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USS Scamp (SS-277)
Encyclopedia
USS Scamp (SS-277), 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 scamp
Grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
, a member of the Serranidae family.
Her keel was laid down on 6 March 1942 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...
. 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...
on 20 July 1942 sponsored by Miss Katherine Eugenia McKee, 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 18 September 1942 with Commander W.G. Ebert in command.
First and Second War Patrols
On 19 January 1943, after training out of New London, ConnecticutNew 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....
, Scamp set course 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...
, 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...
. She arrived in 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...
on 13 February 1943 and commenced final training in the local operating area. Scamp began her first war patrol on 1 March 1943. She stopped at Midway Island on 5 March, debarked her passenger, Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr. Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, fueled, and then, headed for the 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...
.
Her first two attacks on the enemy were doomed to failure by the faulty magnetic detonators in her torpedoes. After the inactivating of the magnetic features on her remaining torpedoes, Scamp scored two hits, one on an unidentified target on the night of 20 March and the other damaged Manju Maru early the next morning. The submarine stopped at Midway Island again on 26 March and returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 April.
Scamp put to sea again on 19 April, bound for the Southwest Pacific. She took on fuel at Johnston Island then slipped between the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and the Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
to reconnoiter Ocean Island
Banaba Island
Banaba Island , an island in the Pacific Ocean, is a solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island chain and 300 km east of Nauru. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. It has an area of 6.5 km², and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81...
and Nauru Island. This mission she completed on 27 April and 28 April and then shaped a course for the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
. She had to hold fire on each of her first three enemy contacts because they were hospital ships. However, on the afternoon of 28 May, she succeeded in pumping three torpedoes into the converted seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru
Japanese seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru
was a seaplane tender in the Imperial Japanese Navy . The ship was initially built at Kawasaki's Kōbe Shipyard and launched on 13 December 1936 as a merchant vessel for the Kawasaki Kisen K. K. Line. On 18 September 1937 the IJN requisitioned as an aircraft transport ship and was refitted in 1939...
(The Kamikawa MAru had been damaged during an attack by the USS Wahoo (SS-238)
USS Wahoo (SS-238)
was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo, a dark blue food fish of Florida and the West Indies....
on May 4, 1943). She evaded the enemy escorts and came up to periscope depth to observe the results. The enemy ship was down by the stern and loading men into boats. A little after midnight, Scamp finished off her stricken adversary with two more well aimed torpedoes. She ended her second war patrol at Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on 4 June 1943.
Third and Fourth War Patrols
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
and north to the Bismarck Sea
Bismarck Sea
The Bismarck Sea lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean to the north of the island of Papua New Guinea and to the south of the Bismarck Archipelago and Admiralty Islands. Like the Bismarck archipelago, it is named in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck...
. She passed the Shortland Islands
Shortland Islands
The Shortland Islands are group of islands belonging to the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, at . Named by John Shortland, they lie in the extreme northwest of the country's territory, close to the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Shortland Island...
on 14 July and, on 27 July, encountered an enemy convoy. During her approach, a destroyer passed over her and dropped two depth charges some distance from her. Scamp continued her approach and loosed a spread of six torpedoes at a Japanese tanker. She scored a hit but had to dive in order to escape the escorts. When she surfaced, a little over an hour later, all enemy shipping was out of sight. Continuing her patrol into the Bismarck Islands, Scamp patrolled to the southeast of Steffen Strait
Steffen Strait
Steffen Strait is a strait near Selapiu Island, generally between New Hanover and New Ireland, at ....
, between New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
and New Hanover
New Hanover Island
New Hanover Island, , also called Lavongai, is a large volcanic island in New Ireland Province, part of the Bismarck Archipelago of the New Guinea Islands region of Papua New Guinea, at...
. At 17:54, still on 27 July, she sighted a submarine, which launched a torpedo at Scamp. Scamp went ahead full and levelled off at 22 feet (6.7 m), letting the torpedo pass above her. Less than ten minutes later, she returned to periscope depth to engage her adversary. At 1812, she launched four torpedoes and the Japanese boat erupted in a tremendous explosion. At the time, it was believed that the loser of that duel was the Japanese submarine I-24
Japanese submarine I-24
I-24 was a submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy which saw service during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. I-24 was commissioned at Sasebo, Japan on October 31, 1941...
. Later analysis of Japanese records indicated that it was not; rather, it was I-168
Japanese submarine I-168
I-168 was a Kaidai class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. At the Battle of Midway she sank two American warships: the aircraft carrier and the destroyer . At that time she was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe.-Early career:The submarine was completed...
, which had previously sunk aircraft carrier
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...
at the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
. By 8 August, Scamp was back in Brisbane.
After almost a month in port at Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, the fleet submarine stood out on her fourth war patrol. She again patrolled off the Solomon Islands and into the Bismarck Sea. On 18 September, she attacked a three-ship convoy and crippled one of them. Another changed course and avoided her torpedoes. Scamp passed close under the stricken enemy, trying to evade her escorts and come under machine gun fire from her victim. She escaped the pursuit of the enemy 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...
s but lost the undamaged quarry in a rain squall. Scamp returned to finish off the 8614 ton passenger-cargo ship Kansai Maru, which she succeeded in doing late that night.
On the morning of 21 September, Scamp happened upon a heavily guarded convoy and began to stalk it. After dark, she moved in for the kill and, after launching three torpedoes, heard two double explosions. Her second attack was foiled by a severe rain squall. However, Scamp hounded the convoy all through the day on 22 September and, at around 03:00 on 23 September, unleashed four torpedoes at the convoy. While still maneuvering to attack the convoy, she passed through the wreckage of Kansai Maru and came upon an empty boat containing the sunken ship's logs and other documents. These were taken on board and later turned over to intelligence. Scamp made one more attempt upon the convoy, but was driven off by planes and kept down by aerial bombs. On 24 September, she was ordered to terminate her patrol and she re-entered Brisbane on 1 October.
Fifth and Sixth War Patrols
She cleared port again on 22 October and began her fifth patrol with a mission in support of the Treasury Island invasion, 28 October to 30 October. From there, she moved to her patrol area, between KaviengKavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
and Truk. On 4 November, she launched three torpedoes at a passenger-cargo ship. One exploded prematurely, but one reached its mark. By the time of the explosion indicating success, Scamp was already in a dive evading a 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...
attacker. Six days later, she disabled the 6481 ton Tokyo Maru; then, after evading the escorts, fired three more torpedoes into the listing target. At about 21:00, the cripple was observed being towed away. It was later learned that Tokyo Maru sank before daybreak. On 12 November, she damaged light cruiser Agano
Japanese cruiser Agano
|-External links:*Tabular record:...
, so severely that the enemy warship remained in repair at Truk until the American strike of 16 February and 17 February 1944. On 18 November, Scamp suffered minor shrapnel damage from two bombs dropped by an enemy float plane. Eight days later, she sailed back into Brisbane.
On 16 December 1943, Scamp left Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and headed back to the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
for her sixth war patrol. On the night of 6 January 1944, she missed a small tanker and was boxed in by the sound search of two 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...
s. At 2323, she was able to surface and clear the area while the convoy escorts hunted for her about 8,000 yards (7.3 km) astern. On 14 January, she slipped by two destroyers to launch six torpedoes at Nippon Maru. The 9,975 ton tanker sank as Scamp made her escape. Foiled in an attempt to return to the area, she headed south to act as plane guard north of Lyra Reef
Lyra Reef
Lyra Reef is a remote submerged coral atoll, about 40 km in diameter, extending over an area of 1300 km², located approximately 200 kilometres northeast of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, and 150 km northeast of Simberi Island, the closest island, and about the same...
for B-24 bombers. On 6 February, she put into Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea, for refit.
Sixth and Seventh War Patrols
Scamp spent her seventh war patrol searching the shipping lanes between New GuineaNew 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...
, Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, and Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
in 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...
. She exited Milne Bay on 3 March 1944 and, after uneventful patrolling, put in at Langemak Bay
Langemak Bay
Langemak Bay is a bay north of Finschhafen, on the north east coast of Papua New Guinea. Langemak Bay saw extensive naval operations in World War II, including a landing beach at the western end of the bay for the embarkation of the 2/24th Australian Infantry Battalion....
, from 29 March to 31 March, for repairs to her torpedo data computer. Following her resumption of patrol, she battle surfaced on 4 April and set fire to a 200 ton trawler, but broke off the action when her deck gun failed.
Three days later, south of Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of 308,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from Celebes Sea. It is surrounded by all four provinces in the Davao Region. The largest island in the gulf is Samal Island. Davao City, on the gulf's west...
, she encountered six 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...
s escorted by destroyers and planes. She dived and the destroyers passed overhead without noticing her presence a scant 10 feet (3 m) below the surface. She returned to the surface at 1405 but was forced down by a plane. A little later, she tried to surface again but was attacked by a diving float plane. As she crash dived to escape the enemy plane, an aerial bomb exploded. All hands were knocked off their feet by the explosion and all power was lost. Scamp began to take an up angle and started to settle rapidly. At just below 300 feet (91.4 m), she began to hang on, then started up. The diving officer reported that the hydraulic controller had been jarred to "off" in the attack and that the hydraulic plant started closing all the main vents as fire started filling the maneuvering and after torpedo rooms with a thick, toxic smoke.
Fortunately, the sub caught at 5 feet (1.5 m), the decision having been made to surface and slug it out with the deck gun if she could not be held below 5 feet (1.5 m). Scamp started down again, "see sawed" three times, and started down a third time before power was regained. Soon the submarine was making two thirds speed on each shaft and had levelled off at 15 feet (4.6 m). She released oil and air bubbles to appear to have sunk and then headed for the Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
. At 21:03, she surfaced and, with a 17 degree list, made for Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...
, Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
, where she arrived on 16 April 1944.
Eighth War Patrol and Loss
She made emergency repairs at Manus, shifted to Milne BayMilne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
on 22 April and then moved on to 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...
for a thorough overhaul at the yard. Scamp set out on her eighth war patrol on 16 October. She fueled at Midway Island on 20 October, then set course for the Bonin Islands. On 9 November, she acknowledged a message changing her patrol area. She reported her position to be about 150 miles (241.4 km) north of the Bonin Islands with all 24 torpedoes aboard and 77,000 US gallons (290,000 L) of fuel remaining. On 14 November, she was ordered to take up the life guard station 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...
in support of B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
bomber strikes, but failed to acknowledge the message. Scamp was never heard from again. From records available after the war, it appears that Scamp was sighted by Japanese planes and reported 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 by Kaibokan CD-4 to the south of Tokyo Bay on 11 November 1944. Scamp 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 28 April 1945.
Scamp (SS-277) earned seven 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.