USS Piranha (SS-389)

History

The key to victory in the Pacific theater of World War II was control of the vital waterways between the various islands that formed the thriving Japanese Pacific Empire. Standing in her way was the strength of the Allied navies, which placed a heavy emphasis on expanding the tactical reach of the submarine fleet managed by well-trained submarines - which turned out to be the deadliest occupation of the entire war.

The Barau-class diesel-electric submarine family is part of the U.S. Navy's growing underwater armament, construction of which began in 1942. Production continued until 1946, with the last ship decommissioned in 1971.

With approximately 128 ships in this class personally completed and commanded by the USS Barau, this family of submarines has emerged with many colorful careers and histories, along with the Gatto class before it - is the most important class in the field of submarine warfare USN of the Pacific (The Balao class was actually built as a modified Gato class). The end of the war marked the cancellation of some 63 ships on order, and of the 117 officially decommissioned, nine were preserved as war memorials.

One Balau-class ship is the USS Piranha (SS-389). She was built by skilled workers at the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard in Kittry, Maine, laying the keel on June 21, 1943. She was launched on 27 October that year, passed the required sea trials, and was commissioned on 5 February 1944. Part of the Balao-class attack submarine, the USS Piranha followed the same sleek, clean lines with a boat-like shape.

The bow, tapered stern and full conning tower. The deck of this class is designed to be flat to allow for crew walking and surface gun management. Armament consists of 10 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, six of which are mounted forward facing the bow and the remaining four are mounted aft facing the stern. This allows the ship to attack front and rear targets without turning. Surface threats are repelled by her 5" (127mm)/25 caliber deck gun, which can also be used for inshore bombing.

Air threats are fought off by 1 x 40-mm Bofors and 1 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. Her crew consists of 10 officers and approximately Composed of 70 soldiers.

The watch was kept in shifts so that the extensive patrolling crew needed to re-establish all U-boats during the war was fully trained and various specialists (cooks, gunners, mechanics, pilots) made up their Team.

Propulsion is made possible by a configuration of 4 x Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-1/3 10-cylinder diesel engines driven by generators and 2 x 126 batteries Sargo batteries and 4 x Elliot-electric motors. The propulsion system drives two shafts, and the submarine relies on its diesel engine, which produces 5,400 shaft horsepower, and can travel at 20.25 knots while surfacing with a displacement of 1,550 tons. When submerged, the vessel relies on its batteries to power critical systems, which can reach 8.75 knots and displace 2,500 tons. Like other diesel-electric submarines of the time, the USS Piranha had to surface to recharge her batteries and oxygen supply (the lethal carbon dioxide concentration builds up over time and must be vented to avoid killing the crew). This means that the ship can only stay underwater for a maximum of 48 hours, and once surfaced, it is very vulnerable to enemy attack from the air (mainly seaplanes and airships) or surface warships.

If the food supply is plentiful, the piranha can stay at sea for about 75 days on the diesel engine alone. The USS Piranha can reach depths of over 350 feet (tested to 400 feet) before hull pressure overwhelms her.

The USS Piranha followed many of the ships before her to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, through Florida waters, and through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on May 18, 1944, and took on her first wartime patrol in June, working with other U.S. Navy units.

Their main target was the Japanese convoy sent to the front to replenish, and the USS Piranha sank Nichiran Maru and Seattle Maru on July 12 and 16, respectively. Despite being attacked by enemy warships and aircraft, USS Piranha avoided damage and returned to Majuro in the Marshall Islands for supplies.

Reconnaissance was conducted throughout September in support of the 3rd Fleet's successful attack on Peleliu in the Palau Islands. After the attack, she continued her patrol alone and surrendered to a Japanese naval patrol boat on October 9 to avoid depth charges before returning to Pearl Harbor on October 23, 1944. She was then assigned to the South China Sea from November 19 to January 13, 1945, as part of a submarine strike group, and was also responsible for recovering downed aircrews during the raid on Kyushu.

Although Piranha landed a pair of fish (torpedoes) on the Japanese merchant (without sinking them), the presence of enemy warships forced her to retreat. The USS Piranha traveled to Guam for the necessary overhaul and remained there until February 11.

Covering the triangular waterway between Hong Kong (China), Formosa (present-day Taiwan) and Luzon (Philippines), the USS Piranha again operates as part of a coordinated strike group and focuses on merchant ships in the region. She successfully attacked a smaller boat on 27 February and missed the larger convoy to Hong Kong in Race 5 (which slowed the interception due to the presence of a large number of civilian fishing boats (her crew actually had Made the IJN flag and steered the fishing boat).

Succeeded, just missed the convoy completely as the piranhas passed).

The Japanese presence on the small island of Plata in the South China Sea enables the Piranha to use her deck guns against several before heading to Midway while avoiding the wandering enemy air patrols. Piranha ceased operations from April 21 to May 17, eventually rejoining her next war patrol and performing her usual (patrol-salvage-bombing) duties - this time on Marcus Island ( South - Torrey Island) to support air, land and naval forces.

From May 22nd to May 31st.

By this time, the Allied gains had been so great that USS Piranha and her ilk had been fighting close to the Japanese mainland and continued to target merchant ships and other ships of opportunity, albeit at the expense of being far from home and The action of crowded shallow bodies of water comes at the expense of water bodies. She claimed to own an oil tanker, an oil trawler and two other trawlers while being pursued and attacked by Japanese hunters several times.

After being hit by a depth charge, the USS Piranha retreated to the safety of Pearl Harbor, arriving on July 10, 1945 (war in Europe ended in May, Allied victory, Hitler suicide, now all Allied war effort Just focus on the Pacific).

The aircraft carrier USS Piranha relaunched from Pearl Harbor on August 14 and began her sixth wartime patrol. The war situation in the Empire of Japan was seriously deteriorating, with weakened naval power and extremely limited air power. The lack of viable armored fighting vehicles and adequate replacements will only hinder Japan's war-fighting capabilities. In addition, between August 6 and 9, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fell to the power of the US atomic bombs, ultimately forcing the surrender process (as many as 246,000 people are believed to have been killed in the explosion, not counting the effects). years of radiation exposure).

While the bombs were devastating for the Japanese, they saved the lives of soldiers who would have taken the heavily defended mainland Japan in a planned full-scale amphibious assault. If the Pacific Theater proved anything to the Allies, it was that the Japanese would fight to the end, making the lives of American soldiers miserable.

On August 15, the war against Japan was officially declared over, and the country surrendered unconditionally. On September 11, 1945, the USS Piranha was recalled to Pearl and returned to San Francisco, where she officially ended her wartime service with the U.S. Navy.

She served in Operation Magic Carpet, the return of thousands of veterans to the United States. Overall, the ship was awarded five Battle Stars for its combat service. She was discharged on May 31, 1946, in reserve status.

On November 6, 1962, she received a new classification, "AGSS-389," and lived there for the rest of her life until her official removal from the Naval Register on March 1, 1967. She joined many US Navy ships and was unceremoniously scrapped, her hull was sold on August 11, 1970.

The USS Piranha (SS-389) is the only US Navy ship to be named after the piranha, a wild omnivorous freshwater fish native to South America.

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