Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Contributed by ussubvetsofworldwarii.org

Snook (SS-279)


Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - November - Hotel
Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 17 April 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.; Launched, 15 August 1942; Commissioned USS Snook (SS-279), 24 October 1942; Sunk on 9th patrol by unknown causes, April-May 1945 east of Taiwan, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown). Snook earned seven battle stars 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.

Snooklook

It is my fondest hope that with the most remote of chances someone in the U.S. Navy will undertake a training exercise at Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands, area where the final resting place of the USS Snook (SS-279), according to Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS SNOOK (SS 279) April 8 1945 - 84 Men Lost could quite probably be.
I have contacted several individuals and organizations in the past year to go and explore the possibilities, but nothing so far has come out of it. It was worth the shot and I fully understand any lack of commitment on anyone's part when it comes to putting the time, energy & resources into anything other than a sure bet. To go looking on what is a speculative hunch is simply what it is.
I don't think it is worthwhile tracking every possible blip on the sonar screen on the assumption it is a lost boat. It is an endeavor that would not be cheap and my money tree is never going to sprout enough anyway. On the other hand, if the Navy wants a change of scenery on training exercises, and / or any of the shakers and movers who plan international fleet exercises happen to be in the area with a ROV (and frequent these pages) why not take the plunge?

On a personal note, my neighbor Danny Eisen is the former head of ICMIS: The International Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers.
When it comes to closure people will make tremendous efforts to locate those near and dear to them, even chasing old and cold leads.
My eldest daughter (I have two girls) is the same age as when Israeli Navigator Ron Arad went missing (21 years) ago. We measure his time as a M.I.A. by her birthday. He was married long enough to father a daughter who is the same age as mine. His family is still waiting for him to walk through the door & come home. In the small country that I live in everybody can know everyone else without too much difficulty and who knows what consequences we do here on earth in this life affects the real shaker and mover of things.
The crew of the Snook will not be walking through any open doors after their deaths 63 years ago, but hopefully finding their resting place might bring closure to those who need it where ever they are.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
Snook 68k Snook (SS-279) going down the ways, 15 August 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. U.S. Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
Snook 61k Snook (SS-279) going down the ways, 15 August 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. U.S. Navy photo.
Snook 120k Snook (SS-279) taken during sea trials, 8 January 1943.U.S. Navy photo.
Snook 103k Snook (SS-279) is shown here in this 11 January 1943 photo taken during sea trials. This boat shows the next step forward of removal of the fairwater. The metal around the scopes and the front part of the fairwater have been removed. A 20mm gun both fore and aft have been added. However, this gun had the heavy cast base which was soon replaced with the tripod type base.
 Photo and text courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
Snook 152k Snook (SS-279) is shown here in this 11 January 1943 photo taken during sea trials off Portsmouth, NH. Her number two scope is shown fully raised and the boat is equipped with two 20mm guns on her gun decks.
USN Archives photo # 19-N-39693 and text courtesy of The Floating Drydock, Fleet Subs of WW II by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
Snook 87k Snook (SS-279) operating near shore, circa 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 98380, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Mackerel 103k Submarine Commanding Officer sights through a periscope in the submarine's control room, during training exercises at the Submarine Base, New London, Groton, Connecticut, in August 1943. In the background, another officer watches men at the control dials. Photographed by a member of Edward Steichen's unit.
Note: Captain Edward L. Beach commented (during the mid-1980s) that this submarine is not a "Fleet Boat", but is more likely either Mackerel (SS-204) or Marlin (SS-205). He also thought that the officer at the periscope might be John F. Walling, who was lost in April 1945 while commanding Snook (SS-279). 		US Navy photo # 19-N-23871 from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Photo added 02/13/08.
Snook 42k Snook (SS-279) crewmembers holding up ship's scorecard. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
Snook 113k Snook's (SS-279) scorecard.
U.S. Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
Coastal Defense Vessel No. 8 161k Photo of Coastal Defenses Vessel No. 8, Coast Defense Vessel No. 32 & and Coast Defense Vessel No. 52 which may have sunk the Snook (SS-279), according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action. Photo courtesy of A. J. Watts, "Japanese Warships of World War II", submitted by Aryeh Wetterhorn.
Okinawa 123k Shonan, a type B modified escort, the same as the Okinawa, which may have sunk the Snook (SS-279), according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action. Photo courtesy of A. J. Watts, "Japanese Warships of World War II", submitted by Aryeh Wetterhorn.
I-56 17k A number of enemy submarine contacts were reported in the vicinity of Snook's (SS-279) lifeguard station during the period in which her loss occurred. During April and May 1945, five Japanese submarines were sunk in the Nansei Shoto chain. The circumstances surrounding Snook's loss suggest the possibility that one of these lost submarines may have torpedoed her while she was surfaced during her lifeguard duties and it was not reported. It is known that such tactics were suggested to Japanese submarine commanders by their supporters, according to Submarines Lost Through Enemy Action.
According to Rick Cline, author of The Final Dive, the five submarines were:
I-44,
I-56,
I-361,
RO-46, &
RO-109.
The I-56 is pictured here & was lost to five destroyers and aircraft from the light aircraft carrier Bataan (CVL-29) east of Okinawa on 18 April 1945. 		Photo courtesy of Torikai Yukihiro @Torikai Lab Network. Toka University, 1117 Kitakaname, Hiratuka, Kanagawa, Japan, 259-1292.
RO-46 25k Pictured here is the RO-46. She was reportedly sunk 9 Apr. 1945 S.E. of Okinawa by U.S.destroyers.
Photo courtesy of wlb-stuttgart.de. Text info courtesy of biblio.org/Page 233/APPENDIX A STATUS OF MAJOR COMBATANT SHIPS OF JAPANESE NAVY AT THE CONCLUSION OF HOSTILITIES.
RO-109 39k Pictured here is the RO-109. She was sunk 29 Apr. 1945 S.E. of Okinawa by U.S.fleet units.
Photo courtesy of combinedfleet.com. Text info courtesy of biblio.org/Page 233/ APPENDIX A STATUS OF MAJOR COMBATANT SHIPS OF JAPANESE NAVY AT THE CONCLUSION OF HOSTILITIES.
RO-46 21k Pictured here is the I-361. She was sunk by aircraft from the escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) off Okinawa on 30 May, 1945.
Photo & text courtesy of combinedfleet.com.
Devilfish89kSimply conjecture, but this could have been the view through the periscope lens of any of the Japanese submarines if & when the Snook (SS-279) was sunk. This is the Devilfish (SS-292), being sunk as a target by Wahoo (SS-565) at San Francisco, CA., 14 August 1968. U.S. Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
Okinawa 52k The final resting place of the Snook (SS-279), according to Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS SNOOK (SS 279) April 8 1945 - 84 Men Lost could quite probably be here, at Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands, photographed in August, 1991.
One of the southernmost of the Ryukyu Islands, Iriomote Island can be seen in this near-nadir view. As with all of the Ryukyu Islands, Iriomote Island is the exposed top of a submarine mountain range and is volcanic in origin. The island is fringed by coral reefs and has a hilly, and tropical vegetation covered interior. Iriomote Island is not heavily populated. The city of Ishigaki on Ishigaki Island is visible in the upper right portion of the image. The small island near the bottom center of the image is Hateruma. 		Photo # STS043-608-037 & text courtesy of eol.jsc.nasa.gov via wikipedia.org.
Okinawa 88k The final resting place of the Snook (SS-279), according to Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS SNOOK (SS 279) April 8 1945 - 84 Men Lost could quite probably be here, at Iriomote Island, Ryukyu Islands, photographed in August, 1991.
Photo courtesy of altjapan.typepad.com.
Snook 19k Map showing the general area where the Snook (SS-279) was at the time of her loss.
Photo courtesy of sailwx.info.
Snook 103k In memory of the Snook (SS-279).
Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
Snook 12k John Franklin Walling, Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Snook (SS-279) at the time of her loss.
USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
Snook 208k The Snook Memorial, at the entrance to the North Shore Maritime Center, on Riverfront Drive in North Little Rock, AR. Photo courtesy ofaimm.museum. (Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum at North Little Rock).
Tolling the Boats 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.
Snook 98k The human factor: Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, Cemetery on White Street. Ernie Spence was lost on the Snook (SS-279), 9 April 1945.


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./"		 U.S. Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
View the Snook (SS-279)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
On Eternal Patrol
Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS SNOOK (SS 279) April 8 1945 - 84 Men Lost
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Submarine Index
This page is created by Gary Priolo and maintained by Michael Mohl
© 2008 Michael Mohl © 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.

Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster.