USS Snapper (SS-185)

Coordinates: 28°20′N 139°25′E / 28.333°N 139.417°E / 28.333; 139.417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mare Island Navy Yard
on 24 February 1945
History
United States
NameSnapper
BuilderPortsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1]
Laid down23 July 1936[1]
Launched24 August 1937[1]
Commissioned15 December 1937[1]
Decommissioned15 November 1945[1]
Stricken30 April 1948[1]
FateSold for scrap, 18 May 1948[1]
General characteristics
Class and type
diesel-electric submarine[3]
Displacement
  • 1,435 long tons (1,458 t) standard, surfaced[2]
  • 2,198 long tons (2,233 t) submerged[2]
Length308 ft 0 in (93.88 m)[2]
Beam26 ft 1+14 in (7.957 m)[2]
Draft15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced[2]
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged[2]
Range11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)[2]
Endurance48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[2]
Test depth250 ft (76 m)[2]
Complement5 officers, 54 enlisted[2]
Armament

USS Snapper (SS-185), a Salmon-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy of the name and the second to be named for the snapper.

Construction and commissioning

Snapper′s

Harold R. Stark, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, and commissioned
on 16 December 1937.

Pre-World War II service

On 10 May 1938, Snapper departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for her shakedown cruise, visited Cuba, the Panama Canal Zone, Peru, and Chile, and returned to Portsmouth on 16 July. There, she conducted final acceptance trials and underwent post-shakedown overhaul.

On 3 October, Snapper was assigned to Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 3 based at

Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California
, from 1 December 1939 to 1 March 1940.

Following her return to San Diego, Snapper was assigned to SubRon 6 and got underway for Hawaii on 1 April, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 9 April. Except for a brief voyage to San Diego in October and November 1940, Snapper remained in the Hawaiian area participating in training exercises and fleet tactics until 3 May 1941, when she departed for overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Upon completion, she became a unit of SubRon 2 based at San Diego. During the Japanese

Philippine Islands
area.

First and second war patrols

On 19 December, Snapper departed

Fremantle, Western Australia
.

Snapper departed Fremantle on 6 March for the approaches to

Mactan Island to unload ammunition and take on board 46 tons of food for the besieged island of Corregidor. Arriving there on 4 April, she transferred her cargo to submarine rescue vessel Pigeon
, took on board 27 evacuees, and headed back to Fremantle, evading Japanese destroyer patrols on the way.

On 23 April, Snapper received word that

Searaven was in trouble and reversed course to go to her aid. After towing the stricken submarine to Fremantle, she sailed for Albany
and then returned to Fremantle.

Third and fourth war patrols

Snapper's third war patrol was conducted in the Flores Sea, Makassar Strait, and the western Celebes Sea. Despite intensive efforts, the submarine found no worthwhile targets and returned to Fremantle from a disappointing patrol on 16 July 1942.

On 8 August 1942, Snapper headed for the South China Sea and her fourth war patrol. On 19 August, she fired two torpedoes at a cargo ship but lost contact when forced to evade an escort ship. The only other targets sighted during this patrol were at too great a distance or on a course and speed that prevented the submarine from closing. On 28 September 1942, a PBY-5 Catalina flying boat of U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 101 (VP-101) mistook her for a Japanese submarine and attacked her in the Indian Ocean 330 nautical miles (611 km; 380 mi) south-southwest of Bali at a position given by Snapper as 12°59′S 113°42′E / 12.983°S 113.700°E / -12.983; 113.700 and by the PBY-5 as 12°50′S 114°28′E / 12.833°S 114.467°E / -12.833; 114.467.[5] Snapper crash-dived, and the PBY-5 dropped one depth charge that shook Snapper as she passed through a depth of 140 feet (43 m) on her way to 250 feet (76 m).[5] Snapper suffered only superficial damage and no casualties.[5]

Fifth, sixth and seventh war patrols

Wreck of Tokai Maru
Tokai Maru lies at the top of this National Park Service illustration. The drive shaft of Cormoran lies closest to the bottom of the Tokai. The buoy used by recreational scuba divers is marked.
Dive typeOpen-water, Deep, Wreck
Depth range60 to 120 ft (18 to 37 m)
Average visibility25 to 40 ft (7.6 to 12.2 m)
Entry typeBoat, very rarely shore
Bottom compositionMetal, silt
Nearby sitesSMS Cormoran

Although both the fifth and sixth war patrols were also unproductive, during the seventh, conducted in the vicinity of

Apra Harbor, Guam
, and decided to patrol submerged off the harbor until they departed. Seven days later, on 27 August, she headed to the north of the harbor, firing three torpedoes at the first target and one at the second. As she quickly departed the vicinity, Snapper observed one hit on the first target, sinking the passenger-cargo ship Tokai Maru, stern first.

On 2 September, Snapper closed a convoy of five cargo ships and two escorts. The primary targets, the cargo ships, zigged away; and, when the port escort came into view "head on," the submarine fired a "down-the-throat" shot at the escort, Mutsure, that blew the enemy's bow completely off and enveloped her in flames as she sank. The submarine quickly cleared the locality as the other escort commenced a depth charge attack. On 6 September, Snapper intercepted another convoy and fired three torpedoes; but all were misses. On 17 September, she terminated her seventh patrol at Pearl Harbor.

Eighth and ninth war patrols

Snapper's eighth war patrol was conducted off

Honshū, Japan
, from 19 October to 14 December. While battling heavy seas on 29 November, the submarine sighted a convoy of five ships and two escorts and began to close the range. She fired three bow torpedoes and scored two hits that set the cargo ship Kenryu Maru ablaze as she settled by the bow and sank.

On 14 March 1944, following overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Snapper began her ninth war patrol, conducted in the area of the

Midway Island
on 29 April.

Tenth and eleventh war patrols

Snapper spent her tenth war patrol engaged in lifeguard duties near

Majuro Atoll
on 13 June, and Snapper continued her lifeguard duty until returning to Pearl Harbor on 21 July.

On 5 September, Snapper departed Pearl Harbor for her eleventh and final war patrol, conducted in the Bonin Islands area. On 1 October, the submarine encountered two enemy vessels escorted by a small patrol craft. The submarine fired her bow torpedoes at the large target then swung for a "down-the-throat" shot at the smaller vessel. Hits were scored on both vessels resulting in the sinking of the passenger-cargo ship Seian Maru, and the coastal minelayer, Ajiro. Snapper then took up lifeguard station off Iwo Jima until 18 October and terminated her eleventh patrol at Midway on 27 October, before continuing on to Pearl Harbor.

End of war and fate

Snapper departed Pearl Harbor on 2 November and set sail for overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Getting underway from Mare Island on 9 March 1945, the submarine arrived at San Diego on 11 March and engaged in local training operations for several months. She transited the Panama Canal on 20 May and arrived at

Boston, Massachusetts, on 17 November 1945. Snapper was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 April 1948 and sold for scrap to the Interstate Metals Corporation of New York City
, on 18 May 1948.

Honors and awards

  • battle stars
    for World War II service

References

Citations

Bibliography

28°20′N 139°25′E / 28.333°N 139.417°E / 28.333; 139.417