USS Ling (SS-297)

US Navy Submarine Wood

Blanks are 3/4" x 3/4"

All blanks will come with one COA per blank. COAs are 4" x 6" card stock with silver foil embossed COA seal.

All blanks are cut as they are ordered.

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USS Ling (SS/AGSS/IXSS-297) is a Balao-class submarine of the United States Navy, named for the ling fish, also known as the cobia. USS Ling was laid down 2 Nov 1942 by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, PA. She was launched 15 Aug 1943 and commissioned on 8 Jun 1945, with Commander Molumphy in command. USS Ling headed out to sea to test her equipment 15 September 1945. The submarine was based at Naval Submarine Base New London in CT, until she sailed 11 Feb 1946 for the Panama Canal Zone, arriving eight days later. She operated out of Panama until 9 March when she sailed north. She completed inactivation 23 Oct at New London, decommissioned 26 Oct 1946, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

In March 1960, Ling was towed to Brooklyn, NY, where she was converted into a training ship at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, simulating all aspects of submarine operations. She was reclassified an Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-297) in 1962. Ling received one battle star for World War II service. Ling was reclassified a Miscellaneous Unclassified Submarine (IXSS-297), and struck from the Naval Register, 1 December 1971.

Six months later the old 297 was donated to the Submarine Memorial Association, a non-profit organization formed in 1972 with the purpose of saving Ling from the scrap yard. They petitioned the Navy to bring the boat to Hackensack, New Jersey to serve as a memorial museum. The sub is grounded in the Hackensack River at the former location of the defunct New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, NJ. It is currently inaccessible to the public.