USS Marlin (SST-2)

For other ships with the same name, see USS T-2 and USS Marlin.

USS Marlin (SST-2) in the late 1950s.
History
Name:	USS Marlin (SST-2)
Namesake:	As USS Marlin: The marlin, a large game fish
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	1 May 1952
Launched:	14 October 1953
Sponsored by:	Mrs. William R. DeLoach
Commissioned:	20 November 1953, as USS T-2 (SST-2)
Decommissioned:	31 January 1973
Renamed:	USS Marlin (SST-2), 15 May 1956
Struck:	31 January 1973
Fate:	Museum ship, 20 August 1974
General characteristics
Class & type:	T-1-class training submarine
Displacement:	303 long tons (308 t) surfaced 347 long tons (353 t) submerged
Length:	131 ft 3 in (40.01 m)
Beam:	13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
Draft:	12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric, single screw
Speed:	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Complement:	2 officers, 16 enlisted men
Armament:	1 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tube

USS Marlin (SST-2), originally USS T-2 (SST-2), was a T-1-class training submarine in commission from 1953 to 1973. She was the second submarine of the United States Navy to be named for the marlin, a large game fish. She was one of the smallest operational submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy.

Construction and commissioning

T-2 was laid down on 1 May 1952 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 14 October 1953, sponsored by Mrs. William R. DeLoach, and commissioned as USS T-2 on 20 November 1953 with Lieutenant Edward Holt in command.

Service history

After shakedown in the Massachusetts Bay area, T-2, got underway from New London, Connecticut, in late January 1954 for her home port at Naval Station Key West at Key West, Florida. Assigned to Submarine Squadron 12, Submarine Force, United States Atlantic Fleet, she immediately began operations in the sector from southern Florida to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. For a decade and a half she performed valuable service as a target and training ship and helped to evaluate submarine and antisubmarine warfare equipment and tactics.

Renamed Marlin on 15 May 1956, the submarine deployed to Guantanamo Bay for services to the Fleet Training Group in January 1956, July and August 1958, March 1960, and December 1961. In March 1963, Marlin participated in the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) demonstration.

From 1963, Marlin performed mainly target duty for both surface and air antisubmarine units at the Fleet Sonar School at Key West.

In addition to target and training duty, Marlin participated in various fleet operations. From 7 March 1965 to 4 April 1965, for example, Marlin joined her sister ship USS Mackerel (SST-1) and attack submarines USS Amberjack (SS-522), USS Batfish (SS-310), and USS Chivo (SS-341), along with a task force under Commander, Mine Force, in participating in mine warfare maneuvers.

Decommissioning

Marlin and her sister ship Mackerel were decommissioned on 31 January 1973 in a dual ceremony at Naval Station Key West. Both also were stricken from the Naval Vessel Register that day.

Museum ship

USS Marlin on display at Freedom Park, Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995.

On 15 August 1973, the U.S. Navy donated Marlin for use as a museum ship. On 20 August 1974, she was assigned for display as a memorial submarine in Freedom Park at the Greater Omaha Marina at 2000 North 25th Street, in Omaha, Nebraska.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• USS Marlin (SST-2) at Historic Naval Ships Association
• Photo gallery of USS T-2/Marlin (SST-2) at NavSource Naval History
• City of Omaha Parks Department Freedom Park Site