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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch at left contributed by Harold F.(Carl) Carlson, on right by Mike Smolinski

Peto (SS-265)
Commissioning - Scrapping

Radio Call Sign: November - Bravo - Delta - Golf

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Construction - Sea Trials

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 16 June 1941, at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI.; Launched, 30 April 1942; Commissioned USS Peto (SS-265), 21 November 1942, at Manitowoc; Decommissioned, 25 December 1942, barged to New Orleans, LA; Recommissioned, 1 January 1943, at New Orleans; Decommissioned, 25 June 1946, at New London, CT.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London, CT.; Placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training Vessel in the 8th Naval District in November 1956; Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1960; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping to Commercial Metals, Dallas, TX for $ 35.686.00, and scrapped in Houston, TX. 10 November 1960. Removed 1/17/61.Peto received 8 battle stars for World War II service.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves, HTC, USNR (ret.)

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, 5,400HP, Fuel Capacity, 116,000 gal., four General Electric main motors, 2,740HP, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
24k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the Peto's (SS-265) commissioning, 21 November 1942, at Manitowoc.	Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
47k	Peto (SS-265), commerative emblem detailing the ship's history as the first submarine to be built and side launched at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI. 21 November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
92k	Peto (SS-265), commissions at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI. 21 November 1942. Rear Admiral J. T. Nelson USNR, Ret, father of the C.O., Mrs. Nelson, wife of the C.O. and Lcdr W.T. Nelson, the C.O.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
156k	Peto (SS-265), returning to Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI. November 1942 after first day of trials under trial crew of Electric Boat Company.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
136k	Peto (SS-265), plankowners at commissioning ceremony salute the colors, 21 November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
81k	Peto (SS-265), conning tower and ship's bell, November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
20k	Peto (SS-265), starboard view on her way for sea trials on Lake Michigan, November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
30k	Peto (SS-265), leaving dockside on her way for sea trials on Lake Michigan, November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
100k	Calling card of the Peto (SS-265) while she dove for depth tests in Lake Michigan, 8 November 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
48k	Officers and crew of the Peto (SS-265), December 1942.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
108k	Rasher (SS-269), has just been docked after launching, 20 December 1942. The sub in the background is the Peto (SS-265), which will be decomissioned on Christmas Day and taken to New Orleans for re-comissioning.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
78 k	RADIOPHOTO CHICAGO BUREAU, MID-WEST BUILT SUBMARINE ON WAY TO THE SEA; The Peto (SS-265), first U.S. Navy submarine built on the Great Lakes, arrives at Lockport, IL after a trip down Lake Michigan and through The Chicago Drainage Canal and Illinois Waterway, from the shipyards at Manitowoc, Wis. The sub was placed in drydock to be towed the balance of the trip through the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to New Oreleans LA, where it will receive its final fitting.	Official U.S. Navy Photo from ACME courtesy of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History and submitted by Bill Gonyo. Newspaper article courtesy of Ron Reeves.
47k	In order to deliver the subs to New Orleans, the equipment above the conning tower had to be removed and secured on deck to enable the sub to pass under a bridge in the Chicago river. The sub was then mounted on a floating drydock to get it through the shallow areas in the Mississippi river. The Peto (SS-265) is being placed in the drydock on a cold day in Lockport, Illinois 26 December 1942, in preparation for the move south. In early January, because of the rise of the waters in Illinois the *Peto* was tied up to a willow tree near a cornfield in Morris, Illinois for a week.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
105k	RADIOPHOTO CHICAGO BUREAU, MID-WEST BUILT SUBMARINE ON WAY TO THE SEA; The Peto (SS-265), the first U.S. Navy submarine ever built on the Great Lakes, is placed in a drydock at Lockport, IL for the trip to New Orleans, LA and the sea, over shallow lower reaches of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The sub is being towed from Chicago through the inland waterways after tests and trial run from Manitowoc, Wis. Shipyards, where it was built.	Official U.S. Navy Photo from ACME courtesy of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History and submitted by Bill Gonyo.
83k	The Peto (SS-265) in a floating dock, being pushed by a tug *Kansas City* of the Federal Barge Lines. Note her periscopes and masts have not yet been installed, to permit passage under low bridges.	USN photo from "The American Submarine" by Norman Polmar, courtesy of Robert Hurst.
285k	The Peto (SS-265) on the first day of her trip down river, 26 December 1942. The tug is the *Kansas City* of the Federal Barge Lines.	Submitted by Bob Peppard, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) . Photo added 11/06/09.
82k	Capt and officers of Peto (SS-265) at Guam 1945 with rescued New Zealand pilot Derick Morten.	Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
160k	Peto (SS-265), partially submerged while on war patrol, date and location unknown.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
396k	This looks like the Peto (SS-265) at Midway, where she was between 9 April and 4 May 1945. The submarine tender behind her is probably Aegir AS-23 which was also at Midway at the time. The quonset huts of Midway submarine base appear to the left and above *Peto. This photo was dated for release on 22 July, when Peto* was conducting her final war patrol of World War II. The caption was about airing submarine bedding, and *Peto* was not referred to by name. The submarine in theforground where the sailor is airing bedding is not identified either. Close examination of the photo shows that the 40mm single gun forward on the conning tower has been censored out and a poor job of drawing in railings was done (which extends past the gun sponson!).	Official USN photo file # TR-15131-C. Photo courtesy of David Buell.
61k	WW II battleflag of the of Peto (SS-265).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
45k	Late career photo of the Peto (SS-265) underway, possibly when she was in reserve until November 1956 when she became Naval Reserve Training submarine for the 8th Naval District.	USNI photo. Photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston.