USS Tusk (SS-426) - 1950s

1950s

That fall, the submarine returned to the United States to resume East Coast operations out of New London in support of the Submarine School. She made cruises north to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and south to Bermuda. Her duty with the Submarine School continued until the middle of 1951 when she was assigned once more to Submarine Development Group 2. That assignment, punctuated by regular exercises with the fleet, continued until the summer of 1952 when she returned to an operational unit, Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 10. Normal East Coast duty out of New London lasted until late in the year at which time Tusk was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea for a six-month tour with the Sixth Fleet. Her return to the United States early in the summer of 1953 brought more local operations out of New London. During the first part of 1954, the submarine operated in the Caribbean. Then, after four months of local operations out of New London, she sailed for northern European waters. That tour brought port visits to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Glasgow, Scotland, as well as training exercises with NATO forces in the northern Atlantic.

The first four years of the 1950s established the pattern for the remainder of Tusk's Navy career. She saw four additional Mediterranean deployments between 1954 and 1973. Initially, however, a long stretch of East Coast operations intervened between overseas deployments. Six years elapsed between her 1954 northern Europe assignment and her second Mediterranean cruise late in 1960. The fall of 1961 brought another round of NATO exercises followed by joint American-Canadian training operations in the western Atlantic. Another three-year period of New London-based local operations occurred before she was deployed again to Europe in the fall of 1964 for more NATO training. During the spring and summer of 1966, Tusk returned to the Mediterranean for her third tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet. Late 1966 brought a resumption of duty in American coastal waters which lasted until early 1967. During the summer of 1967, the submarine returned to northern European waters, visiting several ports and participating in yet another series of multinational NATO exercises. That November, she joined in binational American-Canadian exercises in the western Atlantic before resuming her East Coast routine. Throughout 1968 and during the first half of 1969, the ship continued New London based operations, including services to nuclear-powered submarines Jack and Lafayette. In July, she made her fourth deployment to the Mediterranean, returning to East Coast operations in October.