The Sargo was the first vessel equipped with a new lead-acid battery designed by the Bureau of Steam Engineering (BuEng) to resist battle damage, based on a suggestion by her commissioning commanding officer, Lieutenant E. E. Yeomans.[5] It quickly became known as the "Sargo battery". Instead of a single hard rubber case, it had two concentric hard rubber cases with a layer of soft rubber between them. This was to prevent sulfuric acid leakage in the event one case cracked during depth-charging. Leaking sulfuric acid would be capable of corroding steel, burning the skin of crew members it came into contact with, and if mixed with any seawater in the bilges it would generate poisonous chlorine gas.[6] This remained the standard battery design until replaced with Sargo II and GUPPY batteries in submarines upgraded under the Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program after World War II. Each battery's capacity was slightly increased by installing 126 cells instead of 120; this also raised the nominal voltage from 250 volts to 270 volts, which has been standard in US usage ever since, including the backup batteries of nuclear submarines.
The next day (under the command of the torpedo specialist Lieutenant Commander Tyrell D. Jacobs, Annapolis Class of 1927),[7] This submarine got underway for her first war patrol, one that took her along the east coast of French Indochina and to the Netherlands East Indies. Off the major Japanese base at Cam Ranh Bay, ULTRA intercepts directed her to three cruisers on 14 December, but the Sargo was unable to gain position to attack when they appeared as scheduled.[8] Expecting a convoy, she went in closer, and that night detected a freighter, firing one torpedo; it prematured eighteen seconds later. Confidence in the Mark VI torpedo exploder shaken, she switched to contact pistol afterward.[9]
On 24 December, she found two freighters, firing two torpedoes at one, one at the other, from about 1,000 yards (900m), scoring no hits.[9] Temporarily losing depth control, she broached, and the target turned away; Sargo fired two stern tubes at 1,800 yards (1,600m), with no more success.[9] The next day, she sighted a pair of merchantmen, but was unable to gain firing position. Some time afterward, she came on two more merchantmen and fired two stern torpedoes at the rearmost of them, from closer yet, 900 yards (800m); both again missed.[9] By now frustrated, after eight torpedoes with zero results, when two additional merchantmen came in view an hour later, Sargo took extra pains to get it right, pursuing for fifty-seven minutes[10] and making certain TDC bearings matched perfectly before firing two torpedoes at each ship, at an average of 1000yards; all missed.[9]
After her skipper discovered the torpedoes were running too deep, and correcting the problem,[11]Sargo detected a target at dusk on 26 December[10] losing, then regaining, contact, and running ahead, so be able to get good position. Then weather intervened, and the ships escaped.[10]
A few days afterward, a big, slow tanker gave Sargo another opportunity, and again, the approach was meticulous, firing one torpedo at a close 1,200 yards (1,100m). It missed. In exasperation, Sargo signaled headquarters, questioning the Mark 14's reliability[9] on an open radio circuit.[12]
On 20 January 1942, she assisted in the rescue of the crew of S-36 after she ran aground on Taku Reef in the Makassar Strait. Sargo remained surfaced, relaying distress messages to friendly aircraft and surface ships. After the rescue by the Dutch merchant ship Siberote, Sargo headed for Java, and arrived at Soerabaja on 25 January.
Here, she offloaded all her reload torpedoes (keeping only those in her tubes)[13] and three-inch ammunition, and took on one million rounds of .30-caliber ammunition desperately needed by Allied forces in the Philippines. She sortied 5 February, avoiding the usual traffic lanes, and arrived in Polloc Harbor nine days later. After delivering her vital cargo to Mindanao, she returned to Soerabaja with 24 Boeing B-17 specialists[13] from Clark Field on board.
Sailing from Soerabaja with 31 passengers from Java on 25 February, she headed for Australia. On 4 March 1942 she was one day out of Fremantle, Western Australia, when a Royal Australian Air ForceLockheed Hudsonpatrol bomber mistook her for a Japanese submarine and attacked her at 13:38 while she was on the surface at 30°27′S113°37′E / 30.450°S 113.617°E / -30.450; 113.617.[14][15][16] As she crash-dived, two bombs exploded as she reached a depth of 40 feet (12m) and lifted her stern out of the water.[16] She went out of control and plunged to a depth of 300 feet (91m) before her crew could stop her dive, then rose rapidly and broached spectacularly.[16] She again submerged, and a second pair of bombs exploded.[16] One of them detonated over her conning tower as she passed a depth of 50 feet (15m), destroying the optics in both of her periscopes, damaging her conning tower door, conning tower upper hatch, and most of her lights and gauges, and knocking out all electrical power for 90 seconds.[16] She remained submerged until after nightfall[16] and arrived safely at Fremantle on 5 March 1942.[17]
War patrols under Richard V. Gregory
During March, amid the panic over potential Japanese invasion of Australia, Sargo (now commanded by Richard V. Gregory, Class of 1932)[18] was detailed to guard Darwin's approaches.[19] Nothing materialized.
On 8 June, Sargo put to sea for her fourth patrol, conducted in the Gulf of Siam off Malaya. She attacked only one target, a small tanker, with only three torpedoes, but failed to score, then returned to Australia on 2 August.
The fifth war patrol, from 27 August to 25 October, was in the Celebes Sea and South China Sea. In a submerged attack off Vietnam, French Indochina, on 25 September, she fired two torpedoes at the 4,472-ton cargo ship Teibo Maru. When these did not sink the target, three more were fired; all missed, including one circular, which exploded off her stern,[19] presaging another deadly failing of the Mark 14. Sargo then surfaced and finished off the crippled freighter with gunfire.[20]
War patrols under Edward S. Carmick
Sargo moored at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 28 April 1943. Raised metal "188" is seen in faint relief on port bow. White outlines mark recent alterations
On 29 November, she departed Brisbane and conducted her sixth patrol (now commanded by Edward S. Carmick, Class of 1930)[21]en route to Hawaii. On the last day of 1942, she made a submerged attack on an enemy tanker off Tingmon Island, firing a spread of four torpedoes. Heavy explosions were heard, accompanied by grinding noises usually associated with a ship breaking up. JANAC did not confirm the sinking. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 January 1943 and proceeded to San Francisco Bay for a three-month overhaul in the Mare Island Navy Yard.
Returning to Hawaii on 10 May, she departed on 27 May for her seventh patrol which took her to the Truk-Guam-Saipan shipping lanes. On 13 June, she intercepted a three-ship convoy, escorted by a subchaser. That night, she made a submerged attack, sinking the passenger-cargo ship Konan Maru southeast of Palau. The next day, she fired torpedoes at another of the cargo ships but could not learn the results of her attack, since she was forced to dive to escape the subchaser's depth charges. Sargo arrived at Midway Island on 9 July, where she was credited with one ship sunk for 6,600tons (reduced postwar to 5,200).[22]
She departed Midway on 1 August for her eighth war patrol, again at Truk and in the Mariana Islands. She made no contacts and returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 September for refit.[23]
War patrols under Philip W. Garnett and post-war fate
On her ninth war patrol (now commanded by Philip W. Garnett, Class of 1933),[24] 15 October to 9 December, Sargo operated off Formosa and in the Philippine Sea. On 9 November, she torpedoed the cargo ship, Tago Maru, southeast of Formosa, and finished off the stricken ship with gunfire. Steaming north, she torpedoed and sank the passenger ship, Kosei Maru two days later east of Okinawa. Afterwards, she picked up a Japanese soldier, clinging to floating debris, survivor of another sinking. Sargo returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 December 1943, credited with two ships for 15,900tons; postwar, it was 6,400.[24]
Sargo’s tenth patrol, 26 January to 12 March 1944, was conducted north of the Palau Islands. Despite ULTRA alerting her, she failed to be in position to intercept Admiral Koga when he appeared.[25] Still, she made four attacks and fired all her torpedoes.[26] She sank the transports Nichiro Maru (6,500 tons)[26] on 17 February and Uchide Maru (5,300tons)[26] on 29 February; this time, the wartime credit, one ship of 7,000tons, remarkably, increased.[27]
After refit in Pearl Harbor, the veteran submarine departed on her eleventh war patrol on 7 April, along the southern coasts of Kyūshū, Shikoku, and Honshū. On 26 April, she torpedoed and sank the cargo ship Wazan Maru in Kii Suido, approaching Osaka Bay. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 26 May and steamed east to the west coast of the United States for a major overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Returning to Hawaii in September, Sargo got underway for her 12th patrol on 13 October and operated off the Bonin Islands and Ryukyu Islands. Two trawlers were damaged by Sargo’s three-inch (76mm) deck gun and machine guns.
On arrival at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, on 7 December 1944, she was assigned to training submarine crews until 13 January 1945, when she proceeded to Eniwetok Atoll. There she acted as a target for ASW training. As the war ended, she returned via Hawaii to the United States, arriving at Mare Island on 27 August. Decommissioned on 22 June 1946, she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 July 1946. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 19 May 1947 to the Learner Company of California.
↑ He was one of a handful of "Gun Club" members to try to fix the numerous problems of the notorious Mark 14 torpedo, following bitter personal experience. Blair, Clay, Jr., Silent Victory (Lippincott, 1975), p.140 & 902.
↑ Jacobs' courage here is exemplary, recalling Ned Beach's a generation later in relation to Tang-class' terrible "pancake" diesels. It could have gotten him court martialled for insubordination, and he knew it, not to mention being detected by the Japanese. On his return, he was upbraided by his commanding officer, Admiral John Wilkes. Blair, p.169.
↑ Blair, p.185. This sort of mistake would become depressingly common during the war. For instance, Blair, pp.210 and 285, just in the first half of 1942.
USS Seawolf (SS-197), a Sargo-class submarine, was the second submarine of the United States Navy named for the seawolf.
USS Swordfish (SS-193), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy named for the swordfish, a large fish with a long, swordlike beak and a high dorsal fin. She was the first American submarine to sink a Japanese ship during World War II.
USS Triton (SS-201) was the fourth Tambor-class submarine to be commissioned in the United States Navy in the years leading up to the country's December 1941 entry into World War II. Her wartime service was in the Pacific Ocean. She completed five patrols in the following 14 months, and is credited with the sinking of over 20,000 tons of Japanese shipping and warships. She was lost with all hands on or around March 15, 1943. Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, only five survived the war.
USS Halibut (SS-232), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the halibut, a large species of flatfish.
USS Seadragon (SS-194), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the leafy seadragon.
USS Tautog (SS-199), the second Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog, a small edible sport fish, which is also called a blackfish. She was one of the most successful submarines of World War II. Tautog was credited with sinking 26 Japanese ships, for a total of 72,606 tons, scoring second by number of ships and eleventh by tonnage earning her the nickname "The Terrible T." Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, she was one of only five to survive the war.
USS Sailfish (SS-192), was a US Sargo-class submarine, originally named Squalus. As Squalus, the submarine sank off the coast of New Hampshire during test dives on 23 May 1939. The sinking drowned 26 crew members, but an ensuing rescue operation, using the McCann Rescue Chamber for the first time, saved the lives of the remaining 33 aboard. Squalus was salvaged in late 1939 and recommissioned as Sailfish in May 1940.
USS Tang (SS-306) was a Balao-class submarine of World War II, the first ship of the United States Navy to bear the name Tang. She was built and launched in 1943, serving until being sunk by her own torpedo off China in the Taiwan Strait on 24 October 1944.
USS Trigger (SS-237) was a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the triggerfish.
USS Trout (SS-202) was the fifth Tambor-class submarine commissioned in the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific from 1941 to 1944. She received 11 battle stars for World War II service and three Presidential Unit Citations, for her second, third, and fifth war patrols. Trout also delivered ammunition to the besieged American forces on Corregidor and brought out 20 tons of gold bars and silver pesos from the Philippine currency reserve to Pearl Harbor. During 1941, she was used as a target by a series of tests determining the vulnerability of submarines to depth charge attacks.
USS Sculpin (SS-191), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin.
USS Saury (SS-189), a Sargo-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the saury, a long-beaked relative of the flying fish found in the temperate zones of the Atlantic.
USS Tambor (SS-198), the lead ship of her class of submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tambor.
USS Tarpon (SS-175), second United States Navy ship of this name, was a Porpoise-class diesel-electric submarine. Tarpon conducted war patrols in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
USS Skipjack (SS-184), was a Salmon-class submarine, the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the skipjack tuna. She earned multiple battle stars during World War II and then was sunk, remarkably, by an atomic bomb during post-World War II testing in Operation Crossroads. Among the most "thoroughly sunk" ships, she was refloated and then sunk a second time as a target ship two years later.
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.
USS Sturgeon (SS-187), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sturgeon. Her 1944 sinking of the Japanese troopship Toyama Maru, killing more than 5,000 Japanese, was one of the highest death tolls from the sinking of a single ship in history. Her 1942 sinking of the Montevideo Maru which, unknown to crew on the Sturgeon, was carrying over 1,000 POWs, was the worst maritime disaster in Australian history.
USS S-37 (SS-142) was an S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 12 December 1918, launched on 20 June 1919, and commissioned on 16 July 1923 with Lieutenant Paul R. Glutting in command.
USS Pogy (SS-266), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pogy, or menhaden. She was credited with sinking 16 ships totaling 62,633 gross register tons during World War II.
The first USS Spadefish (SS/AGSS-411), a Balao-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the spadefish. Although she was commissioned late in the war and spent only one year in the Pacific war zone, she was able to run up a record of 88,091 tons in 21 ships and numerous trawlers sunk.
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