U.S.S. Wahoo
SS-238
1943
(Helge Fischer HF-14c)
- Class: Gato - 73 submarines of 1940
- Displacement: 1,525/2,415 tons
- Dimensions: 307(wl) 311.75(oa) x 27.25 x 15.25 ft.
- Machinery: 2-shaft Diesels, H.P. 5,400/2,740 = 20.25/10 knots
- Armament: 10-21" T.T. (6 bow, 4 stern); 1-3"/50, 1-20mm gun
- Complement: 85
- Builder: Mare Island Navy Yard
- Keel Laid: 28 Jun 1941
- Launched: 14 Feb 1942
- Commissioned: 15 May 1942
- Service: One of the most successful American submarines of World War II. Two war patrols under LtCdr M. G. Kennedy bagged one ship. Command passed to LtCdr D. W. "Mush" Morton for the third patrol, to New Guinea. Aggressive action sank three Japanese ships on 26 Jan 1943, winning Morton a Navy Cross and Wahoo a Presidential Unit Citation. Her fourth patrol to the Yellow Sea was the best of the war to date, with nine sinkings in 10 days during Mar 1943. Another successful patrol to the Aleutians sank three more ships in May 1943, but the sixth patrol came up empty. She went missing during her seventh patrol to the Sea of Japan in Oct 1943. Postwar analysis credited Wahoo with four additional sinkings. She herself was probably lost on 11 Oct to antisubmarine aircraft in the Strait of La Perouse. Total score was 20 ships for 60,038 tons.
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