USS Guavina

USS ''Guavina'' (SS/SSO/AGSS/AOSS-362), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the guavina, a fish which may reach a length of indigenous to the West Indies and the Atlantic coasts of Central America and Mexico.

Construction and commissioning

''Guavina'' initially was ordered as a unit of the ''Balao'' class, but her builder, the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, did not receive the drawings for the ''Balao'' class from the Electric Boat Company in time to build ''Guavina'' or the submarines , , and to the new design, so they were built as ''Gato''-class submarines. Thus, in some references, these four submarines are listed as units of the ''Balao''-class.Friedman 1995, p. 209

''Guavina'' was launched by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on 29 August 1943, sponsored by Miss Marie Roen, and commissioned on 23 December 1943.

Operational history

After shakedown, ''Guavina'' was towed down the Mississippi in a floating drydock by tug ''Minnesota'', reaching New Orleans 24 January 1944. She underwent training exercises at New Orleans and at Balboa, C.Z., before reaching Pearl Harbor 5 April to prepare for her first war patrol.

First war patrol, April – May 1944

''Guavina'' sailed 6 April 1944, on her first offensive cruise. On 22 April she sank by gunfire two trawlers loaded with lumber and cargo and 3 days later torpedoed a large " maru". Her first big kill came 26 April when she sent torpedoes into two of the merchant ships in a seven-ship convoy. One of them, ''Noshiro Maru'', sank almost immediately after three tremendous explosions. The second maru also exploded, although persistent depth charging prevented ''Guavina'' from staying around to observe the sinking.

After standing lifeguard duty off Wake Island during air strikes 21 May – 26 May, the submarine returned to Majuro Atoll 28 May. Her aggressive first patrol forecast even greater service for the nation.

Second war patrol, June – July 1944

On her second war patrol (20 June – 31 July) ''Guavina'' sailed from Majuro to Brisbane, Australia, sinking 1 ship and rescuing 12 downed aviators. At 13:24 on 3 July she picked up an obviously important ship with four escorts, and trailed her to get in attack position. Finally at 03:48 the next morning ''Guavina'' launched four torpedoes, three of which hit and set off a tremendous explosion. The sub spent the next 3 hours running silent and deep to avoid a total of 18 depth charges and 8 aerial bombs, surfacing at 06:43 to observe the wreckage of ''Tama Maru'' (3,052 tons). A total of 321 troops, two gunners and eleven crewmen were killed. While on lifeguard duty off Yap 2 July to 21 July, ''Guavina'' picked up a total of 12 downed B-24 airmen, and then headed for Brisbane via Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands.

Third and fourth war patrols, August – December 1944

''Guavinas third war patrol (16 August – 29 September) took her along the Philippine coast off Mindanao. On 31 August she opened fire on two small coastwise steamers, chasing them almost onto the beach before finally destroying them. Then, after a period of lifeguard duty, on 15 September ''Guavina'' sighted a large ship, later revealed to be a transport at anchor. Closing for the kill she loosed a salvo of three torpedoes. Only one hit, so she fired three more, scoring twice. Although the target was enveloped in fire and smoke, it still did not sink; so ''Guavina'' administered the final fatal blow with a spread of two torpedoes which totally disintegrated the target.

Departing Brisbane 27 October, ''Guavina'' headed to the South China Sea for her fourth war patrol. A night surface attack 15 November netted her a large maru; one torpedo hit caused a violent explosion, as the maru apparently was carrying aviation gasoline; a second fish sent through the fiery waters finished her. Tanker ''Down Maru'' fell victim to ''Guavina'' 22 November, and a second tanker anchored nearby met the same fate the following day. During the final month she searched for additional victims. Then finding unfavorable attack conditions, she sailed for port, making Perth, Australia 27 December.

Fifth and sixth war patrols, January – May 1945

Working first with and then with and , ''Guavina'' spent her fifth war patrol (23 January – 5 March 1945) again in the South China Sea. The value of the coordinated attack group was quickly proved as on 6 February ''Guavina'' was directed in for the kill by ''Pampanito'' and sank the 6,892-ton tanker ''Taigyo Maru''. To avoid the subsequent depth charging, ''Guavina'' pulled the unusual maneuver of lying on the bottom near the stern of her recent victim.

She returned ''Pampanitos favor the following day by providing a diversion in the form of four flares from her "Buck Rogers" gun as her sister sub maneuvered for a successful shot. ''Guavina'' sank another tanker, the 8,673-ton ''Eiyo Maru'', 20 February, and suffered one of the severest depth chargings of the war. With no room to run, she lay on the bottom at while Japanese escorts and planes dropped a total of 98 depth charges and bombs during the next 7 hours. Battered but undaunted, she sailed to Subic Bay in the Philippines, arriving 5 March for a badly needed refit.

On her sixth war patrol (21 March – 8 May) ''Guavina'' worked in coordination with , , and ''Blenny'' in the South China Sea. A lack of targets resulted in her returning empty-handed, but she did rescue five B-25 crew members 28 March before returning to Pearl Harbor 8 May. With six successful war patrols behind her she proceeded to the West Coast for overhaul. She departed San Francisco for Pearl Harbor 6 August, but with the end of the war returned to the States. ''Guavina'' then put in at Mare Island and was placed in commission, in reserve, and Decommissioned 8 June 1946.

Post-war service as submarine tanker

From March 1949, ''Guavina'' underwent extensive overhaul and modification under project SCB 39 for conversion to a submarine oiler at Mare Island, and was even equipped with a snorkel. ''Guavina'' recommissioned in the active fleet as SSO-362 1 February 1950 at Mare Island. After operations along the West Coast, she sailed to Norfolk via Balboa and San Juan 24 July to 25 August. Further operations out of Norfolk were followed by overhaul at Philadelphia and on 29 January 1951, ''Guavina'' reported to Key West, her new homeport.

Operating out of Key West, ''Guavina'' cruised to the Caribbean Sea and up the East Coast to Nova Scotia to test the concepts of fueling seaplanes and other submarines, although most of her work was in the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida. After overhaul at Philadelphia 18 April to 26 July 1952, ''Guavina'' was redesignated AGSS-362. Two more years of operations along the East Coast and in the Gulf were followed by a second extensive overhaul at Philadelphia. To aid refueling, ''Guavina'' gained a large, raised platform over the after torpedo room, which was soon dubbed the "flight deck".

And a flight deck it soon became as in January 1956 ''Guavina'' began testing the concept of mobile support of seaplanes from a submarine oiler. After an initial 2-week trial period, ''Guavina'' and a variety of seaplanes carried out refueling development for most of 1956. Sailing from Charleston 18 September, the submarine headed for the Mediterranean Sea. After her 2-month deployment there with the 6th Fleet and Patrol Squadron 56, ''Guavina'' returned to Key West 1 December, then put into Charleston for overhaul.

Emerging from overhaul 12 July 1957 with the new designation AOSS-362, ''Guavina'' resumed her established pattern of testing various applications of submarine oiler and seaplane refueling concepts, operating principally in the Caribbean. Ranging along the coast from New London to Bermuda, she also engaged in antisubmarine exercises and other peacetime training missions.

Grounding

On 16 February 1958 ''Guavina'' was operating in the Bahamas and dropped anchor off the island of San Salvador. Overnight, high winds and heavy seas pushed her aground. ''Guavina'' spent several days stuck hard aground in the shallow sandy surf of San Salvador. She eventually was freed by the combined efforts of the salvage and rescue ships and and the ocean tugs and .

Decommissioning and disposal

''Guavina'' arrived at the Charleston Navy Yard in Charleston, South Carolina, on 4 January 1959, and decommissioned there on 27 March 1959, going into reserve. She served as a training ship for United States Naval Reserve personnel in the 5th Naval District at Baltimore, Maryland, until struck from the Navy List on 30 June 1967 and sunk as a target by the submarine off Cape Henry, Virginia, with a Mark 16-1 torpedo.

Honors and awards

''Guavina'' received five battle stars for World War II service.

Notable Veterans

Maxime Faget, the NASA engineer responsible for the design of the Mercury spacecraft, and who contributed to the design of the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft and the Space Shuttle served on ''Guavina'' during the Second World War.

References

External links

*
Post-war decommissioning action summary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guavina (SS-362)
Gato-class submarines
World War II submarines of the United States
Cold War submarines of the United States
Ships built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin
1943 ships
Ships sunk as targets
Maritime incidents in 1958
Maritime incidents in 1967
Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast