USS ''Pickerel'' (SS-177), a ''Porpoise''-class submarine, was the first 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 pickerel, species of freshwater fish native to the eastern United States and Canada. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 25 March 1935 by the Electric Boat Company in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London i ...

. She was launched on 7 July 1936 sponsored by Miss Evelyn Standley, daughter of Rear Admiral William Standley, acting Secretary of the Navy. She was commissioned on 26 January 1937,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Leon J. Huffman in command.

Service history

Inter-War Period

After her shakedown cruise, the new boat conducted training exercises out of

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 decade ...

until getting underway on 26 October 1937 and heading, via Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to transit 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 condui ...

on 9 November. Joining the Pacific Fleet, ''Pickerel'' operated out of

San Diego, California 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 eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, along the West Coast, and in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

an waters. Subsequently, transferred to the Asiatic Fleet, she prepared for war with a vigorous training schedule 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 ...

World War II

Upon receiving word of Japan's

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, ''Pickerel'' – commanded by

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Barton E. Bacon, Jr. – sped to the coast of

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

and conducted her first war patrol off

Cam Ranh Bay Cam Ranh Bay ( vi, Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in Khánh Hòa Province. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kil ...

and Tourane Harbor. She tracked a Japanese submarine and a destroyer but lost them in haze and rain squalls before they came in

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, s ...

range. On 19 December, she also missed a small Japanese patrol craft with five

es, before returning to Manila Bay on 29 December. On her second patrol (31 December 1941–29 January 1942), conducted between

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and Surabaya, the submarine sank ''Kanko Maru'' on 10 January 1942. On her third war patrol (7 February–19 March), along the Malay Barrier, and her fourth (15 April–6 June), in the

, she failed to score. ''Pickerel''s fifth war patrol (10 July–26 August), was a voyage from

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, Australia, to

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 R ...

for refit, with a short patrol in the Mariana Islands ''en route'', during which she damaged a freighter. During the refit, LCDR Bacon was detached and ''Pickerel''s executive officer,

Augustus H. Alston, Jr., became her new CO. On her sixth war patrol (22 January–3 March 1943), she searched among the

Kurile Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

on the

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Kiska Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is require ...

traffic lanes. In sixteen attacks, she sank ''Tateyama Maru'' and two 35-ton sampans. She departed Pearl Harbor on 18 March 1943 and, after topping off with fuel and provisions at

Midway Island 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 ...

on 22 March, headed for the eastern coast of northern Honshū, Japan and was never heard from again. ''Pickerel'' was the first submarine to be lost in the Central Pacific area. She was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) 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 t ...

on 19 August 1943. Post-war analysis of Japanese records give conflicting suggestions about ''Pickerel''s fate. The Japanese officially credit her with sinking ''Submarine Chaser Number 13'' on 3 April and ''Fukuei Maru'' on 7 April, and give no official report of her destruction. Those records also describe an action off Shiramuka Lighthouse on northern Honshū on 3 April 1943 in which naval aircraft first bombed an unidentified submarine, then directed ''Shiragami'' and ''Bunzan Maru'' to the spot, where they dropped twenty-six depth charges. A large quantity of oil floated to the surface, which was often enough for Japanese ASW ships to believe their target was sunk. It is likely ''Pickerel''s fuel oil bunkers leaked. Since there were several other ASW operations in the area in that period,Clay Blair, Jr., ''Silent Victory'' (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975), p. 409. and ''Pickerel'' was the only American submarine in that area; one of these other attacks, sometime after 7 April, probably claimed her.

Awards

''Pickerel'' received three

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 opposing ...

service.

References

Sources

* Beach Jr., Edward L. "Ned". ''Submarine!''. Henry Holt, 1952. *Beach Jr., Edward L. ''

Run Silent, Run Deep ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' is a novel by Commander (later Captain) Edward L. Beach Jr. published in 1955 by Henry Holt & Co. The story describes World War II submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean, and deals with themes of vengeance, endurance, c ...

'' (a novel). Pocket Books, 1972. *_____. ''Dust on the Sea'' (a novel). Dell, 1972. * Grider, George W., as told to Lydel Sims. ''War Fish''. Little, Brown and Company, 1958. * Holmes, Wilfred J. "Jasper" ''Undersea Victory''. Doubleday, 1966. * O'Kane, Richard H. ''Clear the Bridge!''. Rand McNally & Co., 1977. *______. Wahoo: ''The Patrols of America's Most Famous World War II''. Presidio Pres, 1987.

External links

*
On Eternal Patrol: USS ''Pickerel''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickerel (Ss-177) United States Porpoise-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Lost submarines of the United States Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1936 ships Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in April 1943 Submarines sunk by Japanese warships