After the purchase of the HOLLAND in 1900, the Navy set out to build its first class of submarines –designated the "A" class.
Two submarine torpedo boats, A-3 (SS-4), originally laid down as GRAMPUS (Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 4), and A-5 (SS-6), originally laid down as PIKE (Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 6), in December 1900, at San Francisco, California, by Union Iron Works, a subcontractor for the John P. Holland Torpedo Boat Company of New York, were launched in 1902 and commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1903, with Lt. Arthur MacArthur-the older brother of future General of the Army Douglas MacArthur-in command.
Over the next three and a half years, GRAMPUS and PIKE operated out of the San Francisco area, principally in training and experimental work and subsequently assigned to the 1st Submarine Division, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, in 1910, and to the Pacific Fleet in 1911, operating locally off the California coast –becoming the first U.S. submarines stationed on the West Coast.
By the end of 1910 the U.S. Navy had only 20 submarines. Among the submarines built during this period were the HOLLAND, 7 A-class, 3 B-class, 5 C-class, 3 D-class, and 2 E-class submarines. However, under construction were 4 submarines of the F-class, 4 of the G-class, and 9 submarines of the H-class. Of this number the F and H-class submarines would play a role in the establishment of the Navy's first Submarine Base on the West Coast –San Pedro.
Each class of submarine marked a distinct improvement in the quality and performance of the previous class of submarine.
The early submarines of the "A", "B", "C", "D", and "G" classes utilized gasoline engines. The first diesel engines were installed in the 2 submarines of the E-class. With the exception of the "G" class submarine, all the submarines which followed were also powered by diesel engines.
Like A-class submarines, GRAMPUS and PIKE, the submarines CARP (SS-20), later renamed F-1, and BARRACUDA (SS-22), later renamed F-2, were built by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, for the newly formed Electric Boat Company, as were the submarines SEAWOLF (SS-28), later designated H-1, and NAUTILUS (SS-29), later designated H-2, each being commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard. The submarines PICKEREL (SS-22), later renamed F-3, and SKATE (SS-23), designated F-4, were built by the Seattle Construction & Drydock Co., Seattle, Washington, as was the GARFISH (SS-30), later designated H-3.
Early submarine technology being as crude as the boats themselves. These early submarines could only submerge for a very brief time to strike at an enemy –then scurry away hiding beneath the waves. These small boats could not carry much fuel, food, nor weaponry –so they operated from a shore station, with the crew berthed, messed and working from the land facilities available. As submarines moved from shore stationed to shore station –"station ships" often found themselves "hosting" the crews of these submarines. This relationship progressed to the point that these host ships were being referred to as a "Mother Ship".
The role of mother ship –providing repairs, refueling, and resupply services –all of the logistics needed to operate submarines where they were most needed –would soon be filled by submarine tenders –a the tender's crew.
These support ships were soon classified as "Auxiliary Submarine" also known as "AS" or "Submarine Tenders". Among the submarine tenders first stationed in San Pedro where the CHEYENNE (Monitor No. 10 a.k.a. WYOMING) and ALERT (AS-4).
Submarine bases and tenders came into being by chance; like submarine bases, their facilities developed slowly. Monitors, such as the WYOMING, were among the first vessels to be used extensively as submarine tenders after it was discovered that they were ideally suited for submarines to pull alongside of and mooring to. This was because of their low freeboard. Becoming obsolete for other Fleet purposes, these Monitors spent their last days in active service assisting submarine divisions. Although inadequately equipped for this type of duty, these early submarine tenders proved most useful for berthing and messing of the submarine crews.
It was realized very soon the advantage of having the submarines supplies, spare parts, service, berthing, etc., available "on site" —and as portable as the submarines themselves were. The early role of the submarine tender –serving out of advanced bases all allowed the submarines to operate into far regions where they were needed.
As submarines began to be assigned to various ports - the tender could just go right along. Thus, setting up a new advanced submarine base could be accomplished in about five minutes after dropping anchor. These early ships converted for into submarine tenders would soon give way to the newer tenders BEAVER (AS-5), CAMDEN (AS-6) RAINBOW (AS-7) and CANOPUS (AS-9) which soon took up port in San Pedro, California. They too, would serving all over the world –allowing the United States to project it's submarines into far regions where they were needed.
The Secretary of the Navy adopted the position that submarines would be utilized to defend the vital fleet ports at Subic Bay, Philippines and ordered submarines to be positioned there. In the spring of 1908 the Navy responded by sending the early A-class and B-class submarines to the Western Pacific. These submarines were picked up by colliers and transported to the Philippine Islands, there to be launched overboard and thus becoming the first undersea craft to serve in Manila Bay.
Ten years later, these A-class submarines were dismantled and relieved by two divisions of the newer S-class submarines. The latter arrived on station at Cavite on December 1, 1931.
Likewise, the submarines of the C-class were sent to Panama to be the first submarines assigned to that area –but not until 1914.
It would not be until the end of 1913 before a Submarine Base would be established on the West Coast –its location, San Pedro, California.
The submarines of the F-class and H-class were the earliest submarines to be assigned to San Pedro. The four submarines of the F-class were soon reassigned, replaced by the H-class submarines, after which the F-class went on to Honolulu to become the first submarines to be stationed out there.
In 1846, Los Angeles was still very much a Mexican pueblo. By the end of the Mexican-American War, its outward appearance seemed untouched. The city's first dramatic transformation occurred in 1851 when the new state legislature authorized the formation of new cities and counties in California. The City of Los Angeles came into being with a mayor and council that year. Along with the City, there emerged the County of Los Angeles. Entrepreneur Phineas Banning built a small wharf and warehouse in San Pedro in 1851, and when a gale destroyed them in 1858 he founded the village of New San Pedro (later Wilmington) to land goods for Los Angeles. Troops were quartered in the new town during the Civil War, and in 1868 a railroad was laid between Wilmington and Los Angeles. The Southern Pacific Railroad, in 1869, purchased the small railroad and extended it from Wilmington to San Pedro.
The "city-makers," chief among them General Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times, were not entranced with the notion of having the city's commerce flow from the sea into the hands of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The railroad preferred Santa Monica over San Pedro as the sight for the city's port and bought up the waterfront land at Santa Monica, built a 4,200-foot pier there, linked it to the railroad, and immediately began to put pressure on Congress for federal money to improve the harbor the Railroad had invented. Naturally, a prolonged fight between the city and the Southern Pacific Railroad ensued. But in 1891, two Board of Army Engineers' reports declared the port of San Pedro to be preferable over Santa Monica for federal harbor improvements. Seven years later, the long drawn out fight with the Railroad was about to come to an end.
The area surrounding San Pedro Bay was made a military reservation in 1888 and was dedicated to the defense of the expanding harbor. On April 26, 1899, the first barge load of rock from Catalina for the breakwater that created the outer harbor was dumped into the water the first exercise in the process that would make one of the greatest shipping centers of the world.
Los Angeles, the town in the middle of an inland plain, annexed the cities of San Pedro and Wilmington (New San Pedro) as part of the city of Los Angeles in 1909, giving the inland city a shoestring corridor to the sea which enabled it to challenge the great natural harbors at San Francisco and San Diego.
The entrance to the Port of Los Angeles (inclusive of the Port of Long Beach) is through two openings in the breakwater that protect San Pedro Bay. The eastern opening (closest to the QUEEN MARY) is called "Queen's Gate" (1967) and the western opening, which is used primarily for access to the Port of Los Angeles is called "Angles Gate."
There are a number of reasons why the ports of San Pedro (Los Angeles Harbor) and Long Beach in San Pedro Bay, California, was a suitable anchorage for the Pacific Fleet. Its 2.11 mile breakwater on the Western San Pedro side of the bay created over 600 acres of anchorage space, much of which was over 40 feet deep. Operational conditions were reported to be near perfect with good weather prevailing 70 percent of the year.
The monitor Wyoming, renamed CHEYENNE and converted to a submarine tender was the first tender to be assigned to San Pedro, operating with the submarines of the 2d Submarine Division, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, in 1914, and was joined by the newly converted iron-hulled screw steamer ALERT. The ALERT, which had been transferred back to the Navy from the CALIFORNIA NAVAL MILITIA in 1910, and reactivated in 1912 as a submarine tender and placed in full commission that same year, was also assigned to San Pedro to serve with the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla.
In the spring of 1914, when troubled conditions with Mexico threatened American lives and property, CHEYENNE interrupted her submarine tending duties twice, once in late April and once in mid-May, to embark refugees at Ensenada and San Quentin, Mexico, transporting them both times to San Diego. CHEYENNE resumed her submarine tending operations in San Pedro, continuing those duties into 1917.
The Navy reestablished what was deemed to be a [temporary] submarine base by renting from the Board of Harbor Commissioners the city's Municipal Pier No. 1 and the tenders CHEYENNE and ALERT were assigned to provide temporary quartering, messing and berthing for the crews of the submarines to be assigned to duty there. In executing their new duties, both ships made short voyages along the California coast.
That same year, the earliest submarines to be assigned to the Pacific Coast were HOLLAND F-class boats consisting of the submarines F-1 [CARP] SS-20; F-2 [BARRACUDA] SS-21; F-3 [PICKEREL] SS-22; and F-4 [SKATE] SS-23.
The first of these, the USS CARP (SS-20), was launched on September 6, 1911 by the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, and commissioned on June 19, 1912. The CARP [renamed F-1 on November 17, 1913] was assigned to the First Submarine Group, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, operating in the San Francisco area on trials and tests through January 1913, when she was assigned to the Flotilla's base at San Pedro. These F-class were sent on to Honolulu to become the first submarines to be stationed there.
The H-class of submarines were the next boats to be stationed at San Pedro. These were the SEAWOLF (SS-28) [renamed H-1]; NAUTILUS (SS-29) [renamed H-2]; and GARFISH (SS-30) [renamed H-3]. These submarines were stationed in San Pedro in late 1913. The three H-class submarines operated along the West Coast of the United States conducting tests and operations from lower California to Washington State. While engaged in operations off the northern coast of California, the H-3 ran aground near Eureka on the morning of December 16, 1916. The H-3 returned to San Pedro in 1917 where she served as the flagship of Submarine Division 7 participating in exercises and operations along the West Coast until 1922.
Meanwhile, the entry of the United States into World War I necessitated an increase of American naval strength in the Atlantic. On April 10, 1917, four days after the United States entered World War I, CHEYENNE was ordered to proceed to Port Angeles, Washington, the designated point of mobilization for the Pacific Fleet, in the company of the submarines H-1 and H-2. CHEYENNE remained in the area while the submarines H-1 and H-2 were transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. They were reassigned to San Pedro in 1920. During this westward transit, as the H-1 made her way up the coast, the submarine ran aground on Santa Margarita Island, California.
In San Pedro, in March, 1917, acting under instruction from the Navy Department, the Commander of Coast Torpedo Force in the Pacific, Captain C. F. Preston, USN, was able to arrange with the Board of Harbor Commissioners of Los Angeles for the continued use by the Navy –free of charge –a part of the newly built Freight Shed and the adjacent wharf on Municipal Pier No. 1, in the outer harbor; it being understood that the facilities to be furnished were for the use and benefit of the Submarine Force during the war.
By the end of May, 1917, the submarine tender CHEYENNE was ordered back to San Pedro from the Puget Sound Navy Yard for the purpose of establishing a permanent Submarine Base ashore, and that vessel reached San Pedro early in June and moored at the north end of the East Channel to Municipal Pier No. 1.
Actual work for the establishment of the Submarine Base was begun on June 10, 1917, and contracts were awarded for bulkheads in the shed space for the gas and fresh water plumbing, together with flushing and drainage systems.
While this contract work was in progress, an enlisted force detailed from the CHEYENNE was stationed in emergency quarters installed at the north end of the Pier's Freight Shed. Upon the completion of the construction contracts, all material and appliances in use at the emergency quarters were moved to the Base site proper for other uses.
Coincidently with preparation of the site for quartering, messing and berthing, a Base Complement together with crews of submarines assigned to duty here, arrangments were completed for storing and handling necessary supplies and materials. From this time forward, under pressure of war conditions, activities at the Base necessitated the immediate creation of additional facilities to take care of the enlarged scope and augmented character of duty and work to be performed.
In October 1917, a Submarine School for enlisted men was established and a thousand men, of which the Submarine Base had 525 officers and men were now present. During this same time frame a Naval Reserve Training Station was established in San Pedro and Base's first three F-class submarines (F-1, F-2 and F-3) were reassigned to San Pedro and arrived at the Base for duty as training vessels for the instruction afloat of the school contingents being qualified as submarine men.
This view was to suddenly change when the German submarine force proved the importance of undersea warfare. The news that the German submarine U-9 had attacked and sunk three British armored cruisers in the North Sea caused the entire world to sit up and take notice. Submarines were immediately given more thoughtful consideration.
Germany entered World War I with but 28 submarines. By its end, she had employed 369. This meant that she built one submarine every fourth day. During the four years of that war, German submarines accounted for 13,000,000 tons of Allied naval and merchant shipping, including 349 British naval warships.
The United States Navy, with its 300 warships, was the world's third largest by 1914. These warships were used to protect merchant and troopships across the Atlantic. Some warships were also sent to the Mediterranean but most remained on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. The US Navy's most serious wartime losses were the cruiser SAN DIEGO sunk by mines from a U-boat off New York, and two destroyers lost on anti-submarine work in European waters.
During that war, twenty American submarines crossed the Atlantic for duty in European waters. However, except for the experience gained, and the successful consummation of transversing the Atlantic with the smallest submarines ever to cross that ocean, American submarines accomplished very little in the area of sinking enemy shipping in World War I. The principal reason for this was the fact that there was no one to fight. Few enemy surface vessels were sent out beyond Skagerrak. The one attempt that was made resulted in the withdraw of the German Fleet at the Battle of Jutland. Still, German submarines were the only craft permitted to roam the Atlantic in any great numbers.
During World War I, the leading class of submarine was the L class; 167 feet long, displacing 548 tons, carrying two officers and 26 enlisted men. In all 20 American submarines reached the war zone.
A number of U.S. submarines contributed to the war effort –performing and carrying out a variety of special operations for which 58 submarine officers and 3 enlisted men would be awarded the Navy Cross –for meritorious action beyond the call of duty involving great risk. Also awarded were 5 Distinguished Service Medals and 14 Letters of Commendation.
During World War I, the Submarine Base in San Pedro became was a vital location for submarines transiting to the war zone. The base was used primarily as a Supply Station in November, 1917, by the submarines K-3 (SS-34), K-4 (SS-35), K-7 (SS-38) and K-8 (SS-39), who were being convoyed by the tender ALERT to the Azores. In December 1918, the submarines N-1 (SS-53), N-2 (SS-54), and N-3 (SS-55), convoyed by the SAVANNAH, also utilized the Submarine Base while enroute to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal. They were followed in by the submarines L-6 (SS-45) and L-7 (SS-46) convoyed by the tender RAINBOW in April and May, 1918.
At the outset of the war, the Navy attempted to keep those F-class submarines in a war status. But after the Falkland Island fight –when it was fair to conclude that there was no longer great risk from German sea raiders in the Pacific, these submarines were ordered to remove their torpedoes, together with all non-essential stores, and the vessels were thereafter ordered to operate as schooling submarines out of San Pedro.
The Submarine Base's commanding officer, Captain C. F. Preston, USN, was relieved in November 1917 by Commander H. C. Poundstone, USN, who was ordered to assume additional duty as Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, which additional duties said officer continued to exercise until June 24, 1918.
In April 1918, ALERT resumed her duties as a Pacific Fleet Torpedo Flotilla submarine tender based at San Pedro. That assignment occupied her for the remaining four years of her naval career.
The submarine H-3 was reassigned to the Submarine Base, San Pedro, in August 1918, followed by the submarines H-4 through H-9 in November. These later H-class submarines were launched and commissioned in 1918, stationed at San Pedro, and were later joined by their sister submarines H-2 and H-3, remaining there until January, 1919.
In the meantime, on June 24, 1918, (by Navy Department's orders dated June 12, 1918) the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet was ordered virtually abolished pending further instructions. Commander Poundstone was relieved as Commanding Officer of the Submarine Base, San Pedro, and was ordered to perform such duties under the jurisdiction of Commander, Division Two, Pacific Fleet, as the Senior Officer Present Afloat, in the Pacific.
In the meantime, the submarines O-14 (SS-75), O-15 (SS-76) and O-16 (SS-77), built by the California Ship Building Company in Long Beach, were taken over during April and May, 1918, to the Submarine Base, and prepared for towing to the Mare Island Navy Yard, there to be completed by the Government. When readied, the O-15 departed with the tender UNALGA, followed by the O-16 and O-14 which were accompanied to the Mare Island Navy Yard by the Tug TILLAMOOK.
Between the months of August and November, 1918, several submarines of the R-class [consisting of R-15 (SS-91), R-16 (SS-92), R-17 (SS-93), R-18 (SS-94), R-19 (SS-95) and R-20 (SS-96)], built at Union Iron Works, in San Francisco, and the submarine O-2 (SS-63), began operating out of the San Pedro Submarine Base for trial, testing and training work on local ranges, prior to dispatch south.
The submarines O-14, O-15, and O-16, previously mentioned, similarly returned to San Pedro from the Mare Island Yard to prepare for service in the War Zone as well.
As made available after completion of work up at this Base, these R-class boats (except R-19 and R-20) and O-class submarines were sent forward to Panama, the last batch in the company of the tender BEAVER. The tender BEAVER, with the R-class boats mentioned, was later returned to the Pacific Station as Submarine Division Fourteen, which, under re-organization became the mobile division of the Pacific Fleet, which repeatedly used the San Pedro Submarine Base for supply and torpedo training after January 1919.
Following the Armistice, the submarines L-5 (SS-44); L-6 (SS-45); L-7 (SS-46) and L-8 (SS-48) arrived in San Pedro in early 1919, joining the Submarine Flotilla there and remaining there until 1922.
When tensions arose in the Far East between the United States and Japan, the Navy Department created Submarine Divisions Six and Seven, Pacific.
During this same time period, the Wilson Administration transferred 200 warships to the Pacific. This powerful fleet included America's newest battleships. Admiral Hugh Rodman, commander of the fleet, brought his dreadnought through the Panama Canal in record time in the "war scare" atmosphere of 1919.
The Port of San Diego was considered too shallow to handle the largest ships and so, on August 9, 1919, the fleet steamed north to what would become the new battleship anchorage, the Ports of San Pedro (Los Angeles Harbor) and Long Beach in San Pedro Bay, California.
From 1919 to 1940 several ships of the Pacific Battle Fleet were home based in San Pedro. Among these were the Battleships WYOMING (BB-32), USS ARKANSAS (BB-33), NEW YORK (BB-34), TEXAS (BB-35), NEVADA (BB-36), OKLAHOMA (BB-37), PENNSYLVANIA (BB-38), ARIZONA (BB-39), NEW MEXICO (BB-40), MISSISSIPPI (BB-41), IDAHO (BB-42), TENNESSEE (BB-43), CALIFORNIA (BB-44), COLORADO (BB-45), MARYLAND (BB-46) and WEST VIRGINIA (BB-48); Aircraft Carriers SARATOGA and LEXINGTON; Repair Ships ARGONNE, MEDUSA and VESTAL; and Hospital Ships MERCY and RELIEF.
At various times since the establishment of the Submarine Base in San Pedro, many of the destroyers built on the West Coast called upon the Base for supplies or were based there as well during their sea trials. Among these were the WARD, CALDWELL, ROBINON, SCHLEY, MUGFORD, BOGGS, LUDLOW, and KILTY.
The Submarine Base also served as a point of call, supply or repair facility for the BRUTUS, NANSHAN, IROQUOIS, BAY, OCEAN, CHALLENGE, VICKSBURG, OREGON, YORKTOWN, MINNEAPOLIS, IRIS, FARRAGUT, BROADBILL, and numerous Shipping Board vessels assigned to and commissioned for naval uses or otherwise employed in the Public Service. A number of Submarine-Chasers were attached at various times as well.
Six submarines of the new R-class were ordered to the Pacific, arriving at their new base, San Pedro, California, in June 1921. These submarines included R-1 (SS-78); R-2 (SS-79); R-3 (SS-80); R-4 (SS-81); R-5 (SS-82); R-6 (SS-83) and R-10 (SS-87), which operated out of San Pedro for the next two years. They were joined by the last class of submarines to be homeported in San Pedro –those of the S-class.
The S-class submarines reflected the Navy Department's prevailing warfare thinking of the time. The submersible or submarine was no longer thought of as purely a weapon for coastal defense. The Navy now viewed the submarine as being a type of destroyer or torpedo boat that could operate with the battle fleet. On paper, these characteristics, adopted during World War I, brought the Navy one step closer to the "fleet submarine," developed during World War II. Consequently, the S-class submarine in 1916, could do 15-knots on the surface.
The first of the S-class submarines to be stationed in San Pedro included the S-30 (SS-135); S-32 (SS-137); S-33 (SS-138); S-37 (SS-142) and S-38 (SS-143), being stationed there from 1922 to 1925. These submarines were built by the Bethlehem Ship Building Corporation, San Francisco, California, for the Electric Boat Company.
From 1925 to 1926, the submarine S-4 (SS-109) also briefly operated out of San Pedro.
Still, with the exception of a Submarine Base and its pier which were leased from the city of Los Angeles' Harbor Department, the 1,400 men stationed there, and the Reserve Training Center, other shore facilities in the San Pedro area were non-existent. By 1922, the Submarine Base's facilities were soon being shared with destroyers. The base would eventually give way to the destroyers, with the last mention of the Submarine Base at San Pedro being made in official Navy Orders was in 1929, when the base had already become specialized in servicing of auxiliary ships.
Among this number were six submarines of the R-class: R-2, R-4, R-10, R-11, R-13, and R-14, twenty-six submarines of the S-class: S-18, S-20, S-21, S-22, S-23, S-24, S-25, S-26, S-27, S-28, S-29, S-30, S-34, S-35, S-36, S-37, S-38, S-39, S-40, S-41, S-42, S-43, S-44, S-45, S-46 and S-47, as well as the newer improved ARGONAUT, NAUTILUS, NARWHAL, DOLPHIN, CACHALOT, CUTTLEFISH, PORPOISE, PIKE, SHARK, TARPON, PERCH, PICKEREL, PERMIT, PLUNGER, POLLACK, POMPANO, SALMON, SEAL, SKIPJACK, SNAPPER, STINGRAY, STURGEON, and SARGO.
Attending surface craft were the RICHMOND –Flagship; LITCHFIELD –Tactical Flagship; HOLLAND, CANOPUS, BEAVER, SEAGULL, and KEOSANQUA –Submarine Tenders; WIDGEON, FALCON, MALLARD, ORTOLAN, and PIDGEON –Submarine Rescue Vessels; and SEMMES –Experimental Ship.
This force was considered adequate for peacetime needs, but with the possibility that war would transverse the waters to America, it became imperative that steps be taken toward the expansion of the U.S. Fleet.
In all, nine O-class boats were re-commissioned to serve as training submarines (O-1 through O-10, except for O-5, which had been sunk after a collision in 1923.) Like the O-class boats and their various sister class submarines, many were returned to service in order to provide training platforms for a submarine force that was certain to grow by leaps and bounds.
With World War II looming on the horizon, the U.S. Navy began a massive construction program. By April, 1941, twelve submarines of the new TAMBOR-class were already nearing completion, and 73 GATO-class boats were already on order.
By the time the U.S. Navy entered World War II in December, 1941, with several older submarines now re-commissioned, we entered it with 111 submarines –Still these were mostly of the older "R" and "S" classes, short range vessels developed during and after World War I.
Among those R-class submarines to see service in World War II that were once stationed in San Pedro were the R-1 (SS-78); R-2 (SS-79); R-3 (SS-80); R-4 (SS-81); R-5 (SS-82); R-6 (SS-83) and R-10 (SS-87), which were joined by the last class of submarines to be home ported in San Pedro –those of the S-class which included the S-30 (SS-135); S-32 (SS-137); S-33 (SS-138); S-37 (SS-142) and S-38 (SS-143).
Of the aforementioned S-class submarines, the S-30 (SS-135) was awarded two battle stars for her World War II service; the S-32 (SS-136) earned five battle stars during World War II; the S-33 (SS-137) earned one battle star; S-37 (SS-142) earned five battle stars; and S-38 (SS-143) earned three battle stars during World War II.
Yet it was the submarine NARWHAL (SS-167), which received 15 battle stars for her World War II service, and NAUTILUS (SS-168), the Mare Island built submarine, who went on to earn a Presidential Unit Citation for her aggressive war patrols in enemy controlled waters, as well as 14 battle stars for her service during World War II, for which the City and Port of Los Angeles-San Pedro can take pride.
There is a sort of grim symbolism in the fact that Admiral Nimitz took command of the Pacific Fleet aboard a submarine. Though the new Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CinCPac) was an old submariner, the choice was not just a matter of sentiment. The hard fact was that at this time the suitable surface combatant ships were on the bottom of the ocean floor or en route to the West Coast for repairs.
Interestingly enough, it was as a young Lieutenant in 1912, that Nimitz had forecast the submarine's future: "The steady development of the torpedo together with the gradual improvement in the size, motive power and speed of submarine craft of the near future will result in a most dangerous offensive weapon, and one which will have a large part in deciding fleet actions."
Commanding some five thousand ships and two million men --amounting to more military power than had been wielded by all the commanders in all previous wars, Nimitz was later to comment that: "It was to the Submarine Force, that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy."
And so the Submarine Force took the war to the enemy's very doorstep.
The U.S. Submarine Force during World War II, composed of about 50,000 men, including staffs and back-up personnel, represented less than 2 percent of the U. S. Navy's total manpower. Of this number, only 16,000 men actually made war patrols on submarines.
This small force by wars end, inflicted a staggering blow to the enemy.
To the Submarine Force fell the major portion of the task of intercepting Japanese naval forces, and stopping Japan's 6,000,000 tons of enemy merchant shipping. This little-publicized, unremitting campaign of attrition by the "dolphin Navy" was to sever Japan's logistics which in turn virtually starved Japan into submission.
By war's end, this small elite volunteer force sank 214 Japanese Naval Vessels, about a third of all Japanese warships destroyed, including a battleship, eight aircraft carriers, 15 cruisers, 42 destroyers and 23 enemy submarines. Add to this number 1,113 Japanese merchant ships (with an additional 65 probable), over one-half of its merchant marine shipping. This highly successful campaign would elevate the Submarine Service to an important place in our Fleet.
However, U.S. submarines performed a plethora of other critical jobs as well. They carried supplies to beleaguered Corregidor, supplied and reinforced the guerrillas in the Philippines, evacuated key military personnel, and performed many valuable reconnaissance missions. But submarines contributed to the war effort in another arena –the "Submarine Lifeguard League."
The Submarine Lifeguard League was started in 1943 and continued to the close of the war. Submarines on War Patrol were specifically assigned to areas for given periods of time, to support Army and Navy Air Operations in the Pacific Theater. The endeavors of eighty-six (86) submarines and their crews, under great risk to their boats, and to the safety of their officers and crews, managed an astounding rescue of 504 downed Aviators. While the number of Aviators rescued by each submarine varies from boat to boat, there were 31 Aviators whose luck boat was the USS TIGRONE (SS-419), another 22 Aviators were rescued by the USS TANG (SS-306), and for 21 Aviators it was the USS RAY (SS-271). The most prominent of those being, when the USS FINBACK (SS-230) rescued then, Lt.(j.g.) George W. Bush, who would later become our 41st President.
These 504 Aviators survived to fight again because of Submarine Lifeguard Duty –an enterprise which started as a little extra duty to assist the air forces of the Army and Navy and developed into one of the major tasks assigned to U.S. submarines.
But seldom, if ever in history, has so small a naval force accomplished so much. American submarines were to be second to no other service branch in their contributions to victory.
But these accomplishments came with a heavy price.
Fifty-two (52) out of 288 American submarines were lost. Of the 52 submarine losses, two were lost in the Atlantic, the remaining 48 were lost as the direct or indirect result of action during combat operations. Of these, thirty-seven submarines went down with all hands.
Among these losses were the R-12, a coastal submarine built in World War I; six early S-class submarines, the S-26, S-27, S-28, S-36, S-39 and S-44, built after World War I; and 45 submarines of the more modern fleet-type –the ALBACORE, AMBERJACK, ARGONAUT, BARBEL, BONEFISH, BULLHEAD, CAPELIN, CISCO, CORVINA, DARTER, DORADO, ESCOLAR, FLIER, GOLET, GRAYBACK, GRAYLING, GRAMPUS, GRENADIER, GROWLER, GRUNION, GUDGEON, HARDER, HERRING, KETE, LAGARTO, PERCH, POMPANO, PICKEREL, RUNNER, ROBALO, SCAMP, SCORPION, SCULPIN, SEALION, SEAWOLF, SHARK, SHARK II, SNOOK, SWORDFISH, TANG, TRIGGER, TRITON, TROUT, TULLIBEE, and WAHOO.
Over 3,500 men went down with these submarines –their epitaph written in the words "OVERDUE AND PRESUMED LOST."
The U.S. Submarine Force suffered the highest percentage of lives sacrificed in all branches of the United States military service. Of the 16,000 men who served on these submarines, one out of every four men in the submarine service were lost. Yet, their courage in the face of danger remains unchallenged.
In speaking of those valiant submariners, Vice Admiral C. A. Lockwood, Jr., Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, (January 1943 - January 1946), in a speech given in Cleveland, on Navy Day 1945, adds this final note: "As to the 374 officers and 3,131 men of the Submarine Force who gave their lives in the winning of this war, I can assure you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge their deaths."
Despite these losses, when the "Cease Fire" order was sent on August 15, a ring of submarines already surrounded Japan. Within two weeks, the submarines ARCHERFISH, CAVALLA, GATO, HADDO, HAKE, MUSKALLUNGE, PILOTFISH, RAZORBACK, RUNNER II, SEGUNDO, SEACAT, and TIGRONE were found inside Tokyo Bay along side the submarine tender PROTEUS to witness the Nimitz's historic signing of the surrender instrument aboard the battleship MISSOURI. The exploits of our World War II Submarine Force are a source of legend, pride, and legacy.
To seven of these submariners went our nation's highest military award for "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty," the Medal of Honor; two posthumously.
After the war, when Admiral Nimitz relinquished command, this time with any ship to chose from in the fleet, he took down his flag aboard the submarine MENHADEN. "It was to the Submarine Force," stated Nimitz, "that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of great peril."