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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Lancetfish (SS-296)

Radio Call Sign: November - Xray - Mike - Whiskey
Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 30 September 1942, at Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA.; Launched, 15 August 1943; Commissioned USS Lancetfish (SS-296), 12 February 1945, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Decommissioned, 24 March 1945; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London Group; Struck from the Naval Register, 9 June 1958; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 20 August 1959 to Yale Waste Co., Boston, MA for $ 57,189.00.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves, HTC, USNR (ret.)

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth Limit, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers 60 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks-Morse main generator diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity 116,000 gal., four Elliot Motor Co., main motors with 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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Lancetfish 253k Lancetfish (SS-296), launching ceremony, 15 August 1943 at Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA.
Note the numbered 554 on her hull, the numbers on their side are undoubtedly an internal construction number used by Cramp. Simon Lake also used in-house numbers on his O & R class boats while they were still in his yard.
In the case of Cramp, the use of these numbers appears to be limited. Not all of the launch photos for their boats show the numbers. Being a late comer in the sub construction business, Cramp had tremendous problems in hiring skilled workers. Most of the good ones had already been hired by other firms in the rapidly expanding war economy. Putting these numbers on these boats may have been a way of keeping things from getting mixed up.
This was a very rare occurrence. To my knowledge, none of the other building yards (EB, Ports, MI, Man, or Boston) placed internal hull numbers on the boats during the war. I think it was just easier to use the hull number that was assigned by the Navy.		 Photo I.d. & text courtesy of John Hart, Ric Hedman, & David Johnston (USNR).
U.S. Navy 80-G-207952, courtesy of NARA.
Lancetfish 18k Commemorative postal cover issued on the occassion of Lancetfish's (SS-296) commissioning, 12 February 1945, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA. Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Lancetfish 19k Beginning of the salvage operation on the Lancetfish (SS-296), Mar. 23, 1945, at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard following her sinking at the pier on Mar. 15, 1945. U.S. Navy photo, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-16392, courtey of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 07/31/06.
Lancetfish 70k Beginning of the salvage operation on the Lancetfish (SS-296), Mar. 23, 1945, at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard following her sinking at the pier on Mar. 15, 1945. She is down by the stern. U.S. Navy photo, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-16392, courtey of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 07/31/06.
Lancetfish 48k The Lancetfish's (SS-296) stern has been raised almost to an even keel with the rest of the boat in this Mar. 23, 1945 photo at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard following her sinking at the pier on Mar. 15, 1945. U.S. Navy photo, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-16392, courtey of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 07/31/06.
Lancetfish 139k Lancetfish (SS-296), Mar. 23, 1945, at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard during salvage operations following her sinking at the pier on Mar. 15, 1945. U.S. Navy courtesy of NARA. Text i.d. courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard.
Lancetfish 47k The Lancetfish's (SS-296) stern has been raised almost to an even keel with the rest of the boat in this Mar. 23, 1945 photo at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard following her sinking at the pier on Mar. 15, 1945. U.S. Navy photo, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-16392, courtey of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 07/31/06.
Lancetfish 46k The Lancetfish (SS-296) is finally on a level keel, Mar. 23, 1945, eight days following her accidental sinking at Pier 8 East of the Boston Navy Yard. She would be decommissioned the following day, 24 March. U.S. Navy photo, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-16392, courtey of Stephen P. Carlson Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard. Photo added 07/31/06.
View the Lancetfish (SS-296)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
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