NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski
Runner (SS-275)
Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 8 December 1941, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 30 May 1942; Commissioned USS Runner (SS-275), 30 July 1942; Sunk on 3rd patrol by a mine, June-July 1943, between Japan and Midway Island, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, 30 October 1943. Runner received one battle star for World War II service. Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,410 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 4"; 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 Fairbanks Morse main generator diesel engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 94,400 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.
| Click On Image For Full Size Image | Size | Image Description | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 44k | Runner (SS-275), going down the ways, 30 May 1942 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. | U.S. Navy photo. | |
 | 24k | Commemorative launch tag on the occasion of Runner's (SS-275) launching from the Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard on 30 May 1942. | Photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo. Photo added 07/22/11. | |
 | 91k | Heading out for sea trials in October 1942. | USN photo courtesy of history.navy.mil. | |
 | 107k | Heading out for sea trials in October 1942, the Runner (SS-275), will soon make her first war patrol. This Portsmouth built boat had the anchor mounted on the port side and a high bridge as built. This would soon be cut down. Her "SJ" radar is mounted in front of her number one scope. | Photo and text courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II by Thomas F. Walkowiak. |
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 | 55k | Commemorative photo in honor of the memory of the crew of the Runner (SS-275). | Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen. Dante's Prayer courtesy of Loreena McKennitt via quinlanroad.com. | |
 | 83k | Google Earth satellite photo of the Northern Honshu area of Japan, Runner's (SS-275) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the Runner and her crew. | View courtesy of Google Earth. Photo added 01/04/09. | |
 | 18k | Joseph Hunt Bourland, Lieutenant Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Runner (SS-275) at the time of her loss. | U.S. Navy photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com. | |
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117k | Joyce DaSilva, the wife of Jesse DaSilva of the Tang (SS-306), one of the nine survivors of the boat, 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 Ballou of Rhode Island 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!" |
Text i.d. courtesy of Marlynn Starring. Photo i.d. courtesy of Chuck Senior, Vice Commander, Los Angeles-Pasadena Base, USSVI. U.S. Navy photo # N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil. |
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 | 276k | Starboard broadside view of the Runner (SS-275), photographed during her shakedown period while off the Portsmouth Navy Yard on 16 October 1942. In less than a year from the date of this photograph, Runner and all her company would be listed as M.I.A. 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..." | USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org. | |
View the Runner (SS-275)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
On Eternal Patrol
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
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