USS REDFIN (SS-272)

Commissioning

The keel for REDFIN was laid down on September 03, 1942 at Manitowoc Shipbuilding in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and was launched on April 04, 1943.

After the launching, REDFIN was then completed while afloat.  When the construction was completed and before the commissioning, there were Builders Trials, where they tested the boat for any malfunctioning equipment and made sure it was in working order with no leaks. This was done in Lake Michigan and took about one week.  This is when REDFIN made her first dive.

The passage from the Manitowoc Shipyard to Lake Michigan was narrow and crooked.  The first time REDFIN made the passage, one of the propellers was damaged when some wood pilings were struck.

The Preliminary Trials were then held for the Trial Board, which consisted of tests while maneuvering on the surface and submerged, of the steering gear, diving gear and checks for periscope vibration. The Trial Board then gave the report to the Yard officials of all items which had to be corrected or repaired before commissioning. 

The President of the Board sent a telegram to the Secretary of the Navy reporting the successful completion of the Preliminary Trials and recommended that the Commandant Ninth Naval District be directed to accept and commission REDFIN in the United States Navy.

A Ships Commissioning Party was held on Friday, August 27, 1943. The bachelors of the REDFIN had met many pretty girls from town and invited them to the party and the commissioning ceremony. The photographer for the official commissioning pictures had found that many of the same girls showed up in every second picture. The reason for that is that the boats followed each other so closely that the crew for the succeeding boat arrived before the departure of the preceding one.

The training of the crew to be able to work as a close knit team was a slow process as well as the many tests on the REDFIN to find anything that needed work done, to repair it or make the system work better. Although REDFIN was the 8^th submarine to be built at Manitowoc, the tests were run as though it was the first to be built.

The USS REDFIN (SS-272) was Commissioned on Tuesday August 31, 1943 and then started the many test runs and dives in Lake Michigan, before starting the voyage to New Orleans.