USS Trumpetfish (SS-425), a , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for trumpetfish, any of several fishes so-called for their deep, compressed body and long, tubular snout. Her keel was laid down on 23 August 1943 at Philadelphia by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company. She was launched on 13 May 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Oswald S. Colclough, and commissioned on 29 January 1946.
Trumpetfish and are erroneously listed with the Tench class in some sources, as their hull numbers are in the sequence assigned to that class.
Pacific Fleet service
A combined shakedown and goodwill cruise to ports in the Caribbean Sea in the early spring of 1946 preceded the submarine's westward cruise to Pearl Harbor. Highlighting the ship's training operations in Hawaiian waters was her intentional torpedoing of the large s which had been captured at the end of World War II.
Atlantic Fleet service
Trumpetfish returned to the East Coast for local operations out of New London, Connecticut, and, late in 1946, was briefly based at Annapolis to conduct training cruises for United States Naval Academy midshipmen. In the summer of 1947, as the ship underwent a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY) conversion, her hull was streamlined, a snorkel system was added, and higher capacity batteries were installed. The net result of the conversion enhanced the ship's offensive capabilities and increased her maximum submerged speed.
Attached to Submarine Squadron 4, based at Key West, Florida, Trumpetfish conducted local operations and training exercises off the East Coast. In September 1953, she participated in NATO Exercise "Mariner" and then was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet.
After returning home, the ship operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean through 1955. Following duties out of Key West in January and February 1956, Trumpetfish proceeded to Guantanamo Bay for service with the Fleet Training Group. In July, the ship took part in midshipmen training cruises from Annapolis, Maryland, to Guantanamo Bay and back.
In the fall of 1956, the ship joined a hunter-killer group for a deployment to Europe and the Middle East. Departing Norfolk on 1 October 1956, Trumpetfish sailed for European waters and participated in training exercises as she crossed the Atlantic. After calling at Brest, France, Trumpetfish suddenly received word of a crisis in the Levant.
Middle East deployment
President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser had nationalized the previously British-owned Suez Canal, and prevailing Arab-Israeli tensions had erupted into warfare while British and French troops attacked Egyptian positions. Trumpetfish made her best speed for Suda Bay and joined the Sixth Fleet in peace-keeping missions in the eastern Mediterranean. With the cessation of hostilities, Trumpetfish resumed her Mediterranean cruise operating briefly with the Italian fleet before returning to Key West on 28 January 1957.
The submarine conducted local operations out of her home port until 29 August, when she got underway for European waters and fall NATO exercises. Air, surface, and submarine forces of NATO nations engaged in tests and exercises to hone their capabilities to defend the NATO nations against possible aggression. After returning to Key West on 25 October, Trumpetfish operated out of that base conducting training and exercises into 1959.
During her next Mediterranean deployment, she snorkeled through the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. In August 1959, as part of Atlantic Fleet dispersal plans, Trumpetfish’s home port was changed to Charleston, South Carolina. During January and February 1960, the submarine took part in operations in the North Atlantic before briefly visiting Scotland. She subsequently participated in exercises in the western Atlantic Ocean, before a major refit at Charleston during 1961 modernized the ship to a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program (GUPPY) III configuration. The alterations increased her capabilities by adding to her length, by giving her better weapons and electronics, and by extending her range.