USS Snapper (SS-185)
Mare Island Navy Yard on 24 February 1945
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Snapper |
Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1] |
Laid down | 23 July 1936[1] |
Launched | 24 August 1937[1] |
Commissioned | 15 December 1937[1] |
Decommissioned | 15 November 1945[1] |
Stricken | 30 April 1948[1] |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 18 May 1948[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 308 ft 0 in (93.88 m)[2] |
Beam | 26 ft 1+1⁄4 in (7.957 m)[2] |
Draft | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)[2] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)[2] |
Endurance | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[2] |
Test depth | 250 ft (76 m)[2] |
Complement | 5 officers, 54 enlisted[2] |
Armament |
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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
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
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
First and second war patrols
On 19 December, Snapper departed
Snapper departed Fremantle on 6 March for the approaches to
On 23 April, Snapper received word that
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 and by the PBY-5 as 12°50′S 114°28′E / 12.833°S 114.467°E.[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 | |
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Dive type | Open-water, Deep, Wreck |
Depth range | 60 to 120 ft (18 to 37 m) |
Average visibility | 25 to 40 ft (7.6 to 12.2 m) |
Entry type | Boat, very rarely shore |
Bottom composition | Metal, silt |
Nearby sites | SMS Cormoran |
Although both the fifth and sixth war patrols were also unproductive, during the seventh, conducted in the vicinity of
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
On 14 March 1944, following overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Snapper began her ninth war patrol, conducted in the area of the
Tenth and eleventh war patrols
Snapper spent her tenth war patrol engaged in lifeguard duties near
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
Honors and awards
- battle starsfor World War II service
References
Citations
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Bibliography