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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Apogon (SS-308)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - November - Xray

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 9 December 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, on Seavey Island in Kittery, Maine. Launched, 10 March 1943; Commissioned USS Apogon (SS-308), 16 July 1943; Decommissioned, 29 April 1946; Struck from the Naval Register, 25 February 1947; Final Disposition, sunk at Bikini atoll during atomic testing, 25 July 1946. Apogon received six battle stars for her World War II service.

As built to the specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 10"; 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, diesels-electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks-Morse main generator engines., 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 94,400 gal., four Elliot Motor Co., main motors with 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Click On Image For Full Size	Size	Image Description	Source
	74k	Apogon aureus.	Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.
	828k	Mrs. T. Withers, sponsor, christening Apogon (SS-308), launched at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., 10 March 1943.	National Archives Identifier: 12563195 Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
	73k	Commemorative launching tag of the Apogon (SS-308) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., 10 March 1943.	Photo courtesy of Ron Toth, Jr.via Tom Kermen.
	387k	Apogon (SS-308) slides down the launching ways at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., 10 March 1943.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
	186k	Apogon's (SS-308) officers and crew alongside the conning tower as she heads towards dock at Submarine Base 5 in 1 June 1945.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
	186k	Apogon's (SS-308) officers and crew alongside the conning tower as she heads towards dock at Submarine Base 5.	USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
	430k	Apogon's (SS-308) officers and crew alongside the conning tower as she heads towards dock at Submarine Base 5.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
	54k	Apogon (SS-308), aside of the Rescue and Salvage Ship Deliver (ARS-23), circa 1944.	Submitted by Bill Bach to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors, courtesy of Gary Priolo.
	189k	Starboard view of the Apogon (SS-308) entering port in February/March, 1946 probably at Pearl Harbor with the #1 LCVP from the *LST-52* providing escort. Both *Apogon* and *LST-52* participated in the Bikini atomic bomb tests in June and this is probably a marshalling of the ships to be used as targets in the test.	USN photo courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired). Photo I.d. & text courtesy of David Johnston
	127k	Installing a bearing ring on a 5" gun aboard a submarine, possibly the Apogon (SS-308), at an advanced base, circa 1945.	Official USN photo # 80-G-468222, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), by Lt. Comdr. Horace Bristol, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
	128k	Apogon (SS-308) off Mare Island on 15 April 1945.	Source: NARA San Francisco, Mare Island Naval Shipyard Ship Files. USN photo # 2719-45 courtesy of via Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	208k	Stern view of Apogon (SS-308) departing Mare Island on 15 April 1945.	USN photo # 2718-45, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	256k	Broadside view of Apogon (SS-308) off Mare Island on 15 April 1945. She was in overhaul at Mare Island from 15 January to 3 May 1945.	USN photo # 2720-45, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	229k	Bow on view of Apogon (SS-308) departing Mare Island on 15 April 1945.	USN photo # 2722-45, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	554k	Broadside view of Apogon (SS-308) off Mare Island on 15 April 1945.	USN photo # 2721-45, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
0830818	1.14k	Walt Disney drawing of Bugs Bunny & Apogon (SS-308). The photo is dated 10 January 1946.	Photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	348k	Apogon (SS-308), undergoes comprehensive remote control tests prior to her role in "Operation Crossroads", June 1946.	Insert text courtesy of nafts.net & submitted by Robert Hurst. USN photo # 80-G-702798 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
	153k	Apogon (SS-308), undergoes comprehensive remote control tests prior to her role in "Operation Crossroads", June 1946.	Image from Operation Crossroads Book, circa 1946. USN photo # 80-G-702795 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
	432k	Apogon (SS-308), undergoes comprehensive remote control tests prior to her role in *"Operation Crossroads", June 1946. Widgeon* (ASR-1) stands by in the background.	USN photo # 80-G-702799 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
	682k	A diver from the Widgeon (ASR-1), goes down to adjust cable attachments on the Apogon (SS-308). In the external control method of submerging a submarine, heavy weights are attached to it at bow and stern by cables of carefully chosen length. The weights overcome the sub's positive buoyancy and draw her down to the desired depth. To surface the sub, air is pumped into the ballast tanks. Submergence & surfacing were controlled from a salvage ship.	Text courtesy of nafts.net & submitted by Robert Hurst. USN photo # 80-G-702800 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
	127k	Apogon (SS-308), in lower left rim of the Atomic blast, meets her fate in *"Operation Crossroads", June 1946. A 21 kiloton underwater nuclear weapons effects test, (Event Baker)* conducted at Bikini Atoll (1946).	Official USN photo courtesy of dtra.mil.
	186k	The array of target ships in Bikini lagoon for the Baker shot of Operation Crossroads. Half of the target ships were outside the area of this map. The ten red X's mark the ten ships that sank. The table (left) contains the key to ship numbers. The black circle, with a radius of 1,000 yards (914 m) from the point of detonation, outlines the area of serious ship damage. The blue circle, 330 yards (302 m) radius, marks the rim of the shallow underwater crater created by the blast, as well as the outer circumference of the hollow water column which enveloped Arkansas (BB-33). The submarines were submerged: Pilotfish (SS-386), ship #8, to a keel depth of 56 feet (17 m), *Apogon, ship #2, to a keel depth of 100 feet (30 m), and Skipjack* (SS-184), ship #41, to 150 feet (46 m).	Insert USN photo courtesy of bikiniatoll.com. National Park Service photo, Jerry Livingston and Larry Nordby - Delgado, James P., et al., The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb, National Park Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1991, Baker map on p 17,., via wikipedia.org.
	988k	View of props, bitch to get the fish to hold still!	Photo courtesy of Steve Hubbard.
	1.49k	Apogon (SS-308) TBT on the bridge.	Photo courtesy of Steve Hubbard.
	1.61k	Aft torpedo tube with torpedo loaded.	Photo courtesy of Steve Hubbard.
	320k	5 photo PDF of the Apogon (SS-308). The first 3 are of her on the bottom; the last 2 views are of the forward torpedo room with torpedo prop lower left & Aft bulkhead forward torpedo room.	Photo courtesy of Steve Hubbard.

View the Apogon (SS-308)
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
Underwater video of the wreck of the submarine USS Apogon (SS-308) at Bikini, sunk during the 1946 'Baker' nuclear test.
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ

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