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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

V-4 (SF-7)
Argonaut (SM-1 / APS-1 / SS-166)
WW II Service & Loss

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Charlie - Tango

To Additional Pages

Construction - Shakedown
Pre War Service

Argonaut Class Submarine: Laid down, 1 May 1925, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME; Launched, 10 November 1927; Commissioned Fleet Submarine USS V-4 (SF-7), 2 April 1928; Renamed Argonaut, 19 February 1932; Redesignated Minelayer Submarine (SM-1), 1 July 1931; Redesignated Transport Submarine APS-1, 22 September 1942; Lost to enemy action, sunk by aircraft depth charge (582d Kokutai), and Japanese destroyers, Isokaze and Maikaze, 10 January 1943, between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea; Struck from the Naval Register, February 1943. Argonaut won two battle stars for her World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 2,710 t., Submerged: 4,164 t.; Length 381' ; Beam 33' 10"; Draft 15' 4"; Speed, Surfaced 15 kts, Submerged 8 kts; Depth Limit 300'; Complement 8 officers 80 enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes forward, two mine launch tubes, 16 torpedoes; two single 6"/53 deck gun, two 30 cal. mgs.; Propulsion, diesel electric, Maschinfabrik - Augusburg- Nurnburg, New York Navy Yard diesel engines, hp 3175, Fuel Capacity, 173,875 gal., Ridgeway Dynamo and & Electric Co., electric motors, hp 2400, Battery Cells 240, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
110k	Photograph of an artwork of the Argonaut (SS-166) by Ike R. Lloyd, circa 1942.	Courtesy of Ike Lloyd. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 57634.
71k	On 22 January 1942, Argonaut (SS-166) returned to Pearl Harbor and, after a brief stop there, proceeded to the Mare Island Navy Yard for conversion to a troop transport submarine. *Argonaut* is pictured here underway after her modernisation sometime around July 1942.	Courtesy of Robert Hurst. Text courtesy of DANFS.
55k	Argonaut (SS-166) in July 1942 during her conversion, with alterations ringed.	USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
32k	Argonaut (SS-166), putting out to sea on 18 July 1942, after her refit at Mare Island Navy Yard.	USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
87k	Argonaut (SS-166) off California - July 42.	Courtesy of Erminio Bagnasco book, "Submarines of WW II", submitted by Aryeh Wetherhorn.
332k	HEROES RETURN. This photo, released in Washington today, shows Marine raiders lining the deck of the U.S. submarine ( Argonaut (SS-166)) from which they conducted their surprise raid on Makin Island last August 17-18, as the ship pulled into Pearl Harbor. Submarine officers who took part in the successful attack, are shown looking down from the conning tower as they came into the harbor to receive the “well done” accolade from their commander-in-chief in the Pacific, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.	Official U.S. Navy Photo, dated 3-15-43, from ACME courtesy of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History and submitted by Bill Gonyo. Photo added 05/10/08.
76k	Argonaut (SS-166) docks at Pearl Harbor upon her return from the Makin raid, 26 August 1942.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-11742, now in the collections of the National Archives, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
81k	Discussion on board Argonaut (SS-166) after she returned to Pearl Harbor from Makin Island, 26 August 1942. Those present are (from left to right): Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson, USMC, Commander, Second Raider Battalion; Major James Roosevelt, USMCR, Executive Officer, Second Raider Battalion; and Lieutenant Commander John R. Pierce, USN, Commanding Officer, *Argonaut*.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 57636.
112k	Argonaut (SS-166) crewmen reading their mail, after returning to Pearl Harbor from the Makin Island Raid, 26 August 1942. The gun behind them is a 6"/53.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 80-G-11741.
96k	Nautilus (SS-168) & Argonaut (SS-166) tied up to the dock at Pearl Harbor after returning from Makin Island Raid, 26 August 1942.	Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
229k	The *Kagero* class Japanese destroyer *Isokaze* which sank the Argonaut (SS-166) on 10 January 1943, between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea.	Courtesy of ibiblio.org.
46k	A drawing of the *Kagero* class Japanese destroyers *Isokaze* & *Maikaze* which sank the Argonaut (SS-166) on 10 January 1943, between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea.	Courtesy of combinedfleet.com.
46k	Map area showing the general location between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea where the Argonaut (SS-166) was sunk.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
68k	St. George's channel looking southeast toward New Ireland looking torward Cape St. George in far distance at right. The Argonaut (SS-166) was lost not far from here.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
61k	Google Earth satellite photo of the Argonaut's (SS-166) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the *Argonaut* and her crew.	View courtesy of Google Earth. Photo added 04/25/08.
48k	Map area showing the general location between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea where the Argonaut (SS-166) was sunk. The average depth varies from 1600 to 3500 feet.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
23k	John Reeves Pierce, Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Argonaut (SS-166) on her last patrol.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo # N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
75k	Commemorative drawing & photo honoring the memory of the crew of the Argonaut (SS-166).	Courtesy of Tom Kermen.
114k	A Marine Raider, injured during the Makin operation, is lifted through a hatch on Argonaut (SS-166) to be taken ashore at Pearl Harbor, 26 August 1942. In less than 5 months time, the boat and her entire company would be listed as M.I.A. In Memorium: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay..."	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-13879, now in the collections of the National Archives., courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.