USS Seawolf (SS-197)
Service
- as Seawolf1 December 1939 — 20 January 19451,877 days of the war
- Name
- USS Seawolf
- Pennant / hull number
- SS-197
- Namesake
- Atlantic wolffish
- Builder
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
- Laid down
- 27 September 1938
- Launched
- 15 August 1939
- Commissioned
- 1 December 1939
- Struck
- 20 January 1945
- Fate
- Probably sunk by friendly fire from USS Richard M. Rowell off Morotai on 3 October 1944
By accident (1944) - Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Length
- 94.49 m (310 ft)
- Beam
- 7.92 m (26 ft)
- Draught
- 4.88 m (16 ft)
- Range
- 11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
- Complement
- 59
Seawolf (SS-197) was laid down on 27 September 1938 by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard; launched on 15 August 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Edward C. Kalbfus; and commissioned on 1 December 1939, Lt. Frederick B. Warder in command.
After fitting out, Seawolf departed Portsmouth on 12 April 1940 for her shakedown cruise which lasted until 21 June and took her as far south as the Panama Canal Zone. Seawolf was next assigned to the Pacific Fleet with her home port, San Diego. In the autumn of 1940, she proceeded to Manila Bay and operated from the Cavite Navy Yard. When war with Japan began , the submarine readied for sea and was on her first war patrol from 8 to 26 December 1941.
Seawolf hunted Japanese shipping off San Bernardino Strait. On 14 December 1941, she fired a spread of torpedoes at a tender or supply ship in Port San Vicente with unknown results. She promptly underwent her first depth charge attack but suffered no damage.
Continue to the full service history About 1,155 words
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Seawolf I (SS-197)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators, 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries, 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears, two shafts, 5400 shp surfaced, 2740 shp submerged
- Armament
- 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, four aft; 24 torpedoes ({Mark 14s as designed, mixed with Mark 10s or mines during World War Two}), 1 × 3 in/50 cal deck gun, 4 × machine guns
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Seawolf (SS-197) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Service history reproduced verbatim from Seawolf I (SS-197) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
- Photograph: HokansonDM — Own work — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons