Service history
Sea Otter II proceeded to the Charleston Navy Yard on 26 October 1941, arriving on 2 November. After completion of voyage repairs, Sea Otter II got underway for sea trials on 4 November.
Constructed during the height of enemy submarine attacks along the Atlantic coast, Sea Otter II was designed to allow torpedoes to pass beneath her shallow draft. The draft, however, proved to be almost twice the amount expected, and her 16 unmuffled gasoline engines would be noisy enough to alert any submarine in the area.
Consequently, Sea Otter II, like her predecessor, the 80-foot shallow draft Sea Otter I (IX-51), was destined for little use. She remained at Charleston until being placed out of service on 28 May 1942. On 26 June, she was transferred to the War Shipping Administration, subsequently transferred to Cargoes Incorporated, and struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946.
USS Betelgeuse (AK-260) was the last of the cargo ships in service in the United States Navy. On 10 April 1944, it was renamed the SS Colombia Victory after being launched as a Victory ship to carry cargo during World War II. She was transferred to the US Navy in 1951.
USS Seal (SS-183), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the seal, a sea mammal valued for its skin and oil.
USS Odax (SS-484), a Tench-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for odax, a brilliantly colored, red and green fish belonging to the family Scaridae, the parrot fishes.
The first USS Tillman (DD–135) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Senator Benjamin Tillman. Transferred to the United Kingdom in World War II, she was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Wells.
USS Pompon (SS/SSR-267), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the pompon, an American fish of the Anisot family.
The first USS Hopewell (DD–181) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy, entering service in 1919. After a brief active life, the ship was deactivated in 1922 and placed in reserve for 18 years before returning to service in 1940 during World War II. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Bath (I17), as a Town-class destroyer, and then to the Royal Norwegian Navy as HNoMS Bath. Bath was torpedoed while escorting a trans-Atlantic convoy on 19 August 1941.
USS Craven (DD-70), later renamed USS Conway (DD-70), a Caldwell-class destroyer, was in commission in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1922 and briefly in 1940, and later in the Royal Navy as HMS Lewes from 1940 to 1945.
USS Clemson (DD-186/AVP-17/AVD-4/APD-31) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers which served in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson (1820–1846), who was lost at sea when the brig USS Somers capsized in a sudden squall off Vera Cruz on 8 December 1846 while chasing a blockade runner. Entering service in 1919, the ship had a brief active life before placed in reserve in 1922. Converted to an aircraft tender in 1939, the ship reactivated in 1940. In 1943, Clemson reconverted to a destroyer and served in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. In 1944, the ship was converted into a high speed transport and transferred to the Pacific taking part in several invasions. Following the end of the war, the ship was taken out of service again and sold for scrapping in 1946.
USS Dallas (DD-199) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second ship named for Captain Alexander J. Dallas, and was later renamed Alexander Dallas.
I-58, later I-158, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai-class cruiser submarine of the KD3A sub-class commissioned in 1928. During World War II, she supported Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya in December 1941 and was instrumental in tracking Force Z, the two British capital ships that attempted to intercept the Japanese invasion forces, so they could be sunk by torpedo bombers. She sank four Dutch merchant ships in early 1942 during the Dutch East Indies campaign and then was transferred to the Central Pacific in May 1942 to support the fleet during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942. Upon her return to Japan in July 1942, she became a training ship until early 1945 when she was modified to serve as a carrier for kaiten manned suicide attack torpedoes. She surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war and was scuttled in 1946.
USS Hilary P. Jones (DD-427) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Admiral Hilary P. Jones.
USS Otter (DE-210), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, in service from 1944 to 1947. She was finally sunk as a target in 1970.
USS Alchiba (AKA-6) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy, named after Alchiba, a star in the constellation Corvus. She served as a commissioned ship for 4 years and 7 months.
USS Turaco (AMc-55), an Accentor class coastal minesweeper was named by the U.S. Navy after the turaco. The ship was laid down on 17 January 1941 by the Snow Shipyards of Rockland, Maine, launched on 28 July 1941, and was decommissioned on 30 November 1945.
USS Cahuilla (ATF-152) was an Abnaki class fleet tug in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. In 1961 she was sold to the Argentine Navy as ARA Irigoyen (A-1) where she served until 2009 when she became a Museum ship.
USCGC Icarus (WPC-110) was a steel-hulled, diesel-powered Thetis-class patrol boat of the United States Coast Guard that patrolled the United States East Coast during World War II. In 1942, Icarus sank the German submarine U-352 off the coast of North Carolina and took its survivors into custody as prisoners of war. U-352 was the second World War II U-boat sunk by the United States in American waters, and the first one from which survivors were taken.
USS Brambling (AMc-39) was an Accentor-class coastal minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Varian (DE-798) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy.
Archimède was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1932. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of Vichy France until November 1942. She then returned to the Allied side, operating as part of the Free French Naval Forces. She was one of only five – along with Argo, Casabianca, Le Centaure, and Le Glorieux — out of the 31 Redoutable-class submarines to survive the war. She remained in French Navy service after World War II, and was decommissioned in 1952.
Actéon was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1932. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of Vichy France. She was sunk in November 1942.
United States