Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Albacore (SS-218)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Echo - Romeo

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

Presidential Unit Citation

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 21 April 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 17 February 1942; Commissioned USS Albacore (SS-218), 1 June 1942; Final Disposition, sunk on 11th patrol by mines off North Hokkaido, 7 November 1944, All hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 30 March 1945. Albacore won four Presidential Unit Citations and ninth battle stars for her service during World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By/ Source
31k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Albacore's (SS-218) keel laying, 21 April 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. Note the *Albacore's* name is spelled without an "e".	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
88k	Albacore (SS-218) being towed to dock, immeadiatley following her launching on Feb. 17, 1942 at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
40k	Albacore (SS-218) in Measure 9 camouflage (dull black) off Groton, CT., 9 May 1942. Note the large conning tower and periscope sheers.	US Navy photo # NH 57776, from DANFS Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
16k	Albacore (SS-218) at anchor off Groton, CT., 9 May 1942.	US Navy photo, courtesy of csp.navy.mil.
29k	Commemorative postal cover marking the Albacore's (SS-218) commissioning, 1 June 1942.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
29k	Commemorative postal cover & photo inset taken during Albacore's (SS-218)sea trials & issued during her commissioning on 1 June 1942.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
104k	LT JG Charlie Traynor on watch aboard Albacore (SS-218) Thanksgiving, 1943. He would be K.I.A. with the rest of the crew in less than one year.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
215k	Bow on view of Albacore (SS-218) off Mare Island on 28 April 1944. She was in overhaul at the yard from 2 March to 5 May 1944.	US Navy photo # 2582-44, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
173k	Stern view of Albacore (SS-218) off Mare Island on 28 April 1944. She was in overhaul at the yard from 2 March to 5 May 1944.	US Navy photo # 2586-44, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
197k	Broadside view of Albacore (SS-218) off Mare Island on 28 April 1944. Note the oil tank farm on the hills surrounding the bay.	US Navy photo # 2584-44, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
125k	Albacore (SS-218) off Mare Island during her last overhaul, May 1944.	US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
63k	Portside view of Albacore (SS-218) off Mare Island during her last overhaul, May 1944. The contributors father, Clem O'Brien, served on the *Albacore* for 8 patrols, the 3rd through the 10th.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
43k	19 June, 31,000-ton carrier *Taiho, the newest and largest floating air base in the Japanese fleet sank carrying down 1,650 officers and men after being torpedoed by the Albacore* (SS-218). After this action *Albacore* was assigned lifeguard duty for planes striking Yap and Ulithi. On 2 July, *Albacore* shifted over to intercept traffic between Yap and the Palaus. The submarine spotted a wooden inter-island steamer loaded with Japanese civilians (above). Lt. Comdr. James W. Blanchard decided to stage a surface gun attack. After insuring the ship was afire, *Albacore* dived to avoid an airplane. The submarine surfaced soon thereafter and picked up five survivors.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien. Text courtesy of DANFS.
104k	Securing gun after bombardment of Fais Island.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
85k	Local geography from the mid Pacific while the crew of the Albacore (SS-218) were on R & R at Myrna Island late July early August 1944.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
50k	Albacore (SS-218) at Seedler Harbor in July 1944 after a refit alongside Euryale(AS-22), the submarine began her 10th patrol on 8 August. Her assignment was the Bungo Suido-Kii Suido area, and, during this period, *Albacore* was credited with sinking two Japanese vessels, a cargo ship and a submarine chaser. The patrol ended at Pearl Harbor on 25 September.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien. Text courtesy of DANFS.
59k	Clem O'Brien on the cigarette deck of the Albacore (SS-218), 1944.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
48k	Former crew members of the Albacore (SS-218) who transferred off the boat prior to her loss on 7 November 1944.	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.
23k	Map area showing the general location around North Honshu, Japan, where the Albacore (SS-218) is believed to have sunk.	Photo courtesy of sailwx.info.
62k	Google Earth satellite photo of North Honshu, Japan, Albacore's (SS-218) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the *Albacore* and her crew.	View courtesy of Google Earth.
33k	Hugh Raynor Rimmer, Lieutenant Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Albacore (SS-218) at the time of her loss.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
62k	Commemorative photo honoring the memory of the crew of the Albacore (SS-218).	Courtesy of Tom Kermen.
31k	Commemorative postal cover marking the 60th year of the Albacore's (SS-218) sinking, 7 December 2004.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo # N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
88k	Albacore (SS-218) Crew Party during Mare Island overhaul, May 1944. In less than six months most of the men pictured here would be K.I.A. In Memorium: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay / He brought me forth also into a large place: / he delivered me because he delighted in me./"	US Navy photo courtesy of Clem O'Brien & submitted by Sean O'Brien.