USS Runner (SS-275)

USS "Runner" (SS-275) was a "Gato"-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the runner, an amberfish inhabiting subtropical waters, so called for its rapid leaps from the water.

"Runner"'s keel was laid down on 8 December 1941 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard of Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 30 May 1942 sponsored by Mrs. John H. Newton, and commissioned on 30 July 1942 with Commander Frank W. Fenno, Jr., in command.

__TOC__Following shakedown out of New London, Connecticut, "Runner" departed the east coast in late 1942, and arrived at Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal on 10 January 1943. Her first patrol, 18 January to 7 March, was conducted in the area between Midway Island and the Palau Islands. Five Japanese cargo ships were torpedoed on this patrol, but none was confirmed as being sunk. In making the last attack of the patrol on a freighter off Peleliu, she was damaged by a near miss from a bomb dropped from a patrol bomber. The concussion knocked out her sound gear and the power supply for both periscope hoists. "Runner" made her escape by a deep dive, the crew made emergency repairs, and the ship returned to Pearl Harbor for overhaul.

On her second patrol, 1 April to 6 May, Runner's primary mission was to lay a minefield off Pedro Blanco Rock. Successful in this mission, "Runner" proceeded to Hainan Straits, off the Chinese mainland. One freighter was torpedoed, and the sound of a ship breaking up was heard over Runner's sound gear, but the kill could not be confirmed. The submarine returned to Midway Island on 6 May 1943.

On 27 May, under command of Lieutenant Commander Joseph H. Bourland, she departed Midway for the Kuril Islands chain and waters off northern Japan. No report was heard from her. Captured Japanese records indicated that she sank the cargo ship "Seinan Maru" on 11 June in Tsugaru Strait off Hokkaidō, and the passenger-cargo ship "Shinryu Maru" on 26 June off the Kuril Islands. "Runner" was declared overdue and presumed lost in July 1943 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 October 1943.

Awards

"Runner" was awarded one battle star for World War II service.

Men Lost at Sea

There were 78 men that were lost on the USS Runner. They were:

Lawrence DeForest Anderson
John Apen
Glen Otis Baker
Walter Alexander Blanchette
Walter Simon Blank
Primo Luigi Bobba
Josiah Alexander Boone
Joseph Hunt Bourland
Robert Burns
Broadus Monroe Caldwell
Joseph Wesley Charters
Ralph Childers
Harold Sherman Cleek
Jack Ludy Day
Harold Eugene Emig
Edward Riley Erickson
James Ray Evans
Erna Maurice Foltz
George Hollister Foote
Louis Eilert Foss
Orlando Joseph Galligani
Basilio Galvan
Roger Lee Gardner
Marion Michael Glowski
Hubert Eugene Gluski
Morton Hyman Golden
William Norsworthy Gordon
Ira Noble Gregg
Richard Carl Hollar
Dallas William Hunter
Thomas Henry James
Calvin Ray Jennings
Carl Monroe Johnson
Roy Cole Keefer
Homer Lymon King
Robert Donald Kiracofe
George Milton Howard Kloster
William Henry Kremin
Herald George Lampman
Charles Laws
Charles Edward Leary
Charles Liggett
Ollie Hatcher Marlowe, Jr.
Charles Merril Martin
Gilbert Sherman Martin
Donald McDonald, Jr.
Vernon Alton Meyer
Dominic Joseph Nesh
Jacob Niedwrski
William Alexander O'Meara
Delmont Norman Pace
Robert Edwin Pheifer
Parley Winton Price
Ivan August Priefert
Ralph Leonard Reynolds, Jr.
Gene Roger Rice
Charles Carroll Robellaz
John Delmont Rogers
John William Ruscoe
James Donald Sanders
George Henry Schottler
R. T. Seabaugh
Richard Harold Seligman
George Clark Selley
Albert Gerald Shelton
Walter Joseph Smoter
Rex Mace Stevens
Charles W. Stumpf, Jr.
Robert Buron Sweatt
Robert J. Updegrove
Robert Lyman Washburn
Wesley Lavern Watt
Everett Orin Welch
Elvin Earl White
Joseph Francis Willinsky
Alonzo Curtis Wright
Jud Francis Yoho, Jr.
George Frederick Zipp [http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-runner-275.htm here]

See also

See USS|Runner for other ships of the same name.

References

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r9/runner-i.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Runner"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08275.htm navsource.org: USS "Runner"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss275.htm hazegray.org: USS "Runner"]
* [http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-runner-275.htm On Eternal Patrol: USS "Runner"]