View source for USS Toro

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USStoro.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Toro'' (SS-422)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1963}}
|Ship name=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]], [[Kittery, Maine]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book
| last = Friedman
| first = Norman
| authorlink =
| title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
| publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
| year = 1995
| location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
| pages = 285–304
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}</ref>
|Ship laid down=27 May 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=23 August 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=8 December 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=2 February 1946<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=13 May 1947<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=11 March 1963<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 April 1963<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, April 1965<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Tench class submarine|''Tench''-class]] [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register">{{cite book
| last = Bauer
| first = K. Jack
| authorlink =
|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 = 280–282
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>
|Ship displacement=*1,570&nbsp;[[long ton|ton]]s (1,595&nbsp;[[tonne|t]]) surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*2,414&nbsp;tons (2,453&nbsp;t) submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|8|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|4|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|abbr=on}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-late-FM-2-E}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|20.25|kn|km/h|0|lk=in}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305-311</ref>
*{{convert|8.75|kn|km/h|0}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km}} surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|400|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch-28-torps}}
}}
|}
'''USS ''Toro'' (SS-422)''', a [[Tench class submarine|''Tench''-class submarine]], was the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the ''toro'', a name applied to various fish including the [[cowfish]], the [[Heteropriacanthus cruentatus|catalufa]], and the [[cavallo (fish)|cavallo]].
==Construction and commissioning==
''Toro''′s [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 27 May 1944 at the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] in [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], [[Maine]]. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 23 August 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Alan G. Kirk, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 8 December 1944.
==First War Patrol==
Following her completion on 26 December 1944, ''Toro'' participated in training exercises out of [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], [[Newport, Rhode Island]], and [[New London, Connecticut]], before arriving at [[Key West, Florida]], on 11 February 1945. She provided services to the Fleet Sonar School, then, on 28 February, departed Key West in company with submarine {{USS|Bumper|SS-333|3}}, bound for the [[Panama Canal]] Zone where she underwent a week of intensive training. The two submarines set a westward course for [[Hawaii]] on 15 March and arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 1 April. ''Toro'' conducted training exercises out of that port with Submarine Division 101 until 24 April when she departed [[Oahu]] in company with submarine {{USS|Billfish|SS-286|3}}. She arrived at [[Saipan]] on 6 May and, after one false start, got underway for her first war patrol on 10 May.
After arriving in her patrol and lifeguard area south of [[Shikoku]] and east of [[Kyūshū]] on 16 May, she occasionally encountered Japanese planes as she pursued her duties. On 18 May, following a probable periscope sighting, ''Toro'' detected a transmission on Japanese submarine radar frequency and attempted to close the contact but was unsuccessful.
As she patrolled [[Bungo Suido]], she was often assigned as lifeguard for air strikes against the Japanese islands. While off [[Omino Shima]] before sunrise on 25 May, she received word that a [[B-29 Superfortress]] was in trouble. She began the search in state four seas with only fair visibility and, two hours after dawn, homed in by friendly air cover, she rescued two Army aviators who had been floating in their lifejackets for three and one-half hours. Twenty minutes later, she rescued another aviator and then continued her search for additional survivors until late in the day. The names of the three airmen were Charles Smith, Howard Stein, and Robert Canova. While patrolling on the surface on the following morning, she made radar contact with a possible target at {{convert|2000|yd|m}}. The submarine turned toward the contact and shortly thereafter a torpedo wake crossed her bow, indicating that an enemy vessel had first located her. ''Toro'' dove and had no further contact with the unseen attacker. ''Toro'' continued patrols and lifeguard duty in [[Bungo Suido]] until 14 June when she set her course for the [[Mariana Islands]]. She moored at [[Apra Harbor]] five days later.
==Second War Patrol==
Following refit by submarine tender {{USS|Fulton|AS-11|3}}, ''Toro'' got underway from [[Guam]] on 14 July; paused briefly at [[Saipan]] for fuel, water, and the replacement of her torpedoes with [[Mark 18 torpedo|Mark 18s]]; and arrived in her patrol area south of [[Shikoku]] on 24 July.<ref name=hinmanpp300301>Hinman & Campbell, pp. 300–301.</ref> Late in the day, she was drawn far out of her assigned area in a fruitless search for a downed flier. The departure of ''Toro''’s air cover at 18:00 left her in a most dangerous situation due to the expected passage of an American task force on an antishipping sweep. Unable to clear the area in time, ''Toro'' made radar contact with the task force at 20:55. Despite attempts to establish her identity, ''Toro'' was soon the target of two obviously unfriendly American ships which bore down on her at a speed of {{convert|22|kn|km/h|0}}. The destroyer {{USS|Colahan|DD-658}} opened gunfire and bracketed ''Toro'' with her first [[salvo]] at a distance of {{convert|7,400|yd|m|0}}.<ref name=hinmanpp300301/> ''Toro'' [[Crash dive|crash-dived]] and attempted to establish her identity using a flare, smoke bombs, and sonar, but the ships were still firing when she passed {{convert|150|ft|m|0}}.<ref name=hinmanpp300301/> She continued down to {{convert|400|ft|m|-1}} and rigged for [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=hinmanpp300301/> The surface vessels, thinking that ''Colahan'' had sunk a Japanese picket boat, remained in the area for half an hour searching for survivors without discovering that their target had been a friendly submarine. At 01:00 on 25 July, ''Toro'' surfaced and set her course back to her patrol area.
That morning, she returned to her lifeguard station and, in the afternoon, rescued three British aviators afloat on a raft. She maintained her station for carrier strikes against [[Japan]] on 28 July and, shortly after noon on 30 July, received a distress message from a [[United States Army Air Corps]] [[P-51 Mustang]] plane. After circling his plane over the submarine the pilot parachuted from the crippled aircraft at an altitude of only {{convert|800|ft|m|-1}}. Within seven minutes, ''Toro''’s crew brought the aviator on board.
She transferred the rescued British fliers to submarine
{{USS|Gabilan|SS-252|3}} on 1 August. On 5 August, while patrolling her lifeguard area for planes returning from bomber raids on the Japanese islands, ''Toro'' sighted dense black smoke on the horizon and, receiving reports of a downed pilot in the area, put on all possible speed to investigate the source of the smoke. Less than 20&nbsp;minutes later, she picked up an Army aviator afloat in his lifeboat impressively marked by a smoke display. Minutes later, a second Army aviator jumped from his plane nearby, and again ''Toro'' had a flier on board within seven minutes of the time his parachute opened.
==Post-World War II service==
At mid-month, Japan capitulated. After destroying a number of [[naval mine]]s south of [[Honshū]], the submarine departed the area on 17 August and proceeded via [[Guam]] to [[Midway Island]] where she arrived on 27 August.
On 4 September, she departed Midway and proceeded via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal to east coast ports. She arrived at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], on 31 October to prepare for inactivation. In January 1946, the rescue tug ''ATR-67'' towed the submarine to [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London]], where on 7 February 1946, ''Toro'' was decommissioned and placed in reserve.
''Toro'' was recommissioned on 13 May 1947, and she reported for duty to Submarine Squadron 2, Atlantic Fleet, on 28 May. She conducted hunter/killer exercises, made a simulated war patrol in the [[Arctic Sea]], and joined fleet tactical exercises in the [[Mediterranean Sea]].
On 28 November 1947, ''Toro'' sunk, as a target, the captured German submarine ''[[U-530]]'' with a torpedo. In July 1945, after the surrender of Nazi Germany, the crew of the U-530 were interned when it surrendered in [[Argentina]]. The crew and the boat were then transferred to the United States.
On 28 January 1950, ''Toro'' joined Submarine Development Group 2, and her operations helped to refine submarine tactics, weapons, and equipment. She worked in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and [[Caribbean Sea]] until July 1952, when she reported to Submarine Squadron 2 at New London and assumed new duties training submariners. During the next ten years, she combined these activities with type training and services to ships and aircraft engaged in antisubmarine warfare exercises. She also participated in [[Operation Springboard]] and made one Mediterranean cruise. She was redesignated an auxiliary submarine with [[hull classification symbol]] AGSS in July 1962 and, on 22 November 1962, as her Navy career drew to its close, she made her 11,000th dive while operating in [[Long Island Sound]].
In February 1963, she was ordered to berth with the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, for demilitarization and non-industrial stripping; on 11 March 1963 she was decommissioned, and on 1 April 1963 her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]].
===USS ''Thresher'' role===
She was slated to be sunk near the lost submarine {{USS|Thresher|SSN-593|3}} in an attempt to understand the currents near the wreck location but the plan was abandoned, and ''Toro'' was later sold and scrapped. Her name plate is on display at the [[Freedom Park (Omaha, Nebraska)|Freedom Park]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Omaha, Nebraska - Freedom Park, MO river view|url=https://mapio.net/pic/p-42869354/|access-date=2021-05-11|website=Mapio.net|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|url= https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2023/april/what-killed-thresher
|title=What Killed the Thresher?
|date=April 2023 |first=Norman |last=Polmar
|work=US Naval Institute
|access-date=20 March 2023
}}</ref>
==Awards==
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]
*{{ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with two [[battle star]]s
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|106px]] [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]]
*{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[National Defense Service Medal]] with star
== References ==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/toro.html}}
===Bibliography===
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=hkupDwAAQBAJ&dq=LApon+raton&pg=PA181 Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.] {{ISBN|978-0-359-76906-3}}.
{{Tench_class_submarine}}
{{July 1945 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toro (SS-422)}}
[[Category:Tench-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1945]]
[[Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II]]