First Spook Sub, on Eternal Patrol
by Tony Bunch
1/350 USS Cochino SS-345 (Yankee Modelworks)
YMW kit of USS Dace GUPPY I. Minor conversion to GUPPY II, (most differences were inside the boat).
Hull re-shaped. All fwd limber holes were filled. Most work done on the sail. Some deck details added or replaced. Time to build: 3 months.
Ships History:
From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Cochino
A trigger fish found in the Atlantic.
SS - 345: dp. 1,526 l. 311'9" b. 27'3"
dr. 16'10' s. 20 k. cpl. 66 a. 1 x 5", 10 x 21" tt.
cl. Gato
Cochino (SS-345) was launched 20 April 1945 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. M. E. Serat; and commissioned 25 August 1945, Commander W. A. Stevenson in command.
Cochino joined the Atlantic Fleet, cruising east coast and Caribbean waters from her home port, Key West, Fla. On 18 July 1949, she put to sea for a cruise to Britain, and arctic operations. Her group ran through a violent polar gale off Norway, and the joltings received by Cochino played their part in causing an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the generation of deadly hydrogen [chlorine] on 25 August. Defying the most unfavorable possible weather conditions, men of Cochino and Tusk (SS-426) fought to save the submarine for 14 hours, performing acts of skillful seamanship and high courage. But a second battery explosion on 26 August made "Abandon Ship" the only possible order, and Cochino sank on 71°35' N., 23°35' E. All Cochino 's men were rescued by the valiant Tusk who had lost seven of her own men in the attempt to save Cochino .
