Diesel Sub Commander Recalls Historic Soviet Sub Chase
The former commanding officer of the Tench-class diesel submarine USS Grenadier (SS 525) recounted the experience of his crew 50 years ago; the events of May 28, 1959 impacted submarine warfare, especially during the Cold War era.
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After 18 hours of tracking a contact through the icy waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, the captain and crew of the Grenadier would force the surfacing of a Russian Zulu-class missile-firing submarine. It marked the first time visual and photographic proof of the presence of Soviet submarines in the Atlantic was able to be captured.
Grenadier left it’s homeport of Key West, Fla., in April 1959, along with USS Amberjack (SS 522), USS Atule (SS 403) and USS Grampus (SS 523), to conduct special antisubmarine exercises in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.
Their mission was to patrol the “GIUK gap,” a chokepoint from Greenland to Iceland to the United Kingdom.
However, their unofficial goal was much different.
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