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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patches on left contributed by Mike Smolinski, on right by Lester Palifka.

Pampanito (SS-383) (AGSS-383)
Construction - Reactivation

Radio Call Sign: November - Juliet - Victor - Tango
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Auxiliary Submarine - Present

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 15 March 1943, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; Launched, 12 July 1943; Commissioned USS Pampanito (SS-383), 6 November 1943; Decommissioned 15 December 1945; Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet; Reactivated and place in service as a Naval Reserve Training Ship in April 1960, assigned to the Mare Island Naval Reserve Training Center; Reclassified Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-383), 6 November 1962; Struck from the Naval Register, 20 December 1971; Final Disposition, on permanent display at the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Pampanito received six battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 1,526 t., Submerged 2,391 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 10 kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2 kts; Operating Depth, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers 60 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one single 40mm gun mount, one single 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear, Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, 5,400 HP, Fuel Capacity, 116,000 gal., four Elliot Motor Co. electric main motors with 2,740 shp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
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Picuda & Pampanito 56k Keel laying of the Picuda (SS-382) (left) and Pampanito (SS-383) (right) on March 15, 1943, Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH. USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Pampanito 27k Commemorative medallion on the occasion of the launching of the Pampanito (SS-383) on 12 July 1943. Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Pampanito 16k Commemorative postmark issued on the occasion of the launching of the Pampanito (SS-383) on 12 July 1943. Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Pampanito 19k Pampanito (SS-383), commemorative launching card at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH. 1943. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Pampanito 56k Pampanito (SS-383), commissioning crew photo. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Pampanito 52k Pampanito (SS-383), ship's officers, commissioning 1943. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Pampanito 52k Pampanito (SS-383), port side view underway, 1944. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Pampanito 33k Pampanito (SS-383), ship's crew in the galley, circa 1943-45. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
Pampanito 37k Pampanito (SS-383) in July 1945 wearing Ms 32/3SS-B camouflage scheme. Courtesy of The Floating Drydock, "Fleet Subs of WW II" by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
Pampanito 72k Oil/alkyd on canvas by the artist John Meeks entitled "The Homecoming".
The sub - proudly escorted by a few seagulls, is greeted by a pair of Navy "Corsairs" roaring out over the now peaceful Pacific. In the background, the Golden Gate Bridge invitingly looms out of the (obligatory...) fog banks that constantly drift over the Northern Californian coast. 		Photo & text courtesy of subart.net.
Pampanito 45k Pampanito (SS-383), decommissioning crew photo. Courtesy of Lester Palifka.
254 80k Gurnard (SS-254) in drydock, at Hunters Point with the Pampanito (SS-383) on her port side.
The DE in background could be Creamer DE-308 which was built and launched at Mare Island but never completed. There were 3 Mare Island DE's not completed and two were cut in half and pulled onto the large building ways at the yard and scrapped. It makes sense that the third one could have gone to Hunters Point for its appointment with the cutting torch. Gurnard came to Mare Island on 11/26/45 and was placed into Reserve on 11/27/45. 		Photo from the collection of CWO 4 Benton E. Buell, USN, courtesy of David Buell. Photo i.d. courtesy of Darryl Baker.
254 123k Gurnard (SS-254) in drydock with Pampanito (SS-383) as they are prepared for inactivation to the reserve fleet in October-November 1945. Pampanito was inactivated and decommissioned with Gurnard. Pampanito actually decommissioned after Gurnard, in early December 1945.
The sailor in the photo is from Gurnard, TM2c Bill Parks.		 USN photo from the collection of CWO 4 Benton E. Buell, USN, courtesy of David Buell.
Pampanito 89k Pampanito (SS-383) taken in October-November 1945 time-frame when both Gurnard (SS-254) and Pampanito were undergoing inactivation procedures preparatory to decommissioning into the reserve fleet. USN photo from the collection of CWO 4 Benton E. Buell, USN, courtesy of David Buell.
Pampanito 77k Pampanito (SS-383) taken from the floor of the drydock, late 1945. USN photo from the collection of CWO 4 Benton E. Buell, USN, courtesy of David Buell.
Pampanito 173k Pampanito (SS-383) after a Hunters Point refit, 23 July 1945, with a new SV air-search radar on her separate radar mast and new periscope shears with a DF loop between the periscopes and an SJ mast abaft them. The object forward of the bridge fairwater is a 20 mm mount. USN photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press & submitted by Robert Hurst.
Tiru 308k Bow view of the Tiru (SS-416) under construction at Mare Island on 3 Jan 1946. Submarines in the background are decommisioned or will soon be: from front to rear are Bashaw (SS-241), Pampanito (SS-383), Mingo (SS-261), Gurnard (SS-254), Macabi (SS-375), Tunny (SS-282), Guavina (SS-362) and Sand Lance (SS-381). USN photo # 18-46, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Mare Island Reserve Fleet137kReserve 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 commemorating 50 years, U. S. Submarine Veterans of WW II 1996 calendar, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Mare Island Reserve Fleet453kPhoto 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 commemorating 50 years, U. S. Submarine Veterans of WW II 1996 calendar, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Mare Island Reserve Fleet 900k Inactivated submarines at Mare Island on 3 January 1946.
Front row left to right: Sand Lance (SS-381), next two could be Sealion (SS-315) and Seahorse (SS-304), Searaven (SS-196), Pampanito (SS-383), Gurnard (SS-254), Mingo (SS-261), Guitarro (SS-363), Bashaw (SS-241).
Back row left to right: Unknown, Tunny (SS-282), next three could be Sargo (SS-188), Spearfish (SS-190), and Saury (SS-189), Macabi (SS-375), Sunfish (SS-281), Guavina (SS-362), Lionfish (SS-298),Piranha (SS-389).
The Scabbardfish (SS-397) is docked in ARD-11 on the other side of the causeway.

The mixture of boats from the Salmon/Sargo, Gato, and Balao classes illustrate the clear differences in the conning tower fairwaters and the periscope shears that can be used to identify boats. The high bridges with the uncovered support frames (the "covered wagon" look) of the Gatos and Salmon/Sargo's contrast with the low and sleek look of the Balao's. The fatter, more robust periscope shears of the Balao's are markedly different from the thinner shears with more supporting structure of the Gatos and Salmon/Sargo's.
The differences in the pattern of the superstructure limber holes can also be used for identification purposes. The single row of large semi-circular holes identify Electric Boat or Manitowoc boats. A dual row of smaller rectangular holes mark the government built boats. Also note that the EB/Manitowoc boats have the deck mounted, T-shaped JP sonar head on the starboard side of the forward deck, while the government boats have it on the port side.
EB/Manitowoc boats had the anchor on the starboard side, the government boats on the port side. A close look will show that some of the boats have had the anchor removed and the hawsepipe plated over as part of the mothball process.
Most of the boats have the late war radar outfit of the SJ surface search (small dish) and SV air search (large dish). The Balao's and some of the Gatos have the SS dish mounted on a separate large mast aft of the periscopes. The older Salmon/Sargo's and Gatos have a much smaller mast. Searaven appears to have had her radars already removed.
Searaven is actually sporting a late war SJ surface search antennae mounted to starboard of the periscopes. This is a rare installation. Most often it was mounted forward (early war) or aft (late war) of the 'scopes shears. Her air search set is a late war SD antennae mounted on a stub mast directly aft of the 'scopes. Searaven never received the much more capable SV air search set. Having been assigned to training duties after November, 1944 it was probably felt that the SV set was not necessary.
One strange thing: almost all of the boats appear to have the outer doors of the forward torpedo tubes open. Even though the boats have an interlock system that prevents the breech and outer doors from being opened at the same time, this is an unusual thing to do and a potential source of catastrophic flooding.
 U.S. Navy photo # 17-46, courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Text courtesy of David Johnston, USNR.
Who Am I?289kInactivated submarines at Mare Island in early 1946.
Front row left to right: Sand Lance (SS-381), next two could be Sealion (SS-315) and Seahorse (SS-304), Searaven (SS-196), Pampanito (SS-383), Gurnard (SS-254), Mingo (SS-261), Guitarro (SS-363), Bashaw (SS-241).
Back row left to right: Unknown, Tunny (SS-282), next three could be Sargo (SS-188), Spearfish (SS-190), and Saury (SS-189), Macabi (SS-375), Sunfish (SS-281), Guavina (SS-362), Lionfish (SS-298),Piranha (SS-389).
The Scabbardfish (SS-397) is docked in ARD-11 on the other side of the causeway.
Tiru (SS-416) is on the ways in upper left hand side of photo. Two ferry boats (to the right of Tiru's ways) are YHB-2 / [ex-Post of Stockton] and YHB-21 / [ex-Tamalpais].		Photo i.d. courtesy of Darryl Baker.
US Navy photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com. Photo added 08/06/10.
Sunfish & Pampanito 207k Sunfish (SS-281) & Pampanito (SS-383) along the water front at Mare Island in Aug 1960.
Photo courtesy of Jim Richardson.
Pampanito 17k Pampanito (SS-383) appears here in the movie Down Periscope. (1996) Photo by Robert Taylor, copyright by San Francisco Maritime National Park Association [SFMNPA]. Ms. Diane Cooper curator, Pampanito (SS-383) collection.
View the Pampanito (SS-383)
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
Maritime Park Association - Welcome to USS Pampanito (SS-383)
USS Pampanito SS 383 San Francisco Bay
USS Pampanito SS-383
360 degrees of view of a (SS-383)
Ep-21 (1) - Victory At Sea ~ Full Fathom Five - HQ
HISTORIC SUBMARINE DOCUMENTARY AND TRAINING FILMS
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