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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch courtesy of
Don McGrogan BMCS, USN (ret.)

Snapper (SS-185)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Romeo - Juliet

Salmon Class Submarine: Laid down, 23 July 1936, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; Launched, 24 August 1937; Commissioned, USS Snapper (SS-185), 16 December 1937; Decommissioned, 17 November 1945, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 31 April 1948; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 18 May 1948, to Interstate Metals Corp., New York, NY. Snapper earned six battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,449 t., Submerged: 2,198 t.; Length 308' ; Beam 26' 1"; Draft 14' 2"; Speed, Surfaced 21 kts, Submerged 9 kts; Complement 5 Officers 50 Enlisted; Armament, eight 21" torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, two .30 caliber machine guns; Propulsion, diesel-electric, four Hoover, Owens, Rentschler Co. diesel engines, (replaced in 1943-1944 with four General Motors 278A diesel engines), 5,500 hp, Fuel Capacity, 96,025 gals. four Elliot Motor Co. electric motors, 3,300 hp, Battery Cells 252, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
23k	Commemorative postal cover on the occasion of Snapper's (SS-185) launching, 24 August 1937, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 24 August 1937.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle. Photo added 02/05/06.
93k	Mrs. Harold R. Stark, Sponsor of Snapper (SS-185) holds the Sponsor's bouquet during the submarine's launching ceremonies, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 24 August 1937.	Collection of Admiral Harold R. Stark, USN. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99100, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
24k	Commemorative postal cover on the occasion of Snapper's (SS-185) commissioning, 16 December 1937.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
14k	Commemorative postal cover on the occasion of Snapper's (SS-185) shakedown cruise, 15 June 1938.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
73k	Commemorative postal cover on the occasion of Snapper's (SS-185) birthday, 16 December 1938.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
60k	Commemorative postal cover on the occasion of Navy Day 1938 honoring the six Salmon-class (SS-182-187) submarines: Salmon (SS-182) Seal (SS-183), Skipjack (SS-184) Snapper (SS-185) Stingray (SS-186) & Sturgeon (SS-187).	US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
72k	Snapper (SS-185) photographed during the later 1930s.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99096, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
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.
225k	Bow view from ahead of the Snapper (SS-185) in Drydock, Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard. 10 April 1939.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
59k	Panoramic photograph of Holland (AS-3) moored at Buoy 19, San Diego, CA, 1940, with eleven submarines alongside. Submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Stingray (SS-186); Perch (SS-176); Pollack (SS-180); Cachalot (SS-170); Cuttlefish (SS-171); Skipjack (SS-184); Sturgeon (SS-187); Snapper (SS-185) and Sargo (SS-188). SS-182 through SS-187 were members of Submarine Division 15, commanded by R.W. Christie. Richmond (CL-9), flagship of the Commander Submarine Force, Pacific, is in the right distance.	US Navy photo # NH 68481, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy of US Naval Institute, James C Fahey Collection.
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.
78k	Snapper (SS-185) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 February 1945.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # 19-N-80171, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
66k	Snapper (SS-185) underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 February 1945.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99097, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
71k	Snapper (SS-185) seen from ahead, while underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 February 1945.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99098, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
70k	Snapper (SS-185) seen from astern, while underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 February 1945.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99099, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
322k	Amidship looking forward view of Snapper (SS-185) at Mare Island on 26 Feb 1945. *Snapper* was in overhaul at Mare Island from 9 Nov 44 until 9 Mar 45.	US Navy photo # 1452-45, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 02/24/06.
112k	Snapper (SS-185) plan view, looking aft, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 26 February 1945. White outlines mark recent alterations to the submarine. Note ready service ammunition lockers built into the superstructure; radar antennas and radio-direction finding loop atop the periscope sheers. Barge *YF-465* is in the left distance.	Photograph # NH 19-N-80176, from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
245k	Bow on view of Sand Lance (SS-381) off Mare Island on 26 Feb 1945. In the background is a stern view of either Snapper (SS-185), Cero (SS-225), & Raton (SS-270). All were out in the bay that day.	USN photo # 1445-45, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 04/12/06.
53k	Bows on view of the Snapper (SS-185) underway, circa 1937-45.	Courtesy of Aryeh Wetherhorn from Vol XV of S.E. Morison U.S. Naval Operations in WW II.
79k	Photographed off the U.S. coast on 5 April 1945, Snapper (SS-185) shows a prominent raised casings above her engine rooms. They accommmodate the new mufflers installed in wartime. The Gato's (SS-212-84) had raised after decks and slightly smaller mufflers, so they showed no such bulges. The gun is a 4 in/50 salvaged from an old *S-boat*.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press. US Navy photo courtesy of Hyperwar US Navy in WWII.