IronShipwright USS Croaker Review

Iron Shipwrights
1/350 Scale USS Croaker SSK-246

Reviewed December 2024
by Felix Bustelo

HISTORY

USS Croaker (SS-246), a Gato-class submarine, was laid down on April 1, 1943 by Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on December 19, 1943 and commissioned on April 21, 1944. Croaker left New London, Connecticut for Pearl Harbor, arriving on June 26, 1944. She commenced her first war patrol on July 19, heading for the East China and Yellow Seas. During this patrol, Croaker had tremendous success. On August 7, she sank the cruiser IJN Nagara, on August 14 the freighter Daigen Maru, on August 16 the auxiliary minesweeper Taito Maru and lastly on August 17 another freighter Yamateru Maru. For this series of successful attacks, Croaker was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.

For the remainder of the war, Croaker completed several additional war patrols, sinking three more freighters and damaging another. After the war, she returned to New London and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on May 15, 1946. Croaker was later recommissioned on May 7, 1951 as a school ship out of New London. On March 18, 1953, she was decommissioned and sent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for conversion to a hunter-killer submarine and reclassified as SSK-246 on April 9, 1953. The conversion to a SSK included a streamlined sail and the addition of long-range sonar unit replacing two of the forward torpedo tubes and additional modifications to quiet her machinery. Croaker was recommissioned December 11, 1953 and returned to active duty in February 1954. She operated along the East Coast and Caribbean and visited ports in England while taking part in NATO exercises in 1957 and 1958. In September 1960, Croaker sailed through the Mediterranean Sea and transited the Suez Canal, making calls at various ports before returning to New London. Croaker was decommissioned for the final time on April 2, 1968 and struck from the Naval Register of December 20, 1971. From 1977 to 1987, she was a displayed as a private attraction by the Submarine Memorial Association in Groton, Connecticut. The US Navy revoked its agreement, citing a requirement for historical preservation. Since 1988 she is a museum ship at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York.

Iron Shipwrights USS Croaker SSK-246

The USS Croaker kit is the latest in a series of modern and World War II submarine kits released in the past several months by Iron Shipwrights. The kit represents Croaker after her hunter-killer conversion. Like the other kits in this line, Croaker is comprised of a cast resin hull from a 3D printed master pattern. All of the other parts are 3D printed. The contents come in a sturdy flip-top box, with the resin hull wrapped in bubble wrap and the 3D printed parts inside a zip-lock sleeve. Everything is cushioned in Styrofoam packing nuggets. The assembly instructions are folded on top of the box contents.

HULL

The cast resin full hull is nicely done and is packed free of a casting block. The hull is well detailed with limber holes, hatches, bilge keels, recesses for the anchor and openings for the diving planes, rudders and sail. The decking is very well represented. The casting is generally clean and crisp, though there are some blemishes along the hull sides which are just that and do not indicate any issues with the resin. There is an air bubble in the sonar mast head at the bow which can be easily fixed with filler or gap filling CA glue, so it’s not a big deal in my opinion. Some cleanup along the keel is needed where remnants casting plugs were once located. The hull measures a tad over 10 and 5/8 inches long, which is spot on in terms of scale.

3D Printed Parts

The 3D parts come of a printing raft and includes the sail, forward diving planes, anchor, rudder, stabilizers, propellers, propeller shafts and supports, a small radar and various scopes and snorkel. The parts have thin attachment points and some of the parts have extras provided in case of breakage. The parts appear to be well detailed. Based on my experience building some other Iron Shipwrights submarine kits, the 3D printed parts are a tad brittle and care must be exercised removing the smaller parts, such as the propeller, from the raft.

Decals and Photoetch

A generic decal sheet with hull numbers in black and white and draft markings is provided. While the markings are 1/192nd scale, the smaller numbers are just the right size to apply the sail. No photoetch is provided with this kit and not necessary.

INSTRUCTIONS

The assembly instructions come on 4 single-sided stapled pages. The first page has the Iron Shipwrights logo on top, with a small photo of Croaker underway and the usual text about obtaining replacement parts and general instructions and advisories. Page 2 has images of the 3D printed parts with corresponding part numbers and some general guidance on working with 3D printed parts. Pages 3 and the top of Page 4 have assembly diagrams which are very clear and simple due to the low part count. The bottom image on Page 4 has on overall image of the completed model. No painting instructions are provided, so some research on the part of the modeler will be needed.

Conclusions

This is complete kit and overall well-done kit that should build into a detailed model of Croaker in her hunter-killer configuration. I recommend this kit for submarine enthusiasts and would make for great adversarial companion to the Iron Shipwrights Soviet Zulu class kit. The kit sells for $64.95 and is available directly from Iron Shipwrights (http://ironshipwrights.com/) or one of the Model Warships sponsor retailers that sell their products.

My thanks for Iron Shipwrights for providing the review sample.