USS Robalo

Coordinates: 7°56.45′N 117°15.85′E / 7.94083°N 117.26417°E / 7.94083; 117.26417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
USS Robalo (SS-273) at launch, and just after
History
United States
NameRobalo[3]
NamesakeCommon snook or robalo
BuilderManitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1]
Laid down24 October 1942[1]
Launched9 May 1943[1]
Sponsored byMrs. E. S. Root
Commissioned28 September 1943[1]
Stricken16 September 1944
FateSunk by mine 26 July 1944[2]
General characteristics
Class and type
diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement
  • 1,525 tons (1,549 t) surfaced[2]
  • 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged[2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced[4]
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged[4]
Range11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[4]
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (4 km/h) submerged[4]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth300 ft (90 m)[4]
Complement6 officers, 54 enlisted[4]
Armament

USS Robalo (SS-273), a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the róbalo or common snook.

Construction and commissioning

Robalo′s

laid down on 24 October 1942 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at [Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was launched on 9 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. E. S. Root, and commissioned
on 28 September 1943.

First patrol

After passage by inland waterways and being floated down the Mississippi River, Robalo deployed to the Pacific. On her first war patrol (under the leadership of Commander Stephen Ambruster, Annapolis class of 1928),[8] she sortied from Pearl Harbor,[9] hunting Japanese ships west of the Philippines. On 12 February 1944, Armbruster reported seeing a large, two-masted sailboat.[10] There, en route to her new station in Fremantle submarine base, Western Australia, she had an encounter with enemy vessels; on 13 February 1944 east of the Verde Island Passage, the Robalo had come across a convoy of two large ships escorted by a minesweeper, which dropped 13 depth charges and fired twice at the submarine with a deck gun;[10] although USS Robalo is "credited" with damaging a large freighter, firing four torpedoes at 3,100 yards (2,800 m),[11] in fact the attack was unsuccessful and no enemy vessels were damaged or sunk.[12] She spent 36 of her 57-day mission submerged.[13] When she arrived, her commanding officer was summarily relieved by Admiral Christie[14] and replaced with Manning Kimmel (class of 1935).[15]

In March 1944, Christie (based on

Chester W. Nimitz, Jr.[17] in USS Haddo (SS-255), made contact on his SJ radar and reported "many large ships",[18] Christie scrambled to respond. Robalo, along with USS Flasher (SS-249), USS Hoe (SS-258), USS Hake (SS-256), and USS Redfin (SS-272), all ran to intercept.[19] No attack ever materialized.[20]

Second patrol

For her second patrol, Robalo went to the

Captain "Tex" McLean (commanding Subron 16)[27] and Admiral Christie both considered relieving Robalo's skipper for his own safety.[21]

Third patrol

Robalo departed Fremantle on 22 June 1944 on her third war patrol. She set a course for the South China Sea to conduct her patrol in the vicinity of the

Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar Strait and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined),[28] she was scheduled to arrive on station about 6 July and remain until dark on 2 August 1944. On 2 July, a contact report stated Robalo had sighted a Fusō-class battleship, with air cover and two destroyers for escort, just east of Borneo
. No other messages were ever received from the submarine, and when she did not return from patrol, she was presumed lost.

Robalo was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944.

Honors and awards

Robalo earned two

battle stars for World War II service.[29]

Fate of survivors

On 2 August, a note was handed from the cell window of the

Ralph Christie in Australia.[30]

From these sources, it was concluded Robalo was sunk on 26 July 1944, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) off the western coast of

Puerto Princesa Prison Camp, where Japanese Military Police captured them and jailed them for guerrilla activities. On 15 August, they were evacuated by a Japanese destroyer and never heard from again. The exact fate of the survivors is unknown.[32]

Though Admiral Christie knew better, for morale reasons, all hands were reported as having gone down with the boat, but other prisoners on Palawan reported that the boat's skipper, Lieutenant Commander

Clay Blair Jr.
, a submarine veteran of the war and author of the definitive work Silent Victory: The US Submarine War Against Japan (see Volume 2, pp660–662 for details).

Discovery

The wreckage of the Robalo was found by the Sea Scan Survey Team in May 2019 in the Balabac Strait off the east coast of Balabac Island at a depth of 70 meters (230 ft). Her identity was confirmed by the U. S. Navy.[33][34]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-55750-263-3
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-313-26202-0
    .
  3. ^ "USS Robalo (SS-273)". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  4. ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
  5. ^
    OCLC 24010356
    .
  6. ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
  7. ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  8. ^ Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory: The US Submarine War Against Japan (Bantam, 1976), pp.581 & 942.
  9. ^ Blair, p.942.
  10. ^ a b USS Robalo 1st Patrol 8 January 1944-6 March 1944
  11. ^ Blair, 581.
  12. ^ The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II-see entry for 13 February 1944
  13. ^ Blair, pp.582 & 942.
  14. Midway
    . Blair, p.582.
  15. ^ Blair, pp.626 & 948. He was a son of Admiral Husband Kimmel, who commanded the Pacific Fleet when the Japanese attacked, and nephew of Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid.
  16. ^ Blair, p.616.
  17. CINCPAC
    .
  18. ^ Blair, pp.616-7.
  19. ^ Blair, p.617.
  20. ^ Blair, p.618.
  21. ^ a b c d e Blair, p.626.
  22. ^ Official Chronology of the US Navy entry 24 April 1944
  23. ^ Summary of Damage to Robalo 24 April 1944
  24. ^ a b Blair, p.948.
  25. ^ SORG attack data USS Robalo
  26. ^ Blair, pp.626 & 948.
  27. ^ Blair, p.610.
  28. ^ Blair, p.687.
  29. ^ Information on the fate of survivors is from Silent Victory, Vol 2, by Clay Blair, Jr.
  30. ISBN 9780399583551
    .
  31. ^ [Ensign Samuel L. Tucker; QMC 1/Floyd G laughlin; SM3c Wallace K. Martin; Emc2 MAson C. Poston .p.100 "United States Submarine Losses World War II"]
  32. ^ "USS Robalo". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  33. ^ "On Eternal Patrol". T. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  34. ^ "NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Robalo (SS-273)". Retrieved 18 December 2020.

External links

7°56.45′N 117°15.85′E / 7.94083°N 117.26417°E / 7.94083; 117.26417

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