by Gene Berger
Categories:
- Build type: [(hull-only)][32nd Parallel][Kit][Scratch]
- Material: [Fiberglass][Metal][Plastic][Resin]
- Scale: [1:32 (3/8" = 1')]
- Subject Type: [Submarine]
- Era: [1914-1945]
- Nationality: [United States]
- Propulsion: [Diesel/Fuel Oil] [Electic Motor] [Internal Combustion] [Propeller]
About the Vessel
USS Balao (SS-285) was an American submarine of the Second World War, the lead ship of her class. She deployed to the Pacific, based out of Brisbane, Australia, and Pearl Harbor. She served the duration of the war and afterward in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was recommissioned in 1952 to serve as a training ship for antisubmarine and Special Deployment Forces. In 1959, she starred as the “pink submarine” in the motion picture “Operation Petticoat”. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 she patrolled the western Atlantic. When she was decommissioned in 1963, her fairwater (sail) was removed and sent to the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., where it is still on display. Her hull was sunk off northern Florida later that year.
