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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Patch on left courtesy of Darryl L. Baker., other patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Tirante (SS-420)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Sierra - Kilo

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons


Presidential Unit Citation
Tench Class Submarine: Laid down, 28 April 1944, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, on Seavey Island in Kittery, Maine. Launched, 9 August 1944; Commissioned USS Tirante (SS-420), 6 November 1944; Decommissioned, 6 July 1946, at New London, CT.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Reactivated for "Guppy II-A" modernization at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME; Recommissioned, 26 November 1952; Decommissioned, 1 October 1973, at Key West, FL., and simultaneously struck for the Naval Register; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 21 March 1974, to Union Minerals and Alloys, New York, NY. Tirante received two battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

As built to the specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,570 t., Submerged: 2,416 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 2"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers 60 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun, one 20mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks Morse main generator diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 113,510 gals, two General Electric main motors, 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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For Full Size		SizeImage DescriptionSource
Tirante532kMrs. Ruth M. Sieglaff, Rear Admiral Thomas Withers & Mrs. George L. Street III (Matron of Honor) at the launching of the Tirante (SS-420), 9 August 1944.Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
Tirante563kMrs. Ruth M. Sieglaff poses with flowers & champagne at the launching of the Tirante (SS-420), 9 August 1944.Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
Tirante486kMrs. Ruth M. Sieglaff smashes a champagne bottle on the hull of Tirante (SS-420), 9 August 1944.Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
Tirante378kPresentation of Navy Yard employees gift to the sponsor, Mrs. Ruth M. Sieglaff.Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
Tirante461kTirante (SS-420) sliding down the launching ways at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. 9 August 1944.USN photo # 80-G-1226 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
Tirante53kTirante (SS-420) crew and family commissioning party photo, 6 November 1944.Courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
Tirante191k "Periscope on Target!" Tirante's (SS-420) skipper squats to spot a maru in shallow channel. Tracking, he feeds information to the fire control party. Range, target speed, track angle and similar data goes to the TDC. Then, "Fire one!" sends a torpedo on the way. A strike! The target slowly sinks from view." Drawing by Lt. Cmdr. Fred Freemen, courtesy of Theodore Roscoe, from his book "U.S. Submarine Operations of WW II", published by USNI.
Tirante33kTirante (SS-420) returning from her second war patrol off Guam on 19 July 1945. Photo is signed by Lt. Comdr. George L. Street III. Courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
Tirante21kLt. Comdr. George L. Street III.
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, Tirante (SS-420). Place and date: Harbor of Quelpart Island, off the coast of Korea, 14 April 1945. Entered service at. Virginia. Born: 27 July 1913, Richmond, Va. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross, Silver Star with 1 Gold Star.
Citation.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the Tirante during the first war patrol of that vessel against enemy Japanese surface forces in the harbor of Quelpart Island, off the coast of Korea, on 14 April 1945. With the crew at surface battle stations, Comdr. (then Lt. Comdr.) Street approached the hostile anchorage from the south within 1,200 yards of the coast to complete a reconnoitering circuit of the island. Leaving the 10-fathom curve far behind he penetrated the mined and shoal-obstructed waters of the restricted harbor despite numerous patrolling vessels and in defiance of 5 shore-based radar stations and menacing aircraft. Prepared to fight it out on the surface if attacked, Comdr. Street went into action, sending 2 torpedoes with deadly accuracy into a large Japanese ammunition ship and exploding the target in a mountainous and blinding glare of white flames. With the Tirante instantly spotted by the enemy as she stood out plainly in the flare of light, he ordered the torpedo data computer set up while retiring and fired his last 2 torpedoes to disintegrate in quick succession the leading frigate and a similar flanking vessel. Clearing the gutted harbor at emergency full speed ahead, he slipped undetected along the shoreline, diving deep as a pursuing patrol dropped a pattern of depth charges at the point of submergence. His illustrious record of combat achievement during the first war patrol of the Tirante characterizes Comdr. Street as a daring and skilled leader and reflects the highest credit upon himself, his valiant command, and the U.S. Naval Service. 		Photo courtesy of the Medal of Honor website via Bill Gonyo.
Tirante47k Officers of the Tirante (SS-420) pose on deck, circa 1945. CDR. Street is second on the right on the bottom row.Photo courtesy Ron & Charles Wallis.
Tirante35k Crew of the Tirante (SS-420), take a dip in the Pacific, circa 1945. Charles Wallis never did take a dip, he told Lt. Comdr. George L. Street III:" SIR IV'E MADE IT 41/2 YEARS AND I AM NOT ABOUT TO LOSE OUT TO A SHARK". Photo courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
Tirante87kSub qualification test for the Tirante (SS-420). Photo courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
SS 420
0842026		 NR WAITING FOR FIRST LOOK AT AMERICAN SUBMARINE
The submarine Tirante (SS-420), a veteran of the war in the Pacific, was the big attraction among the war vessels docked at the Navy Yard and opened to the public. A queue of more than 100 persons eager to see the inside of the craft soon formed. 		Photo courtesy of John Hummel & Ron & Charles Wallis.
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 06 October 1945, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Tirante323k Sec. of the Navy James Forrestal presents the crew of the Tirante (SS-420) with the PUC (Presidential Unit Citation) when the boat was moored at the Washington Navy Yard in October 1945.Photo courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
Text courtesy of DANFS.
Tirante49kForward torpedo room of the Tirante (SS-420), circa 1945, with Charles Wallis (USN retired) in the foreground.Photo courtesy of Ron & Charles Wallis.
Tirante288kSix photo PDF of interior views and shipboard life on Tirante (SS-420) while at Midway in February 1945. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Tirante73kWar record of the Tirante (SS-420). Photo courtesy of chinfo web site, submitted by Darryl L. Baker.
Tirante113kTirante (SS-420) underway, after Guppy II-A" modernization at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME; 26 November 1952; place unknown.USN photo.
Tirante2.14kThe submarine Tirante (SS-420) was placed in Commission in Reserve at a ceremony that took place at 1300 on 18 February 1952. Photo courtesy of NARA, Record Group 181: Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments, 1784 - 2000
Series: Correspondence Concerning Ships, 1937 - 1954. -
Tirante34kTirante (SS-420) bow on view underway, circa 1952.Courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
Tirante886kAfter conducting her shakedown to Bermuda and operating in the Atlantic as far north as Iceland, the submarine returned to the east coast of the United States to prepare for her first deployment with the 6th Fleet.
Tirante (SS-420) is seen here on 27 February 1953 off Long Island Sound.		Text courtesy of DANFS.
USN photo USN #480034, courtesy of of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
High res photo USN photo # 80-G-1239 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
SS 420
0842002		 NR UP PERlSCOPE!
Representative Hosmer, Republican, of California, peers into the periscope of the Navy submarine Tirante (SS-420), for a look at what’s going on above the surface of Long Island Sound. Mr. Hosmer, a commander in the Naval Reserve, is completing two weeks active duty at the Navy’s submarine base, New London, Conn.		 Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 20 December 1953, Image 14, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Tirante624kTirante (SS-420) possibly after shakedown trials off New England.USN photo courtesy of of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
Tirante2.86kThree views of Tirante (SS-420) Redfin (SSR-272) during a port call to Barcelona, 3-9 July 1956.Photo by Galilea and submitted by Jaume Cifre Sanchez via Fabio Pena.
Redfin119k At Marseilles, France for 1958, Christmas. The Tirante (SS-420) and the Redfin (SSR-272) are pictured from outboard to inboard.Submitted by Laurent LaMarche.
Tirante154kTirante (SS-420) and the Trutta (SS-421) alongside the pier at the Naval Station Key West, C 1960s. Photo from the Ida Woodward Baron Collection in the Florida Keys Public Library via flickr.com courtesy of Steven Gower.
K-1323kBarracuda (SST-3) with the Tirante (SS-420) across the pier while down South.Photo from the Author's collection (lost the real contributor).
Tirante363kSixties on Tirante (SS-420) here in 1965.Photo courtesy A. & J. Pavia via Robert Hurst.
Tirante55kBid Farewell. Tirante (SS-420) departs two days earlier after overhaul at Charleston, S.C. 18 September 1970.Photo courtesy of Robert Hall via Fabio Pena.
Tirante122kFather & son Thomas Sireci Sr. from the Tirante (SS-420) & Jr from the America (CVA-66) met on board the Tirante during a Sixth Fleet operational deployment when they were brought together by their respective commanding officers. USN photo & text courtesy of the Key West Citizen, pg. 8, 2 December 1971.
Marlin349kCutlass (SS-478), Trutta (SS-421), Odax (SS-484), Tirante (SS-420), Marlin (SST-2) & Mackerel (SST-1), alongside for inspection. Wright Langley Collection. Florida Keys Public Libraries. Photo # MM00046694x. via Robert Hurst.
Tirante387k Article from the Miami Herald, from sometime in September, or early October, 1973. A brief history of the Key West base; Amberjack (SS-522) and her last operation are mentioned in it. Tirante (SS-420) and Bonita (SSK-3) with the Bushnell (AS-15) appear in the background. Photo & text courtesy of the Miami Herald, submitted by Mike Keating.
View the Tirante (SS-420)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Guppy Submarines
Tench Class Submarines
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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