USS Guitarro (SS 363)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. USS Guitarro (SS-363), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the guitarro, a ray of the guitarfish family. Guitarro (SS-363) was launched 26 September 1943 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. of Manitowoc, Wisc.; sponsored by Mrs. Ross T. McIntire, wife of the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; and commissioned at Manitowoc 26 January 1944, Lieutenant Commander Enrique D. Haskins in command. Guitarro departed Manitowoc for Chicago 13 February, and there she was placed in a floating drydock. Steamer Minnesota towed the drydock to New Orleans, arriving 22 February, and there Guitarro prepared for sea. Steaming from New Orleans 1 March, she operated out of Balboa, Canal Zone, for several weeks and departed for Pearl Harbor 2 April 1944.