USS Croaker SS-246

Users:
United States Navy

Built: 1943
Commissioned: 21 April 1944
Decommissioned: 15 June 1946
Recommissioned: 7 May 1951
Decommissioned: 18 March 1953
Recommissioned: 11 December 1953
Decommissioned: 2 April 1968

Originally built as one of many Gato Class submarines in ww2, it would be among those whose lifetime would be extended by modernization efforts meant to make use of the navy's large stockpile of the class. She would serve well in WW2, having an eventful career which would take her all around the pacific waters with several ships sunk, including a japanese cruiser.

As the war ended, the Croaker would be decommissioned and put into the reserve fleet, soon to be turned into a 'school boat' before once more being decommissioned for her modernization. Given a more streamlined hull and better sonar among other modifications, she was built to better handle the modern generation of submarines. With the cold war remaining cold, her actions would take her over several trips and exercises before she was decommissioned for a final time in 1968.

With her long career finished, she would be uses as a display ship at Groton Connecticut. It would soon after be moved to her current place in the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York.

Source(s)

Wikipedia

Features:

• Fully functional Diving planes and rudder
• Simulated Ballast control
• Near 1:1 Scale
• Mark 37 Electric Torpedoes (Link to Download)

Instructions:

Submarine Operation
1)LandingGear to deploy bow planes
2)Pitch for pitch
3)Roll for steering (yaw)
4)VTOL for Ballast control (floating and sinking)

Torpedo Operation
1)Switch to Air to Ground mode
2)FireWeapon to launch torpedoes
3)Use Yaw to steer torpedoes, Trim to control their depth.
4)Fireguns to use Active Sonar
Note: Make sure at least 1% throttle is applied.

At thefalkenreich's request here is the USS Croaker! This came together quite well and it came together smoothly, with help from DesignerSuite and some clever use of fuselage pieces I managed to get the hull shape just right. This is my first time adding decals, and though not the greatest looking I think I got the general look of the tiger decal down. I also used hollow fuselages for the main body, which will allow you to more easily see the internal workings!

The torpedoes weren't too hard to get working, do note they are not very fast (being Mark 37's) but they are quite nimble and can easily steer into a slow moving submarine. Don't use them against ships, they're not quite powerful enough for use against large vessels. Plenty effective against submarines though!