More Tests
In November 1956, Albacore reentered the shipyard for engine conversion. She departed New London, Connecticut, on 11 March 1957, for operations out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The submarine returned to Boston, Massachusetts, on 2 April 1957 and operated locally out of Boston and Portsmouth until entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard early in 1958 for an overhaul which lasted until June.
The ensuing tests emphasized sound reduction and included extensive evaluation of Aqua-Plas, a sound-damping elastic which had been applied to the ship's superstructure and tank interiors. In October 1958, her bow planes were removed to further reduce noise. The submarine ended the year with a fortnight's run to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and back to serve as a target ship for Canadian warships.
In 1959, a newly designed 14-foot propeller was installed and tested. Albacore sailed south late in May and, after operating in the British West Indies for two weeks, proceeded to Key West to serve as a target for the Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment. After returning north, she spent much of the remainder of 1959 and most of 1960 undergoing widely varied tests for the David Taylor Model Basin. One of the more unusual consisted of evaluating a concave bow sonar dome.
Read more about this topic: USS Albacore (AGSS-569)
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