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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

V-4 (SF-7)
Argonaut (SM-1 / APS-1 / SS-166)
Pre War

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Charlie - Tango

To Additional Pages

Construction - Shakedown
WW II Service - Loss

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
95k	V-4 (SF-7), reclassified as minelaying type *SM1* and renamed the Argonaut (SS-166) circa 1928.	U.S. National Archives # 43-1317.
102k	V-4 (SF-7), Hudson River, New York City, circa 1929.	US Naval Historical Center.
87k	V-4 (SF-7), transiting the Panama Canal, circa 1929.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 91776.
180k	V-4 (SF-7), seen forward of the Nautilus V-6 (SC-2). View on deck, looking forward from the bridge. Taken while she was fitting out at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 12 April 1930. Note that her forward 6"/53 deck gun has not yet been fitted.Argonaut (SM-1)and barge *YR-5* are in the background.V-6 was renamed *Nautilus* in 1931.	U.S. National Archives Photo # 70676. Courtesy of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 1970.
104k	Argonaut (SM-1) photograph taken in about 1930.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 61687.
104k	V-4 (SF-7) became Argonaut (SM-1) in 1931. She is shown here in peacetime gray, circa 1930. Note the 6-inch guns forward and aft of the conning tower, and what appear to be exercise torpedoes on deck just forward of mount one. Also note her alphanumeric "name," *V-4*, in white on a black rectangle on the tower structure, and repeated in black at the bow.	US Navy Photo # NH 54425, submitted by Joe Radigan, MACM, USN Ret.
196k	*Argonaut, along with Nautilus* (SS-168) and Narwhal (SS-167), enjoyed the distinction of mounting the largest guns of any American submarine; here, *Argonaut's* men draw a crowd as they train out her forward 6-incher in the 1930's.	US Navy Photo submitted by Joe Radigan, MACM, USN Ret, from DANFS.
59k	Closeup view of the submarine's conning tower and after 6"/53 gun, taken as she was submerging, circa 1930. *V-4* was renamed *Argonaut* in 1931.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 57635.
59k	Closeup view of the submarine's conning tower, taken as she was submerging, circa 1930. V-4 (SF-7), was renamed *Argonaut* in 1931.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 57636.
67k	Commemorative postal cover marking Independence Day aboard the Argonaut (SS-166), 4 July 1932.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
65k	Gunnery exercises with the Argonaut (SS-166), forward 6"/53 deck gun, during the 1930s.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 62906, from the collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
256k	Color photo of the Argonaut (SS-166) entering Pearl Harbor sometime before April 1933. During that period of time her XO was Louis Shane Jr., who would subsequently go on to climb the command ladder and rise to the rank of Lieutenant Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Shark (SS-174), the first U.S. sub lost at sea, 11 Feb 42.	Photo courtesy of his grandson, John Shane.
218k	Crew photo of the Argonaut (SS-166) taken at Pearl Harbor in 1932. It is possible that the 5th officer on the left is XO Louis Shane Jr.	US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo i.d. courtesy John Shane.
94k	Nautilus (SS-168), Argonaut (SS-166); and Narwhal (SS-167); (listed left to right) Tied up together in port, circa the early 1930s.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45667. Courtesy of J.A. Casoly.
72k	Nautilus (SS-168); Argonaut (SS-166); and Narwhal (SS-167); (listed left to right) Tied up together in port, circa the early 1930s.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45668.Courtesy of J.A. Casoly.
262k	Stern view of the S-31 (SS-136), S-33 (SS-138) , and S-32 (SS-137) (just visible) at Pearl Harbor cirica mid 1930's. On the far left of the photo, on the other side of the pier, the bow of the Argonaut (SS-166) is just visible. The after superstructure skeg has already been cut away as part of a safety and maintenance program initiated after the S-4 (SS-109) disaster.	Text courtesy of Dave Johnston, (USNR). US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
450k	Submarines S-47 (SS-158), S-32 (SS-137) , S-26 (SS-131) & most likely the Argonaut (SS-166) in Honolulu Harbor in 1936. Notice Aloha Tower in the background. Notice that all the *S-boats* have the post S-4 (SS-109) accident messenger buoy modifications to their stern, and how deeply in the water the stern light sits, making visibility of this light problematic in anything but glass calm seas.	Partial text & i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USNR). Photo by Edward Cwalinski, submitted by Barry Litchfield.
64k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Argonaut's (SS-166) deep dive test on 23 March 1937.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
17k	Commemorative postal cover marking Fleet Maneuvers of the following subs off Midway, 5 April 1937: Argonaut (SS-166), Nautilus (SS-168), Dolphin (SS-169), Porpoise (SS-172), Pike (SS-173), & Shark (SS-174) .	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
67k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Argonaut's (SS-166) 10th anniversary, 2 April 1938.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
16k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Argonaut's (SS-166) participation in Fleet problem XXI, 23 April 1940.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
34k	Argonaut (SS-166), stern pre-war photo, location unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII.
32k	Argonaut (SS-166) underway, starboard view. Date and location unknown.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
256k	Argonaut (SS-166) with her conning tower area painted black, circa 1937 - 1941.	USN photo courtesy of pelicanharborsubvets.com via Bill Gonyo. Photo added 07/21/08.
144k	Aerial view of the Submarine Base,Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, with part of the supply depot beyond and the fuel farm at right, looking north on 13 October 1941. Note the fuel tank across the road from the submarine base, painted to resemble a building. The building beside the submarine ascent tower (in left center, shaped like an upsidedown "U") housed the U.S. Fleet Headquarters at the time of the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. Office of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the Fleet's Commander in Chief, was in the upper left corner of the building's top floor. Wharton (AP-7) is in right foreground. Among the submarines at the base are Tuna (SS-203), Gudgeon (SS-211), Argonaut (SS-166), Narwhal (SS-167), Triton (SS-201) and Dolphin (SS-169). Holland (AS-3) and Niagara (PG-52) are alongside the wharf on the base's north side. In the distance (nearest group in upper left) are the battleship Nevada (BB-36), at far left, Castor (AKS-1) and the derelict old minelayer *Baltimore. Cruisers in top center are Minneapolis* (CA-36), closest to camera, and Pensacola (CA-24), wearing a Measure 5 painted "bow wave".	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-451125, now in the collections of the National Archives.