USS ''Pike'' (SS–173), a ''Porpoise''-class submarine in 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 ...

, was laid down on 20 December 1933 by Portsmouth Navy Yard, in

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of ...

. She was launched on 12 September 1935, sponsored by Jane Logan Snyder, and commissioned on 2 December 1935. ''Pike'' was the first all-welded submarine. The welded hull allowed Pike to submerge to much greater depths than her predecessors and at the same time provided greater protection against depth-charge attacks.

Service history

After a shakedown in the Atlantic, ''Pike'' departed Newport, Rhode Island on 10 February 1937, and proceeded via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

to Naval Station San Diego. In 1937-1938, she participated in maneuvers near

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Entering

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

on 1 December 1939, she served with Submarine Squadron 5 (SubRon 5) out of

Cavite, Philippines Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

, Departing on 20 June 1940, she cruised along the coast of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

to Tsingtao, returning to Cavite on 24 August.

War patrol #1

In response to the Japanese attack upon

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 ...

, she put to sea on 8 December, to guard sea lanes between

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

and

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 ...

War patrol #2

''Pike'' sailed from Manila on 31 December 1941. On 1 January 1942 she sighted the hospital ship SS Mactan. On 10 January she sighted . On 12 January she sighted the . ''Shirataka'' was heard "pinging" in the supersonic range. On 18 January she possibly sighted the , although there was no positive identification. During this patrol she reported numerous aircraft sightings. She moored at Port Darwin,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 24 January 1942.

War patrol #3

On her third war patrol from 5 February-28 March, she detected enemy craft off the Alor Islands on 20 and 24 February, and off

Lombok Strait The Lombok Strait () is a strait of the Bali Sea connecting to the Indian Ocean, and is located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are on the Lombok side. Its narrowest point is at its southern opening, with a ...

on the 28 February 1942.

War patrol #4

On her fourth war patrol, she sailed from

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, on 19 April, and patrolled north of the Palau Islands and off

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

, before reaching

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

on 25 May 1942.

War patrol #5

From 30 May – 9 June 1942, she patrolled north of

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War patrol #6

Overhauled at

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, California, she guided bombers to Wake Island in December, and escaped a severe depth-charging on 14 January 1943 during an attempted attack off

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 ...

War patrol #7

Departing Pearl Harbor on 31 March 1943, she fired torpedoes at targets off Truk from 12–14 April, and shelled Satawan Island on the 25th.

War patrol #8

Getting under way from Pearl Harbor on 22 July 1943 for her eighth war patrol, ''Pike'' sank 2,022-ton Japanese cargo ship ''Shoju Maru'' near Marcus Island 5 August. On 6 August, ''Pike'' attacked and damaged a 22,500 ton ''Kasuga''-class aircraft carrier under escort by a ''Fubuki''-class destroyer. On 22 August, ''Pike'' sighted a Japanese convoy consisting of six cargo vessels with a ''Chidori''-class torpedo boat escort. ''Pike'' attacked the convoy at night, damaging two ships, one of which was determined to be a 2,500 ton ''Gosei''-class freighter, the other was an unidentified 4,000 ton freighter. Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 28 September, she arrived at

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, 3 November 1943. During the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she trained submarine crews at the

Naval Submarine Base New London Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New L ...

Decommissioned

''Pike'' was decommissioned on 15 November 1945 at

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, she became a Naval Reserve training ship at

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, in September 1946. Upon completion of this duty, she was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) 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 t ...

on 17 February 1956, and sold for scrapping on 14 January 1957.

War patrol totals

Total number of ships damaged and sunk by ''Pike'' during her time in service:

Awards

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four battle stars for

service

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pike (Ss-173) United States Porpoise-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1935 ships