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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

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

Tuna (SS-203)

Radio Call Sign: November - Echo - Charlie -Golf

Tambor Class Submarine: Laid down, 19 July 1939. at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Launched, 2 October 1940; Commissioned USS Tuna (SS-203), 2 January 1941; Decommissioned, 11 December 1946, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Final Disposition, sunk, 24 September 1948, in 1,160 fathoms of water off the west coast; Struck from the Naval Register, 21 October 1948. Tuna received seven battle stars for her 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.

Size	Image Description	Source
218k	First day cover for the keel laying of the Tuna (SS-203) on 19 July 1939.	Courtesy of Darryl Baker.
18k	First day cover for the keel laying of the Tuna (SS-203) on 19 July 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
149k	Photo from 20 July 1939 edition of the Vallejo Times Herald showing the keel laying ceremonies for the Tuna (SS-203) on 19 July 1939 at Mare Island. The Navy Yard Band was playing the "Star Spangled Banner" at the time the photo was taken.	Photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
76k	Photo from 3 October 1940 edition of the Vallejo Times Herald picturing the official launching party on 2 October 1940 for the Tuna (SS-203) at Mare Island. From left to right: RADM David W. Bagley, Yard Commandant; Capt F. G. Crisp, Yard Manager; CDR L. P. Padgett, Jr., Aide to the Commandant and Mrs. Wilhelm Friedell, Sponsor; and her daughter Miss Luice Friedell.	Photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
226k	First day cover for the launching of the Tuna (SS-203) on 2 Oct 1940.	Courtesy of Darryl Baker.
137k	Front cover of the launch Detailed Operating Schedule for Launching of the Tuna (SS-203) on 2 Oct 1940.	Photo courtesy of The Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, submitted by Darryl Baker.
190k	Inside pages of the launch Detailed Operating Schedule for Launching of the Tuna (SS-203) on 2 Oct 1940.	Photo courtesy of The Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, submitted by Darryl Baker.
77k	Photo from 3 January 1941 edition of the Vallejo Times Herald picturing Capt A. D. Denney, right, Captain of the Yard; turning over the Tuna (SS-203) to her first Commanding Officer, LCDR John J. Crane at her commissioning at Mare Island on 2 January 1941.	Photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
48k	Tuna (SS-203) underway in San Francisco Bay, 10 March 1941.	US National Archives photo # 19-N-24094, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives.
327k	First day cover for the commissioning of the Tuna (SS-203) on 3 Feb 1941.	Courtesy of Darryl Baker.
18k	First day cover for the commissioning of the Tuna (SS-203) on 3 Feb 1941.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
92k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Tuna's (SS-203) first day Postal service labeled "Ready to Splash".	Photo courtesy of The Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum, submitted by Darryl Baker.
27k	Commemorative post marking the Tuna's (SS-203) first day of postal service on 3 Feb. 1941.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
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.
20k	Commemorative postal cover marking Navy Day, 27 October 1941 and the following submarines commissioned since the previous year: Trout (SS-202), Tuna (SS-203), Mackerel (SS-204), Marlin (SS-205), Gar (SS-206), Grampus (SS-207), Grayback (SS-208), Grayling (SS-209), Grenadier (SS-210) & Gudgeon(SS-211).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle. Photo added 02/05/06.
776k	Painting of the Tuna (SS-203), Gudgeon (SS-211) and Fulton (AS-11) by Lloyds of Vallejo. All three ships were constructed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.	U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
98k	Port side view of the Tuna (SS-203) August 1943. She is probably at Brisbane on her eighth patrol, recovering from damage caused by a Royal Australian Air force patrol bomber attacked her, dropping three bombs close aboard. The resultant damage necessitated 17 days of major repairs at Brisbane.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
491k	Tuna (SS-203) off Mare Island with the Navy Tug Pitamakan (YTB-403), in this 22 Sep. 1945 photo from the edition of the Vallejo Times-Herald. Sperry Mill is located directly across the Napa River from Mare Island and the housing on the hill to the left is federal housing built in late 1941.	U.S. Navy photo by Bill Platt, Vallejo Times-Herald staff photographer, courtesy of Darryl Baker & Captain (Select) Bob Decesari, USNR - CO, Navsea Unit 103.
302k	Eighteen kills on 13 patrols is the proud record of the Tuna (SS-203). F1/c Joe Przybylski points out the 13 patrol stripes & the 18 flags on the conning tower. The top 3 flags represent warships.	Photo & texy by Bill Platt, staff photographer, from the 22 Sep. 1945 edition of the Vallejo Times-Herald, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
42k	Tuna (SS-203) underway date and place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of Mike Green.
18k	Commemorative post marking the Tuna's (SS-203) participation at Bikini Atoll Atomic Bomb Test, *Operation Crossroads, where she was assigned a place among the target vessels anchored in the atoll. The first bomb was detonated on 1 July 1946, and the second followed 24 days later. Tuna* receivied only superficial damage.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
278k	Three veterans of *Operation Crossroads* are shown at Mare Island on 17 Oct 1946 in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Left to right: Dentuda (SS-335), Searaven (SS-196) and Tuna (SS-203); Parche (SS-384) is aft of these three. Bluegill (SS-242) and Hackleback (SS-295) are to the left.	USN photo # 3618-46, courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 07/23/06.