USS Jack (SS-259)
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Jack |
Builder | Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1] |
Laid down | 2 February 1942[1] |
Launched | 16 October 1942[1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Frances Seely |
Commissioned | 6 January 1943[1] |
Decommissioned | 8 June 1946[1] |
Recommissioned | 20 December 1957[1] |
Decommissioned | 21 April 1958[1] |
Stricken | 1 September 1967[1] |
Identification | SS-259 |
Fate | Transferred to Greece, 21 April 1958[2] |
Greece | |
Name | Amfitriti |
Acquired | 21 April 1958 |
Identification | S-17 |
Fate | Returned to the U.S. Navy, 1967 and sunk as a target 5 September 1967[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
Draft | 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3] |
Endurance |
|
Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[3] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
|
USS Jack (SS-259), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the jack (any of various fishes—young pike, green pike or pickerel, or large California rockfish).
Construction and commissioning
Jack′s
Service history
First and second war patrols, June – October 1943
Jack underwent shakedown training along the
On 4 July 1943, Jack began to track smoke on the horizon and soon detected Nikkyo Maru with an escort. The submarine used three torpedoes to send the cargo ship to the bottom, and returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs 19 July 1943. This patrol is dramatized in the 1950's TV series, The Silent Service (S01 E01), produced by Universal Television and hosted by Tommy Dykers.
Jack's second war patrol (5 September–10 October 1943) brought no opportunities for attack as engineering difficulties forced her to return prematurely to Pearl Harbor. During her subsequent stay in Hawaii, an Allied tanker mistook her for a Japanese submarine and opened gunfire on her in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Hawaii at 23°20′N 154°30′W / 23.333°N 154.500°W on 1 January 1944.[6]
Third war patrol, January – March 1944
On her third war patrol, the submarine proceeded westward from Pearl Harbor 16 January 1944 bound for the
Fourth and fifth war patrols, April – July 1944
Departing Australia 6 April 1944, Jack returned to the South China Sea for her fourth war patrol. She chased the Take Ichi convoy through the afternoon of 25 April, and shortly after midnight next day attacked, sinking Yoshida Maru No. 1 and damaging two others. Jack also used her deck gun to sink a radio-equipped trawler, Daisun, 27 April before returning to Fremantle 10 May 1944.
Jack left Fremantle for her fifth war patrol 4 June 1944, again returning to Japan's important lifelines in the South China Sea. Early 24 June she made an approach on a large convoy and fired three torpedoes, sinking a large tanker, San Pedro Maru, before escorting aircraft forced her to retire. Five days later the submarine came upon another large convoy, and by early 30 June was in position. Three successive attacks sent cargo ships Matsukawa Maru and Tsukushima Maru to the bottom. Jack returned to Fremantle 14 July 1944. For her highly successful and aggressive first, third, and fifth war patrols, the submarine was awarded the coveted
Sixth and seventh war patrols, August – December 1944
The submarine sailed from Fremantle 6 August 1944 to the
She departed Fremantle once more 27 October 1944, bound for the South China Sea. She attacked a coastal convoy 14–15 November, sinking cargo ships Nichiei Maru and Yusan Maru before shallow water forced her to break off the fight. The attrition of Japanese shipping was beginning to tell, and Jack found no more opportunities before ending her patrol at Pearl Harbor 24 December 1944. From there she returned to San Francisco for a major overhaul.
Eighth and ninth war patrols, April – August 1945
The veteran submarine returned to Pearl Harbor 1 April 1945, and departed on her eighth war patrol 26 April 1945. With most Japanese shipping sunk or reluctant to venture into the sea lanes, her major job was to act as lifeguard for the massive
Greek service
Jack sailed for the United States 5 September 1945, steaming via Pearl Harbor and the
Awards
Jack was credited with sinking 76,687 tons of Japanese shipping. In addition to her
In culture
Jack is the subject of the series premier of the
Jack's operations during the Pacific War are chronicled in Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
- ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ Hinman & Campbell, p. 110.
- ^ "The Jack at Tokyo". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ "Jack at Tokyo". YouTube. Retrieved 30 June 2018.[dead YouTube link]
Bibliography
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019. ISBN 978-0-359-76906-3.
- Wright, C. C. (2005). "Question 17/03: Replacement of US Submarine Diesel Engines". Warship International. XLII (4): 431–434. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
- navsource.org: USS Jack
- Kill Record: USS Jack Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine