Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Submarine SS-264

USS Pargo (SS-264)

Gato-class diesel-electric submarine

USS Pargo (SS-264)
Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — SS-264 USS_Pargo; https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08264.htm Port side view of the Pargo (SS-264), underway on May 28, 1945, off Mare Island, CA. US Navy photo courtesy of John Hummel.

Service

  1. United States Navy26 April 1943 — 12 June 1946860 days of the war
Full service history About 562 words
Gato-class diesel-electric submarine Particulars
Name
USS Pargo
Pennant / hull number
SS-264
Builder
Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down
21 May 1942
Launched
24 January 1943
Commissioned
26 April 1943
Decommissioned
12 June 1946
Struck
1 December 1960
Fate
Sold for scrap, 16 May 1961 (1961)
Status
Scrapped

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,525 long tons (1,549 t)
Displacement, submerged
2,424 long tons (2,463 t)
Length
94.79 m (311 ft)
Beam
8.23 m (27 ft)
Draught
5.18 m (17 ft)
Speed
21 knots (38.9 km/h, 24.2 mph)
Range
10,799 nmi (20,000 km)
Complement
60
Main gun
76 mm (3 in)

The first Pargo (SS-264) was laid down 21 May 1942 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; launched 24 January 1943; sponsored by Miss Belle Baruch; and commissioned 26 April 1943, Lt. Comdr. Ian C. Eddy in command.

Following shakedown and training Pargo sailed via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, arriving 23 July 1943. The first of her eight war patrols began 18 August and took her into the East China Sea where she twice attacked the enemy, inflicting undetermined damage to several ships before returning to Pearl Harbor 6 October.

After refitting Pargo sailed 30 October in company with Snook (SS-279) and Harder (SS-257) in a wolf-pack. The efforts of the three were well directed against the open sea area northwest of the Marianas where Pargo sank two freighters, Manju Maru and Shoko Maru totaling 7,810 tons, on 29 and 30 November.

Continue to the full service history About 562 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Pargo I (SS-264)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (H.O.R.) diesel engines driving electric generators
  • 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
  • 4 × high-speed Allis-Chalmers electric motors with reduction gears
  • two propellers
Power
  • 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced
  • 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Armament
  • 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 forward, 4 aft
  • 24 torpedoes
  • 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun
  • Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Sister ships

51 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Pargo (SS-264) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Pargo I (SS-264) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons