How did a submarine end up sunk in the mud along the banks of a river? Apparently it leaked.
The USS Ling sits in muck along an undeveloped section of the Hackensack River. It had a brief career as a Navy vessel. It was commissioned in 1945 and decommissioned in 1946. Only one year of active duty as a war ship. I guess the demand for submarines dropped off pretty quickly after the Germans and Japanese surrendered.
We don’t need a lot of warships if we are not at war, right?
For a short while the USS Ling was a training vessel. In 1972 it was saved from the scrapyard, became a museum and now it’s becoming rust.
Recently efforts were made to restore it again. The leak was repaired last year and now the horn works. But then! It was sunk again by a vandal in 2020.
The vandal was arrested and has been making YouTube videos about his case, wearing his best jeans.
Such drama. The restoration volunteers got back to work and refloated it, scrubbed and cleaned it up, found a potential home for the ol’ girl and are making plans to tow her away.