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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski.

Saury (SS-189)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Tango - Uniform

Sargo Class Submarine: Laid down, 28 June 1937, at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 20 August 1938; Commissioned, USS Saury (SS-189), 3 April 1939; Decommissioned, 22 June 1946, at San Francisco, CA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 19 July 1946; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in May 1947, to the Learner Co., Oakland, CA. Saury earned seven battle stars during World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,450 t., Submerged: 2,350 t.; Length 310' ; Beam 27' 1"; Draft 13' 8"; Speed, Surfaced 20 kts, Submerged 7.75 kts; Max Operating Depth, 250'; 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, 90,000 gals. four General Electric Co. electric motors, 2,740 hp, Battery Cells 252, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
20k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of the keel laying of the Saury (SS-189), 28 June 1937.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
20k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of Saury's (SS-189) launching, 20 August 1938.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
26k	Saury (SS-189), underway, with *S-8* painted on her conning tower, circa after her launching on 20 August 1938 and prior to her commissioning, 3 April 1939.	US Navy photo courtesy of Through the Looking Glass, A Historic Look at Submarines Web Site
19k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of Valentine's Day, 1939, aboard the Saury (SS-189).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
51k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of Saury's (SS-189) commissioning, 3 April 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
20k	Commemorative postal cover with photo inset and boat's patch issued on the occasion of Saury's (SS-189) commissioning, 3 April 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
22k	Saury (SS-189), arriving at the Battery, in New York City, for the World's Fair, April 29, 1939.	US Navy photo & text courtesy of Warship Int. Edition # 3, 1986.
64k	Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of the shakedown cruise of Saury (SS-189) and listing her ports of call, July 14, 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
21k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the submarines Sargo (SS-188), Saury (SS-189), Spearfish (SS-190), Sculpin (SS-191), Squalus (SS-192) & Swordfish (SS-193) honoring Navy Day, 27 October 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
62k	U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London, Groton, Connecticut: Members of the 4th Command Class at the Submarine Base, February 1942. Those present are, bottom row left to right: Lieutenant Commander Mannert L. Abele; first command would be the Grunion (SS-216). He would be K.I.A. while commmanding the *Grunion, 30 July 1942. Lieutenant Commander Thomas B. Klakring; first command would be the Guardfish* (SS-217), Commander Karl G. Hensel, Officer in Charge; Lieutenant Commander George W. Patterson, Jr., Senior Assistant; and Lieutenant Commander Jesse L. Hull; first command would be the Finback (SS-230). Top row, left to right: Lieutenant Commander Howard W. Gilmore; first command would be the Growler (SS-215). He was postumously awarded the Medal of Honor after he was K.I.A. on the bridge of the *Growler, 7 February 1943. Lieutenant Commander Philip H. Ross; first command would be the Halibut* (SS-232), Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. Taylor; first command would be the Haddock (SS-231), Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Burrows; first command would be the Swordfish (SS-193) and Lieutenant Commander Leonard S. Mewhinney; first command would be the Saury (SS-189).	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-88577, now in the collections of the National Archives. Courtesy of the USNHC. Photo added 10/01/07.
76k	Stern view of the Saury (SS-189) in the Mare Island channel on 4 April 43.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 2360-43 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
105k	Bow view of the Saury (SS-189) in the Mare Island channel on 4 April 43. Shipyard records she was under overhaul at Mare Island from 12/29/42 to 4/10/43).	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 2364-43 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
79k	Broadside view of the Saury (SS-189) in the Mare Island channel on 4 April 43.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 2362-43 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
164k	Stern view of the Saury (SS-189) at Mare Island channel on 6 April 43 under going an inclining experiment.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 2378-43 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
176k	Plan view aft, of the Saury (SS-189) taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 April 1943. White outlines mark recent alterations to the submarine. Several landing craft, tank, are in the right background, one wearing pattern camouflage. The two outboard LCTs are *LCT-394* (seen bow-on) and *LCT-395* (seen from astern). Note the wooden fender platforms floating at left.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, NH 103493, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
138k	Bow view of the Saury (SS-189) at Mare Island channel on 6 April 43 under going an inclining experiment. Shipyard modifications indicated by circles.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 2381-43 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
114k	Stern view of the Saury (SS-189) in Mare Island channel on 28 May 1944. She was in overhaul at the yard from 1 March until 9 June 1944.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 3224-44 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
131k	Broadside view of the Saury (SS-189) in Mare Island channel on 28 May 1944. She was in overhaul at the yard from 1 March until 9 June 1944.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 3227-44 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
176k	Bow on view of the Saury (SS-189) in Mare Island channel on 28 May 1944. She was in overhaul at the yard from 1 March until 9 June 1944.	US Navy / Mare Island photo # 3228-44 courtesy of Darryl Baker.
176k	Saury (SS-189) at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 June 1944. White outlines mark recent alterations to the submarine. Note the two-armed overhead travelling crane in the background.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, NH 103498, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
110k	A close up of a *Sargo class* submarine, possibly the Saury (SS-189) but more likely the Spearfish (SS-190) with only part of it's hull number painted on the sail, # 27 (?). It was taken in the Pacific probably in August, 1944 somewhere off the California coast. A very close look at the conning tower fairwaters and the periscope shears of both boats show some minor but noticeable differences, and that the configuration almost exactly matches that of *Spearfish. There are differences in the location of the searchlight mounts, the configuration of the DF Loop, and the shape and plating of the bridge fairwaters. Assuming it is Spearfish, I placed the date in August, 1944 for a couple of reasons. The boat in the photo clearly had not been painted in a while, indicating that it had not been in the yards for a while. Also, the Spearfish* was in drydock in September and she received a 5"25 cal gun in the aft position in place of the 4"50 she carried in an 21 August 44 photo. I still can't account for the number 27 on the fairwater. I agree that it is probably a squadron number. Since it was extremely rare for boats to go on war patrol with any kind of identification markings topside, I think these numbers were painted on the boats when they returned stateside for overhaul or training, but this is a guess.	USN photo courtesy of Ivan van Meter, submitted by Jack LaPeer courtesy of Fabio Peña. Photo i.d. & text courtesy of David Johnston & John Hummel.
87k	High altitude photo of a *Sargo class* submarine, possibly the Saury (SS-189) but more likely the Spearfish (SS-190).	USN photo courtesy of Ivan van Meter, submitted by Jack LaPeer courtesy of Fabio Peña. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston & John Hummel.
461k	6 Dec 45 photo appeared in the 14 Dec 45 issue of the Mare Island newspaper lists the following subs present at the dockyard: Unknown, Dragonet (SS-293), Guavina (SS-362), Sunfish (SS-281), Sargo (SS-188), Spearfish (SS-190), Saury (SS-189). First two ships in second row appear to be: Bashaw (SS-241) and Mingo (SS-261). The Tiru (SS-416) is on the building ways on the left above the subs and surrounding by staging and cranes. It is interesting to note that the boats have started the mothballing process, as evidenced by the preservative cocoons around the deck guns.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker. Partial text courtesy of David Johnston, USNR.
900k	Inactivated submarines at Mare Island on 3 January 1946. Front row left to right: Sand Lance (SS-381), next two could be Sealion (SS-315) and Seahorse (SS-304), Searaven (SS-196), Pampanito (SS-383), Gurnard (SS-254), Mingo (SS-261), Guitarro (SS-363), Bashaw (SS-241). Back row left to right: Unknown, Tunny (SS-282), next three could be Sargo (SS-188), Spearfish (SS-190), and Saury (SS-189), Macabi (SS-375), Sunfish (SS-281), Guavina (SS-362), Lionfish (SS-298),Piranha (SS-389). The Scabbardfish (SS-397) is docked in *ARD-11* on the other side of the causeway. The mixture of boats from the *Salmon/Sargo, Gato, and Balao classes* illustrate the clear differences in the conning tower fairwaters and the periscope shears that can be used to identify boats. The high bridges with the uncovered support frames (the "covered wagon" look) of the *Gatos* and *Salmon/Sargo's* contrast with the low and sleek look of the *Balao's. The fatter, more robust periscope shears of the Balao's* are markedly different from the thinner shears with more supporting structure of the *Gatos* and *Salmon/Sargo's. The differences in the pattern of the superstructure limber holes can also be used for identification purposes. The single row of large semi-circular holes indentify Electric Boat or Manitowoc boats. A dual row of smaller rectangular holes mark the government built boats. Also note that the EB/Manitowoc boats have the deck mounted, T-shaped JP sonar head on the starboard side of the forward deck, while the government boats have it on the port side. EB/Manitowoc boats had the anchor on the starboard side, the government boats on the port side. A close look will show that some of the boats have had the anchor removed and the hawsepipe plated over as part of the mothball process. Most of the boats have the late war radar outfit of the SJ surface search (small dish) and SV air search (large dish). The Balao's* and some of the *Gatos* have the SS dish mounted on a separate large mast aft of the periscopes. The older *Salmon/Sargo's* and *Gatos* have a much smaller mast. *Searaven* appears to have had her radars already removed. *Searaven* is actually sporting a late war SJ surface search antennae mounted to starboard of the periscopes. This is a rare installation. Most often it was mounted forward (early war) or aft (late war) of the 'scopes shears. Her air search set is a late war SD antennae mounted on a stub mast directly aft of the 'scopes. *Searaven* never received the much more capable SV air search set. Having been assigned to training duties after November, 1944 it was probably felt that the SV set was not necessary. One strange thing: almost all of the boats appear to have the outer doors of the forward torpedo tubes open. Even though the boats have an interlock system that prevents the breech and outer doors from being opened at the same time, this is an unusual thing to do and a potential source of catastrophic flooding.	U.S. Navy photo # 17-46, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Text courtesy of David Johnston, USNR.