USS Segundo (SS-398) Underway At Sea On 1 March 1966
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USS ''Segundo'' (SS-398) was a , 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 ...
named for the segundo, a cavalla fish of
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
waters.


Construction and commissioning

''Segundo'' was laid down on 14 October 1943 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in ittery, Maine, Ceremonial ship launching">launched on 5 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John L. Sullivan (U.S. Navy)">John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...
, and commissioned on 9 May 1944.


May–August 1944

''Segundo'' completed
fitting out and contract Sea trials">trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
then moved to Naval Submarine Base New London">New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...
, on 15 June and began training. The submarine stood out of New London on 26 June for the Panama Canal Zone en route to the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific war zone. She departed Balboa, Panama, Balboa on 9 July and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 25 July. The next several weeks were spent in training exercises and weapons firing. The ship was combat loaded on 19 August and 20 August and, the next day, sailed on her first war patrol.


First and second patrols, August 1944 – January 1945

''Segundo'', together with submarines , and formed a
wolf pack A pack is a social group of conspecific canines. Packs aren't formed by all canines, especially small sized canines like the Red fox. The number of members in a pack and their social behavior varies from species to species. Social structure is v ...
. They refueled 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 ...
on 3 September and departed the next day for their patrol area in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
near
Surigao Strait Surigao Strait (Filipino: ''Kipot ng Surigaw'') is a strait in the southern Philippines, between the Bohol Sea and the Leyte Gulf of the Philippine Sea. Geography It is located between the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. It lies between northern ...
. She was in the
Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
east of
Catanduanes Island Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the List of islands of the Philippines#Catanduanes, 12th-largest island ...
at on 13 September 1944 when two U.S. Navy planes mistook her for a Japanese submarine and strafed her as she crash-dived. No rounds struck her. ''Segundo'' found no worthwhile targets were found during the patrol, and she ended it at Majuro Atoll in the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
on 21 October 1944 without having fired a shot. The second patrol, from 16 November 1944 to 5 January 1945, was more profitable. ''Segundo'', and sister boats , and were cruising between
Luzon Strait The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This body of water is an im ...
and the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
. On the evening of 6 December, a convoy of seven escorted merchant ships was sighted. The three submarines made night attacks which sank all of the merchantmen.


Third patrol, February–March 1945

''Segundo'' 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 ...
from the submarine tender and was 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 ...
with ''Razorback'' and on 1 February. Three
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
attacks were made on unescorted ships near the
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n coast in shallow water. The first attack was on 6 March against a small ship but all torpedoes missed. The next was made four days later against a medium-sized ship. Four torpedoes were fired at but they also missed. The third attack was a night surface action against a cargo ship on 11 March. Two torpedoes of the spread hit. The first blew the stern off and the second hit amidships, sinking cargo ship ''Shori Maru'' in two minutes. The submarine ended her patrol at Pearl Harbor on 26 March and remained there for a month before putting to sea again.


Fourth and fifth patrols, May–August 1945

''Segundo'' was assigned to a lifeguard station until 16 May when she departed for her assigned area in the East China Sea. On 29 May, she sank seven two-masted
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
s of approximately 100 tons each with shellfire. Two days later, she sank a large four-masted
full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three se ...
of approximately 1,250 tons with two torpedoes. She sank another on 3 June with her deck gun. On 9 June, two patrol ships were also sunk by her deck gun. On the night of 11 June, ''Fukui Maru'' was torpedoed and sunk. The submarine then sailed to
Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...
for upkeep. ''Segundo'' began her fifth and final war patrol on 10 August in the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...
. Ordered to proceed to
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...
on 24 August, the ship was proceeding south when she encountered the , which was at the time the largest submarine in the world, by radar on 29 August. The enemy boat was ordered to halt by international signal. This was done; and, after several trips between the two submarines by their respective representatives, the Japanese agreed to accept a prize crew aboard and to proceed to Tokyo with ''Segundo''. The two ships entered
Sagami Wan lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while t ...
on 31 August and, at 05:00, the American flag was raised aboard ''I-401''.


1945–1953

''Segundo'' stood out of Tokyo Bay on 3 September 1945 en route to the west coast via Pearl Harbor. She was assigned to SubRon 3 in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
and began operations from there. The submarine made a three-month cruise to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1946 and a four-month cruise to China in 1948.In April 1948, while visiting Brisbane, Queensland, a team recruited from her crew played a softball match against a local "All Stars" team which they lost 10–3. ''Baseball'' in ''Semper Floreat'', 23 April 1948, Page 8c. The outbreak of the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
found ''Segundo'' in the Far East. She supported
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Forces in Korea from July to September 1950 before returning to San Diego in late November. In 1951, ''Segundo'' was modernized and converted to a Fleet Snorkel submarine at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. She returned to her home port and resumed operations until 15 August 1952 when she again joined the 7th Fleet off Korea. That deployment period ended on 16 February 1953.


1953–1970

For the next 16 years, ''Segundo'' operated out of her home port and along the west coast. From 1953 through 1969, she was deployed to the western Pacific every year except 1961, and 1963. ''Segundo'' departed for the Western Pacific Ocean on 27 November 1956 with stops in Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Subic Bay and Manila, Philippines and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. The reason for this emergency departure was because of the Hungarian revolt that was taking place at the time. The Segundo was ordered into port in San Diego and shortly after departed for Peal Harbor, then the north Pacific on a special patrol, submerging on 21 December 1956 and resurfacing on 21 January 1957 before stopping in Yokosuka Japan. In July 1970, a Survey Board found ''Segundo'' unfit for further naval service. The submarine was decommissioned 1 August 1970, struck from the
Navy list 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 ...
on 8 August 1970, and sunk as a target by either the submarine or the submarine (sources differ).


Honors and awards

''Segundo'' received four
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 for
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 ...
service and one for the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.


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:Segundo (SS-398) 1944 ships Balao-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Korean War submarines of the United States Friendly fire incidents of World War II Maritime incidents in September 1944 Maritime incidents in 1970 Ships built in Kittery, Maine Ships sunk as targets World War II submarines of the United States