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USS Sealion (SS-315)
Encyclopedia
USS Sealion (SS/SSP/ASSP/APSS/LPSS-315), a Balao-class
submarine
, was the second ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the sea lion
, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific.
She is sometimes referred to as Sealion II, because her first skipper, Lieutenant Commander
Eli Thomas Reich
, was a veteran of the first , serving on her when she was lost at the beginning of World War II.
Her keel was laid down on 25 February 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut
. She was launched
on 31 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Emory Land, and commissioned
on 8 March 1944.
, Sealion, assigned to Submarine Division 222 (SubDiv 222), sailed for the Pacific and arrived at Pearl Harbor
on 17 May. Further training occupied the next three weeks, and on 8 June, she headed west on her first war patrol.
Sailing with , she stopped off at Midway Atoll
on 12 June, glanced off a whale
on 15 June, and on 22 June, transited Tokara Strait to enter the East China Sea
. On 23 June, she and Tang took up stations in the Ōsumi Islands, an island group to the south of Kyūshū
. That afternoon, Sealion unsuccessfully conducted her first attack, then underwent her first depth charging
.
On 24 June, joined the two submarines; and the group moved northward to patrol the approaches to Sasebo
. Patrolling in adjacent lanes, the submarines contacted a convoy on 25 June, but Sealion lost depth control on reaching attack position and was unable to fire.
From the Sasebo area, the submarines moved toward the Korea
n peninsula. On 28 June, Sealion caught and sank a Japanese naval transport, Sansei Maru, in the Tsushima Island
area; then continued on into the Korean archipelago. On 30 June, she used her deck guns to sink a sampan
, and, with the new month, July, she moved closer to the China coast to patrol the approaches to Shanghai
.
On the morning of 6 July, Sealion intercepted a convoy south of the Four Sisters Islands and, at 0447 commenced firing torpedoes at two cargomen in the formation. Within minutes, Setsuzan Maru sank, and the convoy scattered. Sealion retired to the northeast to evade the convoy's escort, a destroyer
, as it began its search for the submarine. At 0600, the destroyer closed Sealion, and the submarine launched four torpedoes at the warship. All missed. An hour later enemy aircraft joined the search which was continued until mid-afternoon, and Sealion escaped unscathed.
Three days later, Sealion moved northward again and commenced hunting between the Shantung peninsula and Korea. Dense fog blanketed the area and left her blind while her radar
was out of commission. By midnight on the night of 10–11 July, however, her radar was back in partial operation; and, on the morning of 11 July, she conducted several attacks, sinking two freighters, Tsukushi Maru Number 2 and Taian Maru Number 2.
The running surface chase with the second freighter involved three attacks over a period of almost seven hours. On the third attack, at 0711, Sealion fired her last torpedo; then, after debris from the explosion had flown over the submarine, she moved down the port quarter of the target, pouring 20 mm shells into the Japanese bridge. At 0714, the freighter disappeared, and Sealion headed south of Tokara Strait. On 13 July, she cleared that strait and, on 21 July, she arrived at Midway Island.
Refitted by , Sealion departed for the Bashi Channel
and her second war patrol on 17 August. Hunting with and , she transited the channel and moved into the South China Sea
on 30 August. During the pre-dawn hours of 31 August, she conducted a night surface attack against a Japanese convoy and heavily damaged a tanker. As Rikko Maru billowed black smoke, other Japanese ships took Sealion under fire with deck guns. The submarine moved out of the area and ahead of the convoy. At 0720, she again attacked the convoy. Within minutes, went down; enemy planes began circling the area and the convoy's surface escorts began their search. Sealion went deep and headed south. Later that day, she closed another target with a merchant ship appearance, but as she reached firing position, the target was made out to be an antisubmarine vessel. Three torpedoes were fired, but were spotted by the target's bow lookout. The target swerved, and the hunter became the hunted. Depth charging followed without damage to the submarine; but Sealion, low on fuel and torpedoes, headed for Saipan
.
There, the submarine rearmed and refueled; and on 7 September, got underway to rejoin her attack group. On 10 September, she moved through Balintang Channel
. On 11 September, she rendezvoused with two other submarines, and on 12 September, the group attacked and decimated a convoy en route to Formosa
.
At about 0200, Growler attacked the formation. Pampanito and Sealion followed suit. Growlers torpedoes sent destroyer Shikinami to the bottom. Sealion launched two torpedoes, both misses, and was taken under fire by two of the escorts. The submarine went to top speed and managed to keep ahead of the escorts until they broke off to rejoin the convoy shortly before 0330.
An hour and one-half later, Sealion again closed the convoy and at 0522, launched three torpedoes at a tanker; then swung to fire on Rakuyo Maru, the last ship in the nearer column. At 0524, Zuihō Maru, possibly hit by torpedoes from both Pampanito and Sealion, burst into flames. Kachidoki Maru was disabled. She swung into the burning tanker and was soon ablaze. Sealions second target was illuminated, and at 0525, she fired on Rakuyo Maru. Both torpedoes hit and that ship began to burn.
Sealion was then forced deep and, after several attempts to get a better look at the scene, cleared the area and started after the remainder of the convoy.
On the morning of 15 September, the three submarines reformed their scouting line. That afternoon, Pampanito radioed Sealion, and other submarines in the area, to return to the scene of the action on 12 September. Rakuyo Maru had been carrying Australian and British prisoners of war
1159 of whom were killed in the attack or by the effects of the attack. By 2045, Sealion had taken on 54 POWs and started back to Saipan. All of the POWs were coated with crude oil and all were in poor health suffering from malaria
, malnutritional diseases such as pellagra
and beriberi
, and exposure. Three died before the submarine reached Balintang Channel on 17 September. On 18 September, rendezvoused with Sealion and transferred a doctor and a pharmacist's mate to the submarine. On 19 September, a fourth POW died, and on 20 September, Sealion arrived in Tanapag Harbor
and transferred the surviving 50 to the Army hospital there.
From Saipan
, Sealion returned to Hawaii
. Arriving at Pearl Harbor
on 30 September, she departed again on 31 October, and with , headed west to patrol in the East China Sea
. The two submarines stopped off at Midway Island on 4 November, then continued on to their patrol area.
Ten days later, Sealion transited Tokara Strait. On 16 November, her number 8 tube was accidentally fired with both doors closed. Heavy seas prevented a thorough inspection of the damage. On 17 November, she began patrolling the approaches to Shanghai. On 18 November, there was a hydrogen
explosion in the battery space of the torpedo in number 5 tube. At 0020 on 21 November, she made radar contact with an enemy formation moving through the Taiwan Strait
at about 16 knots (31.4 km/h) and not zig-zagging.
By 0048, the pips were made out to be two cruiser
s and two battleship
s. At 0146, three additional ships, escorts—one on either beam of the formation and one on the starboard quarter—became visible. Sealion had in fact intercepted a powerful fleet consisting of , , , , , , , and .
At 0245, Sealion, ahead of the task force, turned in and slowed for the attack. Eleven minutes later, she fired six torpedoes at the second ship in line, Kongō. At 0259, she fired three at Nagato. At 0300, her crew saw and heard three hits from the first salvo, flooding two of Kongōs boiler rooms and giving her a list to port. Nagato, alerted by the explosions, turned hard and the Sealions second salvo missed ahead, running on to hit and sink Urakaze, whose magazines was hit by the torpedo, and which blew up quickly and sank at once, with the loss of all hands onboard, including ComDesDiv 17 Yokota Yasuteru.
Sealion opened to the westward. The Japanese searched to the east. By 0310, the submarine had reloaded and began tracking again with the thought that the torpedoes had only dented the battleship's armor belt.
The Japanese formation, however, had begun zig-zagging and the sea and wind had increased; then, at 0450, the enemy formation split into two groups. Sealion began tracking the slower group consisting of Kongō, Isokaze and Hamakaze. At 0524, a tremendous explosion lit the area and Kongō disappeared.
It was customary in American submarines to mark a name on the head of each torpedo as it was loaded into the tube nest. They usually bore the names of the torpedo crews' wives or best girls. Some carried the names of the factory employee who had sold the most war bond
s during a given period. That night, however, four of Sealions fish, as they raced out of their tubes, were stamped with the names Foster, O'Connell, Paul and Ogilvie—the men who had been killed in the bombing of Sealion I three years earlier.
It was not customary for the crews of American submarines to make audio recordings of their attacks. However, the Sealion crew had obtained a sound recorder left behind by a CBS war correspondent who had debarked at Midway, and when ordered to battle stations after encountering the Japanese battle group, one sailor positioned the microphone by an intercom in the conning tower. That recording, along with a similar recording of an attack on a Japanese oiler during the Sealions fifth patrol, were then preserved by the U.S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, and are thought to be the only surviving sound recordings of World War II submarine attacks.
During the next few days, Sealion continued to patrol between Mainland China
and Formosa
, and on 28 November, she headed for Guam
.
On her fourth war patrol, from 14 December 1944-24 January 1945, Sealion returned to the South China Sea
in a coordinated attack group with sister ships and . Poor weather plagued her, and of the 26 days spent on station, all but six were spent on the surface. On 20 December, she sighted a supply ship escorted by a destroyer
through her high periscope, and at 1937 fired six torpedoes at the supply ship for four hits. The submarine then evaded the escort, reloaded, and waited. Two and one-half hours later, Mamiya was still afloat, and the submarine went in for a second attack. At 0032 on 21 December, she launched three torpedoes for two hits. The supply ship went under.
That day, Sealion joined the Seventh Fleet, and from 28 December 1944 to 14 January 1945, she performed reconnaissance duties in support of the reoccupation of the Philippine Islands. On the latter date, she cleared her patrol area and headed for Western Australia, arriving at Fremantle on 24 January.
She departed Fremantle
on her fifth war patrol on 19 February. Again operating in a coordinated attack group, she returned to the South China Sea
, then proceeded into the Gulf of Siam. In the predawn darkness of 17 March, she torpedoed and sank Samui, and on 2 April, she rescued an Army aviator who had been drifting in a rubber raft for 23 days. That same day, three more downed aviators were transferred to her from , and on 6 April, she delivered her passengers to Subic Bay
.
By 30 April, Sealion was again ready for sea. With and , she departed Subic Bay for the northern part of the South China Sea
. Through May, she patrolled off Hong Kong
and provided lifeguard services for strikes against Formosa
. At the end of the month, she received downed aviators from and transported them back to Subic, then with passengers bound for Hawaii
, she sailed east. On 12 June, she arrived at Guam
, whence she proceeded to a lifeguard station off Wake Island
, and on 30 June, she cleared that area for Pearl Harbor
.
, where she was undergoing overhaul at the end of the war. With the cessation of hostilities, inactivation preparations were added to the overhaul, and on 2 February 1946, the submarine, which had been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her six war patrols, was decommissioned.
A year and one-half later, however, Sealion, along with , was designated for conversion to a troop carrier, and in April 1948, she entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard
for the eight-months conversion. During that period, her torpedo tubes and forward engines were removed, and her forward engine room and forward and after torpedo rooms were converted to berth 123 troops. The forward engine room and after torpedo room were designed for alternative use as cargo space. The wardroom was redesigned for use as an operating room; the beam aft of the conning tower was extended, and a large watertight cylindrical chamber was installed abaft the conning tower to store amphibious landing equipment—including a tracked landing vehicle
(LVT).
On 2 November 1948, Sealion was recommissioned a Submarine, Transport, with the hull classification symbol
SSP-315. Training exercises off the southern California
coast, with Marines embarked, took her into the spring of 1949 when she was ordered to the Atlantic for duty in SubDiv 21. During April, she operated in the New London, Connecticut
, area, then, in May, she commenced operations out of Norfolk, Virginia
, as a unit of Submarine Squadron 6 (SubRon 6), SubDiv 6l. On 31 January 1950, she was reclassified a transport submarine with hull classification symbol ASSP-315; and, by the spring of that year, had conducted exercises as far north as Labrador
and as far south as the southern Caribbean. From April–June 1950, she underwent her first post-conversion overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
, and in July, she resumed operations out of Norfolk.
Reassigned to SubDiv 63 in March 1955 and reclassified submarine transport APSS-315 on 24 October 1956, Sealion continued a schedule of exercises with Marines
, Underwater Demolition Team
s and Beach Jumper
units and, on occasion, Army units, off the Virginia and Carolina coasts and in the Caribbean until 1960. During that time, interruptions came only for overhaul periods, during one of which the "LVT hangar" abaft the conning tower was removed, and for one deployment with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean from August–November 1957.
On 30 June 1960, Sealion was decommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire
, where she remained as a reserve training submarine until reactivated a year later. In August 1961, she was towed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
for overhaul; on 20 October, she was recommissioned, and on 18 December, she rejoined SubRon 6 at Norfolk. There, she resumed a schedule similar to that of the 1950s, interrupted by regular overhauls, and in the fall of 1962, to support the blockade put into effect during the Cuban Missile Crisis
. On 22 October 1962, she departed Norfolk on what was to be a month-long training cruise in the Caribbean, but the formation of the blockade force altered the cruise plans. On 3 December, she returned to Norfolk and from then into 1967 she maintained her schedule of exercises with Marine Reconnaissance, Underwater Demolition Team
s, and SEAL
personnel. On 15 September 1967, she changed homeports and administrative control, and for the next two years, she operated out of Key West, Florida
, as a unit of SubDiv 121. Reclassified an amphibious transport submarine with hull classification symbol LPSS-315 in January 1969, Sealion was ordered inactivated the following summer, and, in September, she proceeded to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, where she was decommissioned and placed in the inactive fleet on 20 February 1970.
Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 15 March 1977, Sealion was sunk as a target off Newport, Rhode Island
, on 8 July 1978.
Balao class submarine
The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...
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 second 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 sea lion
Sea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific.
She is sometimes referred to as Sealion II, because her first skipper, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Eli Thomas Reich
Eli Thomas Reich
Vice Admiral Eli Thomas Reich was a highly-decorated United States Navy officer and World War II submarine commander — the only one to sink a battleship during the war...
, was a veteran of the first , serving on her when she was lost at the beginning of World War II.
Her keel was laid down on 25 February 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of 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
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 31 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Emory Land, 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 8 March 1944.
World War II
Following the shakedownSea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
, Sealion, assigned to Submarine Division 222 (SubDiv 222), sailed for the Pacific and arrived at 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 17 May. Further training occupied the next three weeks, and on 8 June, she headed west on her first war patrol.
Sailing with , she stopped off at 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...
on 12 June, glanced off a whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
on 15 June, and on 22 June, transited Tokara Strait to enter the East China Sea
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:...
. On 23 June, she and Tang took up stations in the Ōsumi Islands, an island group to the south of Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
. That afternoon, Sealion unsuccessfully conducted her first attack, then underwent her first depth charging
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...
.
On 24 June, joined the two submarines; and the group moved northward to patrol the approaches to Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
. Patrolling in adjacent lanes, the submarines contacted a convoy on 25 June, but Sealion lost depth control on reaching attack position and was unable to fire.
From the Sasebo area, the submarines moved toward the Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n peninsula. On 28 June, Sealion caught and sank a Japanese naval transport, Sansei Maru, in the Tsushima Island
Tsushima Island
Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese Archipelago situated in the middle of the Tsushima Strait at 34°25'N and 129°20'E. The main island of Tsushima was once a single island, but the island was divided into two in 1671 by the Ōfunakosiseto canal and into three in 1900 by the Manzekiseto canal...
area; then continued on into the Korean archipelago. On 30 June, she used her deck guns to sink 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...
, and, with the new month, July, she moved closer to the China coast to patrol the approaches to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
On the morning of 6 July, Sealion intercepted a convoy south of the Four Sisters Islands and, at 0447 commenced firing torpedoes at two cargomen in the formation. Within minutes, Setsuzan Maru sank, and the convoy scattered. Sealion retired to the northeast to evade the convoy's escort, a 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...
, as it began its search for the submarine. At 0600, the destroyer closed Sealion, and the submarine launched four torpedoes at the warship. All missed. An hour later enemy aircraft joined the search which was continued until mid-afternoon, and Sealion escaped unscathed.
Three days later, Sealion moved northward again and commenced hunting between the Shantung peninsula and Korea. Dense fog blanketed the area and left her blind while her 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...
was out of commission. By midnight on the night of 10–11 July, however, her radar was back in partial operation; and, on the morning of 11 July, she conducted several attacks, sinking two freighters, Tsukushi Maru Number 2 and Taian Maru Number 2.
The running surface chase with the second freighter involved three attacks over a period of almost seven hours. On the third attack, at 0711, Sealion fired her last torpedo; then, after debris from the explosion had flown over the submarine, she moved down the port quarter of the target, pouring 20 mm shells into the Japanese bridge. At 0714, the freighter disappeared, and Sealion headed south of Tokara Strait. On 13 July, she cleared that strait and, on 21 July, she arrived at Midway Island.
Refitted by , Sealion departed for the Bashi Channel
Bashi Channel
The Bashi Channel is a strait between the Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Orchid Island of Taiwan. It is characterized by windy storms during the rainy period, June to December. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean....
and her second war patrol on 17 August. Hunting with and , she transited the channel and moved into 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 30 August. During the pre-dawn hours of 31 August, she conducted a night surface attack against a Japanese convoy and heavily damaged a tanker. As Rikko Maru billowed black smoke, other Japanese ships took Sealion under fire with deck guns. The submarine moved out of the area and ahead of the convoy. At 0720, she again attacked the convoy. Within minutes, went down; enemy planes began circling the area and the convoy's surface escorts began their search. Sealion went deep and headed south. Later that day, she closed another target with a merchant ship appearance, but as she reached firing position, the target was made out to be an antisubmarine vessel. Three torpedoes were fired, but were spotted by the target's bow lookout. The target swerved, and the hunter became the hunted. Depth charging followed without damage to the submarine; but Sealion, low on fuel and torpedoes, headed for 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...
.
There, the submarine rearmed and refueled; and on 7 September, got underway to rejoin her attack group. On 10 September, she moved through Balintang Channel
Balintang Channel
The Balintang Channel is the small waterway that separates the Batanes and Babuyan Islands, both of which belong to the Philippines, in the Luzon Strait....
. On 11 September, she rendezvoused with two other submarines, and on 12 September, the group attacked and decimated a convoy en route to Formosa
Taiwan
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...
.
At about 0200, Growler attacked the formation. Pampanito and Sealion followed suit. Growlers torpedoes sent destroyer Shikinami to the bottom. Sealion launched two torpedoes, both misses, and was taken under fire by two of the escorts. The submarine went to top speed and managed to keep ahead of the escorts until they broke off to rejoin the convoy shortly before 0330.
An hour and one-half later, Sealion again closed the convoy and at 0522, launched three torpedoes at a tanker; then swung to fire on Rakuyo Maru, the last ship in the nearer column. At 0524, Zuihō Maru, possibly hit by torpedoes from both Pampanito and Sealion, burst into flames. Kachidoki Maru was disabled. She swung into the burning tanker and was soon ablaze. Sealions second target was illuminated, and at 0525, she fired on Rakuyo Maru. Both torpedoes hit and that ship began to burn.
Sealion was then forced deep and, after several attempts to get a better look at the scene, cleared the area and started after the remainder of the convoy.
On the morning of 15 September, the three submarines reformed their scouting line. That afternoon, Pampanito radioed Sealion, and other submarines in the area, to return to the scene of the action on 12 September. Rakuyo Maru had been carrying Australian and British prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
1159 of whom were killed in the attack or by the effects of the attack. By 2045, Sealion had taken on 54 POWs and started back to Saipan. All of the POWs were coated with crude oil and all were in poor health suffering from malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, malnutritional diseases such as pellagra
Pellagra
Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease most commonly caused by a chronic lack of niacin in the diet. It can be caused by decreased intake of niacin or tryptophan, and possibly by excessive intake of leucine. It may also result from alterations in protein metabolism in disorders such as carcinoid...
and beriberi
Beriberi
Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...
, and exposure. Three died before the submarine reached Balintang Channel on 17 September. On 18 September, rendezvoused with Sealion and transferred a doctor and a pharmacist's mate to the submarine. On 19 September, a fourth POW died, and on 20 September, Sealion arrived in Tanapag Harbor
Tanapag Harbor
Tanapag Harbor is the primary harbor of Saipan, and is located on the western side of the island. It is separated from the Philippine Sea by a barrier reef,located about 3 km off the shore. This reef forms the Saipan Lagoon....
and transferred the surviving 50 to the Army hospital there.
From 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...
, Sealion returned to 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...
. Arriving at 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 30 September, she departed again on 31 October, and with , headed west to patrol in the East China Sea
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:...
. The two submarines stopped off at Midway Island on 4 November, then continued on to their patrol area.
Ten days later, Sealion transited Tokara Strait. On 16 November, her number 8 tube was accidentally fired with both doors closed. Heavy seas prevented a thorough inspection of the damage. On 17 November, she began patrolling the approaches to Shanghai. On 18 November, there was a hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
explosion in the battery space of the torpedo in number 5 tube. At 0020 on 21 November, she made radar contact with an enemy formation moving through the Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
at about 16 knots (31.4 km/h) and not zig-zagging.
By 0048, the pips were made out to be two 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 and two 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. At 0146, three additional ships, escorts—one on either beam of the formation and one on the starboard quarter—became visible. Sealion had in fact intercepted a powerful fleet consisting of , , , , , , , and .
At 0245, Sealion, ahead of the task force, turned in and slowed for the attack. Eleven minutes later, she fired six torpedoes at the second ship in line, Kongō. At 0259, she fired three at Nagato. At 0300, her crew saw and heard three hits from the first salvo, flooding two of Kongōs boiler rooms and giving her a list to port. Nagato, alerted by the explosions, turned hard and the Sealions second salvo missed ahead, running on to hit and sink Urakaze, whose magazines was hit by the torpedo, and which blew up quickly and sank at once, with the loss of all hands onboard, including ComDesDiv 17 Yokota Yasuteru.
Sealion opened to the westward. The Japanese searched to the east. By 0310, the submarine had reloaded and began tracking again with the thought that the torpedoes had only dented the battleship's armor belt.
The Japanese formation, however, had begun zig-zagging and the sea and wind had increased; then, at 0450, the enemy formation split into two groups. Sealion began tracking the slower group consisting of Kongō, Isokaze and Hamakaze. At 0524, a tremendous explosion lit the area and Kongō disappeared.
It was customary in American submarines to mark a name on the head of each torpedo as it was loaded into the tube nest. They usually bore the names of the torpedo crews' wives or best girls. Some carried the names of the factory employee who had sold the most war bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
s during a given period. That night, however, four of Sealions fish, as they raced out of their tubes, were stamped with the names Foster, O'Connell, Paul and Ogilvie—the men who had been killed in the bombing of Sealion I three years earlier.
It was not customary for the crews of American submarines to make audio recordings of their attacks. However, the Sealion crew had obtained a sound recorder left behind by a CBS war correspondent who had debarked at Midway, and when ordered to battle stations after encountering the Japanese battle group, one sailor positioned the microphone by an intercom in the conning tower. That recording, along with a similar recording of an attack on a Japanese oiler during the Sealions fifth patrol, were then preserved by the U.S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, and are thought to be the only surviving sound recordings of World War II submarine attacks.
During the next few days, Sealion continued to patrol between Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
and Formosa
Taiwan
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...
, and on 28 November, she headed for 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...
.
On her fourth war patrol, from 14 December 1944-24 January 1945, Sealion returned to 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...
in a coordinated attack group with sister ships and . Poor weather plagued her, and of the 26 days spent on station, all but six were spent on the surface. On 20 December, she sighted a supply ship escorted by a 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...
through her high periscope, and at 1937 fired six torpedoes at the supply ship for four hits. The submarine then evaded the escort, reloaded, and waited. Two and one-half hours later, Mamiya was still afloat, and the submarine went in for a second attack. At 0032 on 21 December, she launched three torpedoes for two hits. The supply ship went under.
That day, Sealion joined the Seventh Fleet, and from 28 December 1944 to 14 January 1945, she performed reconnaissance duties in support of the reoccupation of the Philippine Islands. On the latter date, she cleared her patrol area and headed for Western Australia, arriving at Fremantle on 24 January.
She departed Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
on her fifth war patrol on 19 February. Again operating in a coordinated attack group, she returned to 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...
, then proceeded into the Gulf of Siam. In the predawn darkness of 17 March, she torpedoed and sank Samui, and on 2 April, she rescued an Army aviator who had been drifting in a rubber raft for 23 days. That same day, three more downed aviators were transferred to her from , and on 6 April, she delivered her passengers to Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...
.
By 30 April, Sealion was again ready for sea. With and , she departed Subic Bay for the northern part 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...
. Through May, she patrolled off Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and provided lifeguard services for strikes against Formosa
Taiwan
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...
. At the end of the month, she received downed aviators from and transported them back to Subic, then with passengers bound for 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...
, she sailed east. On 12 June, she arrived at 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...
, whence she proceeded to a lifeguard station off Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
, and on 30 June, she cleared that area 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...
.
Post-War
From Pearl Harbor, Sealion continued on to San Francisco, CaliforniaSan 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...
, where she was undergoing overhaul at the end of the war. With the cessation of hostilities, inactivation preparations were added to the overhaul, and on 2 February 1946, the submarine, which had been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her six war patrols, was decommissioned.
A year and one-half later, however, Sealion, along with , was designated for conversion to a troop carrier, and in April 1948, she entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard
San Francisco Naval Shipyard
The San Francisco Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city...
for the eight-months conversion. During that period, her torpedo tubes and forward engines were removed, and her forward engine room and forward and after torpedo rooms were converted to berth 123 troops. The forward engine room and after torpedo room were designed for alternative use as cargo space. The wardroom was redesigned for use as an operating room; the beam aft of the conning tower was extended, and a large watertight cylindrical chamber was installed abaft the conning tower to store amphibious landing equipment—including a tracked landing vehicle
Landing Vehicle Tracked
The Landing Vehicle Tracked was a class of amphibious vehicles introduced by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army during World War II. Originally intended solely as cargo carriers for ship to shore operations, they rapidly evolved into assault troop and fire support vehicles as well...
(LVT).
On 2 November 1948, Sealion was recommissioned a Submarine, Transport, with the hull classification symbol
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
SSP-315. Training exercises off the southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
coast, with Marines embarked, took her into the spring of 1949 when she was ordered to the Atlantic for duty in SubDiv 21. During April, she operated in the 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....
, area, then, in May, she commenced operations out of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, as a unit of Submarine Squadron 6 (SubRon 6), SubDiv 6l. On 31 January 1950, she was reclassified a transport submarine with hull classification symbol ASSP-315; and, by the spring of that year, had conducted exercises as far north as Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
and as far south as the southern Caribbean. From April–June 1950, she underwent her first post-conversion overhaul at 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...
, and in July, she resumed operations out of Norfolk.
Reassigned to SubDiv 63 in March 1955 and reclassified submarine transport APSS-315 on 24 October 1956, Sealion continued a schedule of exercises with Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, Underwater Demolition Team
Underwater Demolition Team
The Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
s and Beach Jumper
Beach Jumpers
Beach Jumpers were U.S. Navy special warfare units, specializing in deception and psychological warfare.Beach Jumper volunteers were recruited for "prolonged, hazardous, distant duty for a secret project." Their identities and activities were very highly classified, since the slightest leak of...
units and, on occasion, Army units, off the Virginia and Carolina coasts and in the Caribbean until 1960. During that time, interruptions came only for overhaul periods, during one of which the "LVT hangar" abaft the conning tower was removed, and for one deployment with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean from August–November 1957.
On 30 June 1960, Sealion was decommissioned at 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...
, where she remained as a reserve training submarine until reactivated a year later. In August 1961, she was towed to 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,...
for overhaul; on 20 October, she was recommissioned, and on 18 December, she rejoined SubRon 6 at Norfolk. There, she resumed a schedule similar to that of the 1950s, interrupted by regular overhauls, and in the fall of 1962, to support the blockade put into effect during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. On 22 October 1962, she departed Norfolk on what was to be a month-long training cruise in the Caribbean, but the formation of the blockade force altered the cruise plans. On 3 December, she returned to Norfolk and from then into 1967 she maintained her schedule of exercises with Marine Reconnaissance, Underwater Demolition Team
Underwater Demolition Team
The Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
s, and SEAL
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
personnel. On 15 September 1967, she changed homeports and administrative control, and for the next two years, she operated out of 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...
, as a unit of SubDiv 121. Reclassified an amphibious transport submarine with hull classification symbol LPSS-315 in January 1969, Sealion was ordered inactivated the following summer, and, in September, she proceeded to 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,...
, where she was decommissioned and placed in the inactive fleet on 20 February 1970.
Stricken 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 March 1977, Sealion was sunk as a target off Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, 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...
, on 8 July 1978.
External links
- USS Sealion web page
- USS Sealion history by VAdm Charles A. LockwoodCharles A. LockwoodCharles Andrews Lockwood was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is known in submarine history as the legendary commander of Submarine Force Pacific Fleet during World War II...
- Pictures taken on board the USS Sealion in 1968 and 1969
- Historic Naval Ships Association sounds page—includes sound from aboard the Sealion)