- USS Sea Devil (SS-400)
"For other vessels of this name, see Sea devil."
USS "Sea Devil" (SS-400), a "Balao"-class submarine, was the first ship of the
United States Navy to be named for thesea devil ("Manta birostria"), the largest of all rays, noted for power and endurance. Her keel was laid down18 November 1943 at thePortsmouth Navy Yard inKittery, Maine . She was launched on28 February 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Sherman K. Kennedy, and commissioned on24 May 1944 with Commander Ralph E. Styles in command.First patrol, September – October 1944
Completing shakedown training at
New London, Connecticut , "Sea Devil" departed that port on11 July 1944 and arrived at her home port,Pearl Harbor , on9 August to join Submarine Division (SubDiv) 281 and prepare for her first war patrol. On3 September , she sailed west. By15 September , she was convert|500|mi|km|-1 offHonshū , and, during the early morning darkness, made contact with her first enemy ships — twosampan -type patrol vessels. Rough seas, however, precluded an attack, and she continued on to patrol in the shipping lanes toJapan 's major ports:Yokohama ,Kobe , andOsaka .On
16 September , at 04:32, "Sea Devil" made her second contact; submerged; and commenced closing the target. At 05:38, the enemy, a cargo submarine, was sighted. At 05:45, "Sea Devil" made her first attack. Four torpedoes were fired. Two exploded against the target. "Sea Devil" lost depth control. A minute later, periscope depth was regained. Brown smoke marked the enemy's previous location. Sevenunderwater explosion s followed. By 05:53, a large oil slickcovered the site where Japanese submarine "I-364" had gone down."Sea Devil" reloaded and continued to move closer to Japan. On
17 September and18 September , mountainous seas inhibited hunting. On21 September , the submarine commenced running along the 100 fathom (183 m) curve, but the strongKuroshio Current there caused her to lose ground and forced her to shift her course.On the morning of
22 September , she made several contacts, but all were too small. During the early afternoon, she sighted a small convoy and fired on a freighter. The target turned toward the submarine. "Sea Devil" went deep. An hour later, the surface ships had gone and the hunted submarine again became a hunter.During her remaining 22 days on station, "Sea Devil" attacked several targets, but scored on none. In mid-October, she headed for
Majuro for refit, and, on19 November , she got underway for the waters west of theNansei Shoto .Second patrol, November – December 1944
At the end of the month, "Sea Devil" entered the
East China Sea and turned toward theKyūshū coast. On1 December , just prior to midnight, she made radar contact with a distant convoy and commenced running with the state-five sea on four engines to gain position. At 02:39 on2 December , she changed course to close the convoy. A minute later, she took a wave over the bridge which knocked the starboard lookout onto the bridge deck; flooded the main induction and both engine rooms to the lower deck plates; and sent water through the supply line into the after battery compartment, the crew's mess, and the radio shack. A solid stream came into the control room via the conning tower. But, other than numerous electrical grounds, no damage was sustained.By 03:20, "Sea Devil" was convert|1200|yd|m|-2 ahead and convert|3000|yd|m|-3 off the port track of the convoy. The radar showed 11 definite targets and indicated the presence of others. Weather and visibility, however, worked against a night surface attack.
At 03:22, a floating
naval mine was sighted less than 100 yards (100 m) off the port bow. "Sea Devil" swung right with full rudder. Ten minutes later, she submerged and commenced her approach, heading for the port flank of the convoy.By 04:00, the moon had clouded over. Periscope observations became progressively more difficult. At 04:13, an escort, pinging, passed "Sea Devil" close aboard. Sound conditions were also poor.
At 04:14 "Sea Devil" commenced firing. Four Mark-18
torpedo es headed for a medium-sized freighter, but all missed. At 04:24, she fired tubes five and six at a large ship convert|600|yd|m|-2 away. Forty seconds later, the torpedoes hit, throwing a huge column of debris into the air. At 04:25, "Sea Devil" swung right to avoid an escort ahead of the ships in the center column. By 04:27, water was over the deck of the stricken merchant ship. At 04:28, another escort passed "Sea Devil". A minute later, "Sea Devil" fired four torpedoes from her stern tubes at a large passenger/cargo maru convert|1300|yd|m|-2 away. A look around through the periscope then revealed a larger freighter in the center column less than convert|150|yd|m|-1 away and headed directly for the submarine."Sea Devil" went deep. At 04:30, she was jolted by a tremendous explosion. Her torpedoes had hit, and from the concussion it appeared that the ship had been carrying ammunition. Breaking up noises quickly followed the explosion.
"Sea Devil" leveled off at convert|500|ft|m|-1 and rigged for depth charging. Twelve were counted; none was close. Escorts milled about overhead for the next 40 minutes; then the sound of screws faded out. Pinging was heard for a while longer, and distant
depth charge s were heard for several hours.After sinking "Akigawa Maru" and "Hawaii Maru", "Sea Devil" continued to patrol the sea lanes to Kyūshū. On
4 December , she received a positive ship contact report from a China-basedB-29 Superfortress , but the position was too distant. On5 December , she sighted only two small fishing trawlers. Then, on the evening of8 December , she made radar contact with four distant targets zigging on various courses toward Nagasaki."Sea Devil" went to full power on four engines and began gaining slowly. At convert|16000|yd|m|-3, the radar pips were estimated to be one
battleship oraircraft carrier , two lightcruiser s, and fourdestroyer s. Darkness and intermittent rain squalls interfered with visibility.By 00:00,
9 December , "Sea Devil" had gained a good position convert|10000|yd|m|-4 ahead of the nearest escort and convert|3000|yd|m|-3 off the port track of the largest pip. At 00:05, she began a submerged radar approach. At 00:17, she began tracking by sound, and, ten minutes later she fired four Mark-23 torpedoes at the target. Two hit. Poor visibility precluded a damage assessment."Sea Devil" went deep and rigged for depth charging but, by 00:50, the sounds of searching surface ships faded out. At 01:07, the submarine surfaced and headed up the target's track. An hour later, she reversed her course and headed back to her patrol area. That evening sister ship USS|Plaice|SS-390|3confirmed "Sea Devil"’s hits, but was unable to provide a damage estimate. Later reports identified the damaged ship as the aircraft carrier "Junyō", which was subsequently damaged further by submarine USS|Redfish|SS-395|3. "Junyō" remained in the repair yard through the end of the war.
At mid-month, "Sea Devil" moved further south to patrol off
Okinawa ; and, on29 December , she headed forMidway Island andPearl Harbor .Third patrol, February – April 1945
On
7 February 1945 , "Sea Devil" cleared Pearl Harbor for her third war patrol. On19 February , she arrived atSaipan for training inwolfpack tactics, and, on27 February , she sailed for theYellow Sea in company with submarines USS|Tench|SS-417|3, USS|Guardfish|SS-217|3, andUSS|Balao|SS-285|3. At the end of the month, she was diverted to search for downed aviators; and, on3 March , she continued on to her patrol area to further decrease the declining traffic betweenChina andManchuria , and the Japanese home islands.For over a week, fishing junks, sailing junks, and floating naval mines provided the only contacts. On
24 February , she sighted a large tanker with four escorts but lost the convoy. On25 February , she sighted and evaded a Japanese hunter-killer group. On29 February , she sank or exploded four mines and attempted to do the same to two others.Fog shrouded her area during the last days of the month. On
2 April , visibility was still poor, less than convert|1000|yd|m|-3. At 07:10, she made radar contact with an enemy convoy-four merchantmen and three escorts. At 09:15, she commenced firing at the lead merchant ship. Forty seconds later, she fired at the next ship. She then swung around to bring her stern tubes to bear on a third merchant ship; found herself well inside the escort on the convoy's starboard quarter; continued swinging and fired three stern shots at the escort. Between 08:19 and 08:22, seven hits were heard and felt."Sea Devil" then left the formation and opened range to reload. The radar screen now showed only three small pips. The third torpedo of the first salvo had apparently missed its target and run on to hit the third maru.
After reloading, the submarine tracked the remaining units of the convoy. Shortly after 10:00, she fired on and damaged one of the escorts. Forty minutes later, she fired on the remaining merchantman and observed it suddenly disappear from the radar screen. After 11:00, she made her way through the wreckage to pick up survivors. Only four allowed themselves to be picked up; and, of these, one died of his wounds.
Of the seven ships, "Sea Devil" had sunk three — cargo ships "Taijo Maru", "Edogawa Maru", and "Misshan Maru" — and had damaged the fourth maru and at least one of the escorts.
The submarine remained in her
Yellow Sea patrol area for another three days, then headed for Midway. On6 April , however, she received orders to patrol south ofKyūshū , and, on8 April , she was ordered closer toOkinawa in search of four downedUnited States Marine Corps pilots.The pilots, from aircraft carrier USS|Essex|CV-9|3, had been covering the movements of
battleship "Yamato" and, on running low on fuel, had ditched in a location they thought to be nearOkinawa .Prior to midnight, on
8 April , "Sea Devil" located three of the pilots convert|200|mi|km|-1 northeast of Okinawa. [The names of the three rescued Marine Corps pilots are: Capt. Thomas Thomlinson ofMissoula, Montana , 2nd Lt. H.M. "Mo" Sagers of Oakley Idaho (Who now resides inHeyburn, Idaho ) and 2nd Lt. T.M. Lewis ofMarietta, Georgia .] The search for the fourth continued through the night. With dawn on9 April , friendly planes joined in the search. But they, too, were unsuccessful; and, in the late afternoon the submarine continued southeastward.Fourth patrol, May – July 1945
On
13 April , "Sea Devil" arrived atSaipan . On20 April , she completed her patrol, for which she was awarded theNavy Unit Commendation , atMidway Island . On28 May , she was back at Saipan, and, on30 May , she, along with submarines USS|Ronquil|SS-396|3 and USS|Paddle|SS-263|3, got underway. On6 June , she entered theEast China Sea viaTokara Kaikyo and headed northward to theYellow Sea . On7 June , she made her way through the islands of southwesternKorea ; and, on8 June , she commenced patrolling between theShantung peninsula and Korea.On the afternoon of
14 June , a cargo ship, with an escort on either side, was sighted through the high periscope. "Sea Devil" submerged, maneuvered into position; fired four torpedoes "down-the-throat," then changed course radically to avoid a collision with the target. Twenty-three seconds after firing, two of the torpedoes hit the target. "Wakamiyasan Maru" went under. Her escorts dropped depth charges. Five were fairly close. "Sea Devil" dropped below a 20-degree temperature gradient and worked her way out.On the morning of
21 June , she sighted three armed trawlers, one under tow, headed from Shantung toward Korea. At 09:43, she surfaced and, three minutes later, commenced firing with her five-inch (127 mm) gun, 40 millimeter and 20 millimeter guns. The 40 millimeter soon jammed, but fire from the five-inch gun and 20 millimeter guns sank the trawler being towed and left a second burning and settling. The third, the towing vessel, cast loose and headed west under full steam. "Sea Devil" picked up three survivors and moved south to patrol in another area.Poor weather impaired hunting during the next six days. On
27 June , however, she was able to take photographs ofSaishu To andChiri To ; and, on29 June she was diverted to search and rescue operations.Assisted by a
PB2Y Coronado and aPBM Mariner , she picked up a PBM crew from Rescue Squadron 4,Kerama Retto , on the evening of30 June , then located the pilot of anUnited States Army Air Corps P-47 Thunderbolt based atIe Shima . Another man, who had become separated, was located by accompanying aircraft the following morning and was picked up before noon.Fifth patrol, August – September 1945
"Sea Devil" remained on life guard duty in the northern
Ryukyu Islands and southernKyūshū area until10 July , then headed east toGuam for refit and the installation ofLORAN equipment and a radio direction finder. On9 August , she headed back to the Yellow Sea. On14 August , she transited theNansei Shoto , passing south ofAkuseki Shima ; and, on15 August , after entering her patrol area, she received word of Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms.For another two weeks, "Sea Devil" remained in the area, looking for and sinking
naval mine s. On27 August , she sighted a fishing vessel near a mine. Closer inspection showed that the fisherman was using the mine as a buoy and had secured his net to the mine horns. On28 August , the submarine was ordered toGuam , then diverted toSubic Bay , where she arrived on3 September .Within a few weeks, "Sea Devil" was joined by seven other submarines of the new, postwar submarine squadron, SubRon 5. Through the fall, she operated out of Subic Bay, conducting intensive training operations necessitated by a heavy turnover in personnel. On
1 December , she sailed forSan Francisco, California , for overhaul and, on23 April 1946 , she returned to her home port,Pearl Harbor .1946 – 1964
Three days later, SS-400 again headed west. On
16 May , she returned to Subic Bay; and, on23 May , she continued on to Tsingtao where she provided antisubmarine warfare training services to TF 71 into July. On5 May , she sailed forShanghai , whence she proceeded back to Pearl Harbor. From26 July 1946 to5 May 1947 , she conducted operations in the Hawaiian area. Overhaul atMare Island took her through the summer. In early October, she returned toHawaii , and on27 May , she sailed westward for another tour in the Far East.A simulated war patrol and the provision of ASW training services occupied her during her deployment; and, on
8 January 1948 , she returned to Pearl Harbor whence she operated until ordered to Mare Island for inactivation."Sea Devil" was decommissioned on
10 September 1948 and remained in the inactive reserve through the end of the decade. Two months after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, however, she was ordered activated; and, on2 March 1951 , she was recommissioned, assigned to SubDiv 71, SubRon 7, and based at Pearl Harbor.Through the summer, "Sea Devil" operated in Hawaiian waters. In September, she returned to the west coast to provide ASW training services for Fleet Air Wing 4 in the
Puget Sound area. In mid-November, she returned to Hawaii, where she conducted local operations through the winter. From mid-April to mid-June 1952, she underwent overhaul at thePearl Harbor Naval Shipyard ; then resumed local operations. In late September, she sailed west for her first deployment to the western Pacific since recommissioning."Sea Devil" arrived at
Yokosuka on7 October and commenced providing services to TF 96, which conducted ASW training exercises and maintained preparedness for hunter-killer operations in support of theUnited Nations effort. In late January 1953, she was detached for patrol purposes. Toward the end of January, she returned to Yokosuka, and, on3 March , she sailed for Pearl Harbor.On
30 June , "Sea Devil" again got under way for Puget Sound where she provided services to Fleet Air Wing 4 before heading for San Francisco on20 August to begin inactivation. On28 August , she was placed in commission, in reserve; and, on19 February 1954 , she was decommissioned.Three years later, "Sea Devil" was again activated; and, on
17 August 1957 , she was recommissioned and assigned to SubRon 5 atSan Diego, California . For the next year, she conducted training operations off southern California and in the Puget Sound area, then prepared for deployment to the western Pacific. From November 1958 to April 1959, she provided services to Seventh Fleet surface units and to Fleet Marine Force Pacific. In May, she returned to San Diego. On1 July 1960 , she was redesignated an auxiliary submarine withhull classification symbol AGSS-400; and, from that time through 1963, she was primarily engaged in training operations off the West Coast. Only two deployments to the western Pacific February-August 1961 and June-December 1963, interrupted that schedule.In 1964 "Sea Devil" commenced inactivation for the last time. On
17 February 1964 , she was decommissioned. Her name was struck from theNaval Vessel Register the following July, and she was subsequently sunk as a target off southern California on24 November 1964 .Awards
"Sea Devil" earned five
battle star s for herWorld War II service.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s8/sea_devil-i.htm
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