USS Triton (SS-201)
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History | |
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Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1] |
Laid down | 5 July 1939[1] |
Launched | 25 March 1940[1] |
Commissioned | 15 August 1940[1] |
Fate | Sunk by Japanese destroyers off the Admiralty Islands, 15 March 1943[2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 307 ft 2 in (93.62 m)[3] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3] |
Draft | 14 ft 7+1⁄2 in (4.458 m)[3] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h),[3] fuel capacity 93,993 US gal (355,800 L) to 96,365 US gal (364,780 L) fuel oil[4] |
Endurance | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged;[3] patrol endurance, up to 75 days[8] |
Test depth | 250 ft (76 m)[3] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
USS Triton (SS-201) was the fourth
Her
The new submarine held her shakedown training in the
First patrol
Assigned to Submarine Division 62,[11] Triton made a training cruise to Midway from 30 August to 15 September, then participated in local and fleet operations in the Hawaiian area. On 19 November, the submarine headed west to conduct a practice war patrol and arrived off Wake Island on 26 November. On 8 December, she saw columns of smoke rising over the island but assumed it was caused by construction work being done ashore. That night, when she surfaced to charge her batteries, she was informed by radio Wake that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and was ordered to stay out of range of Wake's guns. The next morning, Triton observed the Japanese bombing the island. On the night of 10 December, she was surfaced, charging her batteries, when flashes of light from Wake revealed a destroyer or light cruiser on a parallel course. The submarine was silhouetted against the moon, and the enemy ship turned towards her. Triton went deep and began evasive action. When the Japanese ship slowed astern, the submarine came to 120 feet (37 m) and fired four stern torpedoes—the first American torpedoes shot during World War II—on sonar bearings.[12] She heard a dull explosion 58 seconds later and believed one had hit the target, then went to 175 feet (53 m) and cleared the area. (No sinking was recorded, and she was not credited with one.)[13] After their initial repulse on 11 December, the Japanese returned with two aircraft carriers, Hiryū and Sōryū; Triton was not informed,[14] and made no attacks on them. Neither did she make any effort to evacuate the 350 Marines.[14] On 21 December, the submarine was ordered to return to Hawaii, and she arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 31 December.
Second patrol
On 25 January 1942, Triton got underway for the
Third patrol
Triton (now in the hands of
Amid shallow, glassy seas and poor sonar conditions,[18] on 1 May, she sighted six freighters, in two columns, escorted by a single[18] torpedo boat. She launched two torpedoes, and both hit the leading ship, Taei Maru (2,200 tons), which sank,[18] then two more at the next freighter; both missed. She fired at a third cargoman but the torpedo ran deep; a second torpedo, set shallow and aimed at a different ship,[18] broke the back of Calcutta Maru (5,300 tons),[18] which promptly sank.
Triton contacted an escorted convoy on 6 May and launched two torpedoes at the trailing ship; one sank soon after leaving the tube, the other missed ahead.[18] She next spotted a destroyer coming to the rear of the convoy, fired two more (both set shallow) at this same ship from 1,200 yards (1,100 m), and went deep to elude. Her sonar heard two violent explosions; Taigen Maru (5,600 tons) had sunk.[18] At that point, the submarine maneuvered around and ahead of the convoy to position for another attack. When she attained the desired position, she launched four torpedoes—two at the third ship and two at a fourth. Triton heard two explosions from the first spread (one in the third ship), none from the second (which had avoided),[18] as she was forced to take evasive action from the escort. The submarine later returned to periscope depth, but no ships were in sight. The convoy had cleared the area. On 15 May, she sank two deep-sea fishing boats with her deck guns.
The next day, after monitoring orders to other boats attempting to intercept without success, Triton ran into position[19] and at 15.20 spotted the crippled Shōkaku and a destroyer, returning from the Battle of the Coral Sea. At 6,700 yards (6,100 m), with the target making 16 knots (30 km/h),[18] Triton could not close the range, despite surfacing and bending on 19½ knots (36 km/h).[20] She sent a contact report, but it was not acknowledged.
One day later, 17 May,[21] in "one of the luckiest finds of the war",[20] I-64[18][22] surfaced right in front of Triton; she fired her last bow torpedo from 6,200 yards (5,700 m) and parts of the target were blown 100 feet (30 m) into the air. I-64 (1,700 tons),[23] the fourth Japanese sub sunk by the Pacific Fleet Sub Force,[20] went down by the stern. Four days later, Triton fired her last four torpedoes at another enemy submarine; all missed. The patrol earned her credit for five ships of 24,200 tons (reduced to 15,800 postwar),[24] terminating at Pearl Harbor on 4 June, as the Battle of Midway began.
Fourth patrol
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Nenohi-1.jpg/220px-Nenohi-1.jpg)
Triton's fourth war patrol took her to
Fifth patrol
On 16 December, Triton got underway for a position 20 miles (32 km) east of Wake on the Midway–Wake route. She was one of three submarines stationed between the two islands to mark the way for
Triton was then ordered to patrol the Truk–Rabaul–New Guinea shipping lanes, north and northwest of New Ireland, arriving on 30 December 1942. On 10 January 1943, Triton stalked an unidentified vessel but withheld her attack upon observing it was marked as a hospital ship. Three days later, she launched four torpedoes at a tanker and scored one hit. When the enemy began firing at her periscope, she went deep to begin an end around. About 20 minutes later, the submarine returned to periscope depth and launched a spread of four torpedoes. Two geysers of water rose amidships as high as the target's bridge, but no explosions followed. The next day, Triton attempted to attack a freighter, but an escort forced her down where she was subjected to a two-hour depth charge attack. On 16 January, she attacked two cargo ships, scoring two hits on the first and one on the second; but her victims forced her to submerge before she could evaluate the damage. Later that day, Triton fired her last three torpedoes at a large freighter but heard no explosions. She then headed for Australia and reached Brisbane on 26 January, with a total of 6,500 tons for the trip.[31]
Final patrol
Falling under the strict tactical control of Admiral
On 15 March, Triton reported she had attacked a convoy and had been depth charged. Even though attacks on her ceased, she could still hear distant depth charging for about an hour. No further messages from Triton were ever received. Post-war examination of Japanese records revealed on 15 March 1943, three Japanese destroyers attacked a submarine a little northwest of Triton's assigned area and subsequently observed an oil slick, debris, and items with American markings. On 10 April 1943, Triton was reported overdue from patrol and presumed lost, one of three lost in a month. This gave her 6,500 tons for the trip to Brisbane.[32]
Awards
Triton received five
Legacy
Triton is the subject of an episode of the
during the 1957–1958 season.Triton′s ship's bell was not aboard the submarine when she was lost. It was located in 2011 and is on display at Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois.[33]
Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp.305-311
- ^ Alden, John D., Commander, USN (rtd). The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979), p.74.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ a b Alden, p.74.
- ^ Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (Doubleday, 1973), p.58.
- ISBN 9780397010899.
- ^ Commanded by Forrest M. O'Leary. Blair, p.83.
- Captain Al McCannwas critical. Blair, pp.120-1.
- ^ Blair, pp.120 and 901.
- ^ a b Blair, p.123.
- ^ Blair, p.208.
- ^ Thanks to BuOrd's inadequate production. Blair, pp.69, 120-1, 208-9, and 907.
- ^ "the youngest skipper yet to get a command at Pearl Harbor". Blair, p.224.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Blair, p.225.
- ^ Blair, pp.231 & 233.
- ^ a b c Blair, p.233.
- ^ The same day Joe Willingham's Tautog sank I-28. Blair, p.233.
- ^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 13, p.1410, "I61". She later had an extra "100" added and her original number was reassigned, per usual IJN practise. Stille, Mark. Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45 (Osprey, 2007), p.4
- ^ Fitzsimons, p.1410, "I61".
- ^ Blair, p.908. It was a remarkable first effort for Kirkpatrick.
- ^ a b Blair, p.270.
- ^ Fitzsimons, Volume 12, p.1247, "Hatsuharu".
- JANACaccounting equally unreliable as a result, however.
- ^ Blair, p.914.
- ^ Blair, p.334.
- ^ The "Amakasu Maru" remains were found in August 2016
- ^ Blair, p.334. On arrival, Kirkpatrick was detached to become an aid to King, yet another waste of a very productive skipper.
- ^ a b c Blair, p.375.
- ^ Wiltrout, Kate (April 26, 2011). "USS Triton SS-201 Ship's Bell". The Virginian-Pilot.
References
- Alden, John D., Commander, USN (rtd). The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.
- Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975.
- Lenton, H.T. American Submarines. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1973.
- Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th century Weapons and Warfare, Volume 13, p. 1409–10, "I61", and Volume 12, p. 1246-7, "Hatsuharu". London: Phoebus, 1978.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- "On Eternal Patrol: USS Triton". Listing of crew members on USS Triton lost with her sinking.
- Nevitt, Allyn D. (1998). "Who Sank the Triton?". Long Lancers. Retrieved 2008-05-26. Discussion of several possibilities for the sinking of Triton
- Dunn, Peter. "US Navy Submarine USS Triton (SS-201) Operated Out of Brisbane Submarine Base During WW2". www.ozatwar.com. Retrieved 20 May 2013. Updated discussion of possibilities for the sinking of Triton.