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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Amberjack (SS-219)

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 15 May 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 6 March 1942; Commissioned USS Amberjack (SS-219), 19 June 1942; Final Disposition, sunk on 3rd patrol by depth charging, 16 February 1943, off Rabaul, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 30 March 1945. Amberjack received three 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
36k	Commemorative post cover issued on the Amberjack's (SS-219) keel laying, 15 May 1941, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
65k	The Amberjack (SS-219) all dressed up in bunting and waiting for her first taste of champagne at her launching at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 6 March 1942.	USN photo courtesy of Electric Boat Co./ petloveshack.com.
71k	Commemorative post cover issued on the Amberjack's (SS-219) launching at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 6 March 1942. And yes, the photo is upside down.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
30k	Commemorative post cover issued on the occasion of the Amberjack's (SS-219) launching, 6 March 1942.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
70k	Wearing her bunting on her bow, the Amberjack (SS-219) is towed to dock at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., following her launching, 6 March 1942.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
80k	Amberjack (SS-219) at rest in the Thames River, off Groton, Connecticut, 30 May 1942. Photographed by her builder, the Electric Boat Company. The early built boats were completed with the enclosed scope supports and high bridge (Fairwater). The boat mounts a 3"/50 cal. gun aft and like most early boats has mine cable cutting devices mounted forward in a retractable opening in the hull.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # NH 98486, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
38k	Commemorative post cover issued on the Amberjack's (SS-219) commissioning, 19 June 1942.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
38k	Commemorative post cover issued on the Amberjack's (SS-219) commissioning, 19 June 1942.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
138k	Color drawing of the *Subchaser No. 46* (left)(indicative of the class of submarine chaser *Ch 18* which helped to sink the Amberjack (SS-219), according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action. On the right is the the destroyer *Shimakaze*, as depicted by Takeshi Yuki, "Color Paintings of Japanese Warships").	Photo courtesy of combinedfleet.com.
25k	Commemorative post coverissued on the 60th year of the Amberjack's (SS-219) eternal patrol.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
46k	Map area showing the general location between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea where the Amberjack (SS-219) was sunk.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
68k	St. George's channel looking southeast toward New Ireland looking torward Cape St. George in far distance at right. The Amberjack (SS-219) was lost not far from here.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
50k	Google Earth satellite photo of the site and surrounding islands of Amberjack's (SS-219) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the *Amberjack* and her crew.	View courtesy of Google Earth.
48k	Map area showing the general location between New Britain and Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel, in the Solomon Sea where the Amberjack (SS-219) was sunk. The average depth varies from 1600 to 3500 feet.	Courtesy of destroyerhistory.org by D.W. McComb.
11k	John Archibald Bole, Jr., Lieutenant Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Amberjack (SS-219) on her last patrol.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
65k	Commemorative photo honoring the memory of the crew of the Amberjack (SS-219).	Courtesy of Tom Kermen.
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.
47k	Amberjack (SS-219) off the coast of Groton CT., during her shakedown period, March - June 1942. 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./"	Courtesy of MMCM (SS) Greg Peterman USN Retired.