USS Tang (SS-563)

USS Tang (SS/AGSS-563), the lead ship of her class, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tang.

She was the first American submarine designed (as opposed to modified) under the Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) for underwater performance rather than surfaced speed and handling. Key features included removing the deck guns, streamlining the outer hull, replacing the conning tower with a sail, installing new propellers designed for submerged operations, installing more air conditioning and a snorkel mast, and doubling the battery capacity.

The contract to build her was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 16 May 1947. Her keel was laid down on 18 April 1949. She was launched on 19 June 1951 sponsored by Mrs. Ernestine O'Kane, the wife of Richard H. O'Kane, and commissioned on 25 October 1951 with Commander Enders P. Huey in command.

Following trials and training along the east coast, the submarine was assigned to Submarine Squadron 1 (SUBRON 1), Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet. From her base at Pearl Harbor, Tang operated in the Hawaiian Islands, providing services to surface and air antisubmarine warfare (ASW) forces. She also conducted type training. In October 1953, Tang commenced her first overhaul which she completed in July 1954.

Upon emerging from the yard, the submarine began training for her first western Pacific deployment. That cruise began in September and ended at Pearl Harbor in March 1956. She then operated in the Hawaiian area until June, when she headed back to sea for a training cruise in Alaskan waters. Tang returned to Pearl Harbor in August and, soon thereafter, began her second overhaul.

On 20 July 1956, Tang put to sea on her second deployment to the western Pacific. That deployment set the pattern for seven more between then and 1972. The submarine came under the command of the Commander, Seventh Fleet, and provided training services to units of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, the Nationalist Chinese Navy, SEATO naval forces, and the United States Navy. When not cruising Far Eastern waters, she operated among the Hawaiian Islands and underwent overhauls at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

In May 1958 she rescued 5 CIA officers and some PRRI rebels off the western coast of Sumatra. The officers were fleeing Indonesian central government's army after leading a failed rebellion in Sumatra.

On five occasions during those years, she cruised to the northwestern coast of North America. In March 1959, during a cold weather training cruise, Tang tested a newly developed snorkel de-icer system. In addition, the submarine provided services to the Naval Torpedo Testing Station at Keyport, Washington, and to Canadian naval forces at Esquimalt, British Columbia. She returned to the Pacific Northwest in late February 1961, following her fourth overhaul at Pearl Harbor, for shakedown training and participation in a First Fleet Exercise, SLAMEX.