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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSGuitarro (SS-363) |
| Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company,Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1] |
| Laid down | 7 April 1943[1] |
| Launched | 29 August 1943[1] |
| Commissioned | 26 January 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned | 6 December 1945[1] |
| Nickname(s) | "Gus Gutfish" |
| Recommissioned | 6 February 1952[1] |
| Decommissioned | 22 September 1953[1] |
| Recommissioned | 15 May 1954[1] |
| Decommissioned | 7 August 1954[1] |
| Stricken | 1 January 1972[2] |
| Honors & awards |
|
| Fate | Transferred toTurkey, 7 August 1954,[2] sold to Turkey 1 January 1972[1] |
 Turkey | |
| Name | TCGPreveze (S 340) |
| Acquired | 7 August 1954 |
| Decommissioned | 4 May 1972 |
| Fate | Scrapped September 1983 |
| 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 (5.2 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h)[4] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[4] |
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
USSGuitarro (SS-363), aGato-classsubmarine, was the first ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for theguitarro.
Guitarro initially was ordered as a unit of theBalao class, but her builder, theManitowoc Shipbuilding Company, did not receive the drawings for theBalao class from theElectric Boat Company in time to buildGuitarro or the submarinesUSS Golet (SS-361),USS Guavina (SS-362), andUSS Hammerhead (SS-364) to the new design, so they were built asGato-class submarines. Thus, in some references, these four submarines are listed as units of theBalao-class.[5]
Guitarro waslaunched 26 September 1943 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company atManitowoc,Wisconsin, sponsored by Mrs. Pauline Palmer McIntire, wife ofVice Admiral Ross T. McIntire, chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, andcommissioned at Manitowoc on 26 January 1944.
Guitarro departed Manitowoc forChicago 13 February, and there she was placed in afloating drydock. SteamerMinnesota towed the drydock toNew Orleans, arriving 22 February, and thereGuitarro prepared for sea. Steaming from New Orleans 1 March, she operated out ofBalboa,Canal Zone, for several weeks and departed forPearl Harbor 2 April 1944.
Arriving at Pearl Harbor 17 April,Guitarro prepared for her first war patrol offFormosa. She got underway on this duty 7 May 1944. On the night of 30 May the submarine encountered heavily escorted cargo vesselShisen Maru, and scoring two hits sent her to the bottom. She evaded counter-attacks by the screen ships and headed south for rendezvous with awolf pack of four submarines under the command of Comdr. F. W. Fenno.
On the night of 2 JuneGuitarro made a moonlightperiscope approach and launched two torpedoes at the frigateAwaji, sinking her immediately. The submarine was then forced down to avoiddepth charge, torpedo, and aircraft attacks. She made port atDarwin, Australia, 19 June, and 2 days later sailed forFremantle, arriving 27 June 1944.
Departing on her second war patrol 21 July 1944,Guitarro set course for theSouth China Sea off the west coast ofLuzon. She commenced her approach to the lead escorts of a largeconvoy 7 August and after missing the first target scored three hits on frigateKusagaki, blowing off her bow and sinking her in a spectacular explosion. The remainder of the convoy escaped asGuitarro eluded the determined attacks of an escortdestroyer. She surfaced the next day to sink a small coastal vessel with her deck gun, and then steamed towardCape Bolinao, where she was to rendezvous withRaton (SS-270) the next day.
Guitarro detected a convoy along the coastline 10 August, maneuvered from beachside, and launched four torpedoes.TankerShinei Maru exploded and burned furiously asGuitarro dived to avoid depth charges. The submarine suffered considerable outside damage but no serious injury, and she departed for the vicinity ofCape Calavite withRaton.
While submerged the morning of 21 AugustGuitarro heard a distant depth charge attack, and soon sighted the smoke of a convoy. Hampered by an unfavorable current and a radically maneuvering convoy, she was unable to mount an attack on two tankers; but a cargo ship turned into her and received four torpedoes as a reward. Passenger-cargo shipUga Maru (4,433 tons) was sunk, andGuitarro escaped amid a violent depth charge attack.
The versatile submarine, finding the water too shallow for a torpedo attack, surfaced 27 August to engage three coastal tankers with her deck gun and succeeded in sinkingNanshin Maru. Two other tankers were damaged but managed to escape into shoal water.[6]Guitarro returned to Fremantle to complete her patrol 8 September 1944.
In company withBream (SS-243),Guitarro departed Fremantle 8 October 1944 for her third war patrol inPhilippine waters. As the epochalBattle of Leyte Gulf developed,Guitarro played an important role. She sighted the Japanese Central Force under AdmiralTakeo Kurita on the night of 23 – 24 October and tracked the ships throughMindoro Strait, unable to close for an attack. Her contact reports on the force were vital to the success of the ensuing engagements, which by 26 October virtually eliminated the remaining Japanese naval forces in the Pacific.
Guitarro,Bream, andRaton rendezvoused 30 October and the three boats attacked a convoy off Cape Bolinao that night. Unable to score any hits until the next day,Guitarro managed to work her way inside the screen and fire no less than nine torpedoes at 08:47. She observed one cargo ship break in half and was rocked by a tremendous explosion from another direct hit on an ammunition ship.Guitarro was driven down 5 feet (1.5 m) by the force of the explosion, prompting Comdr. Haskins to report: "The Commanding Officer never wishes to hit an ammunition ship any closer than that one."[7] She teamed up withBream andRay (SS-271) 4 November to sink passenger-cargo shipKagu Maru. AfterBream's initial attack,Guitarro added four hits before diving to avoid escort vessels.
Remaining off western Luzon,Guitarro and her wolf pack next encountered heavycruiserKumano in convoy. Damaged in theBattle off Samar, the cruiser had repaired atManila and was en route toJapan when the submarines struck.Guitarro fired nine torpedoes and gained three hits, but failed to sink the cruiser. Pounded by torpedoes from the other boats,Kumano was finally stopped, towed ashore by one of her sisters, and eventually finished off bycarrier aircraft 25 November 1944.Guitarro, meanwhile, had returned to Fremantle 16 November. For her outstanding performance on her first three patrols, the submarine was awarded theNavy Unit Commendation.
Guitarro departed Fremantle 11 December 1944 on her fourth war patrol, transitingLombok Strait 17 December to patrol theSouth China Sea. After putting in atMios Woendi 17 January 1945 for repairs, she made an attack with undetermined results on a convoy offCape Batagan. On 1 March 1945, she was operating on the surface in heavyfog when at 01:10H Time she sighted atorpedo at a distance of 100 yards (91 m) which passed 100 yards (91 m) ahead of her.[8] With strong indications of nearby U.S.SD andSJ submarineradars, she challenged what she presumed was a nearby U.S. submarine for 45 minutes via SJ radar signals beginning at 01:25 H Time before receiving a reply and exchanging recognition signals.[8] The other submarine never identified itself, but the torpedo had come from its direction.[8] Although unable to prove conclusively that they had been either in contact with or fired upon by another U.S. submarine,Guitarro′s crew concluded that they had nearly been the victims of afriendly fire incident.[8] Finding targets scarce in her patrol area,Guitarro returned to Fremantle on 15 March 1945.
Guitarro again put out to sea 9 April 1945 on her fifth war patrol, and was unsuccessfully attacked by aircraft and a patrol boat in Lombok Strait. She then made her way to the northeast coast ofSumatra, where she engaged in a new mission, the laying of mines, offBerhala Island. After an uneventful patrol astride the shipping lanes betweenBorneo andSingapore,Guitarro anchored offSaipan 27 May 1945. Next day she departed for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived 8 June. Arriving atSan Francisco 18 June 1945,Guitarro decommissioned atMare Island 6 December and was placed in reserve.
Guitarro recommissioned 6 February 1952, and after overhaul atSan Diego engaged in a series of training exercises off the coast until 10 September 1953. She again decommissioned 22 September 1953 and underwent aFleet Snorkel conversion to snorkel equipment at Mare Island Shipyard. She was featured in the 1953 film "The 49th man".
Guitarro subsequently recommissioned 15 May 1954 and commenced the training of Turkish sailors prior to transfer toTurkey under the Military Defense Assistance Program.Guitarro decommissioned and was loaned to Turkey 7 August 1954. She was commissioned asTCGPreveze, the first submarine on that name. Originally designatedS 22, she was redesignatedS 340 in 1965. On 1 January 1972 the submarine was formally sold to Turkey. She was decommissioned on 4 May 1972, renamedCeryan Botu (No. 4), and served as a battery charging hulk until scrapped in September 1983. Her sail was preserved atGölcük Naval Base until theearthquake of 17 August 1999.[9]
Guitarro was awarded fourbattle stars and aNavy Unit Commendation for her service inWorld War II. Her first, second, third, and fifth 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 March 1945 | |
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| Other incidents |
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