Name USS Cochino Commissioned 25 August 1945 Launched 20 April 1945 | Laid down 13 April 1944 Construction started 13 April 1944 | |
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Builder General Dynamics Electric Boat | ||
USS Cochino (SS-345), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cochino, a triggerfish found in the Atlantic. Her keel was laid down by Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 20 April 1945 sponsored by Mrs. M.E. Serat, and commissioned on 25 August 1945 with Commander W.A. Stevenson in command.
Service history
Cochino joined the U.S Atlantic Fleet, cruising East Coast and Caribbean Sea waters from her home port of Key West, Florida. 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 on 25 August in causing an electrical fire and battery explosion, followed by the generation of both hydrogen and chlorine gases.
Defying the most unfavorable possible weather conditions, Commander (later Rear Admiral) Rafael Celestino Benítez (1917–1999), commanding officer of Cochino, and his men fought for 14 hours to save the submarine, displaying seamanship and courage. But a second battery explosion on 26 August made "Abandon Ship" the only possible order, and Cochino sank. Tusk's crew rescued all of Cochino's men except for Robert Wellington Philo, a civilian engineer. Six sailors from Tusk were lost during the rescue.
Cochino is one of four United States Navy submarines to be lost since the end of World War II. The others are USS Stickleback, USS Thresher and USS Scorpion.
