USS Scorpion (SS-278)
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USS ''Scorpion'' (SS-278) – 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 fifth 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
scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
.


Construction and commissioning

''Scorpion''′s
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard 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 ...
at
Kittery 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 th ...
,
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, on 20 March 1942. She was launched on 20 July 1942, sponsored by Ms. Elizabeth T. Monagle, and commissioned on 1 October 1942.


Service history

Following further yard work and fitting out, ''Scorpion'' conducted shakedown operations off the southern
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
coast in January 1943 and sailed for
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
in late February. In mid-March she transited 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 ...
and headed toward
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 ...
,
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 ...
. On an unrecorded date while she was on the surface at about the midpoint of her voyage from the
Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...
to Pearl Harbor, she encountered an Allied
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
which mistook her for a Japanese submarine and opened gunfire on her despite her efforts to identify herself.Hinman & Campbell, p. 232. The merchant ship's shells landed wide of ''Scorpion'', and she proceeded with no damage or casualties. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 24 March 1943. There she underwent modifications which included the installation of a
bathythermograph The bathythermograph, or BT, also known as the Mechanical Bathythermograph, or MBT; is a device that holds a temperature sensor and a transducer to detect changes in water temperature versus depth down to a depth of approximately 285 meters (93 ...
, a then-new
oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
instrument to enable her to locate and hide in thermal layers that minimized the effectiveness of
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 ...
equipment. On 5 April, ''Scorpion'' departed Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol, a hunting and mining mission off the east coast of
Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...
. On 19 April, she reached the mining area near Nakaminato. During the afternoon she reconnoitered the coast and in the evening she laid her
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
s, then retired to deep water. On 20 April, she sank her first enemy ship – a converted
gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
, ''Meiji Maru'' No.1. On 21 April, prior to 01:00, she fired on and destroyed her first
sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed wooden boat found in East, Southeast, and South Asia. It is possibly of Chinese or Austronesian origin. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on in ...
in surface action, then moved up the coast to observe the fishing grounds, shipping lanes, and coastline of the Shioya Saki area. On the night of 22 April, she destroyed three more sampans with gunfire and continued north toward Kinkasan To. With the absence of shipping along the coastal lanes, she moved seaward and on 27 April sighted a convoy of four freighters escorted by 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 04:59, she launched four torpedoes at the first and largest merchantman; two at the second; then dived and rigged for depth charging. At 05:05, the destroyer dropped her first
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. A half-hour later, the Japanese warship broke off her search for ''Scorpion'' to aid the stricken passenger-cargo ship. While ''Scorpion'' escaped with slight damage, the merchant vessel ''Yuzan Maru'' sank. On 28 April, ''Scorpion'' received orders home. ''En route'' on 29 April, she sighted and engaged a patrol vessel, which she left burning to the waterline. On the morning of 30 April she stalked, fired on, and finally torpedoed and sank a patrol ship ''Ebisu Maru'' No.5. During the 105-minute fight, however, ''Scorpion'' received her first casualty. Lt. Cdr. R. M. Raymond – on board as prospective commanding officer – was hit and killed by gunfire. Soon after the patrol vessel went down, an enemy plane appeared. ''Scorpion'' submerged, survived the plane's
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 and continued toward
Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquialism, colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an Insular area#Unorganized unincorporated territories, unorganized and unincorpo ...
and Pearl Harbor, arriving on 8 May. With a /50 gun in place of her /50 gun, ''Scorpion'' set out on her second war patrol on 29 May. On 2 June, she refueled at Midway, and on 21 June she arrived off Takara Jima in the Tokara Gunto. For the next week, she searched for targets in that
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
in an effort to disrupt shipping on the
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...
-
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
routes. On 28 June, she shifted her hunt to the
Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...
and, by 30 June, was off the Shantung Peninsula. On 3 July, she sighted a five-freighter convoy with one escort making its way through the eastern waters of that sea. By 09:55, she had sent torpedoes toward the convoy and dived. As the depth charging began, she struck bottom at . Two charges exploded close by. Between 10:02 and 10:06, five more shook her hull. Fearing that she was stirring up a mud trail, the commander ordered her screws stopped and she settled on the bottom at . At 10:08, a chain or cable was dragged over her hull. Four minutes later, her hull was scraped a second time. Immediately underway again, she began evasive course changes and escaped further exploding charges. The hunt continued for over an hour; and at 11:49, ''Scorpion'' came to periscope depth; spied the destroyer off; and cleared the area. Postwar examination of Japanese records show that ''Scorpion'' scored five hits, and sank a freighter – the ''Anzan Maru'' – and a passenger-cargo ship – the ''Kokuryu Maru''. Because of damage received during the depth charging, ''Scorpion'' retraced her route through Tokara Gunto; underwent a bomber attack east of Akuseki Jima; and continued on to Midway. On 26 July, she arrived back at Pearl Harbor, underwent repairs, conducted training exercises, and, on 13 October, departed Pearl Harbor for her third war patrol. After touching at Midway on 17 October, she headed for the
Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...
, where she reconnoitered Pagan Island and Agrihan Island on 25–26 October, and Farallon de Pajoras on 1–2 November. On the last date, she struck an uncharted pinnacle; but suffering no apparent damage, continued her patrol. On 3 November, she was off Maug; and, two days later, she sighted her first target, a ''Mogami''-class
heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
. Squalls interfered, however, and she abandoned the target after a four-hour chase. On 7 November, she was back off Agrihan; and on 8 November, she closed with a freighter, which turned and gave chase. The freighter was a
Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchantman, armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the c ...
, a warship disguised as a merchantman. Unable to regain the advantage, ''Scorpion'' retired. Poor weather continued to plague the submarine's hunting until, on 13 November, she sighted a freighter and a tanker escorted by three warships. Firing her torpedoes, she scored on the oiler, which went dead in the water; the ''Shiretoko'' was damaged. One of the escorts dropped
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, then rejoined the formation. On 14 November, ''Scorpion'' patrolled near Rota; and, on 15 November, she watched for targets off
Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...
. For the next week, the submarine continued to work the shipping lanes of the Marianas without success. Heavy seas and squalls continued to shelter enemy traffic. On 22 November, she sighted a transport accompanied by two destroyers and a
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
. She stalked the formation for 16 hours but was unable to fire. A few hours later, low on fuel, she headed home. Departing Pearl Harbor on 29 December, ''Scorpion'' stopped at Midway to top off with fuel, and left that place on 3 January 1944 to conduct her fourth war patrol. Her assigned area was in the northern
East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...
and Yellow Sea. Her last commander was Lt. Cdr. Maximilian Gmelich Schmidt. On the morning of 5 January, ''Scorpion'' reported that one of her crew members sustained a fractured foot via dropping a crate of oranges on it during the restocking of inventories in high seas. The ''Scorpion'' requested a rendezvous with which was returning from patrol and was near her. The rendezvous was accomplished on that afternoon. "''Scorpion'' reports case under control." ''Scorpion'' was never seen or heard from again after her departure from that rendezvous and reported "sunk and lost at sea". On 16 February, and ''Scorpion'' were warned that they were close together, and that an enemy submarine was in the vicinity. No Japanese information indicates that the loss of ''Scorpion'' was the result of an enemy anti-submarine attack. There were, however, several mine lines across the entrance to the Yellow Sea. The presence of these mine lines and the "restricted area" bounding them was discovered from captured Japanese Notices to Mariners at a much later date. In the meantime, several submarines had made patrols in this area, crossing and recrossing the mine lines without incident, and coming safely home. It is probable that these mine lines were very thin, offering only about a 10% threat to submarines at maximum, and steadily decreasing in effectiveness with the passage of time. ''Scorpion'' was lost soon after these mines were laid, at a time when they were the greatest threat. She could have been an operational casualty, but her area consisted of water shallow enough so that it might be expected that some men would have survived. Since there are no known survivors, the most reasonable assumption is that she hit a mine.


Awards

''Scorpion'' earned three
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 for her
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 ...
service.


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



{{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpion (SS-278) Gato-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Lost submarines of the United States Ships built in Kittery, Maine 1942 ships Friendly fire incidents of World War II Maritime incidents in March 1943 Maritime incidents in January 1944 Ships sunk by mines Warships lost with all hands Submarines lost with all hands World War II shipwrecks in the Yellow Sea