USS Requin

The USS Requin is a Tench-class submarine and the only ship in the United States Navy named after the French word for shark. After being commissioned in 1945, the boat first served as a target for sonar schools before being converted into a radar picket submarine as part of Project MIGRAINE. In that role, it operated several times in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic during the 1950s. Later, the Requin was converted back into a conventional attack submarine and completed further missions, including the search for the missing nuclear submarine Scorpion. After being decommissioned in 1968, it served for a time as a training vessel in Florida before being stationed in Tampa as a tourist attraction in 1972.

Since 1990, the USS Requin has been a museum ship at the Kamin Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After a financial crisis in Tampa, the boat was placed in the care of the Science Center by law. The transfer took place via the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, with the submarine loaded onto a barge and towed to Pittsburgh. On October 20, 1990, the Requin was officially dedicated as a memorial and museum exhibit.

Today, you can tour the historic submarine on guided visits. As part of the Kamin Science Center, it serves not only as a technical monument to naval history but also as an educational feature. The Requin represents the evolution of submarine technology from World War II through the postwar era and honors the crews who served aboard. The exhibit offers insight into the boat's construction and the various modifications it underwent during its active service.