The Longest Serving Submarine

 

The USS Cutlass (SS-478), a Tench-class submarine, was launched on November 5, 1944, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Commissioned on March 17, 1945, under the command of Commander Herbert L. Jukes, she was one of the last submarines to enter service during World War II. Named for the cutlassfish, her service history would span decades and two different navies.

Following her commissioning, Cutlass departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on April 25, 1945, reaching Pearl Harbor by July 15. Her first and only war patrol took place in the vicinity of the Kurile Islands, but by the time she arrived in her patrol area, Japan had already surrendered. She remained on observation duty until August 24, then returned to Pearl Harbor before sailing to New York for Navy Day celebrations in September.

With the war over, Cutlass spent the postwar years engaged in training exercises and operational cruises. Initially assigned to the East Coast, she transited the Panama Canal and spent considerable time based in the Caribbean at Cristóbal, Canal Zone. Her service included a long-range cruise along the coasts of South America, rounding Cape Horn, visiting Valparaíso, Chile, and returning through the Straits of Magellan in 1947.

The late 1940s and 1950s saw Cutlass undergo modifications, including an overhaul and modernization at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She participated in experimental testing for livability improvements under Operation “Rainbow” before shifting her home port to Norfolk. Her operations expanded to include deployments in the Mediterranean, exercises with NATO allies, and anti-submarine training missions with destroyers and aircraft. She also made North Atlantic deployments, visiting Scotland, Denmark, and Germany. By the late 1950s, she had participated in Task Force “Alfa” exercises aimed at refining anti-submarine warfare tactics.

Cutlass was decommissioned from U.S. service on April 15, 1973, and immediately transferred to Taiwan under the Military Assistance Program. Recommissioned in the Republic of China Navy as ROCS Hai Shih (SS-791), meaning “Sea Lion,” she remains in service today, making her the oldest operational submarine in the world. In 2017, Taiwan announced a retrofit to extend her operational life until at least 2026, including improvements to her hull and navigational systems.

From her brief wartime service to her decades of postwar patrols and ongoing duty under the Taiwanese flag, Cutlass has stood as a testament to the longevity and adaptability of the Tench-class submarines. She continues to serve as a symbol of both U.S. naval ingenuity and Taiwan’s enduring commitment to maritime defense.