Clamagore (SS-343)

Clamagore (SS-343). . The diesel-powered submarine Clamagore was commissioned at New London, Conn., in June 1945. Her 30 years of service were spent operating out of Charleston, Key West, and New London. Displacement is over 1,800 tons, length 325 1/2 feet and she can reach a speed of 20 knots on the surface with 10 to 17 submerged. The Clamagore was decommissioned in 1975 and towed to Patriots Point in 1981., While you may have noticed that the submarine's sides are somewhat unsightly due to excessive marine growth, it must be understood she is sitting in a shallow water berth and is actually fully waterborne only about one hour before and after high tide. Since she sits on the bottom the majority of the time, the tide rises and falls up and down her hull resulting in a phenomenon, much like on Yorktown, where marine growth and corrosion are more prevalent and more visible in those areas of her sides where she is alternately exposed to both air and salt water. It would be prohibitively expensive and potentially damaging to the thinner external skin encasing her trim tanks to frequently scrape and clean the barnacles and oysters from her sides. Anti-fouling paint applications are ineffective unless the surface is permanently submerged. Also, the ground on which she sits is not perfectly flat, resulting in her tendency to rest with a starboard list except at those times when she is fully waterborne. With her delicate trim and ballast systems, she often has a list until corrective action is taken, even when fully waterborne. . This historical marker is in Mount Pleasant in Charleston County South Carolina