The formal legal steps leading to the acquisition of United States naval vessels are confusing to many people but are very important to an understanding of the United States Navy's submarine programs. Generally speaking, the Navy cannot acquire a ship until Congress has both authorized the size of the fleet and appropriated funds for the procurement of new vessels. This requires two separate acts of Congress, as a result of which ships have frequently been authorized several years before funds were actually appropriated for their construction, and some authorized ships have never been built at all. Authorization and procurement procedures are usually quite formal in peacetime but more expedient methods are usually followed during wars or national emergencies. In the past, Congress was often very specific in defining the characteristics of particular ships, their cost, and sometimes even their names and where they were to be built.

USS Picuda (SS-382), named for the great barracuda of the Caribbean Sea and the tropical western Atlantic, which sometimes grow up to seven feet long, have large knife-like teeth, and are quite voracious and ferocious, was authorized to be built by the United States Congressional Act of 9 July 1942...which stated in part: "...The authorized composition of the United States Navy in under-age vessels, as established by the Act of March 27, 1934...as amended by the Acts of May 17, 1938...June 14, 1940...July 19, 1940...December 23, 1941...and May 13, 1942...is hereby further increased by one million nine hundred thousand tons of combatant ships, "...Provided, that the foregoing increases in tonnages for each of the three classes of aircraft carriers, cruisers, and destroyers and destroyer escort vessels may be varied downward in the amount of 30 per centum of the total increased tonnage authorized herein, and if so varied downward, the tonnage so decreased may be used to increase the tonnage of any other class of vessel authorized above, or to increase the tonnage of submarines heretofore authorized, so long as the sum of the total increases in tonnages of these classes, including submarines as authorized herein, is not exceeded:...."

USS Picuda (SS-382), originally named USS Obispo (SS-382), was laid down on 15 March 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. The submarine was christened by Mrs. Robert H. English and launched on 12 July 1943. Commissioning took place on 16 October 1943 with Lieutenant Commander Albert Raborn in command.

USS Picuda (SS-382) is a unit of the Balao Class. The design development of this class was accomplished by the Portsmouth Navy Yard...and she was built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. Thus, USS Picuda is a "Portsmouth Boat."

One of the best-kept secrets of World War II was the increase in the operating depth of our submarines, from 300 feet in the Gato Class to 400 feet in the Balao Class. This was accomplished by shifting from mild steel to high-tensile steel and increasing the thickness of the pressure-hull plating, using the weight saved in previous classes by meticulous attention to design details in every area. Naturally, the Balao Class boats became known as the "thick skins"...while the Gato Class and earlier classes were dubbed "thin skins." In outward appearance and internal layout, the heavy-hull boats were practically identical to the earlier type, and many people--including the Japanese--were unaware that there had been any change. Most of the other new features in the Balao design had already been incorporated in the later Gato Class boats as alterations or contract changes, so the Bureau of Ships skipped the usual step of preparing a preliminary design and simply issued a so-called Circular of Requirements setting forth the changes and new test specifications.

Orders were placed for 256 units of this class, but only 119 were completed to the original design, the rest being either cancelled or reordered later in the war. World War II losses totaled nine, the low toll being due to the completion of many units too late in the war to encounter much opposition from the battered Japanese antisubmarine forces. Most of the Balao Class underwent conversion to new configurations after World War II, and made up the bulk of the Navy's active submarine force until nuclear-powered attack boats replaced most of them during the 1960s.

When commissioned, USS Picuda was 311 feet 6 inches in length overall and had a maximum beam of 27 feet 3 inches. Her standard displacement on the surface was 1,526 tons, her normal displacement on the surface was between 2,010 and 2,075 tons, and her submerged displacement was 2,391 tons. USS Picuda (SS-382) was designed to dive safely to 400 feet...her operating depth. She has eight watertight compartments plus a conning tower. The pressure hull plating was 35 to 35.7 pound high tensile steel (approximately 7/8ths of an inch thick). The designed compliment was for six officers and sixty enlisted men.

Armament consisted of 6 bow and 4 stern 21-inch torpedo tubes. The maximum torpedo load was twenty-four Mark 14 Mod. 3A torpedoes. In place of torpedoes, a maximum of 40 mines could be carried. One 5-inch/25-caliber dual-purpose deck gun was fitted. Antiaircraft guns consisted of one 40-mm, one 20-mm, and two .50-caliber machine guns.

Fuel capacity was 116,000 gallons (rated) of diesel oil, which fueled 4 main Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston 1,600 horsepower diesel engines, and one auxiliary Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston diesel engine...which turned generators...which made electricity...which turned two Elliot main propulsion motors of 2,740 shaft horsepower...which could drive the boat at 20.25 knots on the surface...and gave her a cruising range on the surface of 11,000 miles at ten knots (rated). The generators were also utilized to charge 2 Gould 126-cell main storage batteries...which could power the Elliot main propulsion motors...which could drive the boat at 8.75 knots when submerged. Her submerged endurance, at 2 knots, was two days. Her patrol endurance was rated at 75 days. USS Picuda had a mean draft of 15 feet 3 inches when on the surface in diving trim.

USS Picuda (SS-382) remained in the Portsmouth Navy Yard to complete fitting out until 18 November 1943...when she commenced underway trials. Torpedo tube trials were conducted off Newport, Rhode Island, during 14, 15, and 16 December 1943...then the submarine shifted operations to the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut, for final training exercises. The boat put to sea from New London/Groton, on 1 January 1944, reported for duty with the United States Pacific Fleet at Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone on 13 January 1944, and arrived at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands on 27 January 1944...joining the Pacific Fleet Submarine Force as a unit of Submarine Division 201 in Submarine Squadron 20.

USS Picuda got underway from Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol on 17 February 1944, setting course for waters off the Caroline Islands, and entering her designated patrol area on 29 February. In an area not far from Truk, she sank 2,672-ton ex-gunboat "Shinyo Maru" on 2 March...going deep to evade a string of fifteen depth charges dropped by searching corvettes. On 18 March, USS Picuda changed course to patrol along the Saipan-Palau shipping lanes. The submarine scored hits on a large enemy tanker that afternoon...but was held down by two destroyers while the target escaped. The submersible was off Yap Island a few minutes after midnight of 19 March...and sent 1,504-ton freighter "Hoko Maru" to the bottom with two torpedo hits. Eleven days later, USS Picuda closed two freighters under escort of two destroyers off the western coast of Yap Island and let go five torpedoes at the largest merchantman. The first hit stopped the target dead in the water and a second torpedo tore off the port quarter to capsize 5,873-ton cargo ship "Atlantic Maru." Two destroyers came down the torpedo tracks to hover over USS Picuda ... and she was shaken by twenty-six exploding depth charges before she put these killers astern. With only one torpedo worth firing, she transited to Midway Island...arriving there on 5 April 1944.

Upon completion of her refit, USS Picuda took aboard student officers and men for indoctrination training exercises off Midway Island during 28, 29, and 30 April 1944. Three days later, the submarine formed a wolf-pack with submarines USS Perch and USS Peto.

USS Picuda put to sea from Midway Island with the wolf-pack on 4 May 1944...to conduct her second war patrol in waters off Formosa.

On 22 May she sent four bow torpedo shots streaking to sink 1,200-ton river gunboat "Hashidate." The submarine also severely damaged 3,172-ton cargo ship "Tsukauba Maru" with the same salvo. The latter enemy was polished off by land-based Army aircraft the following day. On 2 June, USS Picuda closed a convoy of twelve ships hugging the coast of Formosa. After sending her contact report to the other submarines of her wolf-pack, she slipped between two of the three leading escorts and pressed home an attack on a large tanker. Three hits were heard as all escorts made for USS Picuda. She skillfully maneuvered clear and sustained no damage from the many depth charges, which exploded on all sides and above from eight enemy vessels during the next hour. She continued to patrol the Formosa coast until 4 June...then passed off Batan Island and eastward of the Nansei Shoto to a point northward of Chichi Jima by 14 June. Two days later, she pointed her bow for Midway Island...where she arrived on 22 June. She put to sea the next day to arrive at Pearl Harbor on 27 June 1944.

USS Picuda, in a wolf-pack with USS Spadefish (SS-411) and USS Redfish (SS-395), departed Pearl Harbor for her third war patrol on 23 July 1944 in waters of the Luzon Straits between Formosa and Luzon.

On 25 August, USS Picuda spotted ten ships hugging the coast some 4,000 yards off the beach of Luzon. Slipping past five escorts, and with three enemy patrol planes overhead, she sent six torpedoes streaking to sink 1,943-ton cargo ship "Kotoku Maru," then skillfully maneuvered for a down-the-throat shot that spelled the doom of 1,270-ton pursuing enemy destroyer "Yunagi." USS Picuda probed deeper in the interior of Luzon Strait, on 16 September, for a bold daylight attack on an eight-ship convoy, guarded by three destroyers and air cover. The submarine sank 5,975-ton cargoman "Tokushima Maru" and scored hits for unknown damage to two other freighters. Searching the southern border of her assigned patrol area, USS Picuda found another convoy hugging the north coast of Luzon on 21 September...and sent 1,948-ton freighter "Awaji Maru" to the bottom. USS Picuda made rendezvous with submarines USS Barb and USS Queenfish...then set course in company with these two submersibles to terminate her third war patrol in the lagoon of Majuro Atoll on 3 October 1944.

At Majuro, USS Picuda formed a new wolf-pack with USS Queenfish and USS Barb...and departed on 27 October 1944. Topping off with fuel at Saipan on 1 and 2 November, the wolf-pack set course to range over the northern waters of the East China Sea, westward of Kyushu.

USS Picuda sent 9,433-ton passenger-cargoman "Mayasan Maru" to the bottom of the sea on 17 November in the area southwest of Nagasaki. On 23 November, closing a convoy off the Korean Archipelago, and stealing between two lead escorts, USS Picuda sank 6,933-ton cargoman "Shuyo Maru," and 5,296-ton passenger-cargoman "Fukuju Maru."

USS Picuda departed her patrol area six days later and returned from her fourth war patrol to moor in Apra Harbor, Guam, on 2 December.

On 29 December 1944, USS Picuda put to sea for her fifth war patrol in the Formosa Straits and the East China Sea off the east coast of China from Shanghai to Kam Kit. On 7 January 1945, USS Picuda received a contact report from USS Barb and closed a convoy in the Straits of Formosa to inflict severe damage with four torpedo hits on 10,045-ton tanker "Munakata Maru." On the afternoon of 8 January, she again received a convoy contact report from USS Barb and slipped between two escorts of the starboard screen about four hours before midnight to pick out two large passenger-freighters. Three bow tubes fired at each target resulted in one hit on each. She swung and fired stern shots at a tanker...then discovered an escort dead ahead, distant 700 yards; so was forced to clear the area. The 2,854-ton coastal tanker "Hikoshima Maru," hit by both USS Picuda and USS Barb, was disabled and ran aground. The freighter "Meiho Maru" had a similar experience, and severe damage was inflicted on 6,600-ton freighter "Hisagawa Maru," as well as on 6,516-ton coastal tanker "Manju Maru."

USS Picuda, having flashed a contact report report as she cleared the area, set course for lifeguard station in support of the Third Fleet air strikes on Formosa. In the early morning darkness of 29 January, USS Picuda made out at least three large ships in the rain and commenced tracking. The rain slackened as she approached dead ahead of a troop transport, overlapped by a freighter. One hit on the transport and two hits on the freighter were observed by USS Picuda's officer of the deck. The transport, almost dead in the water, commenced shrill whistle blasts, and the mist dropped down to reveal the freighter enveloped in a huge cloud of steam and smoke. An enemy float plane interrupted the view and USS Picuda was forced to abandon further attack. The victim sunk in this attack was 5,497-ton passenger-cargo ship "Clyde Maru." USS Picuda touched at Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, on 5 and 6 February, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 15 February 1945.

USS Picuda spent much of her sixth war patrol on lifeguard station off the coast of China. She got underway from Pearl Harbor on 15 March 1945 and cleared the replenishment base of Apra Harbor, Guam, on the 29th of March. She entered her patrol area off Kii Suido on 2 April for uneventful lifeguard duty in support of B-29 strikes. On 6 May, USS Picuda made rendezvous with USS Scabbardfish off the Nansei Shoto and received five members of an Army B-29 bomber and debarked these survivors at Tanapag Harbor on 10 May...transferring them to the Headquarters of the Twenty-First Bomber Command. After voyage repairs alongside submarine tender USS Orion, she departed on 11 May for the east coast of the United States. She touched at Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, and transited the Panama Canal to arrive at the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, on 22 June 1945.

On 2 September 1945, the Second World War officially ended with the signing of the instruments of surrender by the Japanese on the deck of battleship USS Missouri...at anchor in Tokyo Bay, Japan.

USS Picuda (SS-382) received six battle stars for her Second World War services.

USS Picuda was assigned to Submarine Division 201 in Submarine Squadron 20 in the United States Atlantic Fleet. She remained in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for major overhaul until 18 October 1945.

The submarine shifted to the Submarine Base at New London/Groton, on 31 October 1945 for duty as a training ship for the Submarine School...a tenant command at the Submarine Base.

USS Picuda put to sea from New London/Groton on 12 November 1945 for a training cruise which included visits to the United States Naval Station at Key West, Florida...and to Havana, Cuba. Upon her return to New London/Groton on 26 November, she was assigned to the New London Group of the 16th (Inactive) Fleet. The submarine shifted to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 12 December 1945 to commence preservation incidental to being placed in inactive status. On 15 January 1946, the submersible was ordered to cease inactivation and report to the Second Fleet for duty as a unit of Submarine Division 81 of Submarine Squadron 8 of the United States Atlantic Fleet.

USS Picuda prepared for active service in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard until 18 February 1946, and shifted to the Submarine Base at New London/Groton the next day. In company with five other submarines of the New London Group, she cleared that base on 25 February for a tour of duty out of the Submarine Base at Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone...returning to the Connecticut base by way of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

USS Picuda again entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for inactivation on 27 March 1946 and was towed by a fleet tug to New London/Groton on 19 September 1946. The submarine was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 25 September 1946, and was berthed with other units of the New London Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

The Conversion That Never Happened. During the period when conversions were at the height of popularity, the Navy developed a design for a minelaying submarine, SCB (for Ships Characteristics Board) Number 66, and the Fiscal Year 1952 program originally included authorization for the conversion of one fleet-type boat to this type.

The BuShips Journal for May of 1952 described the program as follows:

"Special minelaying submarines are under development ... equipped to plant mine fields, as well as attack. These submarines will be expected to enter enemy harbors, lay their deadly cargo and slip away unnoticed." USS Picuda (SS-382) was designated to receive this conversion, which would have involved installing a 35-foot section between the forward torpedo room and the forward battery compartment to serve as a mine storage room. The boat would have carried 108 Mark 49 mines in the forward torpedo room, mine storage room, and the after torpedo room...with 60 more in wet storage inside the main ballast tanks. The conversion was also to have included a streamlined superstructure, snorkel, and associated internal alterations. The whole project was cancelled by President Truman, however, on 1 October 1952, and USS Picuda was shifted into the Guppy IIA program in place of USS Icefish (SS-367).

Late in the year of 1952, USS Picuda was towed to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for conversion and recommissioning.

USS Picuda was one of sixteen submarines in the Fiscal Year 1952 Program that provided for conversion of Fleet-Type submarines to GUPPY submarines. GUPPY means Greater Underwater Propulsion Power. The "Y" has no significance. This program was known as the Guppy IIA Program. The modifications included streamlining the superstructure deck and conning tower fairwater and installing a snorkel system. One main propulsion engine and the auxiliary diesel engine (the "dinky") were removed. A sonar room was built into space created by the removal of the diesel engines. USS Picuda received Sargo II batteries with electrolyte agitation, battery cooling, and open tank ventilation. The electrical system was beefed up by doubling the capacity of the AC motor-generators to handle lighting as well as the previous load, and 120-volt direct current for other purposes was provided through rectifiers instead of rheostats. Two 400-cycle motor-generator sets were also added to meet the needs of new electronic equipment. The propellers were of the five-bladed fleet type.

USS Picuda recommissioned on 19 June 1953 with Lieutenant Commander Ted N. Swain in command.

When recommissioned, the Guppy IIA submarine was 306 feet in length overall; had a maximum beam of 27 feet 4 inches; had a normal displacement of 1,840 tons when on the surface and 2,445 tons when submerged; had accommodations for 8 officers, 5 chief petty officers, and approximately 70 enlisted men; was armed only with 6 bow and 4 stern 21-inch torpedo tubes (all topside guns were gone); could make 18 knots on the surface and 15 knots submerged; and had only three 1,600 horsepower main diesel engines for propulsion...instead of the original four and the dinky. The conversion of USS Picuda was complete by 24 August 1953. She then transited to the Submarine Base at New London/Groton.

USS Picuda reported for duty to Submarine Division 122, Submarine Squadron 12, United States Atlantic Fleet. The submarine transited by way of Norfolk, Virginia, and Nassau in the British West Indies, to arrive at the United States Naval Station at Key West, Florida, on 17 September 1953. The submersible was assigned to duty as a training ship for the Submarine Refit and Training Group...and based her operations for that command at Key West through September of 1959.

This duty included almost daily exercises in the Key West Operating Areas, visits to United States ports sited on the Gulf of Mexico, and periodic training cruises to the waters of Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti...in the Caribbean. This service was intervened by special cruises from Key West...and two tours of duty in the Mediterranean.

On her first special cruise, the submarine operated off Norfolk during the period 24 April to 20 May of 1954...participating in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) development exercises.

On her second special cruise, she cleared Key West on 3 September 1954 and set course for the waters of Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The submarine arrived at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 24 September 1954 for joint maneuvers with ships of the British Admiralty...then arrived at Gibraltar on 29 October 1954 to join units of the United States Sixth Fleet for "Operation Bright Bonfire." The submarine returned to Londonderry on 14 November 1954 to resume hunter-killer and other ASW tactics with units of the British Fleet...and cleared that port on 25 November to resume her training duties at Key West on 11 December 1954.

USS Picuda again departed Key West...on 6 January 1958...and transited to Gibraltar, where she arrived on 18 January. Her tour with the United States Sixth Fleet included participation in "Operation ASCENDEX" and visits to the ports of Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands of Spain; to Barcelona, Spain; to Port de Monaco; and to Genoa, Italy. The submarine sailed from Gibraltar on 18 August and conducted hunter-killer exercises with destroyers in the waters off Cuba and Jamaica before returning to Key West on 11 October 1958.

USS Picuda underwent overhaul in the Charleston Naval Shipyard from October of 1958 until March of 1959. The submarine then conducted a brief period of refresher training in the New London/Groton-Newport areas. The submarine then resumed her former duties at Key West on 27 March 1959...and put to sea from that port on 1 June 1959 for her third Mediterranean tour. She touched at Norfolk on 4 June...and reached Gibraltar on the 15th. Operations in the Mediterranean during this tour of duty included visits to Naples and Genoa, Italy; Marseilles, France; and Lisbon, Portugal. The submarine departed the latter port on 26 August to resume training duties at Key West during the latter part of 1959.

During 1961, USS Picuda visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and underwent a five-month overhaul at the Charleston Naval Shipyard.

During 1962, USS Picuda visited Guantanamo Bay twice before making a circumnavigation of the South American continent, conducting joint operations with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru. This operation was terminated due to the Cuban Missile crisis...and the submarine proceeded to Key West to get ready for...whatever.

USS Picuda spent most of 1963 operating out of her homeport of Key West...and made one trip to Guantanamo Bay to provide services to the Fleet Training Group and ships at that location.

During 1964, USS Picuda operated out of Key West in the Atlantic and Caribbean...winding up the year with an overhaul in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

USS Picuda made another deployment to Guantanamo Bay in 1965. The submarine began 1966 with a three-month tour with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, participating in fleet ASW exercises and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercises with French and Italian naval forces. She wound up the year of 1966 with another deployment to Guantanamo Bay to provide services to the Fleet Training Group.

During the 1967 North Atlantic NATO "Operation Quick Pursuit,"USS Picuda lost two men at sea. The submarine visited Bergen, Norway, and Portsmouth, England, before returning to her homeport of Key West and resuming typical submarine operations out of that naval station. And so it went.

In the years following the Second World War, many United States Naval Vessels no longer needed for the active fleet were transferred to friendly foreign navies. These transactions were of four general types: grants-in-aid, direct sales, loans, and leases. Title to ships sold was transferred outright to the recipient country, and in the case of both sales and grants-in-aid, the ships were stricken from the United States Register of Naval Vessels. Ships loaned or leased, on the other hand, remained on the Register and were subject to recall by the United States. Formally, such transfers were for a specified number of years, but in practice all were extended when requested by the receiving country. The particular method of transfer used in each case was determined by the provisions of various acts of Congress authorizing the disposition of United States naval vessels. By 1972, the Navy had no conceivable use for any of the old submarines in foreign hands, so gave the recipients the opportunity to terminate the loans and buy the boats at their scrap value. Most countries took advantage of this offer, and, by 1978, only a few submarines remained on loan.

Between 1948 and 1974, fourteen countries received a total of seventy-two United States Fleet-Type submarines. Many were converted and/or "modernized" prior to transfer to the foreign country.

In 1959, Spain received her first United States submarine, a Fleet-Snorkel type, which was followed by four GUPPY types between 1971 and 1974. USS Picuda (SS-382) was one of the GUPPY types transferred to Spain.

On 1 October 1972, At Key West, USS Picuda (SS-382) was decommissioned and transferred, as a LOAN, to Spain. Although the transfer was not effective until 1 October, the transfer ceremony was held on 30 September 1972. The Spanish renamed the submarine "Narciso Monturiol" and assigned her Pendant Number "S-33." The title to the submarine was returned to the United States, SS-382 was STRICKEN from the United States Register of Naval Vessels, and the boat was SOLD to Spain for continued service in the Spanish Navy; all this occurred on 18 November 1974.

Submarine Narciso Monturiol (S-33) was decommissioned by the Spanish Navy on 30 April 1977. Following decommissioning, the submarine was cannibalized for parts for other ex-United States Navy submarines still operating in the Spanish Navy...then was disposed of in 1978.