- USS Sargo (SS-188)
USS "Sargo" (SS-188), the
lead ship of her class ofsubmarine , was the first ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for thesargo .Her
keel was laid on12 May 1937 by theElectric Boat Company inGroton, Connecticut . She was launched on6 June 1938 sponsored by Mrs. Chester W. Nimitz (wife of the later admiral), and commissioned on7 February 1939 , Lieutenant E. E. Yeomans in command.After shakedown along the eastern seaboard of
South America , "Sargo" departedPortsmouth, New Hampshire , in July 1939 for duty with thePacific Fleet . Transiting thePanama Canal , she arrived atSan Diego, California , in mid-August. She operated in the eastern and mid-Pacific for the next two years, including a practice 40-day war patrol betweenMidway Island and theMarshall Islands in the fall of 1941. She departedPearl Harbor on23 October 1941 , arrived inManila on10 November , and was there during the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on7 December .War patrols under Tyrell D. Jacobs
The next day (under the command of torpedo specialist
Tyrell D. Jacobs , Class of 1927), [He was one of a handful of "Gun Club" members to try and fix the numerous problems of the notoriousMark 14 torpedo , following bitter personal experience. Blair, Clay, Jr. "Silent Victory" (Lippincott, 1975), p.140 & 902.] the submarine got underway for her first war patrol, which took her along the coast ofFrench Indochina and to theNetherlands East Indies . Off the major Japanese base atCam Ranh Bay , ULTRA directed her to threecruiser s on14 December , which "Sargo" was unable to gain position to attack when they appeared as scheduled. [Blair, p.139-40.] Expecting aconvoy , she went in closer, and that night detected a frieghter, firing one torpedo; it prematured eighteen seconds later. Confidence in the Mark VI shaken, she switched tocontact pistol afterward. [Blair, p.140.]On
24 December , she found two frieghters, firing two torpedoes at one, one at the other, from about convert|1000|yd|-2, scoring no hits. [Blair, p.140.] Temporarily losing depth control, shebroach ed, and the target turned away; "Sargo" fired two stern tubes at convert|1800|yd, with no more success. [Blair, p.140.] The next day, she sighted a pair of merchantmen, but was unable to gain firing position. Some time afterward, she came on two more merchantmen and fired two stern torpedoes at the rearmost of them, from closer yet, convert|900|yd|-2; both again missed. [Blair, p.140.] By now frustrated, after eight torpedoes with zero results, when two additional merchantmen came in view an hour later, "Sargo" took extra pains to get it right, pursuing for fifty-seven minutes [Blair, p.141.] and making certain TDC bearings matched perfectly before firing two torpedoes at each ship, at an average of 1000 yards; all missed. [Blair, p.140.]After her skipper discovered the torpedoes were running too deep, and correcting the problem, [Blair, p.141.
Bureau of Ordnance would wait months to do the same.] "Sargo" detected a target at dusk on26 December [Blair, p.141.] losing, then regaining, contact, and running ahead, so be able to get good position. Then weather intervened, and the ships escaped. [Blair, p.141.]A few days afterward, a big, slow tanker gave "Sargo" another opportunity, and again, the approach was meticulous, firing one torpedo at a close convert|1200|yd. It missed. In exasperation, "Sargo" signaled headquarters, questioning the Mark 14's reliability [Blair, p.140.] on an open radio circuit. [Jacobs' courage here is exemplary, recalling Ned Beach's a generation later in relation to USS|Tang|SS-563|2-class' terrible "pancake" diesels. It could have gotten him
court martial led for insubordination, and he knew it, not to mention being detected by the Japanese. On his return, he was upbraided by his commanding officer, Admiral John Wilkes. Blair, p.169.]On
20 January 1942 , she assisted in the rescue of the crew of "S-36" (SS-141) after she ran aground onTaku Reef in theMakassar Strait . "Sargo" remained surfaced, relaying distress messages to friendly aircraft and surface ships. After the rescue by the Dutch merchant ship "Siberote", "Sargo" headed for Java, and arrived atSoerabaja on25 January .Here, she offloaded all her reload torpedoes (keeping only those in her tubes) [Blair, p.174.] and three-inch ammunition, and took on one million rounds of .30-caliber ammunition desperately needed by Allied forces in the
Philippines . She sortied5 February , avoiding the usual traffic lanes, and arrived inPolloc Harbor nine days later. After delivering her vital cargo toMindanao , she returned toSoerabaja with 24Boeing B-17 specialists [Blair, p.174.] fromClark Field on board.Sailing from Soerabaja on
25 February , she headed forAustralia and was one day out of Fremantle when she was attacked by an Allied plane which mistook her for a Japanese submarine. [This sort of mistake would become depressingly common during the war. For instance, Blair, pp.210 and 285, just in the first half of 1942.] Although a near miss by a bomb caused minor damage, "Sargo" arrived safely at Fremantle on5 March with 31 passengers from Java.War patrols under Richard V. Gregory
During March, amid the panic over potential Japanese invasion of Australia, "Sargo" (now commanded by
Richard V. Gregory , Class of 1932) [This made him the youngest officer so far to command a fleet boat. Blair, pp.185, 192, 285, & 906.] was detailed to guard Darwin's approaches. [Blair, p.192.] Nothing materialized.On
8 June , "Sargo" put to sea for her fourth patrol, conducted in theGulf of Siam off Malaya. She attacked only one target, a small tanker, with only three torpedoes, but failed to score, then returned toAustralia on2 August .The fifth war patrol, from
27 August to25 October , was in theCelebes Sea andSouth China Sea . In a submerged attack offVietnam ,French Indochina , on25 September , she fired two torpedoes at the 4,472-ton cargo ship "Teibo Maru". When these did not sink the target, three more were fired; all missed, including one circular, which exploded off her stern, [Blair, p.192.] presaging another deadly failing of the Mark 14. "Sargo" then surfaced and finished off the crippled freighter with gunfire. [When "Sargo" returned, Gregory was removed. Blair, p.286.]War patrols under Edward S. Carmick
On
29 November , she departedBrisbane and conducted her sixth patrol (now commanded byEdward S. Carmick , Class of 1930) [Blair, p.921.] "en route" toHawaii . On the last day of 1942, she made a submerged attack on an enemy tanker offTingmon Island , firing a spread of four torpedoes. Heavy explosions were heard, accompanied by grinding noises usually associated with a ship breaking up.JANAC did not confirm the sinking. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on21 January 1943 and proceeded toSan Francisco Bay for a three-month overhaul in theMare Island Navy Yard .Returning to Hawaii on
10 May , she departed on27 May for her seventh patrol which took her to theTruk -Guam -Saipan shipping lanes. On13 June , she intercepted a three-ship convoy, escorted by a subchaser. That night, she made a submerged attack, sinking the passenger-cargo ship "Konan Maru" southeast ofPalau . The next day, she fired torpedoes at another of the cargo ships but could not learn the results of her attack, since she was forced to dive to escape the subchaser'sdepth charge s. "Sargo" arrived atMidway Island on9 July , where she was credited with one ship sunk for 6,600 tons (reduced postwar to 5,200). [Blair, p.931.]She departed Midway on
1 August for her eighth war patrol, again at Truk and in theMariana Islands . She made no contacts and returned to Pearl Harbor on15 September for refit. [Not unexpectedly, Carmick was relieved. Blair, p.939.]War patrols under Philip W. Garnett and post-war fate
On her ninth war patrol (now commanded by
Philip W. Garnett , Class of 1933), [Blair, p.939.]15 October to9 December , "Sargo" operated off Formosa and in thePhilippine Sea . On9 November , she torpedoed the cargo ship, "Tago Maru", southeast of Formosa, and finished off the stricken ship with gunfire. Steaming north, she torpedoed and sank the passenger ship, "Kosei Maru" two days later east ofOkinawa . Afterwards, she picked up a Japanese soldier, clinging to floating debris, survivor of another sinking. "Sargo" returned to Pearl Harbor on9 December 1943 , credited with two ships for 15,900 tons; postwar, it was 6,400. [Blair, p.939.]"Sargo"’s tenth patrol,
26 January to12 March 1944 , was conducted north of thePalau Islands . Despite ULTRA alerting her, she failed to be in position to intercept Admiral Koga when he appeared. [Blair, p.570-1.] Still, she made four attacks and fired all her topedoes. [Blair, p.571.] She sank the transports "Nichiro Maru" (6,500 tons) [Blair, p.571.] on17 February and "Uchide Maru" (5,300 tons) [Blair, p.571.] on29 February ; this time, the wartime credit, one ship of 7,000 tons, remarkably, increased. [Blair, p.942.]After refit in Pearl Harbor, the veteran submarine departed on her eleventh war patrol on
7 April , along the southern coasts ofKyūshū ,Shikoku , andHonshū . On26 April , she torpedoed and sank the cargo ship "Wazan Maru" inKii Suido , approachingOsaka Bay . She returned toPearl Harbor on26 May and steamed east to the west coast of theUnited States for a major overhaul atMare Island Navy Yard .Returning to
Hawaii in September, "Sargo" got underway for her 12th patrol on13 October and operated off theBonin Islands andRyukyu Islands . Two trawlers were damaged by "Sargo"’s three-inch (76 mm) deck gun and machine guns.On arrival at
Majuro Atoll ,Marshall Islands , on7 December 1944 , she was assigned to training submarine crews until13 January 1945 , when she proceeded toEniwetok Atoll . There she acted as a target for ASW training. As the war ended, she returned "via" Hawaii to theUnited States , arriving atMare Island on27 August . Decommissioned on22 June 1946 , she was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on19 July 1946 . Her hulk was sold for scrap on19 May 1947 to theLearner Company ofCalifornia ."Sargo" was awarded eight
battle star s for her service inWorld War II and received thePhilippine Presidential Unit Citation .Notes
References
*Blair, Clay, Jr. "Silent Victory". Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975.
*Lenton, H.T. "American Submarines". New York: Doubleday & Co., 1973.
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