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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Wahoo (SS-238)
Discovery

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Keel Laying - Launching
War Patrols
Loss & Memorium

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

Presidential Unit Citation

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 28 June 1941, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Launched, 14 February 1942; Commissioned USS Wahoo (SS-238), 15 May 1942; Final Disposition, sunk on seventh patrol by Japanese aircraft in LaPerouse Strait, 11 October 1943, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 6 December 1943. Wahoo earned six battle stars for World War II service in addition to being awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her third patrol.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 10"; Beam 27' 4"; Draft 15' 2"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Maximum Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gal.; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 dual purpose deck gun, two .50 cal machine guns, two .30 cal machine guns; Propulsion, four GM diesel, 5,400hp, electric reduction gear with four main GE generator engines, 2,740shp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
25k	View from the top of the bow section of what is believed to be the Wahoo (SS-238) lying in approximatley 185 feet of water. Until the U.S. Navy makes an official dive to the site to determine the actual identity of the submarine (following the proceedures that were used on the dive on the Lagarto (SS-371) , the Wahoo Project has released these photos with the reservation that they are of a sunken submarine taken in the general area where *Wahoo* is assumed to have been lost.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo & partial text submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
35k	View aft from the forward 4"/50 deck gun.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
23k	View forward from the forward deck gun covered in 63 years of marine growth.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
27k	View aft - starboard propeller.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
46k	View of the stern diving planes, propellers, and rudder.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
26k	View of a member of the dive team swimming by what looks to be the hull of the Wahoo (SS-238).	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
46k	View forward from the aft main deck.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
36k	View of main deck gun, looking aft.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
30k	View of port stern plane and propeller, looking forward.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group. Photo i.d. courtesy of John Hummel.
48k	View of main deck supports.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
40k	View of 20mm gun mount.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
35k	View aft from main deck gun.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
70k	View of antenna insulator.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
40k	View of main deck gun, looking aft.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
49k	View of fairwater and conning tower, looking forward.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
54k	View of deck.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.
51k	View of port propeller.	Photo courtesy of Vladimir Kartashev. Photo submitted by Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol. Imaging and annotation by the Wahoo Project Group.