 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSGabilan |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down | 5 January 1943[1] |
| Launched | 19 September 1943[1] |
| Commissioned | 28 December 1943[1] |
| Decommissioned | 23 February 1946[1] |
| Stricken | 1 June 1959[1] |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 11 January 1960[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gato-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[6] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
|
USSGabilan (SS-252), aGato-classsubmarine, was the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for the gabilan, aneagle ray of theGulf of California.
Gabilan′skeel waslaid down by theElectric Boat Co.,Groton, Connecticut, on 5 January 1943. She waslaunched 19 September 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor James, wife ofRear AdmiralJules James, andcommissioned on 28 December 1943,CommanderK. R. Wheland in command.
After completing itsshakedown cruise out ofNew London,Gabilan sailed for brief antisubmarine training atKey West before transiting thePanama Canal for theHawaiian Islands. She arrivedPearl Harbor 23 March 1944 and spent her first war patrol (21 April – 6 June) scouting theMariana Islands gathering information for the United States invasion of those islands. Her second war patrol (29 June – 18 August) took her to the south coast ofHonshū, Japan, where, on the night of 17 July, she made a daringradar chase through bright moonlight and phosphorescent water. Skirting dangerousreefs and shoals, she pressed home an attack that sank a 492-tonminesweeper.
Her third war patrol (26 September – 12 November) took her south of the Japanese Empire in company withBesugo andRonquil to detect the departure fromBungo Suido of any major enemy fleet units that might interfere with the liberation of thePhilippine Islands. The latter part of the patrol was spent in an independent search of approaches ofKii Suido where, in a dawnperiscope attack on 31 October, she destroyed oceanographic research vesselKaiyō No. 6 with a singletorpedo. Gabilan terminated her third war patrol atSaipan on 12 November 1944 and proceeded toBrisbane, Australia for refit.
Her fourth war patrol was in theSouth China Sea (29 December 1944 – 15 February 1945). She joinedPerch andBarbel in a coordinated patrol off the southern entrance toPalawan Passage and the western approach toBalapac Strait, where JapanesebattleshipsIse andHyūga were expected to appear en route to threaten American invasion forces in the Philippines. There were many quick dives to avoid aircraft; floatingmines were sunk by rifle fire from the submarine, but there was no sign of their quarry.
Passing back through theJava Sea en route toFremantle, Australia, the submarine had a nerve-wracking morning, as numerous aircraft droppeddepth charges in the near vicinity, culminated by the appearance of a Japanese minelayer that made two attacks in shallow water, dropping 20 depth charges. Thoroughly shaken, but suffering only superficial damage,Gabilan evaded her antagonist in a providential heavy rain squall. Her only other diversion en route to Fremantle was an encounter with the British submarineHMS Spiteful, an approaching target in morning twilight; however, there was sufficient illumination to enableGabilan to identifySpiteful at the last moment before firing.
Gabilan conducted the greater part of her fifth war patrol (20 March – 28 May) as a unit of a "wolfpack" that includedCharr andBesugo. Patrolling below theCelebes, the pack began an epic four-day chase on 4 April with a morning contact oncruiserIsuzu and her four escorts. One of the escorts fell prey toBesugo, and the elusive cruiser was spotted as she enteredBima Bay on the night of 6 April. Word was flashed toGabilan, already executing a daring surface attack that left the cruiser listing and down by the bow. With the enemy confused byGabilan's attack,Charr completed the kill with a six-torpedo salvo the next morning (7 April). The demise ofIsuzu, last of the Japanese light cruisers to fall victim to a submarine torpedo, was witnessed by British submarineHMS Spark.
Gabilan outwitted three escorts to sink a small freighter the morning of 14 April 1945, then scored hits on two cargo ships of another convoy. After a short stay off the coast ofHainan, where she destroyed drifting mines, she returned to Pearl Harbor 28 May for refit.
Gabilan's sixth and last war patrol (20 June – 17 August 1945) was on lifeguard station for American fliers offTokyo Bay. She first rescued six men, the crews of two torpedo bombers, then raced well inside Tokyo Bay, in easy range of Japaneseshore batteries, to rescue another three-man crew. Six NavyHellcat fighter planes gave her cover for the mission. On the way out, she paused to destroy a drifting mine with gunfire.
On 18 July 1945, the U.S. NavydestroyersUSS Hank (DD-702) andUSS Wallace L. Lind (DD-703) opened gunfire onGabilan at a range of 12,800 yards (12,000 m) whileGabilan was on the surface in thePacific Ocean off theBōsō Peninsula,Honshu,Japan, at35°05′N140°50′E / 35.083°N 140.833°E /35.083; 140.833.[7]Gabilan had difficulty diving in the heavy seas andbroached, and the destroyers' gunfire straddled her an estimated ten times before she finally submerged undamaged to a depth of 150 feet (46 m). As the destroyers approached, she descended to a depth of 300 feet (91 m) and broke contact with them.[7]
On 1 August 1945,Gabilan rendezvoused with the submarineUSS Toro (SS-422) and received three British fliersToro had rescued earlier. Altogether,Gabilan rescued 17 aviators during her patrol.
En route to Pearl Harbor,Gabilan received news of thesurrender of Japan on 15 August 1945. Proceeding by way ofSan Francisco, California, and thePanama Canal Zone,Gabilan arrived atNew London,Connecticut, where she decommissioned 23 February 1946 and joined theAtlantic Reserve Fleet. She was sold for scrapping on 15 December 1959.
Gabilan received fourbattle stars forWorld War II service. Her second, third, fifth, and sixth war patrols were designated "successful".
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1945 | |
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