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USS Gabilan (SS-252)
Encyclopedia
, a Gato-class
submarine
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the gabilan, an eagle-ray fish of the Gulf of California
.
Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Co.
, Groton, Conn.
on 5 January 1943. She was launched
19 September 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Jules James, wife of Rear Admiral Jules James
) and commissioned
on 28 December 1943, Commander (CDR)
K. R. Wheland in command.
, Gabilan sailed for brief antisubmarine training at Key West
before transiting the Panama Canal
for the Hawaiian Islands
. She arrived Pearl Harbor
23 March 1944 and spent her first war patrol (21 April – 6 June) scouting the Mariana Islands
gathering information for the United States invasion of those islands. Her second war patrol (29 June – 18 August) took her to the south coast of Honshū
, Japan
, where, on the night of 17 July, she made a daring radar
chase through bright moonlight and phosphorescent water. Skirting dangerous reef
s and shoals, she pressed home an attack that sank a 492-ton minesweeper
.
attack on 31 October, she destroyed auxiliary ship Kaiyo No. 6 with a single torpedo
. Gabilan terminated her third war patrol at Saipan
on 12 November 1944 and proceeded to Brisbane, Australia for refit.
Her fourth war patrol was in the South China Sea
(29 December 1944 – 15 February 1945). She joined and in a coordinated patrol off the southern entrance to Palawan Passage and the western approach to Balapac Strait, where Japanese battleship
s Ise
and Hyuga
were expected to appear en route to threaten American invasion forces in the Philippines. There were many quick dives to avoid aircraft; floating mine
s were sunk by rifle fire from the submarine, but there was no sign of their quarry.
Passing back through the Java Sea
en route to Fremantle, Australia, the submarine had a nerve-wracking morning, as numerous aircraft dropped depth charge
s in the near vicinity, culminated by the appearance of a Japanese minelayer that made two attacks in shallow water, dropping 20 depth charges. Thoroughly shaken, but suffering only superficial damage, Gabilan evaded her antagonist in a providential heavy rain squall. Her only other diversion en route to Fremantle was an encounter with the British submarine , an approach target in morning twilight; fortunately, there was sufficient illumination to enable Gabilan to identify Spiteful at the last moment before firing.
, the pack began an epic four-day chase on 4 April with a morning contact on cruiser
Isuzu
and her four escorts. One of the escorts fell prey to Besugo, and the elusive cruiser was spotted as she entered Bima Bay
on the night of 6 April. Word was flashed to Gabilan, already executing a daring surface attack that left the cruiser listing and down by the bow. With the enemy confused by Gabilans attack, Charr completed the kill with a six-torpedo salvo the next morning (7 April). The demise of Isuzu, last of the Japanese light cruisers to fall victim to a submarine torpedo, was witnessed by British submarine .
Gabilan outwitted three escorts to sink a small freighter the morning of 14 April 1945, then scored hits on two cargo ships of another convoy. After a short stay off the coast of Hainan
, where she destroyed drifting mines, she returned to Pearl Harbor 28 May for refit.
Gabilans sixth and last war patrol (20 June – 17 August 1945) was on lifeguard station for American fliers off Tokyo Bay
. She first rescued six men, the crews of two torpedo bombers, then raced well inside Tokyo Bay, in easy range of shore batteries, to rescue another three-man crew. Six Navy Hellcat
fighter planes gave her cover for the mission. On the way out, she paused to destroy a drifting mine with gunfire. Altogether, on this patrol, Gabilan rescued 17 aviators.
En route to Pearl Harbor, Gabilan received news of the Japanese surrender. Steaming by way of San Francisco
and the Panama Canal Zone
, Gabilan arrived at New London, Connecticut
, where she decommissioned 23 February 1946 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was sold for scrapping 15 December 1959.
Gabilan received four battle stars for World War II
service. Her second, third, fifth, and sixth war patrols were designated "successful".
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...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, 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 gabilan, an eagle-ray fish of the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
.
Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Co.
Electric Boat Corporation
The General Dynamics Electric Boat is a division of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for over 100 years....
, Groton, Conn.
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....
on 5 January 1943. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
19 September 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Jules James, wife of Rear Admiral Jules James
Jules James
Jules James, , was a career U.S. Naval officer that served a prominent stateside role during World War 2.Jules James was born in Danville, Virginia, where he studied at Virginia Military Institute preparatory to entering the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. In 1928 he married Eleanor Standish...
) and commissioned
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...
on 28 December 1943, Commander (CDR)
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...
K. R. Wheland in command.
First and second war patrols, April – August 1944
After shakedown out of New LondonNaval Submarine Base New London
Naval Submarine Base New London is the United States Navy's primary submarine base, the "Home of the Submarine Force", and "the Submarine Capital of the World".-History:...
, Gabilan sailed for brief antisubmarine training at Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
before transiting the Panama Canal
Panama 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...
for the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. She arrived 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...
23 March 1944 and spent her first war patrol (21 April – 6 June) scouting 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...
gathering information for the United States invasion of those islands. Her second war patrol (29 June – 18 August) took her to the south coast 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...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where, on the night of 17 July, she made a daring radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
chase through bright moonlight and phosphorescent water. Skirting dangerous reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
s and shoals, she pressed home an attack that sank a 492-ton minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
.
Third and fourth war patrols, September 1944 – February 1945
Her third war patrol (26 September – 12 November) took her south of the Japanese Empire in company with and to detect the departure from Bungo Suido of any major enemy fleet units that might interfere with the liberation of the Philippine Islands. The latter part of the patrol was spent in an independent search of approaches of Kii Suido where, in a dawn periscopePeriscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it consists of a tube with mirrors at each end set parallel to each other at a 45-degree angle....
attack on 31 October, she destroyed auxiliary ship Kaiyo No. 6 with a single torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
. Gabilan terminated her third war patrol at 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...
on 12 November 1944 and proceeded to Brisbane, Australia for refit.
Her fourth war patrol was in 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...
(29 December 1944 – 15 February 1945). She joined and in a coordinated patrol off the southern entrance to Palawan Passage and the western approach to Balapac Strait, where Japanese battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s Ise
Japanese battleship Ise
, was the lead ship of the two-vessel Ise-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which saw combat service during the Pacific War. Ise was named after Ise Province, one of the traditional provinces of Japan, now part of Mie Prefecture....
and Hyuga
Japanese battleship Hyuga
Hyūga , named for Hyūga Province in Kyūshū, was an of the Imperial Japanese Navy laid down by Mitsubishi on 6 May 1915, launched on 27 January 1917 and completed on 30 April 1918. She was initially designed as the fourth ship of the , but was heavily redesigned to fix shortcomings...
were expected to appear en route to threaten American invasion forces in the Philippines. There were many quick dives to avoid aircraft; floating mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s were sunk by rifle fire from the submarine, but there was no sign of their quarry.
Passing back through 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...
en route to Fremantle, Australia, the submarine had a nerve-wracking morning, as numerous aircraft dropped depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s in the near vicinity, culminated by the appearance of a Japanese minelayer that made two attacks in shallow water, dropping 20 depth charges. Thoroughly shaken, but suffering only superficial damage, Gabilan evaded her antagonist in a providential heavy rain squall. Her only other diversion en route to Fremantle was an encounter with the British submarine , an approach target in morning twilight; fortunately, there was sufficient illumination to enable Gabilan to identify Spiteful at the last moment before firing.
Fifth and sixth war patrols, March – August 1945
Gabilan conducted the greater part of her fifth war patrol (20 March – 28 May) as a unit of a "wolf pack" that included and Besugo. Patrolling below the CelebesCelebes Sea
The Celebes Sea of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi, and on the west by Kalimantan in Indonesia...
, the pack began an epic four-day chase on 4 April with a morning contact on cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
Isuzu
Japanese cruiser Isuzu
was one of six s in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after the Isuzu River, near Ise Shrine in the Chūbu region of Japan.-Background:Isuzu was the second of the six vessels completed in the Nagara-class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as...
and her four escorts. One of the escorts fell prey to Besugo, and the elusive cruiser was spotted as she entered Bima Bay
Bima Bay
Bima Bay is a major waterway on the north side of the island of Sumbawa, and is adjacent to Bima City and Bima Regency . It contains the island Kambing Island , as well as the Bima harbor .-External links:...
on the night of 6 April. Word was flashed to Gabilan, already executing a daring surface attack that left the cruiser listing and down by the bow. With the enemy confused by Gabilans attack, Charr completed the kill with a six-torpedo salvo the next morning (7 April). The demise of Isuzu, last of the Japanese light cruisers to fall victim to a submarine torpedo, was witnessed by British submarine .
Gabilan outwitted three escorts to sink a small freighter the morning of 14 April 1945, then scored hits on two cargo ships of another convoy. After a short stay off the coast of Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
, where she destroyed drifting mines, she returned to Pearl Harbor 28 May for refit.
Gabilans sixth and last war patrol (20 June – 17 August 1945) was on lifeguard station for American fliers off Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. She first rescued six men, the crews of two torpedo bombers, then raced well inside Tokyo Bay, in easy range of shore batteries, to rescue another three-man crew. Six Navy Hellcat
F6F Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft developed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy service. Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat, it was a completely new design powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Some tagged it as the "Wildcat's big...
fighter planes gave her cover for the mission. On the way out, she paused to destroy a drifting mine with gunfire. Altogether, on this patrol, Gabilan rescued 17 aviators.
En route to Pearl Harbor, Gabilan received news of the Japanese surrender. Steaming by way of San Francisco
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...
and the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, Gabilan arrived 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....
, where she decommissioned 23 February 1946 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was sold for scrapping 15 December 1959.
Gabilan received four battle stars for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service. Her second, third, fifth, and sixth war patrols were designated "successful".