|
EMAIL
|
|
|
TODAY IN U.S. SUBMARINE HISTORY HOME |
1918 - PCU R-12 (SS-89) keel laid as R-12 at Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, MA.
1919 - PCU R-4 (SS-81) commissioned USS R-4 at Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, MA.
1944 - PCU SEA DOG (SS-401) launched at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.
1944 - PCU SEA FOX (SS-402) launched at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.
1945 - USS TRIGGER (SS-237) departed Guam on March 11, 1945 under the command of Cmdr. D.R. Connole and headed for the Nansei Shoto area to conduct her twelfth war patrol. She was to provide rescue services for carrier based aircraft, as well as carry out a normal offensive patrol. TRIGGER reported her first action on March 18th. She made a seventeen-hour end around on a convoy she had previously reported, then attacked. She sank one freighter and damaged another. The other two merchantmen of the convoy and four escorts proceeded west.
There was a large Japanese restricted area west of the Nansei Shoto in the East China Sea. Submarines were warned of its presence, given its position and were in the habit of proceeding around it to the north when patrolling there, suspecting mines. TRIGGER's convoy was heading for this restricted area. There had to be gaps in the mine lines, since the area was too big to be completely and effectively mined.
ComSubPac told TRIGGER to give as much information as possible concerning the subsequent movements of the convoy, in order to help establish the existence of a safe passage through the restricted area; but TRIGGER couldn't regain a surface contact.
On March 24th TRIGGER was ordered to join SEADOG and THREADFIN with Cmdr. E.T. Hydeman in SEADOG commanding "Earl’s Eliminators". SEADOG was unable to communicate with TRIGGER; to clarify, the wolf pack was disbanded.
After many attempts to contact her by radio had failed, TRIGGER was ordered to proceed to Midway on April 4th. She failed to arrive by May 1, 1945 and was reported as presumed lost in enemy water on her twelfth patrol after a long and illustrious career.
The Japanese report of an attack on the afternoon of March 28th states, “Detected a submarine over eight times and bombed it. Ships also detected it – depth charged. Found oil pool of 1 x 5 miles in size the following day.” It must be presumed that TRIGGER was lost in this action.
TRIGGER is credited with one freighter sunk and another damaged on her final patrol. This made a total of 27 ships sunk (for 180,600 tons) and 13 ships damaged (for 102,900 tons) during the ship’s entire career. In her second patrol in the area south of Honshu, TRIGGER sent a freighter to the bottom and damaged two large tankers and a freighter. TRIGGER’s third patrol was a mining mission as well as an offensive patrol; it, too, was in the Japanese Empire. She saw a large freighter blow up and sink when it hit a mine she had laid and sank two freighters by torpedo attacks. Also, on January 10, 1943 TRIGGER torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer OKIKAZE near Honshu. TRIGGER covered the Palau-Wewak (New Guinea) traffic lanes on her fourth patrol and succeeded in sinking one freighter and damaging two more. Again in the area south of Honshu, TRIGGER sank a large freighter and damaged an aircraft carrier and a tanker on her fifth patrol .
Her sixth and seventh patrols were in the East China Sea. On her sixth she sank three good-sized tankers and a freighter, doing damage to another freighter. Her seventh resulted in the sinking of four good-sized freighters, one tanker, and one large transport. Her eighth patrol was made in the Carolines on the Truk-Guam route and she sank a large freighter-transport and an escort vessel. She sank four freighter-transports as well as a patrol vessel near Palau on her ninth patrol; she also damaged a large tanker, two freighters and a sampan. TRIGGER’s tenth patrol, as her last did, covered the Northern Nansei Shoto area. She received partial credit for sinking a small tanker, which was sunk cooperatively with SALMON. TRIGGER’s eleventh patrol was in the Empire, but resulted in disappointingly few enemy contacts and no attack opportunities. This ship was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her fifth, sixth and seventh patrols.
Eighty-nine brave submariners were lost with her that day.
She was the forty-eighth U.S. submarine loss of World War II.
1945 - PCUs (SS-545) to (SS-550) construction cancelled. These were the closing days of World War II and an American victory in the Pacific was virtually assured. Other hulls had already been cancelled.
1953 - USS BASHAW (SS-241) second commissioning.
1981 - PCU BREMERTON (SSN-698) commissioned USS BREMERTON (SSN-698) at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, CT.
1985 - PCU HELENA (SSN-725) keel laid as HELENA at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, CT.
1997 - Ex-PUFFER (SSN-652) disposition complete by Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program (NPSSRP) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.
|
|
Welcome aboard! The hyperlinks on any given hull number will take you to a page of more links for that boat or an interesting link if no page of links is available.
These are events for all United States Navy commissioned and some noncommissioned submarines and submersibles.
Sources of major events are at least double verified or the entry doesn't make the cut.
For comments or suggestions use the EMAIL link to your left.
|
|
