1957-1971 During early 1957 Irex participated in fleet exercises and served as training boat. In July she entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she was fitted out with a new type plastic sail. The plastic sail, which replaced the World War II conning tower, was lighter in weight, higher, and acted as a stabilizer. With the exception of one tour to the Mediterranean (13 September – 20 December 1958) and training cruises to Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Irex continued her operations out of New London for the next year and a half. In early 1960 she took part in fleet exercises in the North Atlantic before returning home 3 March. After operations out of New London, and a training cruise to Halifax Irex deployed 1 August 1961 for submarine warfare training with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. She returned to New London in November, ranging south to Bermuda and north to New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, as she trained reservists and men of the New London Submarine School. She based winter operations January to March 1963 from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, then was overhauled in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard before resuming training at New London. In October 1964 she again sailed for the Mediterranean, taking time out during this Sixth Fleet tour to transit Suez Canal for CENTO exercises in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. She returned home mid-January 1965 to aid in the development of antisubmarine warfare tactics, joined U.S.-Canadian warfare exercises reaching northward to Nova Scotia, then returned home to New London in November 1965 and continued local training duties into 1967. Irex was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 November 1969 and sold for scrap and broken up on 13 September 1971. References External links Irex veterans' website Tench-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1945 ships