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USS Searaven (SS-196)
Encyclopedia
USS Searaven (SS-196), a Sargo-class
submarine
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the sea raven
, a sculpin
of the northern Atlantic coast of America.
Her keel was laid down on 9 August 1938 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
. She was launched
on 21 June 1939 sponsored by Mrs. Cyrus W. Cole; and commissioned
on 2 October 1939, with Lieutenant
Thomas G. Reamy in command.
's entry into World War II
, Searaven operated in Philippine
waters conducting training and maneuvers. At the outbreak of war between the United States
and the Japanese Empire, the submarine was at the Cavite Navy Yard in Manila Bay
. During her first two war patrols in December 1941 and the spring of 1942, she ran supplies to the American and Filipino troops besieged on the Bataan Peninsula
and Corregidor Island. In a night action in the Molucca Strait on 3 February 1942, she torpedo
ed a Japanese destroyer
and claimed her first kill of the war.
Searaven conducted her third war patrol in the vicinity of Timor
Island of the Netherlands East Indies, from 2 April to 25 April 1942. On 18 April, she rescued 32 Royal Australian Air Force
men from enemy-held Timor, an act for which two of her officers were awarded the Navy Cross
. Five days later, fire broke out in her main power cubicle, immobilizing Searaven completely. assisted her into port in Australia
.
Searavens fourth war patrol was a quiet one and returning from her fifth patrol, she claimed 23,400 tons sunk and 6,853 damaged. This tally, however, went unconfirmed. She ended her fifth patrol on 24 November 1942 at Fremantle
, Australia
, where she underwent refit. On 18 December, she got underway from Fremantle, bound for the Banda Sea
, Ceram Sea
, and the Palau Islands. In the Banda Sea, she welcomed the New Year by loosing a spread of three torpedo
es at the minelayer
Itsukushima
. Again, the sinking claimed by Searaven went unconfirmed. Two weeks later, on 14 January 1943, the submarine pumped four torpedoes into the freighter Siraha Maru and collected her first confirmed victory. On 10 February, she sailed into Pearl Harbor
and, two days later, she set out for overhaul at Mare Island
, California
.
She completed overhaul on 7 May 1943 and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 May. On 7 June, Searaven departed from Pearl Harbor for her seventh patrol, this time in the Mariana Islands
area. During this patrol, she reconnoitered Marcus Island, but encountered no enemy shipping. She put into Midway Island on 29 July for refit.
Her eighth war patrol began at Midway on 23 August 1943. She plied the waters off the northeastern coast of Honshū
, Japan
, but found no enemy ship worth a torpedo. After a month and one-half at sea, the submarine made Pearl Harbor on 6 October.
A month later, she stood out for her ninth patrol. She patrolled the Eastern Caroline Islands
and, for a three-day period, operated with a coordinated attack group ("wolfpack") of submarines which was used as part of the defensive screen for the Gilbert Islands operation. On 25 November, she got her second confirmed kill, sending the 10,052-ton tanker Toa Maru to the bottom with four torpedoes. She sailed back into Pearl Harbor on 6 December.
Searavens tenth war patrol, from 17 January to 3 March 1944, was occupied by photo reconnaissance of Eniwetok Atoll and lifeguard duty for the air strikes on the Marshall Islands
, Mariana Islands, and Truk. She rescued three airmen, but put into Midway on 3 March with no additional sinkings to her credit.
On 26 March, Searaven embarked upon her 11th war patrol. Her assigned area was the southern islands of the Nanpō Islands, the Bonin Islands. She made two attacks during this patrol, claimed two more sinkings, but was officially credited with none.
After a complete overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Searaven set course for the Kuril Islands
area. Twelve enemy vessels were sunk during this patrol. On 21 September 1944, in a night surface attack, the submarine torpedoed and sank an unescorted Japanese freighter, Rizan Maru, which had dropped behind her convoy. On the night of 25 September, Searaven engaged two trawlers, four large sampan
s, and four 50-ton sampans. Searaven passed down the column of eight sampans and two trawlers, 250 yards (228.6 m) abeam, engaging from one to three at a time at practically point blank range. Those that did not sink on the first pass were given another dose of the same treatment until all were destroyed.
On 1 November 1944, Searaven sailed on her final war patrol as part of a coordinated attack group which also included the submarines , , and . Operating in the South China Sea
, east of Hainan Island, the submarine closed out her combat career by sinking one Heinan Maru-class transport and an Omurosan Maru-type oiler. With combat ended, Searaven was assigned target and training duties for the remainder of the war.
, at Bikini Atoll
. She escaped the tests with negligible damage. The submarine was decommissioned on 11 December 1946, sunk as a target on 11 September 1948, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 21 October 1948.
Sargo class submarine
The Sargo-class submarines were the first US submarines to be sent into action after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, starting war patrols the day after the attack...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the sea raven
Sea raven
Sea ravens are a family, Hemitripteridae of scorpaeniform fishes. They are bottom-dwelling fishes that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific oceans...
, a sculpin
Sculpin
A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...
of the northern Atlantic coast of America.
Her keel was laid down on 9 August 1938 by 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 21 June 1939 sponsored by Mrs. Cyrus W. Cole; 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 2 October 1939, with Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Thomas G. Reamy in command.
World War II
In the two years preceding the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's entry into 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...
, Searaven operated in Philippine
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
waters conducting training and maneuvers. At the outbreak of war between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Japanese Empire, the submarine was at the Cavite Navy Yard in Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
. During her first two war patrols in December 1941 and the spring of 1942, she ran supplies to the American and Filipino troops besieged on the Bataan Peninsula
Bataan Peninsula
The Bataan Peninsula is a rocky extension of the Zambales Mountains, on Luzon in the Philippines. It separates the Manila Bay from the South China Sea...
and Corregidor Island. In a night action in the Molucca Strait on 3 February 1942, she 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...
ed a 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...
and claimed her first kill of the war.
Searaven conducted her third war patrol in the vicinity of Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
Island of the Netherlands East Indies, from 2 April to 25 April 1942. On 18 April, she rescued 32 Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
men from enemy-held Timor, an act for which two of her officers were awarded the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
. Five days later, fire broke out in her main power cubicle, immobilizing Searaven completely. assisted her into port in 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...
.
Searavens fourth war patrol was a quiet one and returning from her fifth patrol, she claimed 23,400 tons sunk and 6,853 damaged. This tally, however, went unconfirmed. She ended her fifth patrol on 24 November 1942 at 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...
, 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...
, where she underwent refit. On 18 December, she got underway from Fremantle, bound for the Banda Sea
Banda Sea
The Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
, Ceram Sea
Ceram Sea
The Ceram Sea or Seram Sea is one of several small seas between the scattered islands of Indonesia. It is a section of the Pacific Ocean with an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometers located between Buru and Seram, which are two of the islands once called the South Moluccas...
, and the Palau Islands. In the Banda Sea, she welcomed the New Year by loosing a spread of three torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es at the minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
Itsukushima
Japanese minelayer Itsukushima
was a medium-sized minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. She was named after the First Sino-Japanese War-era cruiser , which in turn was named after Itsukushima, a sacred island in Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan...
. Again, the sinking claimed by Searaven went unconfirmed. Two weeks later, on 14 January 1943, the submarine pumped four torpedoes into the freighter Siraha Maru and collected her first confirmed victory. On 10 February, she sailed into 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...
and, two days later, she set out for overhaul at Mare Island
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
, 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...
.
She completed overhaul on 7 May 1943 and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 May. On 7 June, Searaven departed from Pearl Harbor for her seventh patrol, this time in the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
area. During this patrol, she reconnoitered Marcus Island, but encountered no enemy shipping. She put into Midway Island on 29 July for refit.
Her eighth war patrol began at Midway on 23 August 1943. She plied the waters off the northeastern coast of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, but found no enemy ship worth a torpedo. After a month and one-half at sea, the submarine made Pearl Harbor on 6 October.
A month later, she stood out for her ninth patrol. She patrolled the Eastern Caroline Islands
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...
and, for a three-day period, operated with a coordinated attack group ("wolfpack") of submarines which was used as part of the defensive screen for the Gilbert Islands operation. On 25 November, she got her second confirmed kill, sending the 10,052-ton tanker Toa Maru to the bottom with four torpedoes. She sailed back into Pearl Harbor on 6 December.
Searavens tenth war patrol, from 17 January to 3 March 1944, was occupied by photo reconnaissance of Eniwetok Atoll and lifeguard duty for the air strikes on 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...
, Mariana Islands, and Truk. She rescued three airmen, but put into Midway on 3 March with no additional sinkings to her credit.
On 26 March, Searaven embarked upon her 11th war patrol. Her assigned area was the southern islands of the Nanpō Islands, the Bonin Islands. She made two attacks during this patrol, claimed two more sinkings, but was officially credited with none.
After a complete overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Searaven set course for the Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
area. Twelve enemy vessels were sunk during this patrol. On 21 September 1944, in a night surface attack, the submarine torpedoed and sank an unescorted Japanese freighter, Rizan Maru, which had dropped behind her convoy. On the night of 25 September, Searaven engaged two trawlers, four large 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...
s, and four 50-ton sampans. Searaven passed down the column of eight sampans and two trawlers, 250 yards (228.6 m) abeam, engaging from one to three at a time at practically point blank range. Those that did not sink on the first pass were given another dose of the same treatment until all were destroyed.
On 1 November 1944, Searaven sailed on her final war patrol as part of a coordinated attack group which also included the submarines , , and . Operating in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, east of Hainan Island, the submarine closed out her combat career by sinking one Heinan Maru-class transport and an Omurosan Maru-type oiler. With combat ended, Searaven was assigned target and training duties for the remainder of the war.
Post-War
Searaven was one of the target ships in the 1946 atomic bomb test, Operation CrossroadsOperation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
, at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
. She escaped the tests with negligible damage. The submarine was decommissioned on 11 December 1946, sunk as a target on 11 September 1948, and 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 21 October 1948.