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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch on left contributed by Harold F.(Carl) Carlson, middle by Mike Smolinski, on right Artwork by Lawton, courtesy of USNHC # NH 63790-KN

Tautog (SS-199)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Lima - Zulu
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon - Navy Unit Commendation - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (14) - World War II Victory Medal
Tambor Class Submarine: Laid down, 1 March 1939, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 27 January 1940; Commissioned, USS Tautog (SS-199), 3 July 1940; Decommissioned, 8 December 1945, at Portsmouth, NH; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Assigned to Naval Reserve Training Center, Milwaukee, WI., from 9 May 1947 to 1959; Struck from the Naval Register, 11 September 1959; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 15 November 1959, to Bultema Dock & Dredge Co., Manistee, MI. Tautog received 14 battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,475 t., Submerged: 2,370 t.; Length 307' 2" ; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 13' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20 kts, Submerged 8 kts; Max. Depth Limit 250'; Complement 5 Officers 54 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, two .30 caliber machine guns; Propulsion, diesel-electric, four General Motors diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity 93.993 gal., four General Electric motors, 2,740 hp, Battery Cells, 252, two propellers.
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For Full Size		Size Image Description Source
Tautog 26k Commemorative postal cover marking the laying of the keel of the Tautog (SS-199) on 1 March 1939, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. Courtesy of Richard Leonhardt.
Tautog 129k Tautog (SS-199), sliding down the ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., on 27 January 1940. Official USN photo USNHC # NH 98661, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Tautog 96k Commemorative postal cover marking the launching of the Tautog (SS-199) on 27 January 1940. Courtesy of Jack Treutle & Tommy Trammp.
Tautog 359k Bow looking aft, 1 April 1940. Electric Boat photo # BS 23799 via NARA College Park, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
Tautog 381k Bow looking aft, 27 June 1940. Electric Boat photo # BS 23798 via NARA College Park, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
Tautog 395k View of the Tautog (SS-199), aft looking forward, 28 June 1940. Electric Boat photo # BS 23797 via NARA College Park, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
Tautog 208k Commemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Tautog (SS-199) on 3 July 1940 at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. Courtesy of Tommy Trammp.
Tautog 210k Commemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Tautog (SS-199) on 3 July 1940 at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. Courtesy of Tommy Trammp.
Tautog 307k Commemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Tautog (SS-199) on 3 July 1940 at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. Courtesy of Tommy Trammp.
Tautog 90k Ship's Historical Data Plaque, 1940. This photograph was received on 18 July 1940, shortly after Tautog (SS-199) went into commission. Photograph USNHC # 19-N-21887, from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
Tautog 122k Tautog (SS-199), surfaced and underway, shortly after she was commissioned on 3 July 1940 off Provincetown, Mass. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Tautog 141k Full length broadside of the Tautog (SS-199) shortly after she was commissioned on 3 July 1940 off Provincetown, Mass. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Tautog 642k 4 photo PDF showing the crew of the Tautog (SS-199) moored at the New London submarine base on the occasion of the visit of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to view the defenses in New England on 12 August 1940. The motorcade is approaching the submarine's berth. The Potomac (AG-25) is anchored just off shore.
What looks to be the R-11 (SS-88) is immediately behind the Tautog		 Source: Life Magazine Archives. Thomas Macvoy photographer, shared by Peter DeForest via Mike Green.
Tautog 437k Commemorative postal cover marking her shakedown cruise on 2 September 1940. Courtesy of Tommy Trammp.
Tautog 193k Starboard bow view of the Tautog (SS-199), sometime between July 1940 - December 1941. USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Tautog 58k Commemorative postal cover and photo showing the Tautog (SS-199) and FDR on 12 October 1940. Courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory).
Navy Day46k Commemorative post mark on the occasion of Navy Day, 27 October 1940, commemorating the participation of:
Sailfish (SS-192),
Seadragon (SS-194),
Sealion (SS-195),
Searaven (SS-196),
Seawolf (SS-197),
Tambor (SS-198),
Tautog (SS-199),
Thresher (SS-200), &
Triton (SS-201).
Note: YN1 Loyal Day was a plankowner of Sealion and aboard when she was bombed on 10 December 1941. 		Courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Tautog 1.0m Tautog (SS-199) is seen in Mare Island's new dry dock #4 on 13 March 1942. USN photo # MINSY 8658-3-42, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Barney31kRear Admiral William Bernard “Barney” Sieglaff was a member of the Naval Academy graduating class of 1931 with a degree in Engineering. He also received a Master's Degree from MIT in Naval Engineering prior to the war. On submarines during WWII he was the commanding officer of the Tautog (SS-199) from 28 November 1942 to 8 April 1944 and the Tench (SS-417) from 6 October 1944 to March 1945. His record in the Pacific gained him two Navy Crosses, three Silver Stars, and two Legions of Merit. USN photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo.
Tautog 360k On 9 April 1943, while escorting a convoy from Surabaya to Ambon, Isonami was torpedoed and sunk by Tautog (SS-199) while rescuing survivors of torpedoed Penang Maru, 35 nautical miles (65 km) southeast of Wangiwangi Island.
Picture of Isonami underway on 1939.		Photo & text courtesy of wikipedia via Tommy Trampp.
Fremantle 1.05k Mystery Tambor - probably Tautog (SS-199), Fremantle. Photo courtesy of Robert Morgan.
Tautog 612k As she headed homeward on the night of 16 March 1944, Tautog (SS-199) made radar contact on a convoy of seven ships off the coast of Hokkaido. She maneuvered into position off the enemy's starboard flank so that two ships were almost overlapping and fired four torpedoes. After watching the first one explode against the nearer ship, Tautog was forced deep by an escort, but heard two timed explosions and breaking-up noises accompanied by more explosions. Tautog pursued the remaining ships and attacked again from their starboard flank. She fired three torpedoes at a medium-sized freighter and four at another ship. A Japanese destroyer closed the submarine, forced her deep, and subjected her to a depth charge attack for one and one-half hours. Tautog was officially credited with sinking destroyer Shirakumo and the passenger-cargo ship Nichiren Maru. She returned to Midway on 23 March. Text courtesy of DANFS. Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org. via Tommy Trampp.
Tautog 253k On 17 January 1945, Tautog (SS-199) sighted a ship heading toward her. She attained a good angle on the bow and fired a spread of three torpedoes at the oncoming target. One hit blew off the enemy's bow. Tautog fired another torpedo from a range of 700 yards; and the loaded troopship, Transport No. 15, disintegrated. Text courtesy of DANFS.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Tautog 415k Starboard bow view of the Tautog (SS-199), taken 21 April 1945 by an airship of squadron ZP-31. USN photo by J.W. Neilson, USMC, courtesy of David Buell.
Fremantle 365k This plaque was unveiled 20 March 1995 by His Excellency Major General P.M. Jeffery OA MC, Governor of Western Australia to commemorate the sacrifices made by Allied submarines that operated out of Fremantle, Western Australia during WW II. Photo courtesy of Ron Reeves (of blessed memory).
Tautog 1.89k Photographed from an altitude of 300 off the Florida coast by airship ZP-31 on 29 May 1945. Note the scoreboard painted on her conning tower, representing Japanese ships sunk by Tautog (SS-199). USN photo # 80-G-323879 by Lt. (jg) Cayan from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
Tautog 106k Kill flags flutter from the Tautog (SS-199) probably as she was entering San Francisco Bay on her post war return to the mainland. Photo i.d. courtesy of Marty Danford & Ric Hedman. USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
Tautog 152k The shadow of the kill flags from the Tautog (SS-199) whip in the wind. Photo i.d. courtesy of Marty Danford & Ric Hedman. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Who Am I?89kHigh altitude photo Tautog (SS-199) after she completed her patrol at Midway on 1 February and was assigned to training duty. On 2 March, the submarine shifted her operations to Pearl Harbor to assist aircraft in antisubmarine warfare for one month before heading for the United States. She reached San Diego on 9 April and operated in conjunction with the University of California's Department of War Research in experimenting with new equipment which it had developed to improve submarine safety. On 7 September, she headed for San Francisco to join the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her orders were subsequently modified, and she got underway on 31 October for the east coast. Tautog (SS-199) arrived at Portsmouth, N.H., on 18 November and was decommissioned on 8 December 1945.
USN photo courtesy of Ivan van Meter, submitted by Jack LaPeer courtesy of Fabio Peña. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston, John Hummel & Timm Smith.
Who Am I?64kA close up of Tautog (SS-199) with only part of it's hull number painted on the sail, and a symbol possibly reminiscent of the Guardfish (SS-217). The number painted on the conning tower probably indicates its squadron, # 5 (?), which if it was during WW II would make it in the Atlantic.
I have posted a video on YouTube of Tautog (SS-199) when it was in Manistee MI for scrapping back in 1959-1961. My father Sherwood Smith filmed this with 8mm home movies and I converted and posted it to YouTube.
USN photo courtesy of Ivan van Meter, submitted by Jack LaPeer courtesy of Fabio Peña.
Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston, John Hummel & Timm Smith.
Tautog 207k Tied Tautog (SS-199), circa 1959. Photo courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
Tautog 120k The junior cadets of Tautog (SS-199) prepare to board in 1960 when the boat was open to public tours in Manistee MI. Photo courtesy of Timm Smith.
Tautog 704k The Manistee MI., submarine, Tautog (SS-199), 1960. Photo courtesy of Timm Smith.
Tautog 115k The 40mm gun that was mounted on the forward cigarette deck is now displayed in front of the VFW in Manistee, along with this plaque. Photo courtesy of Timm Smith.
View the Tautog (SS-199)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
PigBoats.COM TM, A Historic Look at Submarines
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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