 |
| Becuna at sea, painting by Richard C. Moore. |
|
|
| Becuna at sea, painting by Richard C. Moore. |
| Class | Balao |
| Build | 1944 |
| Length | 312 ft |
| Width | 27 ft |
| Speed (surfaced/submerged) | 20 / 9 knots |
| Maximum depth | 120 m |
| Displacement (surfaced/submerged) | 1826/2391 tons |
| Crew Size | 70 |
 |
| USS Becuna in the harbor of Philadelphia. |
 The
Becuna is a Balao class American Diesel - Electric submarine that was
commissioned in May, 1944. In WWII it served as submarine flagship of the
Southwest Pacific Fleet and it sunk enemy vessels in the Philippines and
South China seas. In 1951 the boat was upgraded to a Guppy 1A (Greater
Underwater Propulsion Power) type of boat and a Snorkel air system was
installed. After the revamp, the Becuna served during the Korean and Vietnam
wars. The Becuna retired in 1969 and is now part of the exhibition of the
Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia (PA) USA. |
 |
| Forward torpedo room of the Becuna. |
 |
| Control room of the Becuna. In the front of the picture the gyro compass can be seen. In the back on the left, the wheels used to control the forward and aft dive planes. On the right, the handles of the manually operated vent valves are located. |
 |
| Engine room of the Becuna. On the left and right the two diesel engines and in the far back one of the two fresh water vacuum distillers can be seen. |
 |
| The author in the aft torpedo room. |
 |
| Plans of the Balao class submarine, drawings from the web. Notice the small sail. After the refit of the Becuna to a Guppy, the sail was also modified. Large Picture here. |
| Visit
|
