USS Amberjack (SS-219)

USS Amberjack in the Thames River off Groton, Connecticut, on 30 May 1942.
History
United States
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut[2]
Laid down	15 May 1941[2]
Launched	6 March 1942[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. Randall Jacobs
Commissioned	19 June 1942[2]
Fate	Sunk by Japanese torpedo boat Hiyodori and SC-18 off Rabaul, 16 February 1943[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	diesel-electric submarine[1]
Displacement	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced,[1] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[1]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[1]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[1]
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[1]
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 Diesel engines driving electric generators[4][5] 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[6] 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears[4] two propellers [4] 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[4] 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[4]
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced,[3] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged,[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	300 ft (91 m)[3]
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[6] 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun[6] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Amberjack (SS-219) was a

on 19 June 1942.

Service history

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After shakedown training in waters off

The submarine spotted a Japanese cruiser on the morning of 30 September and launched four torpedoes from her bow tubes. None hit, so she fired another two forward tubes shortly thereafter. These also went wide of the mark, and the cruiser escaped damage. One week later, the submarine was patrolling off Kavieng when she spotted smoke on the horizon. After a Japanese cargo ship sailed into view, Amberjack launched two torpedoes. One missed forward and the other hit the target's hull forward. The enemy ship was still able to continue under her own power and Amberjack took up the pursuit. About one hour later, both sides opened fire with their deck guns but neither was within the range of the other and they broke off the fire. After two more hours of the chase, the submarine fired a slow speed torpedo which hit its target five minutes later. The cargo vessel, later identified as Senkai Maru, swung left and seemed to stop. Its bow swung up in the air, the ship took a vertical position, and sank from sight shortly thereafter. Lifeboats carrying the cargo ship's survivors were later spotted as the submarine headed for Kavieng.

While patrolling off

On 29 November, while on patrol ten miles (16 km) east of the Treasury Islands, Amberjack spotted a surfaced Japanese submarine. Before she could set up an attack, however, the enemy vessel rapidly drew away. She again saw a Japanese submarine on 3 December proceeding toward the entrance to Shortland harbor and sent four torpedoes toward the fleeing enemy, but all failed to hit. During the next one and one-half weeks, she made numerous ship contacts but carried out no attacks. On 15 December, the submarine sighted a convoy consisting of four or five ships on a course for Rabaul and launched two torpedoes at a large freighter, one at a small tanker, and one more at a small freighter. However, she apparently inflicted no damage on any of the targets.

Her next contact occurred on 20 December. While patrolling submerged, Amberjack began hearing a series of explosions which drew closer and closer. She surfaced and saw two Japanese destroyer escorts, which soon thereafter began raining depth charges on the submarine. Within the space of one minute, six exploded close aboard, shook the vessel considerably, and caused numerous broken light bulbs forward. Some fittings mounted on the overhead were broken off, and several valves were sprung open. However, the submarine suffered no crippling damage and moved on to continue her patrol off the northeast coast of New Ireland.

She spotted another Japanese ship on 3 January 1943, a destroyer which apparently was waiting to rendezvous with a convoy from the Palau Islands. The submarine was unable to attack the ship and, two days later, set a course for Brisbane, Queensland. She reached that port on 11 January and safely concluded her patrol.

Following this patrol, the submarine's period of the refit was cut to 12 days due to the urgent need for submarines to patrol enemy-infested waters. She got underway on 24 January but was forced to return to Brisbane for repair of minor leaks which developed during a deep dive. Again departing Brisbane on 26 January, Amberjack started her third war patrol in the Solomons area. On 29 January she was directed to pass close to

In a second radio transmission on 4 February, Amberjack reported having sunk a 5,000-ton freighter laden with explosives in a two-hour night surface attack that date in which five torpedoes were fired. During this engagement, an officer was slightly wounded in the hand by machine gun fire. Chief Pharmacist's Mate Arthur C. Beeman, went to the bridge to assist the officer and was killed by machine gun fire.

The last radio transmission received from Amberjack was made on 14 February. She related having been forced down the night before by two destroyers, and that she had recovered from the water and taken prisoner an enemy aviator on 13 February. She was ordered north of latitude 6°30'S, and told to keep hunting for Rabaul traffic.

All further messages to Amberjack remained unanswered, and when, by 10 March, she had failed to make her routine report estimating the time of her arrival at base, she was ordered to do so. No reply was received, and she was reported as presumed lost on 22 March 1943.

Reports received from the enemy after the war record an attack which probably sank Amberjack. On 16 February 1943, Japanese torpedo boat Hiyodori and Sub Chaser Number 18 attacked a U.S. submarine with nine depth charges at about 5°05′S 152°37′E / 5.083°S 152.617°E / -5.083; 152.617. An escorting patrol plane had previously attacked the submarine. A large amount of heavy oil and "parts of the hull" came to the surface. This attack is believed to have sunk Amberjack. However, no final conclusions can be drawn, since Grampus was lost in the same area at about the same time. From the evidence available, it is considered most likely that the attack of 16 February sank Amberjack, but if she did survive this attack, any one of the attacks and sightings thought to have been made on Grampus might have been made on Amberjack.

Awards

• battle stars for World War II

  service

The enlisted men's recreation center at Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, is named for Chief Pharmacist's Mate Arthur C. Beeman, who was killed in the gun battle of 4 February 1943.

References

• Navy, U. S. (1963). Dictionary of American naval fighting ships. Washington DC.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• navsource.org: USS Amberjack
• hazegray.org: USS Amberjack
• On Eternal Patrol: USS Amberjack
• Kill Record: USS Amberjack