 USSHardhead (SS-365) sometime after May 1953. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSHardhead |
| Namesake | Hardhead |
| Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company,Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1] |
| Laid down | 7 July 1943[1] |
| Launched | 12 December 1943[1] |
| Commissioned | 18 April 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned | 10 May 1946[1] |
| Recommissioned | 6 February 1952[1] |
| Decommissioned | 22 May 1952[1] |
| Recommissioned | 24 March 1953[1] |
| Decommissioned | 26 July 1972[1] |
| Stricken | 26 July 1972[2] |
| Identification | SS-365 |
| Fate | Transferred toGreece, 26 July 1972[1] |
 Greece | |
| Name | Papanikolis |
| Acquired | 26 July 1972 |
| Stricken | 4 May 1993 |
| Identification | S-114 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap 1993 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Balao-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[6] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (Guppy IIA) | |
| Class & type | none |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 307 ft (93.6 m)[8] |
| Beam | 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)[8] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m)[8] |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Armament |
|
USSHardhead (SS-365), aBalao-classsubmarine, was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for thehardhead, a fish of thecroaker family.
Hardhead waslaunched by theManitowoc Shipbuilding Company atManitowoc, Wisconsin on 12 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Inez Riddle McDonald, wife ofLieutenant CommanderEugene F. McDonald (Retired), President ofZenith Radio Corporation, andcommissioned on 18 April 1944.
Followingshakedown training inLake MichiganHardhead entered afloating dry dock atLockport,Illinois, and was towed toNew Orleans,Louisiana, where she arrived on 16 May 1944. She got underway fromAlgiers, Louisiana, on 22 May1944, and arrived atBalboa,Panama Canal Zone, five days later. There she took part in additional training exercises before her arrival atPearl Harbor,Hawaii, on 7 July 1944.
Hardhead, departed on her first war patrol 27 July and proceeded to her patrol area off thePhilippines. Early 18 August she detected theJapanese cruiser Natori east ofSan Bernardino Strait, and closed for a surface attack. The first well-directed salvo stopped the cruiser dead in the water; a second sent her to the bottom.
During the remainder of her first patrolHardhead renderedlifeguard services during strikes by fleet aircraft on the Philippines and operated with a reconnaissance line during thePalaus operation. She arrivedFremantle,Australia, 26 September 1944.
Hardhead's second patrol began as she departed Fremantle 24 October and set course for the Philippines. While steaming on the surface through theSulu Sea October she discovered a life raft adrift. In it was Commander Bakutis, commander of a fighter squadron (VF-20) from theaircraft carrierEnterprise, who had been in the water for six days after being shot down during America's victory in theBattle of Leyte Gulf.
Operating in acoordinated group withGrowler andHake, the submarine sighted a large cargo ship with escorts 8 November. After being driven off in one attack,Hardhead aggressively gained an ahead position and sankManei Maru. It was during this attack thatGrowler was lost.
Hardhead performed lifeguard duty offSubic Bay in November and on 25 November came upon an escorted merchant ship. She sank a coast defense vessel, damaged the merchantman, and evaded a retaliatorydepth charge attack. Soon afterward, the submarine returned to Fremantle, ending another patrol on 5 December.
Putting to sea again 24 December,Hardhead began her third war patrol in theSouth China Sea. Operating withBesugo andBlackfin,Hardhead damaged several ships before sinkingNanshin Maru 2 February 1945. Following lifeguard duty for theB-29 strikes onSingapore she returned to Fremantle 15 February.
Hardhead's fourth war patrol included a specialmine-laying mission. She sailed 20 March 1945 and laid mines off FrenchIndochina during the night of 2 April. The submarine then entered theGulf of Siam, where after several attacks she sank cargo shipAraosan Maru 6 April. Following a visit to Subic Bay to reload 11 April – 15 April she patrolled the South China Sea, but found few contacts. American submarines had by this time reduced Japanese merchant activity to a trickle, effectively destroying the island nation's lifeline to the outside world.Hardhead returned to Fremantle 16 May.
Sailing from Fremantle 18 June,Hardhead began her fifth war patrol, to be conducted in theJava Sea. She severely damaged a freighter with her deck guns 22 June, and next day sank four coastal defense craft during an attack on Ambat Roads withBullhead includingsubmarine chasersCha-42 (05°44′S114°16′E / 5.733°S 114.267°E /-5.733; 114.267) andCha-113 (ex-Dutch minesweeperA) (05°45′S114°16′E / 5.750°S 114.267°E /-5.750; 114.267) and shuttle boatNo. 8333 southeast of theMasalembu Islands.[9][10][11] The illness of her commanding officer forcedHardhead to end her fifth patrol 17 July atOnslow, Australia.
The submarine departed Onslow on her sixth and last patrol 18 July, and headed back into the Java Sea. On 23 July 1945, she torpedoed and sank the submarine chaserCha-117 (ex-DutchBantam) off the northeast coast ofBali (08°10′S115°29′E / 8.167°S 115.483°E /-8.167; 115.483).[12] She forced a merchant ship to beach 27 July but found few targets and returned to Subic Bay 10 August. Soon afterward the Pacific war ended.Hardhead sailed 31 August and arrived atSan Francisco via Pearl Harbor 22 September 1945. She decommissioned 10 May 1946 and entered thePacific Reserve Fleet atMare Island.
Hardhead was placed in commission in reserve 6 February 1952 and upon her arrival atNew London for conversion was placed out of commission. Following herGUPPY IIA conversion, including streamlining, installation of asnorkel breathing apparatus, and larger storage batteries, the submarine recommissioned 24 March 1953. She joined theAtlantic Fleet for training exercises and tactical drills in the years that followed, operating mainly in theCaribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. She sailed for theMediterranean 7 September 1956 to strengthen the6th Fleet during theSuez Crisis.
In July 1958Hardhead, joined Submarine Development Group 2, turning her attention from fleet operations to research and testing of equipment and tactical doctrine. She operated off the East Coast and in the north Atlantic, and by 1961 had won four consecutive "E" awards for her performance.Hardhead continued through 1972 to perform this vital work in maintaining the technical superiority and readiness of the fleet.In 1962, Hardhead participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
World War II Victory MedalAll six ofHardhead′s World War II combat patrols were deemed "successful."
Hardhead was decommissioned, struck from theNaval Register, and transferred (sold) under the terms of the Security Assistance Program toGreece. On 26 July 1972 raised the Greek flag at New London (Connecticut) by Lieutenant Commander Nikolaos Vassiliou and sailed to Greece on 29 December 1972. She was commissioned into theHellenic Navy asPapanikolis (S-114). She was struck from the Greek Naval rolls on 4 May 1993.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.
