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USS Becuna (SS-319)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Becuna (SS-319)

USS Becuna (SS-319) was laid down on 29 April 1943 at Groton, Conn., by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on 30 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George C. Crawford; and commissioned on 29 May 1944, Lt. Comdr. Henry D. Sturr in command.

After shakedown training out of New London, Conn., the submarine headed for the Pacific and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 29 July. She conducted additional training in the Hawaiian Islands before departing Oahu on 23 August for her first war patrol. On 23 December, USS Becuna (SS-319) encountered cruisers Ashigara and Oyodo, mistakenly identified as a Yamato-class battleship and a Nachi-class cruiser. After refit at Fremantle in January 1945, USS Becuna (SS-319) embarked on her third war patrol in February.

USS Becuna (SS-319) returned to the United States at San Diego on 22 September. Following the war, she remained in active service with the Pacific Fleet conducting the usual peacetime type training missions and participating in various multiship exercises. In April 1949, however, she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet as a unit of Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 8. USS Becuna (SS-319) completed the conversion in August 1951 and then conducted refresher training in the West Indies. Over the ensuing 18 years, USS Becuna (SS-319) continued to operate out of Groton performing a variety of peacetime missions, mostly of a training nature.

At the end of that long tour of peacetime duty, USS Becuna (SS-319) was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 7 November 1969 at Philadelphia. She remained in reserve at Philadelphia until 15 August 1973 at which time her name was struck from the Navy list. 

For a complete history of USS Becuna (SS-319) please see its DANFS page.