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USS Muskallunge (SS-262)
Encyclopedia
, a Gato-class
submarine
, was a ship of the United States Navy
named for the muskallunge
, a fish of the pike family found in the upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes region, and northward.
Her keel was laid down 7 April 1942 by Electric Boat Company, Groton
, Connecticut
. She was launched
13 December 1942 (sponsored by Mrs. Merritt D. Graham, widow of Chief Torpedoman Graham who was lost in in July 1942), and commissioned
15 March 1943, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
Willard A. Saunders (Class
of 1927) in command.
for the Pacific
, arriving Pearl Harbor
7 August. She cleared Pearl Harbor 7 September for her first war patrol, taking station off the Palau Islands. Muskallunge carried the first electric torpedo
es to be fired in the war by an American submarine. She made two attacks on Japan
ese convoys; although handicapped by malfunctioning torpedoes, she managed to damage a passenger freighter and a cargo ship. On 25 October Muskallunge returned to Pearl Harbor.
She sailed 27 November for her second war patrol, which was conducted in the western Carolines
area and south of Guam
. During this patrol Muskallunge scored hits on a tanker
and two freighters, sinking one of the Noroto Maru class, before returning to Pearl Harbor 21 January 1944. From there, she went to the West Coast
for overhaul.
early in the year, Muskallunge left Pearl Harbor 30 April on her third war patrol. In June she joined eight other submarines in an operation designed to intercept any enemy forces approaching the Marianas
which the Navy was invading. In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea
two of these submarines landed fatal blows on Japanese carriers
and American naval aircraft wiped out the Japanese Fleet's air arm in a one-sided melee known as "the Marianas Turkey Shoot." Muskallunge ended the patrol at Fremantle, Australia, 4 July.
In company with , Muskallunge got underway 1 August for the South China Sea
on her fourth war patrol. On 21 August off French Indochina
she sank 7,163-ton passenger-cargo Durban Maru before being severely depth charge
d. The submarine docked in Fremantle 22 September for refit.
Her fifth war patrol, 19 October to 14 December, saw her operating west of Palawan Passage. She then left Pearl Harbor 16 December for overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, returning 9 April 1945.
. She also acted as lifeguard for Philippine
-based airstrikes on China
and Formosa on her sixth war patrol. She sailed to Midway Atoll
via Saipan
to complete the patrol on arrival 15 June.
Her seventh and last war patrol started 30 July when Muskallunge got underway for the Kurile Islands, north of Japan. On 8 August she attacked several small ships through dense fog. Her guns damaged two of the Japanese ships, but enemy fire killed one of the submarine's gunners and wounded two other bluejacket
s. The news of victory brought orders to Tokyo Bay
for the surrender ceremonies on board the battleship
2 September. The next day Muskallunge sailed for New London via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal
. After operations with the Atlantic Fleet, she decommissioned and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet there 29 January 1947.
Muskallunge received five battle stars for World War II
service.
; decommissioned 18 January 1957, and the same day was loaned under the Military Assistance Program. She served the Brazilian Navy
as until returned to the United States in March 1968 and sunk as a target off Long Island
, NY on 9 July 1968.
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 a 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...
named for the muskallunge
Muskellunge
A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...
, a fish of the pike family found in the upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes region, and northward.
Her keel was laid down 7 April 1942 by 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...
13 December 1942 (sponsored by Mrs. Merritt D. Graham, widow of Chief Torpedoman Graham who was lost in in July 1942), 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...
15 March 1943, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
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...
Willard A. Saunders (Class
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
of 1927) in command.
First war patrol, September 1943 – January 1944
Following shakedown, the new submarine departed 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:...
for the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, arriving 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...
7 August. She cleared Pearl Harbor 7 September for her first war patrol, taking station off the Palau Islands. Muskallunge carried the first electric 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 to be fired in the war by an American submarine. She made two attacks on 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...
ese convoys; although handicapped by malfunctioning torpedoes, she managed to damage a passenger freighter and a cargo ship. On 25 October Muskallunge returned to Pearl Harbor.
She sailed 27 November for her second war patrol, which was conducted in the western Carolines
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
area and south of 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...
. During this patrol Muskallunge scored hits 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 two freighters, sinking one of the Noroto Maru class, before returning to Pearl Harbor 21 January 1944. From there, she went to 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...
for overhaul.
Third, fourth, and fifth war patrols, April – December 1944
After overhaul at Mare IslandMare 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...
early in the year, Muskallunge left Pearl Harbor 30 April on her third war patrol. In June she joined eight other submarines in an operation designed to intercept any enemy forces approaching the Marianas
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...
which the Navy was invading. In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...
two of these submarines landed fatal blows on Japanese carriers
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
and American naval aircraft wiped out the Japanese Fleet's air arm in a one-sided melee known as "the Marianas Turkey Shoot." Muskallunge ended the patrol at Fremantle, Australia, 4 July.
In company with , Muskallunge got underway 1 August for 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...
on her fourth war patrol. On 21 August off French 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...
she sank 7,163-ton passenger-cargo Durban Maru before being severely 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...
d. The submarine docked in Fremantle 22 September for refit.
Her fifth war patrol, 19 October to 14 December, saw her operating west of Palawan Passage. She then left Pearl Harbor 16 December for overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, returning 9 April 1945.
Sixth and seventh war patrols, April – August 1945
On 26 April Muskallunge departed Pearl Harbor for patrol off FormosaTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. She also acted as lifeguard for 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...
-based airstrikes on China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Formosa on her sixth war patrol. She sailed to Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
via 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...
to complete the patrol on arrival 15 June.
Her seventh and last war patrol started 30 July when Muskallunge got underway for the Kurile Islands, north of Japan. On 8 August she attacked several small ships through dense fog. Her guns damaged two of the Japanese ships, but enemy fire killed one of the submarine's gunners and wounded two other bluejacket
Bluejacket
-People:* A term for an enlisted sailor in the U.S. or British Navy* Blue Jacket, a Shawnee war chief known for his defense of Shawnee lands in the Ohio Country* Charles Blue Jacket, a 19th century Shawnee chief in Kansas, and Methodist Minister...
s. The news of victory brought orders to 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...
for the surrender ceremonies 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...
2 September. The next day Muskallunge sailed for New London via Pearl Harbor and 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...
. After operations with the Atlantic Fleet, she decommissioned and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet there 29 January 1947.
Muskallunge received five 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.
Humaitá (S14), 1957–1968
Muskallunge recommissioned 31 August 1956 prior to transfer to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
; decommissioned 18 January 1957, and the same day was loaned under the Military Assistance Program. She served the Brazilian Navy
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
as until returned to the United States in March 1968 and sunk as a target off Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, NY on 9 July 1968.