USS ''Piranha'' (SS-389/AGSS-389), a ''Balao''-class

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, was the only ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for the

piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, ...

. ''Piranha'' conducted six war patrols during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, receiving five

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s. She was scrapped in 1970.

Construction and commissioning

''Piranha'' was laid down 21 June 1943 by Portsmouth Navy Yard in

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. 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. The southernmost town in t ...

; launched 27 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William S. Farber; and commissioned 5 February 1944.

World War II

After East Coast training, ''Piranha'' departed

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

3 April 1944 for the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

and her base,

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, arriving 18 May for final training. With , , and , she made her first war patrol between 14 June and 8 August. The

coordinated attack group The wolfpack was a convoy attack tactic employed in the Second World War. It was used principally by the U-boats of the during the Battle of the Atlantic, and by the submarines of the United States Navy in the Pacific War. The idea of a co-ordinat ...

prowled waters west and north of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, striking fiercely and with notable success at

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese convoys. ''Piranha''’s victims were ''Nichiran Maru'', sunk 12 July, and ''Seattle Maru'', sunk four days later. Several times attacked by enemy aircraft and dodging surface patrol craft, ''Piranha'' returned safely to Majuro. For the first part of her second patrol, ''Piranha'' joined 9 other submarines in offensive reconnaissance covering the Third Fleet during the assault on Peleliu, patrolling 30 August to 25 September. When Peleliu, deemed essential for the

liberation of the Philippines Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, had been seized, ''Piranha''’s group dissolved and she searched for targets westward along the 20th parallel, engaging an enemy patrol craft 9 October. She endured a heavy

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

attack, but outsmarted the patrol vessel, returning to Pearl Harbor 23 October. During her third war patrol, again with an attack group, besides seeking worthwhile targets in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

19 November to 13 January 1945, ''Piranha'' served as lifeguard during

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

strikes on

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

. She scored two hits on a merchantman 8 January , only to be driven off by an escort without being able to regain attack position. Refitted at

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, ''Piranha'' sailed 11 February for her fourth war patrol, a classic exhibition of submarine versatility. With her attack group she sought targets on the convoy lanes from

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. She spent 17 days on lifeguard during airstrikes on Formosa, on 27 February sinking a junk presumably serving as aircraft spotter. ''Piranha'' was foiled by a large fleet of fishing junks from making a rapid approach on a convoy reported leaving Hong Kong 5 March. Daringly resorting to an ancient ruse of naval warfare, she improvised an

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

naval ensign and ran it up. The deception was successful, and she threaded her way through the fishermen at flank speed, but was unable to locate the convoy. On 9 March 1945, an unidentified plane attacked ''Piranha'', dropping a flare and two bombs.Hinman & Campbell, p. 138. On 11 March, a U.S. Navy PBM Mariner

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

attacked her, dropping four bombs as she took evasive action and headed for deeper water on the surface. On 20 March, an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

aircraft which ''Piranha''′s crew thought was most likely a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

bombed ''Piranha'' as she maneuvered evasively and submerged.Hinman & Campbell, pp. 138–139. ''Piranha'' sustained no damage in any of the attacks. ''Piranha'' bombarded Pratas Island on 26 March 1945 with 100 shells. Three times during this patrol, which concluded with 10 days off

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

, the submarine successfully maneuvered to avoid hits from attacking aircraft. She returned to Midway to refit 21 April – 17 May, then sailed for patrol, lifeguard, and bombardment at

Marcus Island , also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight line ...

22 May – 31 May. Here she was attacked several times by shore batteries. After refueling at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, ''Piranha'' sailed to complete this patrol off

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

. With the decimated Japanese merchant marine hugging its own coast, ''Piranha'' was frequently frustrated by shallow water and omnipresent escorts in her attacks. Hair-raising encounters with submarine chasers and aircraft were rendered infinitely more dangerous by being fought so close offshore, where she had little water depth for maneuver. Her persistence and courage paid off; she heavily damaged a freighter 14 June, sank a coastal tanker and destroyed a trawler laden with oil drums by gunfire 17 June. On 22 June 1945, she fired two torpedoes at the escort ship ''CD-196'' at blowing off her rudder and killing two crewman. Two more trawlers fell to her gun 23 June. Though slightly damaged when their escort retaliated with depth charges, ''Piranha'' returned safely to Pearl Harbor 10 July.

End of war and fate

Her sixth and last war patrol lasted 14 hours; she had sailed from Pearl Harbor 14 August and was ordered back when hostilities ended the next day. Returning to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

11 September, ''Piranha'' decommissioned at

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

31 May 1946. There she lay in reserve, redesignated AGSS-389 on 6 November 1962, until stricken from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

1 March 1967 and sold for scrap.

Honors and awards

''Piranha'' received 5

s for World War II service.

References

Citations

Bibliography

Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.
.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Piranha (SS-389) Balao-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1943 ships Maritime incidents in March 1945 Friendly fire incidents of World War II