- USS Spearfish (SS-190)
USS "Spearfish" (SS-190), a "Sargo"-class
submarine , was the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for thespearfish , any of several large, powerful, pelagic fishes of the genus "Tetrapturus" allied to themarlin s andsailfish es.Her keel was laid down on
9 September 1937 by theElectric Boat Company inGroton, Connecticut . She was launched on29 October 1938 sponsored by Mrs. Lawrence Y. Spear, and commissioned on17 July 1939 with Lieutenant C.E. Tolman, Jr., in command."Spearfish" conducted sea trials off
New London, Connecticut , and then held her shakedown cruise in the Guantanamo Bay area from21 August to3 October . She was overhauled at thePortsmouth Navy Yard inKittery, Maine from1 November 1939 to2 February 1940 . On10 February , she set sail for the West Coast. After training operations in theSan Diego, California , training area from6 March to1 April , the submarine sailed toPearl Harbor ."Spearfish" operated between
Hawaii and the West Coast until23 October 1941 when she departed Pearl Harbor and headed forManila . She conducted training operations there from8 November until the outbreak of war on8 December (7 December east of theInternational Date Line ), when she began her first war patrol. This mission took her into theSouth China Sea , nearSaigon andCam Ranh Bay ,French Indochina , and off Tarakan andBalikpapan ,Borneo . On20 December , "Spearfish" encountered a Japanese submarine and made a submerged attack. She fired four torpedoes but all missed the target. She put intoSurabaja , Java, on29 January 1942 for refitting.On
7 February , she began her second war patrol. "Spearfish" patrolled in theJava Sea andFlores Sea and made unsuccessfultorpedo attacks on twocruiser task forces. On2 March , she put intoTjilatjap , Java, and took on board 12 members of the staff of the commander of the submarines of theAsiatic Fleet , for transportation toAustralia . The patrol ended at Fremantle,Australia .Her third war patrol, from
27 March to20 May , took her to theSulu Sea and theLingayen Gulf . On17 April , she sank an enemy cargo ship of approximately 4,000 tons, and, on25 April , she sank "Toba Maru", a 6,995-ton freighter. On the night of3 May , the submarine slipped intoManila Bay and picked up 27 passengers fromCorregidor to be evacuated to Fremantle. She was the last American submarine to visit that beleaguered fortress before it surrendered. Navy nurse andLegion of Merit recipientAnn A. Bernatitus was among the 27 rescued by "Spearfish".From
26 June to17 August , she scouted theSouth China Sea for enemy shipping and, from8 September to11 November , searched the west coast ofLuzon where she damaged two freighters."Spearfish" sailed from
Brisbane on2 December 1942 and patrolled in theNew Britain -New Ireland area for over a month before entering Pearl Harbor on25 January 1943 . FromOahu , she was directed toMare Island for a major overhaul which lasted from3 February to19 May ."Spearfish" returned to
Pearl Harbor on26 May and began her seventh war patrol from there on5 June . She cruised theTruk Island area, made a photographic reconnaissance ofEniwetok Atoll , and then patrolled in the vicinity ofMarcus Island . After refitting atMidway Island from1 August to25 August , "Spearfish" searched Japanese home waters south ofBungo Suido for shipping. On the night of10 September and11 September , she made a submerged torpedo attack on a convoy of seven freighters escorted by onedestroyer and two torpedo boats. The submarine fired torpedoes at four ships and damaged two. "Spearfish" wasdepth charge d throughout the day but finally eluded the escorts. On the night of17 September and18 September , she attacked another convoy of seven ships with their escorts, sinking two and damaging one. Upon concluding this patrol, the ship sailed to Pearl Harbor for refitting.From
7 November to19 December , "Spearfish" performed photographic reconnaissance ofJaluit ,Wotje , andKwajalein ,Marshall Islands , to aid the forthcoming invasion of those islands. On5 December and6 December , she acted as lifeguard submarine for air strikes onKwajalein andWotje ."Spearfish"’s tenth war patrol was made south of Formosa from
17 January to29 February 1944 . On30 January , she made two torpedo attacks on a convoy of three merchantmen and two escorts. She sank an escort and the passenger-cargo ship, "Tomashima Maru". On10 February , her attack on a convoy of four ships and their escorts damaged a freighter and sank a transport. The next day, she damaged another freighter in an 11-ship convoy. On12 February , she crippled another freighter."Spearfish" sailed from
Pearl Harbor on31 March for theEast China Sea and the area north ofNansei Shoto . On5 May , she sank a freighter; and, the following day, she sank the cargo ship, "Toyoura Maru". When the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on27 May , she was routed to the West Coast for a major overhaul. After spending the period from6 June to3 October at theMare Island Navy Yard , the ship returned to Pearl Harbor on10 October and held training exercises for a month."Spearfish"’s last war patrol took place from
12 November 1944 to24 January 1945 . On the first part of the patrol, she made photographic reconnaissance surveys ofIwo Jima and ofMinami Jima . The submarine spent the second part in theNanpō Islands area on lifeguard duties and offensive patrols. On19 December 1944 , she rescued seven survivors of a crashedB-29 Superfortress . On11 January 1945 , her guns sank asampan . She took three Japanese on board as prisoners, but one died several days later.When she returned to
Pearl Harbor on24 January , "Spearfish" was used as a training ship until18 August . On19 August , she got underway for the West Coast and arrived at Mare Island on27 August . On7 September , a Board of Inspection and Survey recommended that she be decommissioned immediately and possibly scrapped. It was decided to retain her in an inactive status for experimental explosive tests. The tests were cancelled, and "Spearfish" was decommissioned atMare Island on22 June 1946 . She was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on19 July 1946 ; sold to theLerner Company ofOakland, California ; and scrapped in October 1947."Spearfish" received ten
battle star s forWorld War II service.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/spearfish.htm
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