- USS Lamprey (SS-372)
USS "Lamprey" (SS-372), a "Balao"-class
submarine , was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for thelamprey , any of certaineel -like aquatic vertebrates."Lamprey" (SS-372) was laid down
22 February 1944 by theManitowoc Shipbuilding Co. ,Manitowoc, Wisc. ; launched18 June 1944 , sponsored by Mrs. W. T. Nelson; and commissioned17 November 1944 , Commander William T. Nelson in command.After trials, tests, and training in
Lake Michigan , the new submarine entered a floating drydock7 December at Lockport, Ill.; was floated down theMississippi River ; and arrived New Orleans on13 December . Four days later she departed New Orleans for the Pacific."Lamprey" sailed from
Pearl Harbor 17 February 1945 for the coast ofLuzon and her first war patrol. She steamed on life guard duty off Formosa andHong Kong until29 March ; transited theSingapore Strait s8 April ; and the next day steamed through theKarimata Strait s into theJava Sea . She sighted no worthwhile targets, however, because most ofJapan ’smerchant marine and fleet lay inDavy Jones' Locker . The submarine headed for a refit at Fremantle,Australia , arriving22 April 1945 .Under a new commanding officer, Lt. Comdr. Lucien B. McDonald, "Lamprey" cleared Fremantle
21 May and entered the Java Sea bound for her patrol area in the Siam Gulf. On28 May "Lamprey" and USS|Blueback|SS-326|3 closed for a coordinated gun attack which damaged and set afire a 600-ton escort ship. "Lamprey" set course forSubic Bay where she arrived29 June .The submarine returned to sea
26 July for her third war patrol and spent most of her time searching for targets along the Gulf of Siam. She entered theSingapore area8 August to patrol west ofPengiboe Island where she sank a small craft with gunfire. She was relieved on station by British submarine HMS|Spearhead the same day and headed forBorneo . On12 August her guns destroyed a cargo-carryinglugger from Surabaya. The submarine was closing in on a two-mastedschooner 15 August when she received word to cease hostilities."Lamprey" departed Subic Bay
31 August and moored inSan Francisco 22 September . She enteredMare Island Navy Yard , decommissioned3 June 1946 , and was laid up in thePacific Reserve Fleet ."Lamprey" received four
battle star s forWorld War II service.ARA "Santiago del Estero" (S-12)
On
21 July 1960 she was transferred on loan to the Government ofArgentina and was commissioned in theArgentine Navy as ARA "Santiago del Estero" (S-12)"'.Along with ARA "Santa Fe" (former
USS Macabi (SS-375) ), was used mainly for training and the coning towers of both submarines were later locally upgraded to improvehydrodynamics .A few years ago, Argentinian officials disclosed that a group of tactical divers had carried out an incursion on the
Falklands Islands onboard the "Santiago del Estero" in October 1966.The submarine was returned to US Navy custody,
1 September 1971 , to be struck from theNaval Register , and sold outright to Argentina; she was then broken up for use as spare parts.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l3/lamprey.htm|http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss372.txt
External links
*navsource|08/08372|Lamprey
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