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USS Angler (SS-240)
Encyclopedia
, a Gato-class submarine
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the anglerfish
.
Her keel was laid down on 9 November 1942 by the Electric Boat
Company in Groton, Connecticut
. She was launched on 4 July 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Patrick H. Drewry, the wife of Congressman Patrick H. Drewry
of the House Naval Affairs Committee), and commissioned at New London, Connecticut
, on 1 October 1943, Lieutenant Commander
Robert I. Olsen in command.
, area, Angler sailed to Key West, Florida
. She arrived on 21 November and after one week of operations with the Fleet Sound School, sailed for Pearl Harbor
on 27 November.
Selected to be transferred from Pearl Harbor, Angler commenced her first war patrol on 10 January 1944, her patrol to terminate at Fremantle, Australia. Angler encountered a Japanese convoy north of the Mariana Islands
on 29 January, and attacked with torpedoes. She claimed to have sunk one ship and damaged two others, but postwar records confirmed only the sinking of Shuko Maru. Having developed "structural noises" which prevented silent running
, Angler turned back to Midway Island for repairs, arriving on 4 February.
Angler began her second war patrol on 15 February, assigned the waters off the east coast of the Philippines
in the Mindanao Sea and Sulu Sea
. While she was nearing her patrol area, Major General
Douglas MacArthur
had learned that the Japanese were massacring all the civilians they could find on the island of Panay
. MacArthur requested that a submarine be assigned to evacuate what was believed to be about twenty civilians from the island. The task fell to Angler, and she found 58 men, women, and children awaiting rescue. Angler took all of them on board and berthed them in the forward and after torpedo rooms. Meals were limited to two per day in an attempt to stretch the submarine’s overtaxed food supply. Toward the end of the cruise, many of the passengers and crew became nauseous. The captain suspected the water supply may have been contaminated, and requested that the fresh water tanks be cleaned upon arrival at Fremantle on 9 April.
Angler sailed on 3 May for another patrol as one of eight submarines assigned to support the carrier strike scheduled to hit Surabaya
, Java. Their job would be to sink retreating Japanese ships, to provide lifeguard services, and to guard the major passages from the Java Sea
(the Sunda Strait
and Lombok Strait
) to the Indian Ocean
lest the Japanese try to move into the Indian Ocean to attack the Allied strike force. Launched as scheduled on 17 May the strikes achieved complete surprise.
The only action of the patrol for Angler came on 20 May, when she torpedoed and sank Otori Maru. Japanese escort vessels administered a bad pounding to Angler, but she escaped damage.
The next day, nausea
again gripped everyone on board Angler. The situation was reported to Fremantle, and the submarine was ordered to return at once. Things onboard Angler continued to grow worse. On 22 May, Lieutenant Commander Olsen noted in the log: "Physical condition of officers and crew is so bad that it is difficult to maintain watch, either surface or submerged. Put crew on fruit juice alone, no water. Held thorough field day in case boat is contaminated. Exercised special supervision in cooking, dishwashing." On 23 May he wrote, "Decided to run submerged as we did not have enough able-bodied people to maintain proper surface watch."
and were sent to intercept Angler and lend assistance. also arrived and transferred a doctor to assist the ailing crewmembers. Angler finally arrived at Fremantle on 29 May. An investigation concluded that an electrician had taken a can of carbon tetrachloride
on board as a cleaning agent, which was strictly forbidden. Although the illness was attributed the tetrachloride, some suspected that the fresh water tanks had not been cleaned as requested.
Angler began her fourth war patrol on 21 June. She paused to refuel alongside a barge in Exmouth Gulf
on 24 June, and while maneuvering into position, hit an uncharted obstruction. Returning to Fremantle for repairs, Angler was underway again on 29 June with a new starboard propeller. She rendezvoused with Flasher and Crevalle to carry out one of the first "wolfpack" patrols of the war. The group worked the middle area of the South China Sea
and along the Indochinese
coast, without success. They were then ordered to move to a position off the west coast of Luzon
. On 25 July, Angler and her sister ships picked up a large northbound convoy and began a series of attacks over the next few days. While Angler failed to damage any ships, the pack as a whole sank six ships for 36,000 tons. The patrol continued uneventfully until 23 August, when Angler returned to Fremantle.
On 18 September, the submarine departed on her next patrol, to operate with in the Sulu Sea
. On 14 October Angler torpedoed and sank Nanrei Maru.
At 0145 on 22 October, the men on watch on Anglers bridge were startled by voices calling out of the darkness. Repeated attempts to locate the source of the voices proved unsuccessful, but the dawn soon revealed "one of the most gruesome sights imaginable as far as you could see ..." the water literally covered with wreckage and dead Japanese, most clad in Army uniforms. Aircraft in the vicinity made it too risky to stop and investigate a lifeboat, but Angler returned at sunset. At 1806, she brought this boat alongside and counted 26 surviving men, both soldiers and naval ratings. Determining who was the senior officer of the group, the submarine retained three men for questioning, and after giving the men remaining in the boat some food, water, and a course to land, 80 nautical miles (148.2 km) away, released the lifeboat. The three prisoners retained on board — Second Lieutenant
Seigi Shimazu, Sergeant
Sei Fuji, and Sergeant Toyonaga Nishikawa — had willingly agreed to go along with the Americans.
At 1915 on 23 October, Angler made radar contact with the main Japanese force steaming to contest the Allied invasion of Leyte
. Angler tracked the task force until 0240 the following morning, and her contact reports proved of inestimable value to the American forces off Leyte. Ironically, Angler had just made the only worthwhile contact with the only worthwhile convoy of her entire patrol. Although the maneuvers to clear the convoy took her 10 nmi (18.5 km) astern of the task force, Angler forsook the convoy of civilian ships for the military task force. On 1 November, Angler rendezvoused with , and received onboard Commander
Fred E. Bakutis, a pilot from Fighting Squadron 20 (VF-20) who had been rescued by Hardhead a short time before. Angler returned to Fremantle on 9 November.
On 4 December, Angler left on her sixth patrol, during which time she served a brief period of lifeguard duty. On 13 December, was fired on by a Japanese destroyer
. A shell tore a large hole in Bergalls pressure hull and left the submarine unable to dive. Angler, operating in the Java Sea
, received orders to proceed to Bergalls assistance, take off the crew and torpedo the ship. She found the crippled submarine on 15 December. Bergalls commanding officer, Commander
John Hyde, had decided to remain in Bergall with a skeleton crew. Angler trailed Bergall to take everyone off if a Japanese attack threatened. The two submarines traveled nearly 2000 nmi (3,704 km), through waters mostly controlled by the enemy, and reached Exmouth Gulf
safely on 20 December without seeing any Japanese airplanes or ships.
Angler resumed her patrol, but contacted no enemy shipping. She put in to Saipan
briefly on 6 February 1945, then continued on to Pearl Harbor. Angler reached the West Coast
of the United States
on 24 February, and immediately began overhaul at the Bethlehem Steel
Company yard at San Francisco, California
. She was underway again on 18 May, and by 12 June was ready to begin her seventh and final war patrol. On 27 June, she made a fuel stop at Saipan then sailed to patrol the waters east of Honshū
. At that stage of the war, shipping targets were few and far between, and Angler made only two contacts. One of these moved away faster than Angler could close, but the submarine developed the other into an unsuccessful torpedo attack on 25 July.
Angler did, however, conduct three shore bombardment missions during this patrol. The first - on 26 July - found her making a careful reconnaissance to locate a Japanese installation on Kinkasan Island. From a range of about 3000 yard, Angler hurled 25 5 in (127 mm) rounds at a target area containing closely bunched buildings, radio towers, and a lighthouse. Although she claimed at least 20 hits, the large clouds of smoke and dust made a closer assessment of damage impossible.
Five days later, on 31 July, after an all-day close-in observation, Angler surfaced at dusk in a thick fog, off Tomakomai, on Hokkaidō
, and fired 50 5 in (127 mm) rounds at what looked like a thickly congested factory installation. On 1 August, Angler joined and in carrying out a coordinated gun action against boat sheds and boats; Angler firing 23 rounds of five-inch, 320 rounds of 40 mm and 300 rounds of 20 mm.
on 14 September, and called at New Orleans, Louisiana
on 20 September. A month of leave and upkeep followed, and on 24 October, Angler got underway for Jacksonville, Florida
. She continued on to Newport to unload her torpedoes on 2 November, and arrived at New London on 6 November. Angler sailed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
in February 1946 to begin deactivation. She returned to New London on 21 April, and was decommissioned
there on 12 February.
Following her recommissioning on 2 April 1951, Angler held shakedown in the Caribbean Sea
. She then began operations from her home port of New London. In October 1952, Angler was decommissioned and entered the General Dynamics
Corporation yard at Groton, Connecticut
, for overhaul and conversion. She was redesignated SSK-240 in February 1953.
Upon completion of overhaul, Angler was recommissioned in September 1953 and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. Following her shakedown in the West Indies from November 1953-March 1954, she returned to New London. She then operated along the East Coast
and in the West Indies for the next two years, taking part in numerous Atlantic Fleet exercises, and spent the period from January through April 1956 undergoing overhaul at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
. Angler made a training cruise to the West Indies, then returned to the East Coast. In October, she deployed to northern Europe
and visited several ports in Britain
before returning in December to New London.
Angler spent the first eight months of 1957 participating in exercises along the East Coast. On 27 September, she was underway for Europe to take part in NATO fleet exercises. She then visited Dieppe, France and the Isle of Portland
, England
before returning to New London. Her final operation of the year was a training cruise to Bermuda
in November.
From 24 February-23 March 1958, Angler participated in Operation "Springboard," held in the West Indies and Caribbean, following those evolutions with numerous training exercises. On 3 November, Angler once again entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
for overhaul. Repairs were completed in March 1959, and the submarine resumed her schedule of operations and exercises along the East Coast. She also rendered services to the Submarine School, New London. In 1960, the ship reverted to her original designation, SS-240.
On 24 October 1962, Angler commenced her first deployment to the 6th Fleet and conducted operations in the Mediterranean Sea
. In the course of her deployment, she visited ports in Spain
, Italy
, France
, and Greece
. She returned to New London on 6 February 1963 and resumed operations with the submarine school. In 1963, Angler was redesignated AGSS-240. For the remainder of her career, the submarine continued her pattern of periodic deployments to the Caribbean and West Indies, made midshipman and Naval Reserve
training cruises, and operated in conjunction with the submarine school.
Angler was decommissioned on 1 April 1968 and was assigned to the Naval Reserve training program at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. On 30 June 1971, she was redesignated IXSS-240. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 15 December 1971. Sold to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, of New York City
on 1 February 1974, she was removed from naval custody on 4 March 1974 to be broken up for scrap.
Gato class submarine
The United States Navy Gato class submarine formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II...
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the anglerfish
Anglerfish
Anglerfishes are members of the teleost order Lophiiformes . They are bony fishes named for their characteristic mode of predation, wherein a fleshy growth from the fish's head acts as a lure; this is considered analogous to angling.Some anglerfishes are pelagic , while others are benthic...
.
Her keel was laid down on 9 November 1942 by the Electric Boat
Electric boat
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...
Company in Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
. She was launched on 4 July 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Patrick H. Drewry, the wife of Congressman Patrick H. Drewry
Patrick H. Drewry
Patrick Henry Drewry was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.Born in Petersburg, Virginia, Drewry attended the public schools, Petersburg High School, and McCabe's University School....
of the House Naval Affairs Committee), and commissioned at New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, on 1 October 1943, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
Robert I. Olsen in command.
World War II
Following shakedown in the New London and Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, area, Angler sailed to Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
. She arrived on 21 November and after one week of operations with the Fleet Sound School, sailed for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 27 November.
Selected to be transferred from Pearl Harbor, Angler commenced her first war patrol on 10 January 1944, her patrol to terminate at Fremantle, Australia. Angler encountered a Japanese convoy north of the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
on 29 January, and attacked with torpedoes. She claimed to have sunk one ship and damaged two others, but postwar records confirmed only the sinking of Shuko Maru. Having developed "structural noises" which prevented silent running
Silent running (submarine)
Silent running is a stealth mode of operation for naval submarines. The aim is to evade discovery by passive sonar by eliminating superfluous noise: nonessential systems are shut down, the crew is urged to rest and refrain from making any unnecessary sound, and speed is greatly reduced to minimize...
, Angler turned back to Midway Island for repairs, arriving on 4 February.
Angler began her second war patrol on 15 February, assigned the waters off the east coast of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in the Mindanao Sea and Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
. While she was nearing her patrol area, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
had learned that the Japanese were massacring all the civilians they could find on the island of Panay
Panay
Panay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
. MacArthur requested that a submarine be assigned to evacuate what was believed to be about twenty civilians from the island. The task fell to Angler, and she found 58 men, women, and children awaiting rescue. Angler took all of them on board and berthed them in the forward and after torpedo rooms. Meals were limited to two per day in an attempt to stretch the submarine’s overtaxed food supply. Toward the end of the cruise, many of the passengers and crew became nauseous. The captain suspected the water supply may have been contaminated, and requested that the fresh water tanks be cleaned upon arrival at Fremantle on 9 April.
Angler sailed on 3 May for another patrol as one of eight submarines assigned to support the carrier strike scheduled to hit Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, Java. Their job would be to sink retreating Japanese ships, to provide lifeguard services, and to guard the major passages from the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
(the Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean...
and Lombok Strait
Lombok Strait
The Lombok Strait is a strait connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are on the Lombok side....
) to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
lest the Japanese try to move into the Indian Ocean to attack the Allied strike force. Launched as scheduled on 17 May the strikes achieved complete surprise.
The only action of the patrol for Angler came on 20 May, when she torpedoed and sank Otori Maru. Japanese escort vessels administered a bad pounding to Angler, but she escaped damage.
The next day, nausea
Nausea
Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...
again gripped everyone on board Angler. The situation was reported to Fremantle, and the submarine was ordered to return at once. Things onboard Angler continued to grow worse. On 22 May, Lieutenant Commander Olsen noted in the log: "Physical condition of officers and crew is so bad that it is difficult to maintain watch, either surface or submerged. Put crew on fruit juice alone, no water. Held thorough field day in case boat is contaminated. Exercised special supervision in cooking, dishwashing." On 23 May he wrote, "Decided to run submerged as we did not have enough able-bodied people to maintain proper surface watch."
and were sent to intercept Angler and lend assistance. also arrived and transferred a doctor to assist the ailing crewmembers. Angler finally arrived at Fremantle on 29 May. An investigation concluded that an electrician had taken a can of carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride
Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names is the organic compound with the formula CCl4. It was formerly widely used in fire extinguishers, as a precursor to refrigerants, and as a cleaning agent...
on board as a cleaning agent, which was strictly forbidden. Although the illness was attributed the tetrachloride, some suspected that the fresh water tanks had not been cleaned as requested.
Angler began her fourth war patrol on 21 June. She paused to refuel alongside a barge in Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...
on 24 June, and while maneuvering into position, hit an uncharted obstruction. Returning to Fremantle for repairs, Angler was underway again on 29 June with a new starboard propeller. She rendezvoused with Flasher and Crevalle to carry out one of the first "wolfpack" patrols of the war. The group worked the middle area of the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
and along the Indochinese
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
coast, without success. They were then ordered to move to a position off the west coast of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. On 25 July, Angler and her sister ships picked up a large northbound convoy and began a series of attacks over the next few days. While Angler failed to damage any ships, the pack as a whole sank six ships for 36,000 tons. The patrol continued uneventfully until 23 August, when Angler returned to Fremantle.
On 18 September, the submarine departed on her next patrol, to operate with in the Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
. On 14 October Angler torpedoed and sank Nanrei Maru.
At 0145 on 22 October, the men on watch on Anglers bridge were startled by voices calling out of the darkness. Repeated attempts to locate the source of the voices proved unsuccessful, but the dawn soon revealed "one of the most gruesome sights imaginable as far as you could see ..." the water literally covered with wreckage and dead Japanese, most clad in Army uniforms. Aircraft in the vicinity made it too risky to stop and investigate a lifeboat, but Angler returned at sunset. At 1806, she brought this boat alongside and counted 26 surviving men, both soldiers and naval ratings. Determining who was the senior officer of the group, the submarine retained three men for questioning, and after giving the men remaining in the boat some food, water, and a course to land, 80 nautical miles (148.2 km) away, released the lifeboat. The three prisoners retained on board — Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Seigi Shimazu, Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Sei Fuji, and Sergeant Toyonaga Nishikawa — had willingly agreed to go along with the Americans.
At 1915 on 23 October, Angler made radar contact with the main Japanese force steaming to contest the Allied invasion of Leyte
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
. Angler tracked the task force until 0240 the following morning, and her contact reports proved of inestimable value to the American forces off Leyte. Ironically, Angler had just made the only worthwhile contact with the only worthwhile convoy of her entire patrol. Although the maneuvers to clear the convoy took her 10 nmi (18.5 km) astern of the task force, Angler forsook the convoy of civilian ships for the military task force. On 1 November, Angler rendezvoused with , and received onboard Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Fred E. Bakutis, a pilot from Fighting Squadron 20 (VF-20) who had been rescued by Hardhead a short time before. Angler returned to Fremantle on 9 November.
On 4 December, Angler left on her sixth patrol, during which time she served a brief period of lifeguard duty. On 13 December, was fired on by a Japanese destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. A shell tore a large hole in Bergalls pressure hull and left the submarine unable to dive. Angler, operating in the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
, received orders to proceed to Bergalls assistance, take off the crew and torpedo the ship. She found the crippled submarine on 15 December. Bergalls commanding officer, Commander
Commander (United States)
In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...
John Hyde, had decided to remain in Bergall with a skeleton crew. Angler trailed Bergall to take everyone off if a Japanese attack threatened. The two submarines traveled nearly 2000 nmi (3,704 km), through waters mostly controlled by the enemy, and reached Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...
safely on 20 December without seeing any Japanese airplanes or ships.
Angler resumed her patrol, but contacted no enemy shipping. She put in to Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
briefly on 6 February 1945, then continued on to Pearl Harbor. Angler reached the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 24 February, and immediately began overhaul at the Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
Company yard at San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. She was underway again on 18 May, and by 12 June was ready to begin her seventh and final war patrol. On 27 June, she made a fuel stop at Saipan then sailed to patrol the waters east of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. At that stage of the war, shipping targets were few and far between, and Angler made only two contacts. One of these moved away faster than Angler could close, but the submarine developed the other into an unsuccessful torpedo attack on 25 July.
Angler did, however, conduct three shore bombardment missions during this patrol. The first - on 26 July - found her making a careful reconnaissance to locate a Japanese installation on Kinkasan Island. From a range of about 3000 yard, Angler hurled 25 5 in (127 mm) rounds at a target area containing closely bunched buildings, radio towers, and a lighthouse. Although she claimed at least 20 hits, the large clouds of smoke and dust made a closer assessment of damage impossible.
Five days later, on 31 July, after an all-day close-in observation, Angler surfaced at dusk in a thick fog, off Tomakomai, on Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, and fired 50 5 in (127 mm) rounds at what looked like a thickly congested factory installation. On 1 August, Angler joined and in carrying out a coordinated gun action against boat sheds and boats; Angler firing 23 rounds of five-inch, 320 rounds of 40 mm and 300 rounds of 20 mm.
Post-War
Angler arrived at Midway on 9 August, and was there when hostilities ceased on 15 August. She sailed for Pearl Harbor on 26 August and paused there briefly before continuing on to the United States. The submarine transited the Panama CanalPanama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
on 14 September, and called at New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
on 20 September. A month of leave and upkeep followed, and on 24 October, Angler got underway for Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. She continued on to Newport to unload her torpedoes on 2 November, and arrived at New London on 6 November. Angler sailed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
in February 1946 to begin deactivation. She returned to New London on 21 April, and was decommissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
there on 12 February.
Following her recommissioning on 2 April 1951, Angler held shakedown in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
. She then began operations from her home port of New London. In October 1952, Angler was decommissioned and entered the General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
Corporation yard at Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
, for overhaul and conversion. She was redesignated SSK-240 in February 1953.
Upon completion of overhaul, Angler was recommissioned in September 1953 and rejoined the Atlantic Fleet. Following her shakedown in the West Indies from November 1953-March 1954, she returned to New London. She then operated along the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
and in the West Indies for the next two years, taking part in numerous Atlantic Fleet exercises, and spent the period from January through April 1956 undergoing overhaul at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...
. Angler made a training cruise to the West Indies, then returned to the East Coast. In October, she deployed to northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and visited several ports in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
before returning in December to New London.
Angler spent the first eight months of 1957 participating in exercises along the East Coast. On 27 September, she was underway for Europe to take part in NATO fleet exercises. She then visited Dieppe, France and the Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
before returning to New London. Her final operation of the year was a training cruise to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
in November.
From 24 February-23 March 1958, Angler participated in Operation "Springboard," held in the West Indies and Caribbean, following those evolutions with numerous training exercises. On 3 November, Angler once again entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...
for overhaul. Repairs were completed in March 1959, and the submarine resumed her schedule of operations and exercises along the East Coast. She also rendered services to the Submarine School, New London. In 1960, the ship reverted to her original designation, SS-240.
On 24 October 1962, Angler commenced her first deployment to the 6th Fleet and conducted operations in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. In the course of her deployment, she visited ports in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. She returned to New London on 6 February 1963 and resumed operations with the submarine school. In 1963, Angler was redesignated AGSS-240. For the remainder of her career, the submarine continued her pattern of periodic deployments to the Caribbean and West Indies, made midshipman and Naval Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
training cruises, and operated in conjunction with the submarine school.
Angler was decommissioned on 1 April 1968 and was assigned to the Naval Reserve training program at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. On 30 June 1971, she was redesignated IXSS-240. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 15 December 1971. Sold to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 1 February 1974, she was removed from naval custody on 4 March 1974 to be broken up for scrap.