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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Plunger (SS-179)

Radio Call Sign: November - Echo -Golf - Lima

Perch Class Submarine: Laid down, 17 July 1935, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 8 July 1936; Commissioned, USS Plunger (SS-179), 19 November 1936; Decommissioned, 15 November 1945, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training Vessel at Brooklyn, NY in May 1946; Declared unessential, 5 July 1956; Struck from the Naval Register, 6 July 1956; Final Disposition, sold for scraping, 22 April 1957, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA. Plunger received 14 battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,330 t., Submerged: 1,997 t.; Length 300' 7" ; Beam 21' 5"; Draft 13' 10"; Speed, Surfaced 21 kts, Submerged 9 kts; Maximum Operating Depth, 250'; Complement 5 Officers, 45 Enlisted; Armament, six 21" torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, four .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel-electric, Winton diesel engines, HP 4300, Fuel Capacity, 92,801 gals.; GE motors, HP 2368, 240 battery cells, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
17k	Commemorative postal cover marking the keel laying of the Plunger (SS-179) 17 July 1935, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.	Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
74k	Plunger (SS-179) is waterborne at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. 8 July 1936. She is pictured here docking after launching.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
65k	Stern view of the Pollack (SS-180) & Plunger (SS-179) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. They are pictured here fitting out, circa April 1937.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
21k	Commemorative postal cover marking the boats of the P-class (SS-176/81) first Navy Day, 27 October 1937; Perch (SS-176), Pickerel (SS-177), Permit (SS-178), Plunger (SS-179), Pollack (SS-180) & Pompano (SS-181).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
81k	Photo entitled "Weekly Inspection, Permit* (SS-178).* The Pollack (SS-180) and the Plunger (SS-179) flank the *Permit.*" Naval Recruiting Dept, New York, circa late 1937.	US Navy photo, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
171k	Bow view of the S-34 (SS-139) tied up to wharf, taken in the mid to late 30's, probably in Pearl Harbor. The sub is getting a new battery. The new cells are loaded on the railcars to the right. The photo was dated by looking at the sub moored behind it. It is a fleet boat, and probably a *Pike/Permit* class. It is painted black, so that puts it in the later 1930's. Also, the *S-34's* skeg has been cut away as part of a safety and maintenance mod, and that was done in April, 1932. The *S-34* was stationed almost exclusively in the P.I. and Pearl until 1941. The mountainous background looks a lot like Pearl (although it may be Subic or Cavite).	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USNR), Darryl Baker & John Hummel. Text i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USNR) & Darryl Baker.
43k	Commemorative postal cover marking Snapper (SS-185), Stingray (SS-186), Skipjack (SS-184), Plunger (SS-179), Cachalot (SS-170), Salmon (SS-182), Perch (SS-176) & Pollack (SS-180) participating in Fleet Problem XX, 28 January 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
103k	Submarines in San Diego harbor, California, 1940. Moored alongside Holland (AS-3), from which the photograph was taken, the submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Pickerel (SS-177); Plunger (SS-179); Snapper (SS-185) and Permit (SS-178). Note the small motor boats, of the type carried by fleet submarines prior to World War II. One of the men standing on Salmon's (SS-182) deck is Yeoman Clayton Johnson, who in 1969 was a Commander serving at the Naval History Division. Enterprise (CV-6) is in the distance, tied up at Naval Air Station, North Island.	US Navy photo # NH 68479, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.
104k	Plunger (P8) (SS-179) backing clear of a nest of submarines, alongside their tender in San Diego harbor, California, in 1940. Other identifiable submarines present are: Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); and Stingray (SS-186).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 68482. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.
77k	The Plunger (SS-179) passes undr a bridge, probably when she steamed to San Diego to join SubDiv 14, SubRon 6 between November 1937 & November 1941.	US Navy photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
65k	Plunger (SS-179), possibly circa 1941.	USNI / USN photo.
63k	Oil on canvas painting by the artist Jim Christley entitled "Off To War". Although mismanaged and crippled with defective torpedoes, the boats such as this one of the Perch-class (SS-176/81) headed out to do battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy.	Photo & text courtesy of subart.net.
100k	Japanese Cargo Ship sinking, as photographed through a periscope by Plunger (SS-179). This ship is probably the *MS Kinai Maru* , sunk by *Plunger* on 10 May 1943, during her sixth war patrol.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-68687, now in the collections of the National Archives.
59k	Japanese Cargo Ship sinking, as photographed through a periscope by Plunger (SS-179). This ship is probably the *MS Kinai Maru* , sunk by *Plunger* on 10 May 1943, during her sixth war patrol.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-68685, now in the collections of the National Archives.
56k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet One, "Cover Sheet", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79455.
64k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet Three, "Outboard Profile", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79457-A.
85k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet Four, "Inboard Profile", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79458.
63k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet Five, "Main Deck", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79459.
61k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet Six, "Platform Deck", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79460.
69k	Plunger (SS-179) Sheet Seven, "Hold", of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 79461.
113k	Members of the submarine's crew display her battleflag. The man seated in the center appears to be wearing a Japanese sailor's hat. The photograph is dated 21 June 1943, following Plunger's (SS-179) sixth war patrol.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-72010, now in the collections of the National Archives.
183k	Watercolor of the Plunger (SS-179) underway. The painting is by Mr. Ike Lloyd.	Courtesy of Darryl Baker.
43k	Rear Admiral Edward J. Fahy,USNA '34, one of Plunger's (SS-179) wartime commanders. He was the CO from 13.06.1944 to 10.10.1944	Photo courtesy of Darryl Baker. Text info courtesy of Ron Reeves.
101k	Photo of the Hoe (SS-258), and Plunger (SS-179) was taken in 1956 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, facing out into the East River toward the Williamsburg Bridge which can be seen in the right of the photo. The structures on the left appear to be the ship building ways.	Photo courtesy of Ric Hedman TN(SS), text courtesy of Art Cappabianca.