, a Gato-class

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 first 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 haddo, a pink salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 fish prevalent on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company, Groton

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....

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. 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...

 21 June 1942 (sponsored by Mrs. Charles F. Russell); 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...

 9 October 1942, 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...

 Wallace L. "Pilly" Lent  in command.

Atlantic war patrols, April – July 1943

After conducting shakedown off New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

, Haddo departed New London

Naval 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:...

 9 April 1943 to patrol the shipping lanes to Rosneath

Rosneath

Rosneath is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch near to the tip of the Rosneath peninsula which projects south to the Firth of Clyde between the Gare Loch and Loch Long to the west, and about 2 miles from the village of Kilcreggan which is sited...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. She arrived 30 April and joined Submarine Squadron 50 (Subron 50), which was assigned to patrol off Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and stand ready in case of a breakthrough of the German fleet

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 from Norway. When it became clear after three patrols that targets were scarce in this region, Haddo and her sister submarines were sent back to the United States.

Fourth–sixth war patrols, November 1943 – July 1944

Haddo returned to New London 29 July 1943 and steamed via 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...

 to Mare Island, Calif.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...

 Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, she reached 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...

 25 November and put to sea 14 December on her fourth war patrol, in Philippine

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...

 waters. The submarine made few contacts and terminated the patrol at Fremantle, Australia, 4 February 1944.

Sailing from Fremantle 29 February, Haddo embarked on her fifth war patrol in waters off Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, Java, and Indochina

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...

. After a disappointing attack 8 March in which two torpedoes exploded prematurely, she made an attack on a tanker

Tanker (ship)

A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...

 and escort 14 March which produced unconfirmed results. Moving to the Indochina coast, she sank a small craft with gunfire the night of 23 March and damaged freighter Nichian Maru 29 March before returning to Fremantle 22 April 1944.

Haddo departed Fremantle 18 May 1944 to conduct her sixth war patrol in the East Indies

East Indies

East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...

. After suffering an air attack off Morotai

Morotai

Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...

 30 May, she sighted heavy smoke and proceeded to investigate. The smoke was a lure that concealed a Japanese patrol boat. After evading this one, Haddo encountered six more of the smoking lures. Haddo sank two small craft 11 June and scouted the Tawi Tawi anchorage on 14 June. Shortly thereafter she was detected by a patrol airplane and pursued for almost 10 days. Her sixth war patrol was terminated 16 July at Fremantle.

Seventh war patrol, August – October 1944

For her seventh war patrol Haddo joined a coordinated attack group with five other submarines to cruise Philippine waters. Japanese convoys ventured into the Palawan

Palawan

Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...

 area with strong air cover during the day, but usually anchored with escort protection for the night.

Learning from that a convoy had been attacked by 4 days before and trailed to Paluan Bay, the submarines closed for the attack. As the convoy headed out to sea before daylight 21 August, Ray sank one transport while the escort vessels pursued Harder. At this point Haddo entered the fray, launched six 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...

es at three targets, and dived to avoid air attack. Over one hundred 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 churned the sea, but Haddo had already sunk cargo ships Kinryu Maru and Norfolk Maru.

Next day Haddo followed Harder in for an attack on a small convoy with escorts, and Haddo succeeded in sending escort ship Sado

Etorofu class coastal defense ship

The were a class of ships in the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.The Japanese called these ships Kaibōkan, "ocean defence ships", , to denote a multi-purpose vessel....

 to the bottom. Following a lone 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...

 and awaiting her opportunity. Haddo was suddenly turned upon by the Japanese ship. She launched a four-torpedo spread "down the throat" of the destroyer, which veered off and headed for Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

.

Cruising off Cape Bolinao 23 August, the submarine was about to torpedo a tanker close to shore when she detected a pursuing destroyer. With four torpedoes she ripped off the warship's bow. Haddo then maneuvered to finish off her antagonist, but her last torpedo missed. Despite the efforts of two Japanese trawlers and another destroyer, Asakaze

Japanese destroyer Asakaze (1922)

was the second of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War....

 soon sank, giving Haddo another kill.

Diverting to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 to refuel and rearm, Haddo continued her seventh war patrol. She sank a sampan

Sampan

A sampan is a relatively flat bottomed Chinese wooden boat from long. Some sampans include a small shelter on board, and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. Sampans are generally used for transportation in coastal areas or rivers, and are often used as traditional fishing boats...

 8 September and 21 September found a convoy and maneuvered into position ahead of it. While turning to avoid a destroyer, Haddo lost depth control, and was not able to regain it in time to effectively attack the cargo ships. She subsequently headed for Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, and lifeguard duty, but on the way detected a hospital ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

 and survey ship in company. Disregarding the former, she sent the survey ship, Katsuriki

Japanese survey ship Katsuriki

The was a minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy serving during the World War I and the World War II, the only ship of her class. She was the first purpose-built ocean-minelayer in the IJN.-Background:...

, to the bottom.

After serving on lifeguard station and rescuing a Navy pilot from the sea 22 September, Haddo returned to Fremantle 3 October 1944. For this outstanding patrol the submarine received the Navy Unit Commendation

Navy Unit Commendation

The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...

.

Eighth and ninth war patrols, October 1944 – July 1945

Haddo returned to the waters off Manila for her eighth war patrol. Departing Fremantle 20 October she sank oiler Hishi Maru No. 2 on 9 November, Serving as lifeguard boat for aircraft, she was credited with sinking No.3 Kyoei Maru on 6 December 1944, (but postwar accounting showed the target was only damaged) before terminating her eighth war patrol at Pearl Harbor 27 December. From there she was sent to Mare Island shipyard for much-needed repairs, arriving 5 January 1945.

Haddo departed on her ninth war patrol 16 May 1945. Cruising the East China

East China Sea

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

 and Yellow Sea

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...

s, she attacked a convoy emerging from the fog 1 July and quickly sank a small coastal defense vessel and cargo ship, Taiun Maru No. 1. Clearing the area, she heard automatic gunfire, and soon saw a frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 bearing down hard upon her. Haddos skipper decided not to dive and instead turned on a parallel but opposite course, and the frigate shot by with her guns blazing. Haddo suffered little damage, and was able to avoid a companion escort and finally reach deep water. That evening she sank two sailing junks and then set course for a new station off Port Arthur

Lüshunkou

Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....

. She sank a trawler 3 July, survived a furious depth charge attack by patrol vessels, and proceeded to Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 arriving 16 July 1945.

Post-war

Haddo departed on her 10th and last war patrol 10 August 1945 but it was soon terminated by the surrender of Japan. She then headed for 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...

, where she witnessed the signing of the surrender on board the 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...

  and departed for home. Touching at Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Haddo arrived at Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 28 September and New London 6 October 1945. Decommissioning 16 February 1946, Haddo was kept in reserve until her name was stricken from the Navy List

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...

 1 August 1958. She was sold for scrap 30 April 1959 to Luria Brothers & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.

In addition to the Navy Unit Commendation

Navy Unit Commendation

The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...

, Haddo received six battle stars for her 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 fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth war patrols were designated successful.

External links

• navsource.org: USS Haddo