1950s
The submarine arrived at San Diego, California, on 29 June and proceeded up the coast to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. She made a cruise to Pearl Harbor from 17 August to 16 October 1951 and returned to San Diego. She became a unit of Submarine Division 53 on 1 January 1952 and resumed her routine duties. Spinax was overhauled at Mare Island from April through early August and returned to San Diego on 7 August 1952.
Spinax operated out of that port until 1 November 1954 when she sailed for an extended tour in the Far East. The submarine operated with the Seventh Fleet and then visited the Philippines, Hong Kong, Formosa, and Japan before returning to San Diego on 7 May 1955. Overhaul at Mare Island from June through October 1956 was followed by refresher training in the San Diego area. She was deployed to the western Pacific from 4 January to 1 July 1957 and again from 3 July to 16 December 1958.
Emphasis in antisubmarine warfare resulted in Spinax’s being converted to a Fleet Snorkel submarine. This was accomplished at Mare Island from 13 April to 11 September 1959. All radar except search and fire control were removed, the communication facility was reduced to that of a regular submarine; and the combat information center was converted into living quarters. The ship received improved sonar and fire control equipment, and modifications were made to her hull. On 15 August, she resumed the hull classification symbol SS-489. When the conversion was completed, the submarine conducted refresher training and local operations until early 1960.
A brief shot of the ship was used in the 1953 sci-fi movie "Phantom from Space" where she is seen on radar picket duty.
Read more about this topic: USS Spinax (SS-489)