San Diego area. During the next decade, the submarine made six more WestPac deployments.

Explosion

On 21 February 1955, while recharging batteries in the San Francisco Naval Yard, a build-up of

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

gas caused an explosion and fire, damaging the submarine and killing five men. TM1(SS) Charles E. Payne earned the Navy Commendation Ribbon with Metal Pendant (later renamed as the

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

) by his actions in fighting the fire and rescuing the injured. Pasquale Talladino EnD2(SS) received the

Navy and Marine Corps Medal The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The medal was established by an act of Congr ...

. After the third explosion he entered the control room through the conning tower in an attempt to rescue anyone who might still be alive.

Final deployments

On 16 November 1962, ''Pomodon'' sank the hulk of ex-''Aspro'' (SS-309). ''Pomodon''’s eighth deployment with the

Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...

, 6 June to 30 November 1966, took her to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese waters and she operated with American

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s and antisubmarine

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

Yankee Station Yankee Station (officially Point Yankee) was a fixed coordinate off the coast of Vietnam where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and support ships operated in open waters over a nine-year period during the Vietnam War. The location was used primari ...

. Training operations on the West Coast and overhaul at the

San Francisco Naval Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established i ...

, filled 1967. She again headed west across the Pacific for her ninth deployment on 22 March 1968. She operated in Japanese waters, off Okinawa, and in the Philippines before entering the Vietnam combat zone 13 August. ''Pomodon'' returned to San Diego 17 October 1968.

Disposal

Stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 1 August 1970, ''Pomodon'' was sold on 28 December 1971.

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomondom (Ss-486) Tench-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Korean War submarines of the United States Vietnam War submarines of the United States Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1945 ships Maritime incidents in 1955 United States submarine accidents