USS ''Grouper'' (SS/SSK/AGSS-214), a ''Gato''-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

, was the only ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to be named for the

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

Construction and commissioning

''Grouper'' was launched by the

Electric Boat Company Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

at Groton,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, on 27 October 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Albert F. Church, and commissioned at New London on 12 February 1942, with Lieutenant Commander C. E. Duke in command.

1942

After shakedown in

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

, ''Grouper'' sailed for

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

on 30 March 1942 to join the Pacific Submarine Force, which was to play havoc on

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese shipping. Before departing for her first war patrol, ''Grouper'' was assigned to the submarine screen which ringed the area as the American and Japanese fleets clashed in the decisive

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. Patrolling the fringe of the fighting on 4 June, ''Grouper'' sighted two burning enemy

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s, but could not close for attack because of heavy air cover. On that day, she was strafed by fighter planes and driven deep in a series of aircraft and destroyer attacks which saw over 170 depth charges and bombs dropped on the novice submarine. The next day, as the battle still raged, ''Grouper'' crash-dived to avoid enemy bombers. She then put in at Midway for three days for fuel and provisions before sailing on her first war patrol on 12 June. She torpedoed and damaged two Japanese ''maru'' (merchant) ships before returning to Pearl Harbor on 30 July. On her second patrol (28 August – 9 October), ''Grouper'' under the command of Rob Roy McGregor sank two freighters, ''Tone Maru'' on 21 September and '' Lisbon Maru'' on 1 October. It was later learned that ''Lisbon Maru'' was carrying 1800

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s from

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

; over 800 died in the sinking. On her third patrol (12 November – 31 December) to

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, on 17 December, she encountered and sank ''Bandoeng Maru'', a passenger-freighter headed for the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

with troop reinforcements.

1943

During her fourth war patrol (21 January – 18 March 1943), ''Grouper'' rescued an aviator who had been stranded on Rengi Island, near Rob Roy Island in the Solomons, for several days; she also located several key Japanese

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

installations in the

. On 4 February 1943, she penetrated between the two columns of a Japanese

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

and had just achieved a firing solution on a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

at a range of when Allied aircraft arrived and began

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

the

, both prompting her target to make a radical course change that spoiled her attack and endangering ''Grouper'' herself.Hinman & Campbell, p. 82. Japanese aircraft intervened, resulting in a large

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...

over ''Groupers position. With the Japanese ships and aircraft on high alert, ''Grouper'' went deep and lost her opportunity to attack the convoy. ''Groupers next four patrols netted her no further kills, despite several determined attacks, but the patrols illustrated the varied tasks submarines took on during the war. In addition to her regular patrol duties, which harassed Japanese shipping and tied up valuable warships desperately needed by the enemy, ''Grouper'' landed 50 men and of gear on

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

to carry on guerrilla warfare; at the same time, she rescued an American aviator who had been stranded there almost three months. On 30 July 1943, a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

bomber mistakenly attacked ''Grouper'' in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

, east of Rossel Island at .Hinman & Campbell, pp. 82–83. She crash-dived to a depth of , but the B-25 dropped two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s which exploded as she passed a depth of , inflicting enough damage that she was forced to terminate her patrol and head for Brisbane. She reached Brisbane on 3 August 1943 and went alongside the

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

for repairs. At the conclusion of her eighth patrol, ''Grouper'' headed for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and overhaul, reaching

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on 19 October 1943.

1944

After returning to Pearl Harbor on 7 January 1944 for additional repairs, the veteran submarine sailed for her ninth war patrol on 22 May. This patrol netted ''Grouper'' what was to be her last kill of the war, ''Kumanoyama Maru'', which she sank in a night surface attack on 24 June. ''Grouper'' final three war patrols found a lack of targets; American submarines had done their job on Japanese shipping too well for ''Grouper'' purposes. She stood lifeguard duty during several air strikes and rescued seven downed aviators during raids on the

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

s in September 1944.

1945–1949

Returning to Pearl Harbor from her 12th and last war patrol on 26 April 1945, ''Grouper'' sailed the following day for San Francisco and overhaul. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 August, but

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

cancelled plans for another patrol, and on 9 September, ''Grouper'', in company with and , sailed for New London. Four years of local operations and training exercises along the coast to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

followed for ''Grouper''. During this period, she chalked up two "firsts": in 1946 she became the first submarine to have a

Combat Information Center A combat information center (CIC) or action information centre (AIC) is a room in a warship or Airborne early warning and control, AWACS aircraft that functions as a tactical center and provides processed information for command and control of ...

installed, and the following year she effected the first discharge and recovery of men from a submerged and underway submarine.

1950–1957

These operations ended 5 March 1950 as ''Grouper'' entered the

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY or MINS) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean and was in service 142 years from 1854 to 1996. It is located on Mare Island, northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, Califor ...

for conversion under project SCB 58 to the Navy's first " hunter-killer submarine". Her classification was changed to SSK-214 on 2 January 1951. With the addition of a snorkel and extensive

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

and radar facilities, ''Grouper'' emerged from the yard on 27 June 1951 to pioneer in research on the deadly submarine-versus-submarine warfare. For the next eight years, as a unit of Submarine Development Group 2, ''Grouper'' worked to develop and test concepts of hunter-killer antisubmarine warfare. In this duty, she ranged along the East Coast from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

to Florida, as well as participating in Caribbean exercises. In 1953 and 1955, exercises took ''Grouper'' across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

to Rothesay, via

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. In the fall of 1957, she then participated in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

maneuvers.

1958–1962

''Grouper'' was reclassified AGSS-214, 17 May 1958, and on 28 November 1959 she entered the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard on Seavey's Island in Kittery, Maine, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The naval yard lies along the southern boundary of Maine on ...

for extensive modification. Her forward torpedo room was converted into a floating laboratory; work benches and additional berths for scientists were installed, and various types of sonar gear were added topside. Thus equipped, ''Grouper'' departed Portsmouth on 23 June 1960 to embark on the fourth phase of her long career, research vessel for the Naval Research and Underwater Sound Laboratories. Her duties as a floating laboratory took her frequently to the Caribbean and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, although she retained New London as her home port and engaged in operations there and as far north as Nova Scotia. Her efforts were focused on the study of sound propagation in water. In December 1962, ''Grouper'' entered the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy shipyard and was historically important for nearly two centuries. Construction of the original Philadelphia Naval Shipyard began during the American Revolution in 1776 at Front ...

for overhaul and modification to prepare for further work in this field. ''Grouper'' left the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in May 1963 to resume her investigation of waterborne sound.

1964–1968

In June 1964, ''Grouper'' was awarded the Battle Efficiency "E". In November 1965, the submarine again entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for overhaul and equipment modifications to increase her usefulness as a floating underwater sound laboratory. She departed Philadelphia on 1 May 1966, reached New London on 1 June, and headed for the Caribbean for intensive research. Her studies during 1966 also took her to

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

and twice to Bermuda. At the beginning of 1967, ''Grouper'' was at New London preparing to resume gathering knowledge of underwater sound propagation. Up until the end of 1968, ''Grouper'' was still adding accomplishments as a floating laboratory to her long and outstanding record during both war and peace. In May 1965 ''Grouper'' surpassed the record previously held by for serving the longest as the oldest submarine in the U.S. Navy. ''Grouper'' was decommissioned and stricken on 2 December 1968. On 11 August 1970, she was sold for scrapping.

Awards

Navy E Ribbon A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal The Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal was a United States military award of the Second World War, which was awarded to any member of the United States Armed Forces who served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945. The medal was create ...

with 10

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s *

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

with star

In media

''Groupers 1943 mission to land men and gear on New Britain is depicted in "The ''Grouper'' Story," a 1957 episode of ''The Silent Service'', an American

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

that aired in syndication in the

for two seasons in 1957 and 1958.The Classic TV Archive "The Silent Service" Season 1 (Syndicated) (1957) Accessed 11 February 2023
/ref>

References

Citations

Bibliography

Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.
.

External links

Sinking of ''Lisbon Maru''hazegray.org: USS ''Grouper''"The ''Grouper'' Story," Episode 21 of ''The Silent Service'', on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grouper (SS-214) Gato-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1941 ships Maritime incidents in February 1943 Maritime incidents in July 1943 Friendly fire incidents of World War II