 USSSailfish (SS-192), off the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, 13 April 1943 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSSqualus |
| Namesake | Squalus |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | 18 October 1937 |
| Launched | 14 September 1938 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Thomas C. Hart |
| Commissioned | 1 March 1939 |
| Decommissioned | 15 November 1939 |
| Fate | Sunk and salvaged |
| Raised | 13 September 1939 |
| Renamed | USSSailfish, 9 February 1940 |
| Namesake | Sailfish |
| Commissioned | 15 May 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 27 October 1945 |
| Stricken | 30 April 1948 |
| Honors & awards |
|
| Fate | Sold for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Sargo-class compositediesel-hydraulic anddiesel-electricsubmarine[1] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 310 ft 6 in (94.64 m)[2] |
| Beam | 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m)[2] |
| Draft | 16 ft 7.5 in (5.067 m)[2] |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)[2] |
| Endurance | 48 hours at 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) submerged[2] |
| Test depth | 250 ft (76 m)[2] |
| Complement | 5 officers, 54 enlisted[2] |
| Armament |
|
USSSailfish (SS-192), was aSargo-classsubmarine of theUnited States Navy, originally namedSqualus. AsSqualus, the submarine sank off the coast ofNew Hampshire during test dives on 23 May 1939. The sinking drowned 26 crew members, but an ensuing rescue operation, using theMcCann Rescue Chamber for the first time, saved the lives of the remaining 33 aboard.Squalus was salvaged in late 1939 and recommissioned asSailfish in May 1940.
AsSailfish, the vessel conducted numerous patrols in thePacific War duringWorld War II, earning ninebattle stars. She was decommissioned in October 1945 and later scrapped. Herconning tower is on display atPortsmouth Naval Shipyard inKittery,Maine.
Squalus'skeel waslaid on 18 October 1937 by thePortsmouth Navy Yard inKittery,Maine, the only ship of theUnited States Navy named for thesqualus, a type ofshark. She waslaunched on 14 September 1938,sponsored by Mrs. Thomas C. Hart, wife ofAdmiralThomas C. Hart,[4] andcommissioned on 1 March 1939 withLieutenantOliver F. Naquin in command.[5]
On 12 May 1939, following a yard overhaul,Squalus began a series of test dives offPortsmouth, New Hampshire. After successfully completing 18 dives, she went down again off theIsles of Shoals on the morning of 23 May at42°53′N70°37′W / 42.883°N 70.617°W /42.883; -70.617. Failure of the main induction valve (the means of letting in fresh air when on the surface)[6] caused the flooding of the aft torpedo room, both engine rooms, and the crew's quarters, drowning 26 men immediately.[7] Quick action by the crew prevented the other compartments from flooding.Squalus bottomed in 243 ft (74 m) of water.[6]
Squalus was initially located by hersister boat,Sculpin. The two submarines communicated using atelephone marker buoy until the cable parted. Divers from thesubmarine rescue shipFalcon began rescue operations under the direction of thesalvage and rescue expertLieutenant CommanderCharles B. "Swede" Momsen, using the newMcCann Rescue Chamber. The senior medical officer for the operations was Dr.Charles Wesley Shilling.[8] Overseen by researcherAlbert R. Behnke, the divers used recently developedheliox diving schedules and successfully avoided the cognitive impairment symptoms associated with suchdeep dives, thereby confirming Behnke's theory ofnitrogen narcosis.[9] The divers rescued all 33 survivors (32 crew members and a civilian[10]) on board the sunken submarine. Four enlisted divers, Chief Machinist's MateWilliam Badders, Chief Boatswain's MateOrson L. Crandall, Chief MetalsmithJames H. McDonald, and Chief TorpedomanJohn Mihalowski, were awarded theMedal of Honor for their work during the rescue and subsequent salvage. The successful rescue of theSqualus survivors is in marked contrast to the loss ofHMS Thetis in Liverpool Bay in England just a week later, with four survivors from 104 people aboard.[11]
The naval authorities felt raisingSqualus was important, as she incorporated a succession of new design features. With a thorough investigation of why she sank, more confidence could be placed in the new construction, or alteration of existing designs could be undertaken when cheapest and most efficient to do so. Furthermore, given similar previous accidents inSturgeon andSnapper (indeed, inS-5, as far back as 1920), determining a cause was necessary.
TheSqualus salvage unit was commanded by Rear AdmiralCyrus W. Cole, commandant of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, who supervised salvage officer Lieutenant Floyd A. Tusler from theConstruction Corps. Cole also requested experienced CommanderHenry Hartley as his technical aide.[12] Tusler's plan was to lift the submarine in three stages to prevent it from rising too quickly, out of control, with one end up, in which case the likelihood of it sinking again would be high.[13] For 50 days, divers worked to pass cables underneath the submarine and attachpontoons for buoyancy. On 13 July 1939, the stern was raised successfully, but when the men attempted to free the bow from the hard blue clay, the vessel began to rise far too quickly, slipping its cables. Ascending vertically, the submarine broke the surface, and 30 feet (10 m) of the bow reached into the air for not more than ten seconds before she sank once again all the way to the bottom.[14] Momsen said of the mishap, "pontoons were smashed, hoses cut and I might add, hearts were broken."[15] After 20 more days of preparation, with a radically redesigned pontoon and cable arrangement, the next lift was successful, as were two further operations.Squalus was towed into Portsmouth on 13 September, and decommissioned on 15 November. A total of 628 dives had been made in rescue and salvage operations.[15]
RenamedSailfish on 9 February 1940, she became the first boat of the U.S. Navy named for thesailfish. After reconditioning, repair, and overhaul, she was recommissioned on 15 May 1940 with Lieutenant CommanderMorton C. Mumma Jr. (Annapolis, class of 1930)[16] in command.
With refit completed in mid-September,Sailfish departed Portsmouth on 16 January 1941 and headed for the Pacific.[17] Transiting thePanama Canal, she arrived atPearl Harbor in early March, after refueling at San Diego. The submarine then sailed west toManila where she joined theAsiatic Fleet until theattack on Pearl Harbor.
During thePacific War, the captain of the renamed boat issued standing orders that if any man on the boat said the word "Squalus", he was to be marooned at the next port of call. This led to crew members referring to their boat as "Squailfish". That went over almost as well; acourt martial was threatened for anyone heard using it.[18]
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor,Sailfish departed Manila on her first war patrol, destined for the west coast ofLuzon. Early on 10 December, she sighted a landing force, supported bycruisers anddestroyers, but could not gain firing position.[19] On the night of 13 December, she made contact with two Japanese destroyers and began a submerged attack; the destroyers detected her, dropping severaldepth charges, whileSailfish fired two torpedoes. Despite a large explosion nearby, no damage was done, and the destroyers counterattacked with 18–20 depth charges.[20] She returned to Manila on 17 December.
Her second patrol (now under the command ofRichard G. Voge[21] begun on 21 December, took the submarine to waters offFormosa. On the morning of 27 January 1942, offHalmahera, nearDavao, she sighted aMyōkō-class cruiser, making a daylight submerged attack with four torpedoes, and reporting the target was damaged, for which she got credit.[22] However, the damage could not be assessed since the cruiser's two escorts forcedSailfish to dive deep and run silent. Running at 260 ft (79 m), the submarine eluded the destroyers and proceeded south towardJava. She arrived atTjilatjap on 14 February for refueling and rearming.
Departing on 19 February for her third patrol, she headed throughLombok Strait to theJava Sea. After sighting theheavy cruiserHouston and two escorts heading forSunda Strait following theAllied defeat in theBattle of the Java Sea,Sailfish intercepted an enemy destroyer on 2 March. Following an unsuccessful attack, she was forced to dive deep to escape the ensuing depth-charge attack from the destroyer and patrol aircraft. That night, near the mouth of Lombok Strait, she spotted what appeared to be the 38,200-long-ton (38,800 t)aircraft carrierKaga,[22] escorted by four destroyers.Sailfish fired four torpedoes, scoring two hits. Leaving the target aflame and dead in the water,Sailfish dove, the escorts delivering 40 depth charges in the next 90 minutes.[22] She eluded destroyers and aircraft and arrived atFremantle, Western Australia, on 19 March, to great fanfare, believed to be the first U.S. submarine to have sunk an enemy carrier. In reality, theKaga was scuttled in June, 1942, after damage sustained during theBattle of Midway, in that vicinity. Postwar,Kaga was revealed to have been nowhere in the area of Lombok Strait, and the target had in fact been the 6,440-long-ton (6,540 t)aircraft ferryKamogawa Maru, still a valuable target.[23]
The Java Sea andCelebes Sea were the areas ofSailfish's fourth patrol, from 22 March–21 May. After delivering 1,856 rounds of antiaircraft ammunition to "MacArthur'sguerrillas",[22] she made only one ship contact and was unable to attack the target before returning to Fremantle.
The submarine's fifth patrol—from 13 June through 1 August—was off the coast ofIndochina in theSouth China Sea. On 4 July, she intercepted and tracked a large freighter, but discovered the intended target was ahospital ship and held her fire. On 9 July, she intercepted and torpedoed a Japanesefreighter. One of a pair of torpedoes struck home and the ship took a 15°list. AsSailfish went deep, a series of explosions was heard, and no further screw noises were detected. When the submarine surfaced in the area 90 minutes later, no ship was in sight. She was credited during the war with a 7000-ton ship,[24] and although postwar examination of Japanese records confirmed no sinking in the area on that date,[25] theSailfish had damaged the Japanese transport shipAobasan Maru (8811 GRT) off the coast of Indochina in position 11°31'N, 109°21'E.[25]
Sailfish observed only one other enemy vessel before the end of the patrol.
Shifting her base of operations toBrisbane,Sailfish (now under the command ofJohn R. "Dinty" Moore)[26] got underway for her sixth patrol on 13 September and headed for the westernSolomon Islands. On the night of 17–18 September, she encountered eight Japanese destroyers escorting a cruiser, but she was unable to attack. On 19 September, she attacked aminelayer. The spread of three torpedoes missed, andSailfish was forced to dive deep to escape the depth-charge counterattack. Eleven well-placed charges went off near the submarine, causing much minor damage.Sailfish returned to Brisbane on 1 November.
Underway for her seventh patrol on 24 November,Sailfish proceeded to the area south ofNew Britain. Following an unsuccessful attack on a destroyer on 2 December, the submarine made no other contacts until 25 December, when she believed she had scored a hit on a Japanese submarine. Postwar analysis of Japanese records could not confirm a sinking in the area. During the remainder of the patrol, she made unsuccessful attacks on a cargo ship and a destroyer before ending the patrol at Pearl Harbor on 15 January 1943.
After an overhaul atMare Island Naval Shipyard from 27 January–22 April,Sailfish returned to Pearl Harbor on 30 April. Departing Hawaii on 17 May for her eighth patrol, she stopped off to fuel atMidway Island and proceeded to her station off the east coast ofHonshū. Several contacts were made, but because of bad weather, were not attacked. On 15 June, she encountered two freighters offTodo Saki, escorted by threesubchasers.[27] Firing a spread of three stern torpedoes, she observed one hit. which stopped themaru dead in the water.Sailfish was driven down by the escort, but listened on her sound gear asShinju Maru broke up and sank. Ten days later, she found a secondconvoy, three ships with a subchaser, and unusually, an aircraft, for escort.Sailfish once more fired three stern tubes, sinkingIburi Maru; in response, the subchaser, the aircraft, and three additional escorts,[27] pinned her down in a gruelling depth-charge attack lasting 10 hours and 98 charges, but causing only slight damage.[27] After shaking loose pursuit, she set course for Midway on 26 June, arriving there on 3 July.[28]
Her ninth patrol (commanded byWilliam R. Lefavour)[29] lasted from 25 July–16 September and covered theFormosa Strait and waters offOkinawa. It produced only two contacts (a 2500-ton steamer atNaha, Okinawa, and ajunk),[27] but no worthwhile targets, andSailfish thereafter returned to Pearl Harbor.[30]
After refit at Pearl Harbor, she departed (under the command ofRobert E. McC. Ward)[31] with a rejuvenated crew, on 17 November for her 10th patrol, which took her south of Honshū. Along the way, she suffered a "hot run" in tube eight (aft), and (after the skipper himself went over the side to inspect the damage) ejected the torpedo; the tube remained out of commission for the duration of the patrol.[32]
After refueling at Midway, she was alerted byULTRA of a fast convoy of Japanese ships before she arrived on station. Southeast ofYokosuka, on the night of 3 December, she maderadar contact at 9,000 yd (8,200 m). The group consisted of the Japanese aircraft carrierChūyō, a cruiser, and two destroyers. Despite high seas whipped up bytyphoon winds,Sailfish maneuvered into firing position shortly after midnight on 3–4 December, dived to radar depth (just the radar aerial exposed), and fired four bow torpedoes at the carrier, at a range of 2,100 yd (1,900 m), scoring two hits. She went deep to escape the escorting destroyers, which dropped 21 depth charges (only two close), reloaded, and at 02:00, surfaced to resume the pursuit. She found a mass of radar contacts, and a slow-moving target, impossible to identify in the miserable visibility. As dawn neared, she fired another spread of three bow "fish" from 3,100 yd (2,800 m), scoring two more hits on the stricken carrier. Diving to elude the Japanese counterattack, which was hampered by the raging seas,Sailfish came to periscope depth, and at 07:58 saw the carrier lying dead in the water, listing to port and down by the stern. Preparations to abandon ship were in progress.[32]
Later in the morning,Sailfish fired another spread of three torpedoes, from only 1,700 yd (1,600 m),[33] scoring two final hits. Loud internal explosions and breaking-up noises were heard while the submarine dived to escape a depth-charge attack. Abruptly, a cruiser appeared, and fearing that she would broach the surface,Sailfish went to 90 ft (27 m), losing a chance at this new target.[34] Shortly afterward, the carrierChūyō[34] (20,000 long tons (20,321 t)) went to the bottom, the first aircraft carrier sunk by an American submarine in the war,[34] and the only major Japanese warship sunk by enemy action in 1943.[35] In an ironic twist,Chūyō was carrying American prisoners of war fromSculpin, the same boat that had helped locate and rescueSailfish—thenSqualus—over four years before. Twenty of the 21 US crew members fromSculpin were killed. None, however, were of the original rescue crew;[34] 1,250 Japanese were also killed.
After escaping a strafing attack by a Japanese fighter on 7 December, she made contact and commenced tracking two cargo ships with two[34] escorts on the morning of 13 December, south ofKyūshū. That night, she fired a spread of four torpedoes at the two freighters. Two solid explosions were heard, including an internal secondary explosion.Sailfish heardTotai Maru (3,000 GRT)[34] break up and sink as the destroyers made a vigorous but inaccurate depth-charge attack. WhenSailfish caught up with the other freighter, she was dead in the water, but covered by a screen of five destroyers. Rather than face suicidal odds, the submarine quietly left the area. On the night of 20 December, she intercepted an enemy hospital ship, which she left unmolested.
On 21 December, in the approach toBungo Suido (Bungo Channel),Sailfish intercepted six large freighters escorted by three[34] destroyers. With five torpedoes left, she fired a spread of three stern tubes,[34] scoring two hits on the largest target. Diving to escape the approaching destroyers, the submarine detected breaking-up noises asUyo Maru (6400 GRT)[34] went to the bottom; destroyers counterattacked with 31 depth charges, "some very close".[34]Sailfish terminated her tenth patrol at Pearl Harbor on 5 January 1944. She claimed three ships for 35,729 GRT, plus damage to one for 7000 tons, believed to be the most successful patrol by tonnage to date; postwar, it was reduced to two ships and (lessUyo Maru) 29,571 tons.[36]
After an extensive overhaul at Mare Island—from 15–17 June—she returned to Hawaii and sailed on 9 July as part of a "wolfpack" ("Moseley's Maulers", commanded byStan Moseley),[37] withGreenling andBillfish, to prey on shipping in the Luzon–Formosa area. On the afternoon of 6 August,[38]Sailfish andGreenling made contact with an enemy convoy.Sailfish maneuvered into firing position and fired a spread of three torpedoes at a mine layer.[38] One hit caused the tanker to disintegrate into a column of water, smoke, and debris. It was not recorded in the postwar account.[37] In fact, theSailfish had sunk the JapaneseKinshu Maru (238 GRT) in Luzon Strait in position 20°09'N, 121°19'E.[25]
Her next target was abattleship escorted by three[37] destroyers, on which she made radar contact[37] shortly after midnight on 18–19 August. At 01:35, after getting as close as she was able, 3,500 yd (3,200 m),Sailfish fired all four bow tubes. One of the escorts ran into the path of two fish; the other two missed.[39] While the destroyer must have been severely damaged or sunk, there was nothing inJANAC.[39]
On 24 August, south of Formosa,Sailfish made radar contact with an enemy convoy consisting of four cargo ships escorted by two small patrol craft. Moving into firing position,Sailfish fired a salvo of four torpedoes, scoring two hits. The cargo shipToan Maru (2100 GRT)[39] was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and shortly afterward broke in two and sank. Surfacing after escaping a depth-charge attack,Sailfish closed on a second cargo ship of the convoy, scoring two hits out of four torpedoes fired. The submarine's crew felt the cargo ship either had been sunk or badly damaged, but the sinking was not confirmed by JANAC postwar.[40]Sailfish terminated her 11th patrol at Midway on 6 September; her wartime credit was four ships for 13,200 tons, a total reduced to just one of 2100 GRT (Toan Maru) postwar.[41]
Her 12th patrol—from 26 September through 11 December—was conducted between Luzon and Formosa, in company withPomfret andParche.
After passing through the edge of a typhoon,Sailfish arrived on station to performlifeguard duty. On 12 October, staying surfaced in full view of enemy attackers,[41] she rescued 12[41] Navy fliers who had ditched their stricken aircraft after strikes against Japanese bases on Formosa. She sank asampan and a patrol craft[41] with her deck gun as the enemy craft tried to capture the downed aviators. The following day, she rescued another flier. The submarines pulled intoSaipan, arriving on 24 October, to drop off their temporary passengers, refuel, and make minor repairs.
After returning to the patrol area with the wolf pack, she made an unsuccessful attack on a transport on 3 November. The following day,Sailfish damaged the Japanese destroyerHarukaze and Japanese landing shipT-111 (890 tons) in Luzon Strait in position 20°08'N, 121°43'E,[25] but was slightly damaged herself by a bomb from a patrol aircraft. With battle damage under control,Sailfish eluded her pursuers and cleared the area. After riding out a typhoon on 9–10 November, she intercepted a convoy on the evening of 24 November heading forItbayat in the Philippines. After alertingPomfret of the convoy's location and course,Sailfish was moving into an attack position, when one of the escorting destroyers headed straight for her.Sailfish fired a three-torpedo spread "down the throat" and headed toward the main convoy. At least one hit was scored on the destroyer and her pip faded from the radar screen. Suddenly,Sailfish received an unwelcome surprise when she came under fire from the destroyer that she had believed to be sunk.Sailfish ran deep after ascertaining no hull damage had resulted from a near miss from the escort's guns. For the next 41⁄2 hours,Sailfish was forced to run silent and deep as the Japanese kept up an uncomfortably accurate depth-charge attack. Finally, the submarine eluded the destroyers and slipped away. Shortly thereafter,Sailfish headed for Hawaii, via Midway, and completed her 12th and final war patrol upon arriving at Pearl Harbor on 11 December.Sailfish had damaged the IJN destroyerHarukaze, which had previously sunkUSS Shark, and also a landing ship.[25]
Following refit,Sailfish departed Hawaii on 26 December and arrived atNew London, via the Panama Canal, on 22 January 1945. For the next four and one-half months, she aided training out of New London. Next, she operated as a training ship atGuantanamo Bay from 9 June–9 August. After a six-week stay atPhiladelphia Navy Yard, she arrived atPortsmouth, New Hampshire, on 2 October for deactivation.
After being decommissioned on 27 October 1945,[42] efforts by the city of Portsmouth and area residents to have the submarine kept intact as a memorial were not successful.[43] Agreement was reached to have herconning tower saved, which was dedicated in November 1946 onArmistice Day, byJohn L. Sullivan, thenUndersecretary of the Navy.[44] The remainder of the submarine was initially scheduled to be a target in theatomic bomb tests[45] or sunk by conventional ordnance. However, she was placed on sale in March 1948 and stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 30 April 1948. The hulk was sold for scrapping to Luria Brothers ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, on 18 June 1948. Her conning tower still stands at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery as a memorial to her lost crewmen (43°04′55.4″N70°44′18.7″W / 43.082056°N 70.738528°W /43.082056; -70.738528).[46]
Presidential Unit Citation for outstanding performance on her 10th war patrol
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory MedalThe 2001television moviedocudramaSubmerged, directed byJames Keach and starringSam Neill as Charles B. "Swede" Momsen andJames B. Sikking as AdmiralCyrus Cole, depicted the events surrounding the loss of USSSqualus and the rescue of her 33 survivors. The plot was written to closely follow the events of the sinking.
Submerged used models and sets originally constructed for the 2000 filmU-571. The floating set used to inSubmerged to represent both USSSqualus and USSSculpin is the non-diving replica built inMalta as the "modified"USS S-33 (SS-138) forU-571, which also was shot in Malta. The replica is still[when?] afloat, moored inMarsa in the inner part of theGrand Harbour (35°52′46.00″N14°29′49.92″E / 35.8794444°N 14.4972000°E /35.8794444; 14.4972000) at Malta.
In 2006, BBC TV presented a series of programs entitledVoyages of Discovery, the first of which, called "Hanging by a Thread", told the story of the USSSqualus rescue mission, as narrated by Paul Rose.[47]
Any slip might cause theSqualus to rise too fast, get out of control, up end and slip to the bottom again.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1939 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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