NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch on right contributed by Mike Smolinski, on left by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)
Shad (SS-235)
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| Click On Image For Full Size | Size | Image Description | Source | |
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 | 41k | Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Shad's (SS-235) keel laying, 24 October 1941, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. | Courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory). | |
 | 1.30k | Bow view of Runner (SS-275) from the North catwalk, 3 January 1942, Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. | US National Archives photo # 19lcm 33 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert. Editors Note: None of the photos from NARA would have seen the light of day here if it were not for the effort of Sean Hert. to scan and send them to me. He and Tracy White have done this innumerable times and I owe them a heart felt debt of perpetual thanks for being my legs from over 6,000 miles away. |
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 | 864k | Stern view of Runner (SS-275) from the South catwalk, 3 January 1942. When this photo was taken, Portsmouth had four building ways in place, but they were not arranged in sequence! If you were to look into the big building shed from the water the ways were numbered 2, 4, 3, and 1. Therefore, the boat seen in these photos under construction on Runner's (SS-275) port side on 3 January 1942 was the Kingfish (SS-234), on Way #3. The Shad (SS-235) is on Way # 2. Here is where it gets interesting. Sometime between the date of this photo and 20 March 1942 (about 3 1/2 months later) the workers at Portsmouth rearranged the scaffolding between these two ways and inserted a fifth way (#1A)! The keel of Scorpion (SS-278) was laid there on 20 March while Runner was still under construction. By that date the way that Kingfish vacated (#3) now had Scamp (SS-277) on it. | US National Archives photo # 19lcm 34 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert. Photo i.d. & text courtesy of David Johnston (USN, retired) & Darryl L. Baker. |
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 | 394k | Miss Priscilla Dudley, sponsor, and Mrs. Owen Davis, Maid of Honor of U.S. Submarine Shad (SS-235), Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH., 15 April 1942. Priscilla Dudley would marry, Julien J. LeBourgeois, eventually reaching the rank of vice admiral of the United States Navy. | National Archives Identifier: 7788877 Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov |
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 | 1.13k | Sliding down the launching ways, Shad (SS-235) backs into the waters of the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., 15 April 1942. | Official USN photograph # USN 710634 courtesy of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, via flickr.com. | |
 0823520 |
472k | Shad (SS-235) early in her career. | Photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com. | |
 0823519 |
518k | NOTE: George W. Appleton served onboard Shad, Shark II & Greenfish. Only the Greenfish was easily identifiable; the lettering on the cakes of the commissioning photos look to me to go either way between Shad & Shark II. The only sure thing (is that possible?) was the Commanding officer cuts the cake. The Shark II already has photos of her CO doing the honors so I figured that it must be the Shad ceremony. So, you can say with certainity that there is a that Shad of a doubt about the conclusion. Shad's (SS-235) commissioning crew. Her CO was Edgar John MacGregor and he appears here as the 7th person on the right front row. | Photo courtesy of George W. Appleton via his son, Roy Appleton. | |
 0823515 |
499k | In most of the commissioning photos with pastry, the Commanding officer is cutting the cake. Shad's (SS-235) CO was Edgar John MacGregor. Roy Appleton is the 4th person standing in the back row under the photos. | Photo courtesy of George W. Appleton via his son, Roy Appleton. | |
 0823514 |
6.46k | Shad (SS-235) takes the cake again, probably during her commissioning party 12 June 1942. | militarytimes.com Photo courtesy of George W. Appleton via his son, Roy Appleton. |
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 0823517 |
556k | Non commissioned officers & crew with their ladies. | Photo courtesy of George W. Appleton via his son, Roy Appleton. | |
 0823518 |
127k | 4 Jan 1943: While on her 2nd war patrol out of Roseneath, Scotland, Shad (SS-235) sank the German auxiliary minesweeper (not pictured) M 4242 (212 GRT, former French trawler Odett II and a barge with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay about 55 nautical miles west-north-west of Biarritz, France in position 43°55'N, 02°42'W. | Text courtesy of uboat.net. Photo via wrecksite.eu |
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 0823516 |
266k | 1 Apr 1943: Despite the escort of 4 German destroyers, Shad (SS-235) torpedoed and damaged the Italian blockade runner Pietro Orseolo (6338 GRT) in the Bay of Biscay in position 44°37'N, 02°18'W. | Text courtesy of uboat.net. Photo via www.trovestar.com |
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 | 78k | Two of the 6 subs of from Sub Squadron 50: Barb (SS-220), Blackfish (SS-221), Herring (SS-233), Shad (SS-235), Gunnel (SS-253), and Gurnard (SS-254) tied up at Rosneath, Scotland, circa 7 December 1942. The sub tender Beaver (AS-5) is in the background. | USN photo courtesy of jmlavelle.com. | |
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98k | A 1943 Watercolor by the artist Dwight Clark Shepler entitled "Jerry Hunters, Rosneath, Scotland." portrays the stern view of the sub tender Beaver (AS-5) and 3 of the 6 subs of Sub Squadron 50: Barb (SS-220), Blackfish (SS-221), Herring (SS-233), Shad (SS-235), Gunnel (SS-253), and Gurnard (SS-254). | Painting #87 /
88-199-CK. Courtesy of the USNHC. |
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192k | Aft plan view of the S-43 (SS-154) at Bethlehem Shipbuilding in San Francisco on 26 January 1944. The scaffolding belongs to the Sailfish (SS-192) to the right; Shad (SS-235) is forward of S-43 (SS-154), and unknown covered barge is berthed between Shad and Sailfish. | USN photo # 642-44 courtesy of Darryl L. Baker. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USN, retired) |
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 | 196k | Bow on view of the Shad (SS-235) on 2 March 1944 at San Francisco for overhaul at Bethlehem. | USN photo MI-1417-44 courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org. | |
 0823505 |
1.22k | Stern view of the Shad (SS-235) on 2 March 1944 at San Francisco for overhaul at Bethlehem. Note floating drydock in the background with another submarine up on blocks. | USN photo MI-1413-44 courtesy of history.navy.mil | |
 | 138k | Broadside view of the Shad (SS-235), circa Spring 1944 at San Francisco for overhaul at Bethlehem. | USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org. | |
 | 43k | Shad (SS-235), circa Spring 1944 at Mare Island, CA. | Photo courtesy of John Hummel, (USN) retired. | |
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646k | That style of bow limber hole pattern was only used on a number of Portsmouth/Mare Island-planned Gatos, SS-228-239 and SS-275-280. Since this appears to be a relatively late war photo, we can eliminate the war losses. We can eliminate Halibut (SS-232) due to her departure from combat due to damages, and the few photos of her show her in Measure 9 when retired. Flying Fish (SS-229) and Steelhead (SS-280) had the neo-Balao style fairwater installed, so we can eliminate them. That leaves us with Drum (SS-228), Finback (SS-230), Kingfish (SS-234), Haddock (SS-231), Shad (SS-235), Silversides (SS-236), Whale (SS-239), and Sawfish (SS-276). The mystery boat carries a five incher forward, a 20mm on her forward position, a softly curved or V-shaped venturi, what looks like an SJ support bracket on the front of her shears, and a square DF loop on her starboard sheers. We can therefore likely eliminate Drum, Finback, Silversides, Haddock,Whale, and Sawfish; the aren’t many images of these boats apart from Drum, but what there is suggests it isn’t one of them in 1945 (I wish there were more photos to say with 100% certainty, though). I eliminated Sawfish from the photo of the reserve fleet which seems to show a deck gun aft, but please feel to double check that I ID'd the correct boat from that reserve fleet aerial photo on her Navsource page. That leaves us with Kingfish and Shad as the likely candidates, neither of whom has a well-documented photographic record, lucky us! The treaty cruiser in the background is either Chester (CA-27) or Louisville (CA-28). Both had nearly identical bridge structures once refitted, with Louisville receiving her’s earlier than Chester, but neither carried it and painted out of dazzle until Bay Area yard time in March-April of 1945, so we’re likely looking at a date from March onwards when either Kingfish or Shad were in port with one or both of the cruisers, and probably later than that. Given the weatherbeaten look of the boat, this photo was likely not taken at Mare Island or Hunters Point, but somewhere nearer the combat zone. The censors were also hard at work eliminating the cruiser’s radars so its still wartime and any little differences in the control tops that might tell the tale aren’t there any longer, although the configuration of the bridge and how the tripod legs pass near the little tubs makes me think its more likely Chester, 60-40. It’s a shame the photo is so grainy. |
USN photo courtesy of Larry Futrell via Gary Priolo. Photo i.d. & text courtesy of Robert Morgan. |
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 | 146k | Shad (SS-235) berthed at the Salem Naval Base Reserve Central Wharf, May 1950. | Photo courtesy of submarinesailor.com. | |
 0823512 |
338k | Shad (SS-235) at Salem Reserve center 1950's & today's view. | Photos courtesy of Mike Marland. | |
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537k | Shad (SS-235) at Salem Reserve center 1950's. Red building is the old reserve training center, an old gun mount can be seen just in front of building. | Photo courtesy of Mike Marland. | |
 | 107k | Starboard quarter view of the Shad (SS-235), in Salem Mass. at derby wharf from 1948 until circa 1960, before being scrapped, you can see the Pequot Mills in the background. | Photo i.d. & text courtesy of Dick Tobin. USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org. |
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 0823557 |
1.07k | Shad (SS-235) with Pequot Mills and the contributors mother in the background. 1957. | Photo courtesy of Ed Wolbert. | |
 | 76k | Greenling (SS-213), and Shad (SS-235), at Boston in 1960 awaiting scrapping. | Photo & copy by Richard Leonhardt. Photo I.d. courtesy of Ron Reeves (of blessed memory) | |
 | 42k | Shad (SS-235), at Boston in 1960 awaiting scrapping. In the background are Charles J. Badger (DD-657) and an unidentified CVE | © Richard Leonhardt. Photo I.d. courtesy of Ron Reeves (of blessed memory) | |
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