at Pearl Harbor and San Diego, Caiman has alternated local operations and fleet exercises with tours of duty in the Far East at 18-month intervals. On her 1957 cruise, Brisbane, Australia, was added to her more usual itinerary of Japanese and Philippine ports. Career (Turkey) Caiman was decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register, and transferred to Turkey on 30 June 1972 under the terms of the Security Assistance Program. She arrived on 23 August 1972 to the Naval Yards in Gölcük and was commissioned the following day as the third TCG Dumlupınar (S-339) - an important name in Turkish history, and the name of the final and defining battle of the Turkish War of Independence. Four years after Turkey took over ex-Caiman, she suffered a collision with Soviet freighter Szik Vovilov in the Dardanelles on 31 August 1976. Luckily, her crew was able to ground the submarine on a nearby bank, thus preventing the tragedy that befell the previous TCG Dumlupinar in 1953, the wreck site of which lay just away. TCG Dumlupinar was subsequently salvaged, repaired, and continued to serve in the Turkish Navy for 11 years before she was decommissioned and renamed Ceryan Botu (Y-1247) on 6 February 1983, under which name she served as a charging boat at Gölcük Navy Yards until she was permanently retired on 15 September 1986. Honors and awards Of Caimans four war patrols, the last was designated "successful". She received two battle stars for service in World War II. Navy Unit Commendation August 1952 Battle Efficiency "E" September 1955 Battle Efficiency "E" 28 January 1966 Battle Efficiency "E" 3 June 1972 References External links History of Turkish Submarines (1948–1972) USS Caiman Association USS Caiman World War II Database USS Caiman (SS-323) History Balao-class submarines Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1944 ships World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Turkish Navy Balao-class submarines of the Turkish Navy Maritime incidents in 1976