Blue Ridge Models announcement at the IPMS 2012 Nationals of a soon-to-be-released USN Tang Class (SS-567 - USS Cudgeon) kit in 1:350 scale resin prompts the start of this thread.
Here's a link to the kit and box art, on display:
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=109821These subs were the first class of US subs that benefitted from the GUPPY program from the design stage through construction. The hull form developed for this class saw use in the first US nuclear boats as well. The model depicts the USS Gudgeon, likely in her 1958 fit. The ship was lengthened in 1968 to accomodate the PUFFS sonar system.
There appears to be some variation in the sail design between ships, and possibly across service lives, in this class as well - at least four different sail types that I note in photos on Wikipedia. AFV Models Guppy Class kits may provide an easy alternative for customizing your boats with a Portsmouth or Electric Boat sail, but the circa 1969 saild on the Trout is like neither of these.
The six ships in this class have an interesting disposal history, including transfers to the Italian and Turkish Navies, and unfulfilled transfers to the Imperial Iranian Navy as well:
Tang (SS-563): transferred to Turkish Navy in 1987 and serving as TCG Pirireis (S 343). Now a museum ship in Turkey.
Trigger (SS-564): transferred to Italy in 1973 and served as Livio Piomarta until she was decommissioned on 28 February 1986.
Wahoo (SS-565): intended for 1979 transfer to the Imperial Iranian Navy and renamed Nahang. These plans were cancelled on 31 March 1979 following the Iranian revolution. Wahoo was instead decommissioned on 27 June 1980 and cannibalized for parts for the other Tangs that were still in service to foreign governments. In November 1984 her hulk was sold for scrap.
Trout (SS-566): intended for 1978 transfer to the Imperial Iranian Navy. Upon completion of the overhaul in 1978, Trout's home port was shifted to New London, Connecticut, where a training period for her the Iranian crew ensued. The training program was completed on 19 December 1978, and that day the U.S. Navy simultaneously decommissioned Trout, struck her from the Naval Vessel Register, and transferred her to Iran. The Imperial Iranian Navy renamed her Imperial Iranian Ship (IIS) Kousseh (SS 101), meaning "Shark". Her Iranian crew took control of her at New London in December 1978, but abandoned her there in March 1979 following the Iranian Revolution. Kousseh was returned to Philadelphia, where she languished for many years while the United States resolved financial matters related to her abortive transfer to Iran. Kousseh finally was returned officially to U.S. custody in 1992. She was sold at scrap value to the U.S. Navy's Program Executive Office for Undersea Warfare in 1994 and moored at Newport, Rhode Island. She was then acquired by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Key West Detachment at Key West, Florida, for use by the Naval Air Systems Command Marine and Targets Detachment as a remotely controlled submersible sonar target ship, as an underwater acoustic target for antisubmarine warfare research and development, in operational testing, and for training. Subsequently held at the Ship Maintenance Facility at Philadelphia, where the U.S. Navy held her for donation to a museum, but all preservation efforts failed. Her scrapping was completed on 27 February 2009.
Gudgeon (SS-567):Harder (SS-568):In 1983, Gudgeon was transferred by lease to Turkey and renamed TCG HIZIRREİS (S 342). She was purchased in 1987 and served until 2004. She is berthed as a museum ship at the Kocaeli Museum Ships Command and is open to the public.
Harder (SS-568): Harder was decommissioned on 31 January 1974, and sold to Italy. Re-commissioned on 18 August 1974 as Romeo Romei (S-516); scrapped in 1988.