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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

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

Wahoo (SS-238)
Loss & Memorium

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Keel Laying - Launching
War Patrols
Discovery

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
27k	Painting of the Wahoo (SS-238) surfaced and attacking a ship.	Courtesy of community.webshots.
430k	Drawing by an unknown artisit of the Wahoo (SS-238) which appeared in the 10 DEC 43 edition of the Mare Island newspaper "Grapevine", right after *Wahoo* was reported over due.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
203k	A watercolor by the famous naval artist Ike R. Lloyd who was working in the design section of Mare Island at the time he painted this painting. The drawing appeared in the Mare Island newspaper "Grapevine", 16 June 44.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
79k	Commemorative postal cover marking the 100 anniversary of the submarine service on Aprill 11, 2000, picturing the Wahoo (SS-238) and listing all the Mare Island Navy Yard, CA. built submarines constructed before the Korean War.	Courtesy of The Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum and submitted by Darryl Baker.
11k	Verne Leslie Skjonsby, Lieutenant Commander (Executive Officer) of the Wahoo (SS-238) at the time of her loss.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
138k	Color drawing of the *Subchaser No-46* (left)(indicative of the class of submarine chasers *Ch-15* and *Ch-43, which helped to sink the Wahoo* (SS-238), 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.
104k	In memory of the Wahoo (SS-238).	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
52k	Map area showing in LaPerouse Strait & Cape Soya, Hokkaido, Japan, where the Wahoo (SS-238) was sunk, 45.42'N, 142.24'E.	Photo courtesy of sailwx.info.
48k	Google Earth satellite photo of the Wahoo's (SS-238) final resting place.	View courtesy of Google Earth. Photo added 04/25/08.
134k	The Wahoo (SS-238) under attack on 11 October 1943 at 14:30 off Cape Soya, Hokkaido, Japan. The tell-tale oil slick from the *Wahoo* can be seen strtching from right (West) to left (East). Three attacking Japanese ships are on the surface.	Photo courtesy of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies via the MacKinnon Organization. Text courtesy of the MacKinnon Organization.
48k	Wahoo (SS-238) Peace Memorial, dedicated September 9, 1995 at Wakkanai, Cape Soya, Hokkaido, Japan. Standing only a few miles from where the *Wahoo* lies on the bottom, at 45.42'N, 142.24'E, with 80 men.	Courtesy of ussubmarinevetsofwwii.
74k	Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny, Commander Submarine Squadron 7, helps lay a wreath into the ocean at La Perouse Strait in remembrance of the Sailors aboard Wahoo (SS-238) from aboard submarine tender Frank Cable (AS-40) on 8 July 2007. The submarine sunk in October 1943 and was found in June 2006 by a Russian diving team.	U.S. Navy photo # N-5621B-017 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stefanie Broughton. Photo added 07/21/07.
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.
106k	Last moments of the Wahoo (SS-238) under attack on 11 October 1943 at 14:30 off Cape Soya, Hokkaido, Japan. The tell-tale oil slick from the *Wahoo* can be seen strtching from the distance (West) to foreground (East). Three attacking Japanese ships are on the surface. 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./"	Photo courtesy of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies via the MacKinnon Organization. Text courtesy of the MacKinnon Organization.