Mac Burdette, Executive Director of Patriots Point Development Authority, did this interview with Peter Doocy of Fox News on the morning of July 16, 2012. They discuss the history of the Clamagore and the need to raise three million dollars to preserve her.
Patriots Point, although a State agency, receives no State or Federal funds for operations.
The USS Clamagore was removed from Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on October 15, 2022, and towed to Norfolk, Virginia for final scrapping and recycling.
Clamagore had been a museum ship at Patriots Point since May 1981, moored alongside the aircraft carrier Yorktown and destroyer Laffey. She was historically significant as the last surviving GUPPY III type submarine in the United States. However, decades of saltwater exposure caused severe hull corrosion, and a 2019 evaluation estimated restoration costs at over $9 million — more than the museum could support.
During the summer of 2022, crews began the scrapping process while the sub was still at Patriots Point, removing 504 batteries and stripping away the sail and superstructure. The hull was riddled with PCBs, lead, and heavy metals including mercury, making preservation hazardous and environmentally risky — particularly given the museum’s location near Charleston Harbor, which is vulnerable to hurricanes. On October 15, 2022, the stripped hull was towed out for the final leg of its journey to Norfolk.
At Norfolk, Clamagore was fully dismantled and recycled — most of the steel was repurposed, while some key artifacts and components were preserved for a smaller exhibit at Patriots Point. Her National Historic Landmark designation, which she had held since 1989, was officially withdrawn in September 2024.