USS Segundo (SS-398)
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USS ''Segundo'' (SS-398) was a , 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 ...
named for the segundo, a cavalla fish of
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waters.


Construction and commissioning

''Segundo'' was laid down on 14 October 1943 by 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 ...
in ittery, Maine, Ceremonial ship launching">launched on 5 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John L. Sullivan (U.S. Navy)">John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer. He is recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved ...
, and
commissioned on 9 May 1944.


May–August 1944

''Segundo'' completed
fitting out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
and contract
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...
then moved to Naval Submarine Base New London">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 ...
, on 15 June and began training. The submarine stood out of New London on 26 June for the Panama Canal Zone en route to the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific war zone. She departed Balboa, Panama, Balboa on 9 July and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 25 July. The next several weeks were spent in training exercises and weapons firing. The ship was combat loaded on 19 August and 20 August and, the next day, sailed on her first war patrol.


First and second patrols, August 1944 – January 1945

''Segundo'', together with submarines , and formed a wolf pack. They refueled at
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 ...
on 3 September and departed the next day for their patrol area in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
near
Surigao Strait Surigao Strait (Filipino: ''Kipot ng Surigaw'') is a strait in the southern Philippines, between the Bohol Sea and Leyte Gulf of the Philippine Sea. Geography It is located between the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. It lies between northern ...
. She was in the
Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...
east of Catanduanes Island at on 13 September 1944 when two U.S. Navy planes mistook her for a Japanese submarine and strafed her as she crash-dived. No rounds struck her. ''Segundo'' found no worthwhile targets were found during the patrol, and she ended it at
Majuro Atoll Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The at ...
in the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...
on 21 October 1944 without having fired a shot. The second patrol, from 16 November 1944 to 5 January 1945, was more profitable. ''Segundo'', and sister boats , and were cruising between
Luzon Strait The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Luzon and Taiwan. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean. This body of water is an important strait for shipp ...
and the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
. On the evening of 6 December, a
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 ...
of seven escorted merchant ships was sighted. The three submarines made night attacks which sank all of the merchantmen.


Third patrol, February–March 1945

''Segundo'' refitted at
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from 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 ...
and was in the
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 ...
with ''Razorback'' and on 1 February. Three
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
attacks were made on unescorted ships near the
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n coast in shallow water. The first attack was on 6 March against a small ship but all torpedoes missed. The next was made four days later against a medium-sized ship. Four torpedoes were fired at but they also missed. The third attack was a night surface action against a cargo ship on 11 March. Two torpedoes of the spread hit. The first blew the stern off and the second hit amidships, sinking cargo ship ''Shori Maru'' in two minutes. The submarine ended her patrol at Pearl Harbor on 26 March and remained there for a month before putting to sea again.


Fourth and fifth patrols, May–August 1945

''Segundo'' was assigned to a lifeguard station until 16 May when she departed for her assigned area in the East China Sea. On 29 May, she sank seven two-masted
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
s of approximately 100 tons each with shellfire. Two days later, she sank a large four-masted
full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mas ...
of approximately 1,250 tons with two torpedoes. She sank another on 3 June with her deck gun. On 9 June, two patrol ships were also sunk by her deck gun. On the night of 11 June, ''Fukui Maru'' was torpedoed and sunk. The submarine then sailed to
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 ...
for upkeep. ''Segundo'' began her fifth and final war patrol on 10 August in the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...
. Ordered to proceed to
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern KantĹŤ region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
on 24 August, the ship was proceeding south when she encountered the , which was at the time the largest submarine in the world, by radar on 29 August. The enemy boat was ordered to halt by international signal. This was done; and, after several trips between the two submarines by their respective representatives, the Japanese agreed to accept a
prize crew A prize crew is the selected members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship. History Prize crews were required to take their prize to appropriate prize courts, which would determine whether the ship's officers and crew h ...
aboard and to proceed to Tokyo with ''Segundo''. The two ships entered Sagami Wan on 31 August and, at 05:00, the American flag was raised aboard ''I-401''.


1945–1953

''Segundo'' stood out of Tokyo Bay on 3 September 1945 en route to the west coast via Pearl Harbor. She was assigned to SubRon 3 in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
and began operations from there. The submarine made a three-month cruise to
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 ...
and
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 ...
in 1946 and a four-month cruise to China in 1948.In April 1948, while visiting
Brisbane, Queensland 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 ...
, a team recruited from her crew played a softball match against a local "All Stars" team which they lost 10–3. ''Baseball'' in ''Semper Floreat'', 23 April 1948, Page 8c. The outbreak of the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
found ''Segundo'' in the Far East. She supported
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
Forces in Korea from July to September 1950 before returning to San Diego in late November. In 1951, ''Segundo'' was modernized and converted to a Fleet Snorkel submarine at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. She returned to her home port and resumed operations until 15 August 1952 when she again joined the
7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...
off Korea. That deployment period ended on 16 February 1953.


1953–1970

For the next 16 years, ''Segundo'' operated out of her home port and along the west coast. From 1953 through 1969, she was deployed to the western Pacific every year except 1961, and 1963. ''Segundo'' departed for the Western Pacific Ocean on 27 November 1956 with stops in Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Subic Bay and Manila, Philippines and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. The reason for this emergency departure was because of the Hungarian revolt that was taking place at the time. The Segundo was ordered into port in San Diego and shortly after departed for Peal Harbor, then the north Pacific on a special patrol, submerging on 21 December 1956 and resurfacing on 21 January 1957 before stopping in Yokosuka Japan. In July 1970, a Survey Board found ''Segundo'' unfit for further naval service. The submarine was decommissioned 1 August 1970, struck from the
Navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...
on 8 August 1970, and sunk as a target by either the submarine or the submarine (sources differ).


Honors and awards

''Segundo'' received four
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
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 and one for the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
.


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:Segundo (SS-398) 1944 ships Balao-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Korean War submarines of the United States Friendly fire incidents of World War II Maritime incidents in September 1944 Maritime incidents in 1970 Ships built in Kittery, Maine Ships sunk as targets World War II submarines of the United States