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USS Sculpin (SS-191)
Encyclopedia
USS Sculpin (SS-191), a Sargo-class
submarine
, was the first ship of the United States Navy
to be named for the sculpin
.
Her keel
was laid down on 7 September 1937 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
. She was launched
on 27 July 1938 sponsored by Mrs. J.R. Defrees, and commissioned
on 16 January 1939, Lieutenant
Warren D. Wilkin in command.
and preparing supplementary charts of the area where Squalus was refloated.
Following the assistance given in the recovery of Squalus, Sculpin engaged in type training off the Atlantic coast until transferred to the Pacific Fleet
. Departing Portsmouth on 28 January 1940, she arrived at San Diego, California
on 6 March. She sailed west on 1 April, arriving at Pearl Harbor
on 9 March, where she was based for the next 18 months. Departing Pearl Harbor
on 23 October 1941 as part of Submarine Division 22, she arrived at Manila
on 8 November. From Cavite, she engaged in local operations and type training until war broke out.
. She then took station off Lamon Bay
in the Philippine Sea
north of Luzon
on 10 December. "The weather was foul, the visibility abysmal." When Frederick W. Warder's Seawolf was moved, Sculpin took up her station off Aparri, departing 21 December. Three days later, a Japanese task force came ashore at the unguarded Lamon Bay. Off Aparri, Sculpin detected a target, but was unable to gain firing position. After was twice "pooped" by heavy seas, Sculpin requested she be moved back to Lamon Bay, where she found weather so bad, she proved unable to attack Japanese shipping going in or out. Her first patrol terminated (after a duration of 45 days) at Surabaya
, Java, on 22 January.
Her second patrol, from 30 January-28 February, was in the Molucca Sea
, east of Sulawesi
. On 4 February off Kendari
, Java, she fired three torpedo
s at a Japanese destroyer
. Two hits inflicted heavy damage. After the war, Japanese records revealed had beached herself, and was later salvaged. Three nights later, Sculpin detected a Japanese task force (bound for Makassar City, Celebes) made up of destroyers, cruiser
s, and an aircraft carrier
(a startling sight, as it remained for the duration). She fired on a cruiser, missed and was detected and forced to dive. She escaped four hours later after a heavy depth charge
attack by six destroyers. When she got loose, she radioed a contact report, which was not received. On the night of 17 February, she was detected while making a surface attack, firing two torpedoes each at a freighter and a destroyer, all of which missed, and she was forced to dive. During the ensuing depth charge attack, she sustained damage to her starboard main controller and starboard shaft. On 28 February, after 28 days at sea, she arrived at Fremantle
for refit, falling under the command of Admiral
Charles A. Lockwood
.
Her third patrol, from 13 March-27 April out of Fremantle, was in the Banda Sea
, again off Kendari. Codebreaker
s got word a Japanese carrier force, Carrier Division Five, had arrived on 24 March. Two days later, this force departed Kendari; Sculpin failed to spot them, but did fire three torpedoes at a freighter, all of which missed. The torpedoes were last seen running straight for the target, but apparently ran deeper than set. A similar incident occurred on 1 April in a night attack, and within a week, a third attack with three more torpedoes had also failed. Sculpin, like many of her sister submarines in the early days of the Pacific War
, was plagued by malfunctions of the Mark 14 torpedo
, which ran erratically or too deep, or of the Mark 6 exploder, which failed to detonate them correctly. The frustrated Sculpin returned to Fremantle on 27 April, after forty-five unproductive days on patrol.
Sculpins fourth war patrol, from 29 May – 17 June, was in the South China Sea
. On 8 June, she was unsuccessful in an attack on a cargo ship, again due to torpedo malfunction. A vigorous depth charge attack kept Sculpin down while the cargo ship escaped. On 13 June, near Balabac Strait, she torpedoed a cargo ship which returned fire with her deck gun and commenced to limp away. Turning on two accompanying tankers astern of the cargo ship, Sculpin made an attack but was forced to dive to prevent being rammed by one of the tankers. Surfacing at dusk, Sculpin pursued the cargo ship, but was again driven away by accurate gunfire from the maru. She shifted her attack to a tanker, leaving the ship listing and making heavy smoke. However, no sinking was confirmed. Off Cape Varella, Indochina
, early on the morning of 19 June, she torpedoed a cargo ship, making a hit forward of the stack. A heavy secondary explosion was heard, and the damaged vessel was last seen headed for the shore to beach, smoke pouring from her forward hatch. Sculpin returned to Australia
on 17 July. She moved to Brisbane
, under Ralph Waldo Christie
(part of Admiral Arthur S. Carpender
's 7th Fleet
, and ultimately General
Douglas MacArthur
's South West Pacific Area command), along with the rest of Submarine Squadron Two (SubRon 2), in August.
The waters of the Bismarck Archipelago
were the theater of her fifth patrol, from 8 September-26 October. After reconnaissance off Thilenius and Montagu harbors of New Ireland
, Sculpin commenced her search for Japanese shipping. On 28 September, she scored two hits on a cargo ship, but was forced to dive as a Japanese destroyer raced to the scene. Sculpin was under depth charge attack for three hours, during which she sustained minor damage. On 7 October, she made her first confirmed kill, Naminoue Maru, off New Ireland. Escaping the Japanese escorts' countermeasures, she remained in the general area where, a week later, she intercepted a three-ship convoy in the shipping lane between Rabaul
and Kavieng
. Waiting until the escorting destroyer had made a patrol sweep to the opposite side of the convoy, Sculpin fired a spread of four torpedoes at Sumoyoshi Maru. While the blazing ship lay dead in the water and sinking, Sculpin slipped away. Four days later, she inflicted minor damage on , with a hit forward of the bridge, but was driven off by the cruiser’s gunfire. For the 54-day duration of her patrol, she was credited with three ships for 24,100 tons; postwar, only two for 6,652 tons were confirmed.
Departing Brisbane on her sixth war patrol, from 18 November 1942-8 January 1943, Sculpin worked her way past New Britain
to the rich hunting grounds off Truk. After escaping a Japanese aerial attack on 11 December, she was put on the scent of a Japanese aircraft carrier by codebreakers. On the night of 17–18 December, she closed to 9 miles (14.5 km). One illuminated Sculpin with a searchlight
as both commenced heavy fire with deck guns. The submarine went deep as the enemy depth charge
attack and prolonged sonar
search continued. The following night, she scored two hits on a tanker, with no sinking credited, and none confirmed postwar. For her 52 day patrol, Sculpin had nothing to show.
Sculpin arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 January 1943, and steamed east to San Francisco, California
, spending three months in overhaul at Mare Island. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 May, she departed Hawaii for her seventh war patrol on 24 May and operated off the northwest coast of Honshū
. Around midnight on 9 June, three days after arriving on station off Sofu Gan (also called Lot's Wife), she detected a Japanese task force consisting of two aircraft carriers with a cruiser escort. Sculpin rang up flank speed to close, but was outdistanced. She made a desperate shot, four torpedoes from 7,000 yd (6,400 m); one exploded prematurely, giving her away, and she was unable to make a stern tube shot. Two heavy underwater explosion
s were heard as the submarine submerged. On 14 June, she damaged a cargo ship but was forced to dive and run silent to avoid the vigorous countermeasures of the marus escorts. On 19 June, she destroyed two sampan
s by gunfire, leaving them aflame, with decks awash. During the remainder of the patrol, she spotted other possible targets, but they all hugged the shore some running inside the 10 fathom (18 m) line. The patrol terminated at Midway Island on 4 July after 41 days; she was credited with no damage.
Sculpins eighth war patrol, from 25 July-17 September, was off the Chinese coast, in the East China Sea
and Formosa Strait. On 9 August, she torpedoed and sank Sekko Maru off the coast of Formosa
. She evaded ASW patrol craft in the Taiwan Strait
on 16–17 August. On 21 August, she intercepted an armed cargo ship and fired a spread of three torpedoes which ran "hot, straight, and normal" but did not explode. Sculpin was immediately pounced upon by escorting destroyers and was forced to dive. The cargo ship escaped in the ensuing depth charge attack. A similar torpedo malfunction occurred on 1 September, when the splash of water resulting from the torpedo striking the target’s hull could be seen, but no detonation occurred. The submarine escaped the immediate counterattack of the escorts, and after reconnaissance of Marcus Island, she returned to Midway Atoll
after 54 days on patrol, earning credit for one ship of 4,500 tons (reduced to 3,183 tons postwar).
Following a brief overhaul period at Pearl Harbor, Sculpin - commanded by Fred Connaway - departed Hawaii
on 5 November 1943. Ordered to patrol north of Truk, she was to intercept and attack Japanese forces leaving Truk to oppose the forthcoming invasion of Tarawa
in the Gilbert Islands
. Sculpin and two other submarines were to form a wolf pack to make coordinated attacks on the enemy, with either or . Captain
John P. Cromwell
, who had been fully briefed on the Tarawa operation and was in the picture on ULTRA
, was on board Sculpin to coordinate wolf pack operations.
After refueling at Johnston Island on 7 November, Sculpin proceeded to her assigned station. On 29 November, Captain Cromwell was ordered to activate the wolf pack. When the submarine failed to acknowledge, the message was repeated 48 hours later. The submarine was presumed lost on 30 December and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 25 March 1944.
The account of Sculpins final patrol was given by the surviving members of her crew, who were liberated from Japanese prisoner of war
camps after V-J Day. On 16 November, she had arrived on station and had made radar
contact with a large, high-speed convoy on the night of 18 November. Making a fast end run on the surface to attack on the morning of 19 November, she was in firing position but was forced to dive when the convoy and its escorts zigged toward her. When the Japanese task force changed course, Sculpin surfaced to make another run, but was discovered by , which the convoy commander had left behind for just this eventuality, only 600 yards (548.6 m) away. Diving fast, the submarine escaped the first salvo of depth charges. A second string of "ash cans" knocked out her depth gauge and caused other minor damage. She evaded the destroyer in a rain squall and around 1200 attempted to come to periscope depth. The damaged depth gauge stuck at 12 feet (3.7 m), so the submarine broached and was again detected. She immediately submerged and the destroyer attacked with a pattern of 18 depth charges. There was considerable damage, including temporary loss of depth control. As a result, Sculpin ran beyond safe depth so that many leaks developed in the hull. So much water entered that the submarine was forced to run at high speed to maintain depth. This made tracking easy for the Japanese sonar
. A second depth charge attack knocked out Sculpins sonar.
The submarine’s commanding officer, Commander Fred Connaway, decided to surface and give the crew of the doomed vessel a chance for survival. With her decks still awash, Sculpins gunners manned the deck guns but were no match for the destroyer’s main battery. A shell hit the conning tower
and killed the bridge watch, including Connaway, and flying fragments killed the gun crew. The ship’s senior officer surviving officer, Lieutenant G. E. Brown, ordered Sculpin abandoned and scuttled
. Before he opened the vents, he informed Captain Cromwell. Fearing he might reveal the plans for the Tarawa invasion under the influence of torture or drugs, Cromwell refused to leave the stricken submarine, giving his life to escape capture. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
for his act of heroism and devotion to country. Sculpins diving officer, Ensign
W. M. Fiedler (who failed to notice the depth gauge had stuck), along with ten others, some doubtless already dead, joined him.
Forty-two of Sculpins crew were picked up by Yamagumo. One badly wounded sailor was thrown back in the sea because of his condition. The survivors were questioned for about ten days at the Japanese naval base at Truk, then were embarked on two aircraft carriers returning to Japan
. carried 21 of the survivors in her hold. On 2 December, the carrier was torpedoed and sunk by and twenty of the American prisoners perished; one man, George Rocek, was saved when he was able to grab hold of a ladder on the side of a passing Japanese destroyer and hauled himself on board. (Ironically, Sailfish — at the time named Squalus — was the same submarine Sculpin had helped to locate and raise some four-and-a-half years before.) The other 21 survivors arrived at Ofuna
, Japan
, on 5 December and, after further questioning, were sent to the Ashio copper
mines for the duration of the war.
, in addition to the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. She ended the war with a total of three confirmed ships sunk for 9,835 tons.
The Sculpin is the subject of an episode of the syndicated
television
anthology series, The Silent Service
, which aired during the 1957-1958 season.
Sargo class submarine
The Sargo-class submarines were the first US submarines to be sent into action after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, starting war patrols the day after the attack...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, was the first ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the sculpin
Sculpin
A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...
.
Her keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
was laid down on 7 September 1937 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
Kittery, Maine
Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. 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...
. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 27 July 1938 sponsored by Mrs. J.R. Defrees, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 16 January 1939, Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Warren D. Wilkin in command.
Inter-War Period
While on her initial shakedown cruise on 23 May 1939, Sculpin was diverted to search for . Sighting a red smoke bomb and a buoy from Squalus, she established communications, first by underwater telephone and then by signals tapped in Morse code on the hull. Sculpin stood by while rescued the survivors, and rendered further assistance by familiarizing the divers with the configuration of her sister ship. Sculpin aided in the salvage of the sunken vessel by sounding out the approaches to Portsmouth, New HampshirePortsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
and preparing supplementary charts of the area where Squalus was refloated.
Following the assistance given in the recovery of Squalus, Sculpin engaged in type training off the Atlantic coast until transferred to the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
. Departing Portsmouth on 28 January 1940, she arrived at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
on 6 March. She sailed west on 1 April, arriving at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 9 March, where she was based for the next 18 months. Departing Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 23 October 1941 as part of Submarine Division 22, she arrived at Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
on 8 November. From Cavite, she engaged in local operations and type training until war broke out.
World War II
Departing Cavite on the night of 8–9 December 1941, Sculpin - commanded by Lucius H. Chappell - escorted and as far as San Bernardino StraitSan Bernardino Strait
The San Bernardino Strait is a strait in the Philippines. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.-Filipinos and San Bernardino Strait:...
. She then took station off Lamon Bay
Lamon Bay
Lamon Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island, Philippines, at .-Lamon Bay:It is a body of water connecting the southern part of Quezon province to the Pacific Ocean, and bounds the coastal towns of Atimonan, Gumaca, Plaridel, Lopez, Calauag, and the islands of Alabat. It is a rich...
in the Philippine Sea
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
north of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
on 10 December. "The weather was foul, the visibility abysmal." When Frederick W. Warder's Seawolf was moved, Sculpin took up her station off Aparri, departing 21 December. Three days later, a Japanese task force came ashore at the unguarded Lamon Bay. Off Aparri, Sculpin detected a target, but was unable to gain firing position. After was twice "pooped" by heavy seas, Sculpin requested she be moved back to Lamon Bay, where she found weather so bad, she proved unable to attack Japanese shipping going in or out. Her first patrol terminated (after a duration of 45 days) at Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, Java, on 22 January.
Her second patrol, from 30 January-28 February, was in the Molucca Sea
Molucca Sea
The Molucca Sea is located in the western Pacific Ocean, within the country of Indonesia. The region is rich in coral and has many diving sites.-Location:...
, east of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
. On 4 February off Kendari
Kendari
Kendari is the capital of the Indonesian province of South East Sulawesi. The city lies along Kendari Bay. Moramo Waterfall is located 65 km east of Kendari. Kendari is divided into four subdistricts: Kendari, Mandonga, Baruga, and Poasia...
, Java, she fired three torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
s at a Japanese destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. Two hits inflicted heavy damage. After the war, Japanese records revealed had beached herself, and was later salvaged. Three nights later, Sculpin detected a Japanese task force (bound for Makassar City, Celebes) made up of destroyers, cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, and an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
(a startling sight, as it remained for the duration). She fired on a cruiser, missed and was detected and forced to dive. She escaped four hours later after a heavy depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack by six destroyers. When she got loose, she radioed a contact report, which was not received. On the night of 17 February, she was detected while making a surface attack, firing two torpedoes each at a freighter and a destroyer, all of which missed, and she was forced to dive. During the ensuing depth charge attack, she sustained damage to her starboard main controller and starboard shaft. On 28 February, after 28 days at sea, she arrived at Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
for refit, falling under the command of Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Charles A. Lockwood
Charles A. Lockwood
Charles Andrews Lockwood was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is known in submarine history as the legendary commander of Submarine Force Pacific Fleet during World War II...
.
Her third patrol, from 13 March-27 April out of Fremantle, was in the Banda Sea
Banda Sea
The Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
, again off Kendari. Codebreaker
Codebreaker
Codebreaker may refer to:*A person who performs cryptanalysis*The Codebreakers, a 1967 book on history of cryptography by David Kahn*Codebreaker , a 1981 puzzle-based computer game, originally released for the Atari 2600...
s got word a Japanese carrier force, Carrier Division Five, had arrived on 24 March. Two days later, this force departed Kendari; Sculpin failed to spot them, but did fire three torpedoes at a freighter, all of which missed. The torpedoes were last seen running straight for the target, but apparently ran deeper than set. A similar incident occurred on 1 April in a night attack, and within a week, a third attack with three more torpedoes had also failed. Sculpin, like many of her sister submarines in the early days of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, was plagued by malfunctions of the Mark 14 torpedo
Mark 14 torpedo
The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II.This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war, and was supplemented by the Mark 18 electric torpedo in the last 2 years of the war...
, which ran erratically or too deep, or of the Mark 6 exploder, which failed to detonate them correctly. The frustrated Sculpin returned to Fremantle on 27 April, after forty-five unproductive days on patrol.
Sculpins fourth war patrol, from 29 May – 17 June, was in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
. On 8 June, she was unsuccessful in an attack on a cargo ship, again due to torpedo malfunction. A vigorous depth charge attack kept Sculpin down while the cargo ship escaped. On 13 June, near Balabac Strait, she torpedoed a cargo ship which returned fire with her deck gun and commenced to limp away. Turning on two accompanying tankers astern of the cargo ship, Sculpin made an attack but was forced to dive to prevent being rammed by one of the tankers. Surfacing at dusk, Sculpin pursued the cargo ship, but was again driven away by accurate gunfire from the maru. She shifted her attack to a tanker, leaving the ship listing and making heavy smoke. However, no sinking was confirmed. Off Cape Varella, Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, early on the morning of 19 June, she torpedoed a cargo ship, making a hit forward of the stack. A heavy secondary explosion was heard, and the damaged vessel was last seen headed for the shore to beach, smoke pouring from her forward hatch. Sculpin returned to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 17 July. She moved to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, under Ralph Waldo Christie
Ralph Waldo Christie
Ralph Waldo Christie was an admiral in the United States Navy who played a pivotal role in the development of torpedo technologies...
(part of Admiral Arthur S. Carpender
Arthur S. Carpender
Arthur Schuyler Carpender , nicknamed "Chips", was an American vice admiral during World War II commanding US naval forces in the Southwest Pacific.-Family:...
's 7th Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
, and ultimately General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's South West Pacific Area command), along with the rest of Submarine Squadron Two (SubRon 2), in August.
The waters of the Bismarck Archipelago
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...
were the theater of her fifth patrol, from 8 September-26 October. After reconnaissance off Thilenius and Montagu harbors of New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
, Sculpin commenced her search for Japanese shipping. On 28 September, she scored two hits on a cargo ship, but was forced to dive as a Japanese destroyer raced to the scene. Sculpin was under depth charge attack for three hours, during which she sustained minor damage. On 7 October, she made her first confirmed kill, Naminoue Maru, off New Ireland. Escaping the Japanese escorts' countermeasures, she remained in the general area where, a week later, she intercepted a three-ship convoy in the shipping lane between Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
and Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
. Waiting until the escorting destroyer had made a patrol sweep to the opposite side of the convoy, Sculpin fired a spread of four torpedoes at Sumoyoshi Maru. While the blazing ship lay dead in the water and sinking, Sculpin slipped away. Four days later, she inflicted minor damage on , with a hit forward of the bridge, but was driven off by the cruiser’s gunfire. For the 54-day duration of her patrol, she was credited with three ships for 24,100 tons; postwar, only two for 6,652 tons were confirmed.
Departing Brisbane on her sixth war patrol, from 18 November 1942-8 January 1943, Sculpin worked her way past New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
to the rich hunting grounds off Truk. After escaping a Japanese aerial attack on 11 December, she was put on the scent of a Japanese aircraft carrier by codebreakers. On the night of 17–18 December, she closed to 9 miles (14.5 km). One illuminated Sculpin with a searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
as both commenced heavy fire with deck guns. The submarine went deep as the enemy depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack and prolonged sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
search continued. The following night, she scored two hits on a tanker, with no sinking credited, and none confirmed postwar. For her 52 day patrol, Sculpin had nothing to show.
Sculpin arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 January 1943, and steamed east to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, spending three months in overhaul at Mare Island. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 May, she departed Hawaii for her seventh war patrol on 24 May and operated off the northwest coast of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. Around midnight on 9 June, three days after arriving on station off Sofu Gan (also called Lot's Wife), she detected a Japanese task force consisting of two aircraft carriers with a cruiser escort. Sculpin rang up flank speed to close, but was outdistanced. She made a desperate shot, four torpedoes from 7,000 yd (6,400 m); one exploded prematurely, giving her away, and she was unable to make a stern tube shot. Two heavy underwater explosion
Underwater explosion
An underwater explosion, also known as an UNDEX, is an explosion beneath the surface of water. The type of explosion may be chemical or nuclear...
s were heard as the submarine submerged. On 14 June, she damaged a cargo ship but was forced to dive and run silent to avoid the vigorous countermeasures of the marus escorts. On 19 June, she destroyed two sampan
Sampan
A sampan is a relatively flat bottomed Chinese wooden boat from long. Some sampans include a small shelter on board, and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. Sampans are generally used for transportation in coastal areas or rivers, and are often used as traditional fishing boats...
s by gunfire, leaving them aflame, with decks awash. During the remainder of the patrol, she spotted other possible targets, but they all hugged the shore some running inside the 10 fathom (18 m) line. The patrol terminated at Midway Island on 4 July after 41 days; she was credited with no damage.
Sculpins eighth war patrol, from 25 July-17 September, was off the Chinese coast, in the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
and Formosa Strait. On 9 August, she torpedoed and sank Sekko Maru off the coast of Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. She evaded ASW patrol craft in the Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
on 16–17 August. On 21 August, she intercepted an armed cargo ship and fired a spread of three torpedoes which ran "hot, straight, and normal" but did not explode. Sculpin was immediately pounced upon by escorting destroyers and was forced to dive. The cargo ship escaped in the ensuing depth charge attack. A similar torpedo malfunction occurred on 1 September, when the splash of water resulting from the torpedo striking the target’s hull could be seen, but no detonation occurred. The submarine escaped the immediate counterattack of the escorts, and after reconnaissance of Marcus Island, she returned to Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
after 54 days on patrol, earning credit for one ship of 4,500 tons (reduced to 3,183 tons postwar).
Following a brief overhaul period at Pearl Harbor, Sculpin - commanded by Fred Connaway - departed Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on 5 November 1943. Ordered to patrol north of Truk, she was to intercept and attack Japanese forces leaving Truk to oppose the forthcoming invasion of Tarawa
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
in the Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
. Sculpin and two other submarines were to form a wolf pack to make coordinated attacks on the enemy, with either or . Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
John P. Cromwell
John P. Cromwell
Captain John Philip Cromwell was the most senior submariner awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II and one of the three submarine officers who received it posthumously...
, who had been fully briefed on the Tarawa operation and was in the picture on ULTRA
Ultra
Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by "breaking" high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. "Ultra" eventually became the standard...
, was on board Sculpin to coordinate wolf pack operations.
After refueling at Johnston Island on 7 November, Sculpin proceeded to her assigned station. On 29 November, Captain Cromwell was ordered to activate the wolf pack. When the submarine failed to acknowledge, the message was repeated 48 hours later. The submarine was presumed lost on 30 December and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register 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 the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 25 March 1944.
The account of Sculpins final patrol was given by the surviving members of her crew, who were liberated from Japanese prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camps after V-J Day. On 16 November, she had arrived on station and had made radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
contact with a large, high-speed convoy on the night of 18 November. Making a fast end run on the surface to attack on the morning of 19 November, she was in firing position but was forced to dive when the convoy and its escorts zigged toward her. When the Japanese task force changed course, Sculpin surfaced to make another run, but was discovered by , which the convoy commander had left behind for just this eventuality, only 600 yards (548.6 m) away. Diving fast, the submarine escaped the first salvo of depth charges. A second string of "ash cans" knocked out her depth gauge and caused other minor damage. She evaded the destroyer in a rain squall and around 1200 attempted to come to periscope depth. The damaged depth gauge stuck at 12 feet (3.7 m), so the submarine broached and was again detected. She immediately submerged and the destroyer attacked with a pattern of 18 depth charges. There was considerable damage, including temporary loss of depth control. As a result, Sculpin ran beyond safe depth so that many leaks developed in the hull. So much water entered that the submarine was forced to run at high speed to maintain depth. This made tracking easy for the Japanese sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
. A second depth charge attack knocked out Sculpins sonar.
The submarine’s commanding officer, Commander Fred Connaway, decided to surface and give the crew of the doomed vessel a chance for survival. With her decks still awash, Sculpins gunners manned the deck guns but were no match for the destroyer’s main battery. A shell hit the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
and killed the bridge watch, including Connaway, and flying fragments killed the gun crew. The ship’s senior officer surviving officer, Lieutenant G. E. Brown, ordered Sculpin abandoned and scuttled
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
. Before he opened the vents, he informed Captain Cromwell. Fearing he might reveal the plans for the Tarawa invasion under the influence of torture or drugs, Cromwell refused to leave the stricken submarine, giving his life to escape capture. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for his act of heroism and devotion to country. Sculpins diving officer, Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
W. M. Fiedler (who failed to notice the depth gauge had stuck), along with ten others, some doubtless already dead, joined him.
Forty-two of Sculpins crew were picked up by Yamagumo. One badly wounded sailor was thrown back in the sea because of his condition. The survivors were questioned for about ten days at the Japanese naval base at Truk, then were embarked on two aircraft carriers returning to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. carried 21 of the survivors in her hold. On 2 December, the carrier was torpedoed and sunk by and twenty of the American prisoners perished; one man, George Rocek, was saved when he was able to grab hold of a ladder on the side of a passing Japanese destroyer and hauled himself on board. (Ironically, Sailfish — at the time named Squalus — was the same submarine Sculpin had helped to locate and raise some four-and-a-half years before.) The other 21 survivors arrived at Ofuna
Ofuna
Ōfuna can refer to:*Ōfuna Kannon, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan*Ōfuna Station, a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, on 5 December and, after further questioning, were sent to the Ashio copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
mines for the duration of the war.
Awards
Sculpin was awarded eight battle stars for her service in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in addition to the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. She ended the war with a total of three confirmed ships sunk for 9,835 tons.
The Sculpin is the subject of an episode of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
anthology series, The Silent Service
The Silent Service (TV series)
The Silent Service was a 1957–1958 syndicated anthology television series based on actual events in the submarine section of the United States Navy. The Silent Service was narrated by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in 1949 after twenty-two years of service...
, which aired during the 1957-1958 season.