January Lost Boats

ByEd McCarthy

USS Scorpion (SS-278)

Lost on Jan 5,1944 with the loss of 77 officers and men in the East China Sea, on her 4th war patrol. It is assumed she was sunk by a mine.

Class: SS 212
Commissioned: 10/1/1942
Launched: 7/20/1942
Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard
Length: 307 Beam: 27
#Officers: 6 #Enlisted: 54
Fate: Scorpion was lost with all hands. 77 men were lost. Sunk by possible Japanese mine in the Yellow Sea off China, but actual day of loss is unknown.

USS Argonaut (SS-166)

Lost on Jan 10, 1943 with the loss of 102 officers and men off Rabaul, on her 3rd war patrol. While attacking a convoy, she torpedoed a Jap destroyer who along with 2 other destroyers depth charged her. As she tried to surface, the destroyers sunk her by gun fire.

Class: SS 166
Commissioned: 4/2/1928
Launched: 10/10/1927
Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard
Length: 381 Beam: 34
#Officers: 8 #Enlisted: 80
Fate: On Jan. 10, 1943 Argonaut was forced to the surface by the depth charges from 3 Jap Destroyers and she was destroyed with all hands by gun fire. 102 officers and men went down with the submarine.

USS Swordfish (SS-193)

Lost on Jan 12,1945 with the loss of 89 officers and men somewhere near Okinawa, on her 13th war patrol. Probably was lost to a mine.

Class: SS 188
Commissioned: 7/22/1939
Launched: 4/1/1939
Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard
Length: 311 Beam: 27
#Officers: 5 #Enlisted: 50
Fate: After repeated attempts to contact Swordfish by radio had failed, she was reported as presumed lost, the victim of unknown causes. 89 men lost.

USS S-36 (SS-141)

Lost on Jan 20, 1942 with no loss of life, on her 2nd war patrol. She ran hard aground on a reef and radioed for help. The entire crew was rescued by a Dutch ship after they scuttled her.

Class: SS S
Commissioned: 4/4/1923
Launched: 6/3/1919
Builder: Unknown Iron Works
Length: 219 Beam: 22
#Officers: 4 #Enlisted: 34
Fate: S-36 was lost when it was destroyed after she ran aground on the Taka Bakang Reef in Makassar Strait, Indonesia, near Makassar City. The crew was rescued.

USS S-26 (SS-131)

Lost on Jan 24,1942 with the loss of 46 officers and men in the Gulf of Panama, on her 2nd war patrol. She was rammed by the USS PC-460 and sunk within seconds. The CO, XO and one lookout on the bridge, were the only survivors.

Class: SS S
Commissioned: 10/15/1923
Launched: 10/22/1922
Builder: Fore River Shipbuilding Co
Length: 219 Beam: 22
#Officers: 4 #Enlisted: 34
Fate: Rammed by PC-460 at night in the Gulf of Panama, S-26 sank on 24 January 1942 with the loss of 46 men The CO, XO and one lookout survived. Her hull was not salvaged.

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