USS Haddock (SS-231)

USS "Haddock" (SS-231), a "Gato"-class submarine, was the second submarine of the United States Navy to be named for the haddock, a small edible Atlantic fish, related to the cod. A previous submarine had been named "Haddock" (SS-32), but was renamed "K-1" prior to her launching, so "Haddock" (SS-231) was the first to actually bear the name.

"Haddock" (SS-231) was launched at the Portsmouth Navy Yard 20 October 1941; sponsored by Mrs. William H. Allen; and commissioned 14 March 1942, Lt. Cmdr. Arthur H. Taylor (Class of 1927) in command.

First war patrol, July – September 1942

After shakedown and training cruises off New England, "Haddock" sailed for the Pacific 19 June 1942 and arrived Pearl Harbor 16 July. She departed on her first war patrol 28 July, the first submarine to do so with the new SJ radar. This equipment added greatly to her power in seeking out and destroying enemy ships in darkness or reduced visibility.

Penetrating into the Bonin Islands–East China Sea area, "Haddock" attacked a freighter on the surface 12 August, damaged her, and next day sank an unidentified transport of about 4,000 tons. {Note: Possibly last ship was the "Tatsuho Maru" sunk 22 August 1942}. In the Formosa Straits 26 August she missed with four stern shots at "Teinshum Maru" but sent the target to the bottom by swinging around hard for a shot from the bow tubes. "Haddock" patrolled off Okinawa before returning to Midway 19 September 1942.

Second, third and fourth war patrols, October 1942 – April 1943

"Haddock"'s second war patrol, commencing 11 October from Midway, was carried out in the Yellow Sea. After two attacks without hits, the submarine torpedoed "Tekkai Maru" amidships 3 November, breaking her in two. She was forced to break off another attack 6 November because of destroyers and search aircraft, but during the night of 11 November blew off the stern of cargo ship "Venice Maru" east of the island of Honshū. "Haddock" damaged another ship 13 November, only to be prevented from finishing her off by escort craft, and expended her last torpedo on an empty tanker 16 November. After a brief gunfire duel with her victim, the submarine headed for Pearl Harbor, arriving 4 December. On her third war patrol, "Haddock" operated south of Japan, departing 28 December from Pearl Harbor. She was attacked by two destroyers raining depth charges, and when she finally surfaced to clear the area, "Haddock" found herself surrounded by Japanese patrol craft. The submarine sped out of the trap just in time to avoid destruction. A few days later, 17 January 1943, she sank an unidentified freighter of 4,000 tons, and 19 January "Haddock" detected six cargo vessels steaming in double column. Gaining attack position on the last ship, she scored two hits and sent her to the bottom. Aerial attack and depth charges kept her from bagging the other members of the convoy and bad weather forced "Haddock" to return to Midway 17 February. "Haddock" departed Midway 11 March for her fourth war patrol, and saw her first action 3 April off Palau, when she encountered a transport protected by a corvette. Launching two "fish" at the corvette, which apparently ran under without exploding, "Haddock" then turned to the transport and succeeded in sinking her with a spread of torpedoes. Following torpedo tracks, the persistent corvette dropped 24 depth charges, many directly over "Haddock", that caused some damage to her conning tower and radar. After spending some time patrolling off Saipan, she returned to Pearl Harbor 19 April 1943.

Fifth, sixth, and seventh war patrols, June – November 1943

Departing Pearl Harbor again 30 June "Haddock" set course for the Caroline Islands on her fifth war patrol. Detecting a group of four escorted transports north of Palau 21 July, she maneuvered into position and sank "Saipan Maru", The depth charge attacks of the accompanying ships were ineffective. That same day she came upon two unescorted tankers. Her first attack failed to sink the two ships, but she followed them and made two more attacks before finally breaking off the action for lack of torpedoes. "Haddock" arrived at Midway 6 August and at Pearl Harbor 10 August 1943. "Haddock"'s sixth war patrol was conducted in waters off Truk, the vital Japanese base in the Carolines. Departing Pearl Harbor 2 September, she torpedoed "Samsei Maru" on the 15th but failed to sink her and the victim turned to ram the submarine. "Haddock" damaged seaplane tender "Notoro" 20 September and then spent a harrowing day eluding the attacks of Japanese escort vessels alerted by the explosions. She returned to Midway 28 September with all torpedoes expended. The veteran submarine departed on her seventh war patrol 20 October 1943 and headed again for the waters off Truk. Late 1 November "Haddock" damaged two transports, barely surviving the attacks of a hunter-killer group a few hours later. She made one additional attack 2 November, heavily damaging "Hoyo Maru", before returning to Pearl Harbor 15 November 1943.

Eighth and ninth war patrols, December 1943 – May 1944

For her eighth war patrol "Haddock" joined a coordinated attack group with USS|Tullibee|SS-284|2 and USS|Halibut|SS-232|2. She departed Pearl Harbor 14 December and rendezvoused 17 December. Encountering a group of warships 19 January, "Haddock" attacked escort carrier "Unyo" and damaged her severely before being driven off by screening vessels. The submarine returned to Pearl Harbor 5 February 1944. "Haddock" departed for her ninth war patrol 10 March. Under the US Navy's relentless attack, spearheaded by the submarine, Japan's sea lifelines had shrunk to a trickle and targets were scarce; but she succeeded in sinking a small escort vessel 24 April, before returning to Pearl Harbor 10 May 1944.

Tenth and eleventh war patrols, October 1944 – March 1945

Her 10th war patrol was eventful as the Pacific war drew close to its climax. With Commander Roach in "Haddock" commanding, she formed an attack group with USS|Halibut|SS-232|2 and USS|Tuna|SS-203|2, departing Pearl Harbor 8 October. Moving to support the invasion of the Philippines, the submarines were present during the battle off Cape Engano, part of the epochal Battle for Leyte Gulf, 25 October and unsuccessfully pursued some of the retiring Japanese units. Bothered by a malfunctioning periscope, "Haddock" scored no hits on the rest of her patrol and returned to Pearl Harbor 10 December. Fitted out with extra deck guns for her 11th war patrol, "Haddock" sailed, in company with submarines USS|Sennet|SS-408|2 and USS|Lagarto|SS-371|2 for the seas east of Japan. The boats made a diversionary sweep designed to pull early warning craft away from the intended track of the carrier group en route for air strikes against Tokyo. Gaining their objective with complete success, the submarines attacked the picket boats with gunfire, allowed them to send contact reports, and then sunk several, diverting Japanese efforts away from the undetected carrier group. "Haddock" returned to Guam 14 March 1945.

Last war patrols, April – August 1945

"Haddock" spent her 12th and 13th war patrols on lifeguard station near Tokyo, standing by to rescue downed airmen after raids on Japanese cities. This duty occupied her from April until her return to Pearl Harbor 22 August. The hard fought victory, to which she had contributed so much, was won.

So "Haddock" departed for the United States 7 September and after transiting the Panama Canal and visiting various ports on the East Coast, arrived at New London, Conn., 29 March 1946, nearly 4 years after she had sailed from the North Atlantic to victory. She was placed in reserve in commission 20 April and decommissioned 12 February 1947. In August 1948 Haddock was assigned duty as a reserve training ship for 6th Naval District, and served in that capacity until being again placed out of service at New London May 1952. She was again assigned to reserve training, this time at Portsmouth, N.H., June 1956, and finally was struck from the Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrap to Jacob Checkoway 23 August 1960. "Haddock" received 11 battle stars for her service in World War II. All of her war patrols except the 12th were designated successful and she received the Presidential Unit Citation for her outstanding performance on the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh war patrols.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h1/haddock-i.htm

External links

* [http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss231.txt hazegray.org: USS "Haddock"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08231.htm navsource.org: USS "Haddock"]