USS Torsk ( SS - 423 ) The USS " Torsk " ( SS - 423 ) is docked at the Baltimore Maritime Museum and is one of two Tench Class submarine s still located inside the United States . It is nicknamed the " Galloping Ghost of the Japanese Coast . " In 1945 , Torsk made two war patrols off Japan , sinking one cargo vessel and two coastal defense frigates . The latter of these , torpedoed on 14 August 1945 , was the last enemy ship sunk by the U . S . Navy in World War II . Service history . 1944 - 1945 . Her keel was laid down on 7 June 1944 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard . She was launched on 6 September 1944 sponsored by Mrs . Allen B . Reed , and commissioned on 16 December 1944 with Commander Bafford E . Lewellen in command . Completed on the last day of 1944 , " Torsk " trained out of Portsmouth , New Hampshire , Newport , Rhode Island , and New London , Connecticut , until 11 February 1945 , when she headed for Florida . On 16 February , the submarine arrived at Port Everglades , Florida , where she provided services for antisubmarine research . She departed that Florida port on 20 February , transited the Panama Canal , and reached Hawaii on 23 March . After a repair and training period , she got underway from Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol . " Torsk " paused briefly at Guam en route to an area off Kii Suido which she reached on 11 May and began lifeguard duty . Air contacts were few in this period , and the submarine found no opportunity to conduct rescue operations . Toward midnight on 11 May , she set course for her patrol area off the northeastern coast of Honshū . She arrived there on 13 May and , for two days , attempted to contact other members of the wolf pack , " Lewellen ' s Looters . " On 16 May , she made rendezvous with submarines On 2 June , while patrolling between Honshū and Hokkaidō , " Torsk " came upon a small coastal minelayer . The submarine fired six torpedoes — which the small vessel avoided by maneuvering — and then dove and rigged for depth charge s which did not materialize . " Torsk " had another disappointing encounter on 4 June when , while patrolling off Kobe Saki , she fired four torpedoes at a 700 - ton freighter without scoring . The following day , she set her course homeward , stopped at Midway Island on 11 June , and returned to Pearl Harbor on 16 June . After refitting and the installation of new equipment , the submarine got underway for her second war patrol on 17 July . She spent the first two days of August at Guam and set her course for the Sea of Japan . She passed through the minefields of Tsushima Strait on 10 August and , on the morning of 11 August , rescued seven Japanese merchant seamen who had survived the sinking of the " Koue Maru " some four days before . Early that afternoon , the submarine entered her patrol area and , on the following morning off Dogo Island , " Torsk " made a submerged periscope attack which sank a small coastal freighter . On 13 August , she patrolled off Ando Saki and , after sighting a number of fishing boats during the morning , sighted another small freighter which she promptly sank . Later the same day , she made an unsuccessful attack on a cargo ship as it entered Wakasa Wan ; then dodged through a 75 - boat fishing fleet , and outdistanced the maru ' s escort . Off Amarubi Saki on the morning of 14 August , " Torsk " sighted a medium cargo ship and took up the chase . A 745 - ton " Kaibokan " - class patrol escort vessel accompanied the freighter to seaward , presenting the submarine with a tempting target . At 1035 , as the freighter and her escort approached Kasumi Ko , " Torsk " launched one of the new experimental Mark 28 torpedoes at the escorting ship . Minutes later , the " fish " found its mark ; an explosion bent the stern of the frigate up to a 30 degree angle , and shortly thereafter the target sank . As the freighter entered the harbor half an hour later , " Torsk " attempted to sink her but was unsuccessful , possibly because the torpedoes struck undetected reefs near the mouth of the harbor . Around noon , another frigate appeared , apparently a reinforcement which had been called in . Continuing her aggressive action , " Torsk " fired a Mark 28 torpedo at the frigate which had already detected the submarine ' s presence . Commander Lewellen then initiated deep submergence procedures and ordered the crew to rig for silent running . After a tense five minutes , she reached and there she launched another torpedo , this time the new acoustic Mark 27 . Almost immediately , a loud explosion announced that the first torpedo had found its mark , and a minute later a second explosion sounded , followed by strong breaking up noises . The secret new torpedoes had proven their worth in battle and " Torsk " was credited , not only with two enemy warships , but also with sinking the last Japanese warship sunk in World War II . Held down by enemy planes and patrol vessels , the submarine remained submerged more than seven hours . Then , she surfaced and headed for the Noto peninsula . On 15 August , following four highly successful days of aggressive patrolling , " Torsk " received word of the cessation of hostilities . She continued her patrol in the Sea of Japan , conducting visual and photo surveillance and destroying floating mines . On 31 August , what was thought to be a torpedo wake was sighted , an indicator that not everyone had heard the news of the war ' s ending . . The submarine set her course for the Mariana Islands on 1 September , passed through Tsushima Straits on 3 September , and arrived at Guam on 9 September , successfully completing her second war patrol . 1946 - 1968 . She departed the Marianas on the next day , proceeded via Pearl Harbor and the Canal Zone , and arrived at New London in mid - October . For the next seven years , she operated out of that port serving as a training ship , participating in exercises and tests , and occasionally making naval reserve training cruises . In June 1949 , she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 2 ; and ; in the summer of 1950 , she was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea . The ship returned to New London in the fall for fleet exercises and , the following year , extended her operations into the Caribbean Sea . Early in 1952 , she completed her conversion to a Fleet Snorkel submarine and was deployed again to the Mediterranean that summer . Returning on 27 November , she continued operations out of New London ranging from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to Havana , Cuba , as she trained prospective submarine personnel and laid exercise mine fields . In 1955 , she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 6 at Norfolk , Virginia . There , her duties included services to aircraft and surface ships to help them hone their skills in antisubmarine warfare . She made frequent Caribbean voyages and participated in Operation " Springboard . " In June 1959 , she proceeded via the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes , visited various ports on Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan , then returned to the Norfolk operating area in mid - August . In the early 1960s , she made Mediterranean deployments ; joined Commonwealth countries in Exercise " New Broom X " , and continued her duties in training antisubmarine forces in the Atlantic . During the Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962 , she patrolled in support of the blockade of that Caribbean island . 1968 - 1972 & legacy . On 4 March 1968 the veteran submarine was decommissioned and , following modifications at the Boston Navy Yard , was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard for use in training reserves . " Torsk " operated out of Washington until 1971 and , on 15 December of that year , was struck from the Naval Vessel Register . On 26 September 1972 , she was turned over to the state of Maryland to be used as a museum ship in the Inner Harbor at Baltimore , Maryland . She is currently part of the fleet collection of Historic Ships in Baltimore . " Torsk " was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on 14 January 1986 . " Torsk " and its companions are major contributing elements in the Baltimore National Heritage Area . " Torsk " received two battle star s for World War II service and the Navy Commendation Medal for her service during the Cuban Missile Crisis . She set the all - time record of career dives , at 11 , 884 . She is also the only submarine converted in the Fleet Snorkel program that has the original snorkel .