 USSTuna underway inSan Francisco Bay on 10 March 1941. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Tuna |
| Namesake | Tuna |
| Builder | Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1] |
| Laid down | 19 July 1939[1] |
| Launched | 2 October 1940[1] |
| Commissioned | 2 January 1941[1] |
| Decommissioned | 11 December 1946[1] |
| Stricken | 21 October 1948[2] |
| Fate | Used as target forOperation Crossroads atomic bomb tests,[1] then scuttled off southernCalifornia 24 September 1948[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Tambor-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 307 ft 2 in (93.62 m)[3] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3] |
| Draft | 14 ft7+1⁄2 in (4.458 m)[3] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3] |
| Endurance | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Test depth | 250 ft (76 m)[3] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
| Armament |
|
USSTuna (SS-203) was aUnited States NavyTambor-classsubmarine, serving in thePacific duringWorld War II and earning sevenbattle stars for her service. After the war, she participated in theBikini Atoll atomic testing in 1946.
Tuna was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for thetuna, a vigorous, spiny-finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food.
Tuna'skeel waslaid down on 19 July 1939 by theMare Island Navy Yard atVallejo,California. She waslaunched on 2 October 1940, sponsored by Mrs. Wilhelm L. Friedell, andcommissioned on 2 January 1941.
Tuna departedSan Diego, California, on 19 May 1941 forPearl Harbor, Hawaii, andshakedown training. Operations in Hawaiian waters revealed that hertorpedo tubes were misaligned. This problem necessitated her returning to the Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs.
During the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941,Tuna lay indrydock at Mare Island. She set out for Pearl Harbor on 7 January 1942.
The first ofTuna’s 13 war patrols lasted from 26 January to 21 March 1942, as she roved the waters of theEast China Sea. On 4 March offKyūshū, sank one enemy freighter of about 6,000 tons, damaged and probably sunk one enemy destroyer, and damaged two other ships of undetermined type of about 2,000 tons each.[7]
Standing out of Pearl Harbor on 14 April,Tuna once again set her course towards the Japanese home islands and the hunting offHonshū. She added another score to her tally by sinking the 805-ton cargo shipToyohara Maru on 15 May before returning to Pearl Harbor on 16 June.
Following refit,Tuna became Task Unit 8.5.12, with orders to proceed to theAleutian Islands. This third war patrol commenced on 13 July, but her only contact with the Japanese came on 9 August, whenTuna sighted a Japanese I-boat on the surface. She lost it shortly thereafter in heavy weather. Later in the month, she supported the Army occupation ofAdak Island by transporting a colonel and six enlisted men fromDutch Harbor, Alaska, toKuluk Bay between 25 August and 27 August. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 September.
After routine overhaul,Tuna set out fromPearl Harbor on 9 November. She made only one contact during her fourth war patrol, firing two torpedoes at a Japanesedestroyer operating offNew Georgia Island on 12 December. Both missed their mark. Three days after Christmas 1942,Tuna arrived at her new base,Brisbane,Australia.
Setting out again on 18 January 1943 to begin patrol number five, she arrived in waters off the east coast ofVella LaVella six days later. Expending 16 torpedoes in five futile daylight attacks,Tuna pressed home determined forays only to be driven deep by intense enemy antisubmarine countermeasures. Kept on station betweenNew Ireland andBuka after 11 February,Tuna launched further attacks – but from excessive ranges – which only resulted in still more frustration for her crew. Dispatched next to interdict traffic from reinforcingVila Plantation andMunda,Tuna remained luckless and was forced deep and endured depth-charge attacks before ending the patrol on 7 February.
After refitting at Brisbane,Tuna set out on her sixth war patrol on 4 March to take up a position in theBismarck Archipelago, offLyra Reef, on the northeast side ofNew Ireland. En route, she patrolled west ofBougainville. On 16 March, she received orders to shift her position to a point southeast of a line betweenMussau Island andManus Island in theAdmiralty Islands. Late in the afternoon of 29 March, she sighted a convoy of four merchantmen, with two escort ships and two aircraft. After stalking the convoy all night,Tuna attacked the following morning, firing three torpedoes at the largest vessel. Two hits, and the 4697-tonKurohime Maru plunged to the bottom.
On 4 April,Tuna changed patrol zones, prowling now to the northwest of the Manus-Mussau line in theEast Caroline Basin on the traffic lanes toRabaul. After no further attack opportunities developed,Tuna returned toBrisbane on 20 April.
On 19 May, en route to her war patrol station for the seventh patrol,Tuna came under attack by a Japanese submarine which fired one torpedo at the American ship before breaking off the attack. After that brush with destruction,Tuna prepared to bombardWakde Island with her deck guns, but the presence of Japanese subchasers forced a change in plans.
On 29 July 1943, asTuna set out fromBrisbane on her eighth patrol, aRoyal Australian Air ForceCatalinaflying boatpatrol bomber attacked her, dropping fourdepth charges close aboard whileTuna was in theSolomon Sea 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) east-northeast ofKiriwina Island and north ofWoodlark Island at08°02′N152°07′E / 8.033°N 152.117°E /8.033; 152.117.[8] AfterTunacrash-dived, the depth charges exploded as she passed a depth between 70 feet (21 m) and 110 feet (34 m), and she plunged to a depth of 365 feet (111 m) before her crew regained control of her.[8] She surfaced with aportlist of 18 degrees.[8] The damage she sustained necessitated 17 days of major repairs at Brisbane, delaying her departure for her eighth war patrol until 21 August. Once on station for that patrol, two attack opportunities presented themselves, but neither one bore fruit.
Arriving back atFremantle on 14 October,Tuna refitted alongsidesubmarine tenderPelias before proceeding on her ninth patrol which commenced on 7 November. After transiting theMolucca Strait,Tuna prowled in theJava Sea andFlores Sea. Attacking a freighter in a rain squall on 21 November,Tuna launched four torpedoes, but only one hit the enemy merchantman. On 12 December, the submarine had better luck. The 5484-ton cargo shipTosei Maru fell victim to her torpedoes, becoming the largest kill inTuna’s war career to date.
Following her ninth patrol,Tuna proceeded across the Pacific toHunters Point Navy Yard in California, where she arrived on 6 April 1944 for a major overhaul. After refitting, she returned to Hawaii to begin her tenth war patrol. Departing Pearl Harbor on 24 April, she surveilled thePalau Islands.
On 4 May 1944,Tuna sighted a 100-ton trawler. Bound forWake Island with classified documents on board,Takima Maru put up a fight when taken under fire by the submarine's two 20-millimeter guns. In the face of the returned fire,Tuna opened up with her three-inch deck gun and scored a hit on the first salvo, holingTakima Maru near the stern. Ten minutes later, the trawler settled beneath the waves, stern first, leaving the waters littered with secret papers and the surviving Japanese.
Meanwhile, submarineUSS Haddock (SS-231) arrived on the scene and assisted in the pickup of confidential documents and prisoners. Each submarine picked up 30 documents;Tuna fished out three prisoners, one of whom died later. The two remaining prisoners were transferred toHaddock.Tuna lost her senior enlisted man, the Chief of the Boat, who was swept overboard and drowned while recovering material from the sea.[1]
Ten days later,Tuna bombarded thephosphate works onFais Island with 24 rounds from her deck gun. After the remainder of her patrol proved fruitless, the submarine returned to theMarshall Islands arriving atMajuro Atoll on 21 June.
After commencing her 11th patrol upon departingMajuro Atoll on 15 July 1944,Tuna roamed the sea lanes of the Japanese home islands, offShikoku andKyūshū. Her radar picked up tempting targets, but bad luck continued to dog the ship's efforts to make contact and launch attacks. On occasion, the superior surface speed of the hunted enabled it to easily outrun the hunter, and good antisubmarine measures by the Japanese escort ships forcedTuna to proceed cautiously. On 5 September, she arrived at Pearl Harbor empty-handed.
Following refit,Tuna departed Pearl Harbor on 8 October, bound for the western Pacific. In conjunction with Operation "King Two," the invasion and liberation of thePhilippines,Tuna operated in a wolf pack, "Roach's Raiders," in company withHaddock andHalibut. During this 12th patrol,Tuna contacted seven ships; but made only one unsuccessful attack before arriving atSaipan on 2 December.
Tuna’s final war patrol began on 6 January as she leftSaipan to take position off the west coast ofBorneo. From 28 January to 30 January 1945,Tuna conducted a special mission, reconnoitering the northeast coast of Borneo. She did not attempt a landing due to enemy activity. From 2 March to 4 March,Tuna accomplished her second special mission of the patrol, landing personnel and 4,400 pounds (2,000 kg) of stores nearLabuk Bay. During the patrol, she sighted no contacts deemed worthy of torpedo fire, andTuna returned to Fremantle on 13 March 1945.
Thereafter, based at Fremantle,Tuna operated on training duty until she sailed forLeyte in thePhilippines on 13 April. The submarine touched atSubic Bay andSaipan before returning to Pearl Harbor on 5 September. From there, she proceeded toSan Francisco, California, arriving on 14 September.
After moving through thePanama Canal to the East Coast,Tuna remained in commission, in the inactive fleet, to assist in the maintenance and security of other submarines sent toPortsmouth, New Hampshire, for tests. In this capacity, she served with Submarine Division 162, Submarine Squadron 16, Inactive Fleet, New London Group, until she was selected as a target vessel for the upcomingatomic bomb tests atBikini Atoll in theMarshall Islands.
After once again transiting thePanama Canal,Tuna arrived at Pearl Harbor on 2 March 1946 and reported for duty with Commander, Joint Task Force 1. In company with submarinesSkipjack,Skate, andSearaven,Tuna departed Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1946.
Upon her arrival atBikini Atoll, nine days later,Tuna was assigned a place among the target vessels anchored in the atoll. The firstatomic bomb was detonated on 1 July 1946, and the second followed 24 days later. Receiving only superficial damage,Tuna departed forKwajalein on 22 August 1946 en route to Pearl Harbor and the West Coast. On 5 September, she arrived inHawaiian waters, mooring at thesubmarine base.
Underway for theUnited States West Coast on 7 October 1946,Tuna arrived at theMare Island Naval Shipyard a week later where she moored with the19th Fleet. Scheduled for decommissioning on 11 December 1946, she was retained as a radiological laboratory unit and subjected to numerous radiological and structural studies while remaining atMare Island. No preservation work was undertaken on the ship, and she was decommissioned on 11 December 1946. On 20 September 1948, fleet oceantugTekesta towedTuna from Mare Island for the submarine's "last patrol." On 24 September 1948,Tuna was sunk in 1,160 fathoms (6,960 ft; 2,120 m) of water in the Pacific Ocean off the U.S. West Coast. She was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 21 October 1948.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
