USS Spinax (SS/SSR-489), a Tench-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy named after the spinax, one of the spiny sharks (dogfish sharks) scientifically known as Squalidal. Her keel was laid down on 14 May 1945 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 25 November 1945 sponsored by Mrs. Tom C. Clark, and commissioned on 20 September 1946. 1940s Spinax moved to New London, Connecticut, on 15 November and was assigned to Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet. On 15 December 1946, she sailed for the Caribbean Sea to begin her shakedown cruise which lasted until 28 January 1947. She returned to New London and participated in local operations until November when a fleet exercise took her north of the Arctic Circle near Labrador. In January 1948, designated a radar picket submarine, her hull classification symbol was changed from SS to SSR. After conducting operations in the Caribbean during the first part of the year, she returned to her home yard, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in May for an overhaul which lasted until the end of October. In addition to the installation of much radar and communication equipment, the work included the removal of her aft torpedo tubes, demilitarization of two forward tubes, installation of a snorkel system, and conversion of the after room into a combat information center. When she emerged from the yard, Spinax possessed the capabilities of a radar picket destroyer. Spinax deployed to the Mediterranean Sea from 3 January to 3 March 1949, as the first postwar submarine unit of the Sixth Fleet. Upon her return to New London, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 6 based at Norfolk, Virginia—the first time since World War I that submarines had been scheduled to operate from that base. She conducted operations along the east coast until again being deployed to the Sixth Fleet from 6 January to 23 May 1950. She returned to Norfolk until 12 June when she was transferred to the West Coast. 1950s The submarine arrived at San Diego, California, on 29 June and proceeded up the coast to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. She made a cruise to Pearl Harbor from 17 August to 16 October 1951 and returned to San Diego. She became a unit of Submarine Division 53 on 1 January 1952 and resumed her routine duties. Spinax was overhauled at Mare Island from April through