View source for USS Chopper

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Chopper;0834203.jpg|300px|USS Chopper (SS-342)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Chopper'' (SS-342)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1971}}
|Ship name=USS ''Chopper''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Norman |title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=1995 |location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]] |pages=285–304 |isbn=1-55750-263-3}}</ref>
|Ship laid down=2 March 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=4 February 1945<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=25 May 1945<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=27 August 1969<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 October 1971<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship fate=Sank off Cape Hatteras, 21 July 1976, while being rigged as a tethered underwater target<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/><ref name="Register">{{cite book |last=Bauer |first=K. Jack |author2=Roberts, Stephen S. |title=Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1991 |location=[[Westport, Connecticut]] |pages=275–280 |isbn=0-313-26202-0}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(World War II)
|Ship class={{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|1529|LT|t}} surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*{{cvt|2424|LT|t}} submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{cvt|311|ft|9|in|m}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{cvt|27|ft|3|in|m}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{cvt|16|ft|10|in|m}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-late-GM-4-GE}}
|Ship speed=*{{cvt|20.25|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305-311</ref>
*{{cvt|8.75|kn|mph km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{cvt|11000|nmi|mi km|lk=in}} surfaced at {{cvt|10|kn|mph km/h}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{cvt|2|kn|mph km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{cvt|400|ft|m}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 70–71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(Guppy IA)
|Ship class=none
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|1830|LT|t}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2">{{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Norman |title=U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=1994 |location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]] |pages=11–43 |isbn=1-55750-260-9}}</ref>
*{{cvt|2440|LT|t}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship length={{cvt|307|ft|7|in|m}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs">''U.S. Submarines Since 1945'' pp. 242</ref>
|Ship beam={{cvt|27|ft|4|in|m}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship draft={{cvt|17|ft|m}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship propulsion=*<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
*Batteries upgraded to ''Sargo'' II<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship speed=*Surfaced:
*{{cvt|17.3|kn|mph km/h}} maximum
*{{cvt|12.5|kn|mph km/h}} cruising
*Submerged:
*{{cvt|15.0|kn|mph km/h}} for ½ hour
*{{cvt|7.5|kn|mph km/h}} snorkeling
*{{cvt|3.0|kn|mph km/h}} cruising<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship range={{cvt|17000|nmi|mi km}} surfaced at {{cvt|11|kn|mph km/h}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=36 hours at {{cvt|3|kn|mph km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship complement=*10 officers
*5 petty officers
*64–69 enlisted men
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*10 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s (six forward, four aft)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
*all guns removed<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship notes=[[Submarine snorkel|Snorkel]] added
}}
|}

'''USS ''Chopper'' (SS/AGSS/IXSS-342)''' was a {{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]]. It was their only ship to be named for the chopper, a common name for ''[[Pomatomus saltatrix]]'', an aggressive [[game fish]]. She was in commission from 1945 to 1969, her active career ending due to damage from a nearly fatal accident.

==Career==

''Chopper's'' keel was laid down by the [[Electric Boat]] Company in [[Groton, Connecticut]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 4 February 1945, sponsored by Mrs. G. S. Beebe, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 25 May 1945.

''Chopper '' sailed from [[New London, Connecticut]] on 4 July 1945 for [[Pearl Harbor]], where she lay from 21 September-24 October. On 30 October, she arrived at [[San Diego, California]], her assigned home port. She sailed on 2 January 1946 for the [[Philippines]], where she trained and offered local services until 11 May, when she returned to San Diego and began local operations. Her next deployment – a simulated war patrol to [[China]] – took place from 28 July to 9 November 1947. After west coast operations through 1948, she departed San Diego on 14 March 1949 for her new home port, [[Key West, Florida]], arriving on 4 April. Operations in [[Florida]] waters and the [[Caribbean Sea]] were conducted until 15 September 1950, when she entered the [[Electric Boat]] Company yards for modernization. She returned to Key West for fleet exercises and training on 23 May 1951.

''Chopper'' departed [[Key West, Florida]] on 7 January 1952 for a tour of duty in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] until 20 May. She resumed local operations, then joined in [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) operations in the Atlantic from 12 September-14 October. Frequent trips to [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba|Guantanamo Bay]], Cuba, and local operations continued until 25 May 1959, when she sailed to join in special exercises in the Mediterranean before returning to Key West on 9 August. Through 1960, she continued operations off [[Florida]] and in the [[Caribbean Sea]], often acting as a target for surface ships in training.

==Accident==
On 11 February 1969, ''Chopper'' was participating in an ASW exercise off the coast of [[Cuba]] with {{USS|Hawkins|DD-873|2}} when her electrical power tripped off-line. ''Chopper'' was making {{cvt|7|-|9|kn|mph km/h}} at a depth of {{cvt|150|ft|m}} with a slight down angle when she lost power.

Within seconds, ''Chopper''{{'}}s angle increased to 45° down and her bow passed {{cvt|440|ft|m}} of depth. Because of the power loss, the officer of the deck could not communicate with the senior controller in the maneuvering room. Still, Ken Taylor, the senior chief petty officer in the maneuvering room, independently ordered both main motors back full. Despite the backing bell (an order for motors full astern), blowing ballast, and other efforts to regain control of the submarine, the down angle continued to increase, and within one minute of the power failure, ''Chopper'' was nearly vertical in the water, bow down. ''Chopper''{{'}}s bow is estimated to have reached a depth of {{cvt|1011|ft|m}}, her stern reaching {{cvt|720|ft|m}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=H-019-3 Navy Non-Combat Submarine Losses |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-019/h-019-3.html |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=history.navy.mil |language=en-US}}</ref>

The crew's efforts began to take effect. ''Chopper'' lost the headway and started to make sternway. Her bow began to rise, reached level, and continued to climb. ''Chopper'' began to ascend with a rapidly increasing up-angle until she was again nearly vertical in the water, now bow up.

About two minutes after losing electrical power, ''Chopper'' shot nearly vertically through the ocean's surface. The entire forward section of the submarine, to the aft edge of the sail, cleared the surface before she fell back. Her momentum carried her down to a depth of about {{cvt|200|ft|m}} before she surfaced again, leveled out, and remained on the surface.

''Chopper'' returned to port under her own power. Reports that she had experienced a "near disaster" appeared in newspapers starting on 18 February.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wichita-beacon-submarine-chopper-has/156200344/ |title=Submarine Chopper Has Near Disaster |newspaper=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |location=[[Wichita, Kansas]] |page=2 |date=February 18, 1969 |accessdate=September 28, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Inspection discovered that her hull had suffered extensive structural damage during the deep dive and rapid ascent. ''Chopper'' was decommissioned on 15 September 1969.

==Later career and disposal==
''Chopper'' was re-classified, given [[hull classification symbol]] '''AGSS-342''', and served as a [[United States Naval Reserve]] (USNR) dockside trainer in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana until 1971, when the USNR Submarine Reserve program was discontinued. She was re-classified, given [[hull classification symbol]] '''IXSS-342''', and was used for salvage and rescue training.

In 1976, ''Chopper'' was modified to serve as a tethered, submerged torpedo target for the submarine {{USS|Spadefish|SSN-668}}. On 21 July, while ''Spadefish'' was on her final approach, ''Chopper'' began to take on water, broke her tethers, and sank.

==Fiction==
In his book ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', author [[Tom Clancy]] mentions the misfortune of ''Chopper'' in 1969 while discussing the fate of the fictional Soviet {{sclass2|Alfa|submarine|0}} fast-attack sub ''E.S. Politovskiy''.
In ''[[Ice Station Zebra (novel)]]'' by [[Alistair MacLean]] there is a description of a sub that dives bow first far past its test depth, with the crew taking actions very similar to the ones taken by ''Chopper''.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c9/chopper.htm|http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss342.htm}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{navsource|08/08342|Chopper}}
*[http://usschopper.com/ USS ''Chopper'' Association]

{{Balao class submarine}}
{{1969 shipwrecks}}
{{1976 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopper (SS-342)}}
[[Category:Balao-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:United States submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1969]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1976]]