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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch on left was submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) . Other patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski. Patch on right courtesy of BMCS Don McGrogan, USN (ret.)

Hardhead (SS-365)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Hotel - Yankee

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 7 July 1943, at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, WI.; Launched, 12 December 1943; Commissioned USS Hardhead (SS-365), 18 April 1944;
Upon completion of sea trials on Lake Michigan and acceptance, she entered a floating dry dock and was towed down to Algiers, LA and re-assembled. After transiting the Panama Canal, Hardhead reported for duty at Pearl harbor on 7 July 1944. Completing six combat patrols during the war, she was decommissioned on 10 May 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, Vallejo, CA.
On 6 February 1952, Hardhead was re-commissioned (in reserve) and sailed for New London, CT for a GUPPY IIA conversion, which included a streamlined sail; a GUPPY bow and snorkel equipment, among other modifications. An in-service re-commissioning was conducted on 24 March 1953 and she joined the Atlantic Fleet. Operating off the east coast of the U.S. and the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas until July 1958, she joined a Submarine Development Group and engaged in the evaluation of sonar and antisubmarine weapons.
In addition to her research role, Hardhead also was one of "Direct Support" platforms utilized by the Naval Security Group in supporting U. S. Sixth Fleet operations during the 1960s. On 26 July 1972, she was struck from the U. S. Naval Vessel Register (NVR)
In ceremonies at New London, Groton, CT the same day, she de-commissioned; transferred to the Hellenic Republic of Greece and was re-named after Captain Dimitrios Papanikolis, who sank a 74-gun flagship of the Ottoman Fleet on 27 May 1821. HS Papanikolis (S-114) served in the Hellenic Submarine Forces until decommissioning on 31 December 1992.
Hardhead/Papanikolis served both the United States and Hellenic Navies for almost 50 years from the date her keel was first laid down. Final fate unknown. Hardhead earned 6 battle stars for all of her patrols during WWII.
Researched by CTRC Donald J. Wagner, USN (Ret.) for NavSource.

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; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm, one 20mm, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; ; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity, 116,000 gals., four General Electric main motors with 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
65k	Hardhead (SS-365), starts her slid into the waters of the Manitowoc River after being side launched at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, WI., 12 December 1943.	*Editors Note: There are over 200 images submitted on these pages covering the following submarines that were constructed at the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co, Manitowoc, WI,: SS-265 through SS-274, and SS-361 through SS-380. None of them would have seen the light of day if it were not for the efforts of Curator, Asst. Director, Bill Thiesen of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Larry Bohn,* who sent them to NavSource for publication. A special debt of gratitude is owed to these two men and the *Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia* (SS-245) for allowing these photographs to be seen by the lovers of naval history worldwide.
55k	Watercolor print by the artist Tom Denton of the side launching of a Manitowoc built boat.	Courtesy of submarineart.com
52k	Hardhead (SS-365), shortly after being side launched at Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, WI., 12 December 1943.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
124k	Hardhead (SS-365), on sea trials in Lake Michigan, December 1943. Note the horse shoe emblazed on the jackets of the crew members.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
112k	Hardhead (SS-365), on sea trials in Lake Michigan, December 1943. Having a horse-shoe for luck proved invaluable for identifying the photo. Note the horse shoe emblazed on the jackets of the crew members whose backs are turned to the camera.	Photo courtesy of Edward J. Doerflein, submitted by Carol Doerflein. Photo i.d. courtesy of John Hart, Darryl Baker & David Johnston. Photo i.d. added 09/27/07.
30k	Hardhead (SS-365), on sea trials, bow view, in Lake Michigan, December 1943.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
149k	A strong breeze blows Old Glory on the bridge of the Hardhead (SS-365), on sea trials on Lake Michigan, Feb. 44.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
112k	Snow and ice encrusts the deck and the bridge of the Hardhead (SS-365) while on sea trials on Lake Michigan, Feb. 44.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org
102k	Portside view of the Hardhead (SS-365) while on sea trials on Lake Michigan, Feb. 44.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
46k	Hardhead (SS-365), Ship's WW II battle insignia, 1944.	Submitted by Larry Bohn, courtesy of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, home of the Cobia (SS-245) .
440k	Text accompanying this photo reads "Enlisted men repair and check instruments aboard a submarine just returned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. May 1945." Note: Many of the captions of Bristol's photography are lacking in details and some have the wrong dates, places and locations. The *"23"* boat in question in this photo is definitely NOT the S-23 (SS-128). It is beyond a doubt a *Salmon* or *Gato/Balao class* fleet boat, and I would lean toward a *Balao. The date of the photo is probably early to mid 1944. The boat in question has the characteristicly fat, twin periscope shears and long, wide flat "cigarette" deck of a Balao. Directly above the head of the sailor who is working at the base of the aft scope is a radar mast. The sailor behind him is standing at and looking through the aft Target Bearing Transmitter (TBT). Barely visible on the far left of the photo is what I believe to be part of a 20 mm gun mount. None of these features were ever present on any of the S-boats, even the later 40 series* that were heavily modified (i.e. S-45 (SS-156) ) towards the end of the war. The whole conning tower fairwater on the boat in question is simply too large for a *S-boat. As for the "23"* on the fairwater, I have seen wartime photos of fleet boats displaying mysterious one and two digit numbers that do not correspond to their hull number (see the Guardfish (SS-217) and Peto (SS-265) pages for examples). Despite a lot of research, I have not turned up an official explanation for these strange numbers. One source said that they were squadron or flotilla identifiers, but I can't back this up officially. It is possible that they were temporary numbers assigned while the boats were in home waters, maybe to cut down on friendly fire incidents. Strangely enough, these numbers also seemed to have been used briefly during WWI, as I have seen them on D, E, F, G, and *H-class* boats. It is also entirely possible that these numbers are part of an official disinformation program designed to obscure the identities of the boats while allowing a wide distribution of photos to an information hungry wartime public. That would also account for the information inaccuracies attributed to otherwise highly thought of photographers. Riveted construction on the conning tower fairwaters of the fleet boats was far more common than I previously thought. It seems that the fairwater plating was riveted to the supporting structure underneath during construction on virtually all of the fleet boats, no matter who built it. This was possible due to the fact that the fairwater was non-watertight and merely provided for a smooth flow of water around the conning tower and lower periscope shears. Riveting was a long practiced and well known construction method, while welding was still relatively new and there was a fairly low number of skilled and experienced welders, and they had to be parceled out carefully depending on priority. All of the pressure resisting elements such as the conning tower and the main pressure hull were welded. The last fleet boat to have a riveted pressure hull was the Pompano (SS-181) in 1937. These original riveted fairwaters were retained until the end of the war, unless the boat had major rework of the fairwater performed (like most of the *Gato's), or if the boat suffered battle damage. The rework jobs seemed to have been mostly welded. I would lay money on it being a Manitowoc built Balao class* and I will stick with the early to mid 1944 date.	National Archives Record Administration (NARA) photo # 080-G-468179 & HD-SN-99-02504 by Lt. Comdr. Horace Bristol, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. Partial text courtesy of Jason McDonald, President & Executive Producer MFA Productions LLC. mfaproductions.com worldwar2database.com ninesisters.com dayofthekamikaze.com Majority of text and photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston (USNR).
137k	Reserve fleet at Mare Island, circa Jan 1946. There are 52 submarines and 4 Sub Tenders in this photo. This photo is a Berthing list identifying the ships in the picture.	Photo commerating 50 years, U. S. Submarine Veterans of WW II 1996 calendar, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
453k	Photo of the Reserve fleet at Mare Island, circa Jan 1946. There are 52 submarines and 4 Sub Tenders in this photo. Whether coincidental or on purpose, the number of boats in the photo is the same as that which were lost in WW II. From back to front and left to right, first group of 12 boats: Sandlance (SS-381) Tunny (SS-282) Aspro (SS-309) Lionfish (SS-298) Guvania (SS-362) Sunfish (SS-281) Macabi (SS-375) Gurnard (SS-254) Pampanito (SS-383) Mingo (SS-261) Guitarro (SS-363) Bashaw (SS-241) From back to front and left to right, second group of 12 boats: Sealion (SS-315) Hammerhead (SS-364) Bream (SS-243) Seahorse (SS-304) Tinosa (SS-283) Pintado (SS-387) Mapiro (SS-376) Pipefish (SS-388) Moray (SS-300) Batfish (SS-310) Hackleback (SS-295) Bluegill (SS-242) From back to front and left to right, third group of 12 boats: Hawkbill (SS-366) Menhaden (SS-377) Perch (SS-313) Loggerhead (SS-374) Barbero (SS-317) Baya (SS-318) Hardhead (SS-365) Spadefish (SS-411) Springer (SS-414) Devilfish (SS-292) Kraken (SS-370) Dragonet (SS-293) From back to front and left to right, fourth group of 12 boats: Lamprey (SS-372) Piranha (SS-389) Manta (SS-299) Pargo (SS-264) Rancador (SS-301) Archerfish (SS-311) Mero (SS-378) Sawfish (SS-276) Spot (SS-413) Lizardfish (SS-373) Jallao (SS-368) Icefish (SS-367) From back to front and left to right, last group of 4 boats: Steelhead (SS-280) Puffer (SS-268) Stickleback (SS-415) Trepang (SS-412) From back to front, Submarine Tenders group of 4 ships: Pelias (AS-14) Aegir (AS-23) Euryale (AS-22) Griffin (AS-13)	Photo commerating 50 years, U. S. Submarine Veterans of WW II 1996 calendar, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
158k	Multiple submarine re-commissioning at Mare Island on 6 Feb 1952. Guitarro (SS-363) is submarine to the left, outboard of her is Hammerhead (SS-364), and Hardhead (SS-365).	USN photo # 11787-2-52, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
213k	Forward plan view looking aft of Carbonero (AGSS-337) at Mare Island on 18 Feb. 1952. She is outboard of Diodon (SS-349) and Guitarro (SS-363), Hardhead (SS-365) and Juneau (CLAA-119) are aft. Note Loon launcher on the after deck.	USN photo # 12024-2-52, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
210k	Fulton (AS-11) at the state pier New London, CT in March 1953. Submarines present include Entemedor (SS-340), Halfbeak (SS-352), Angler (SS-240),Razorback (SS-394), Tusk (SS-426), and Hardhead (SS-365). *SS P&T Leader* is across the pier.	US Naval Historical Center photo # NH-905254 courtesy of aimm.museum.(Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum at North Little Rock). Courtesy of CAPT Joseph A. Enright, USN (ret).
14k	Hardhead (SS-365), running on the surface, post 1953, place unknown.	Courtesy of George M. Arnold.
83k	Portside view of the Hardhead (SS-365) after Guppy conversion, circa post May 1953.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
54k	Hardhead (SS-365), running on the surface, off the Phila. Navy Yard, May 28, 1964.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
162k	Hardhead (SS-365), head on view off the Phila. Navy Yard, May 28, 1964.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
149k	Hardhead (SS-365), stern starboard quarter view off the Phila. Navy Yard, May 28, 1964.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
70k	Stern view of the Hardhead (SS-365) with Irex (SS-482) inboard, circa 1964.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
185k	Starboard view of the Hardhead (SS-365), circa 1966.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
75k	Page 6 of the Flasher's (SSN-613) Inactivation Ceremony Program on 18 June 1991. She is pictured here during her commissioning on 22 July 1966. Among the submarines in the background is the Hardhead (SS-365).	Courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. Photo added 07/21/07.
105k	Port side view of the Hardhead (SS-365), as the Greek Papanikolis (S-114) circa 1972.	Greek navy photo courtesy of Tony Vrailas.
21k	Commemorative postal cover of the Hardhead (SS-365) with the boat's patch in April 1972.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.