USS Loggerhead

USS Loggerhead (SS-374/AGSS-374), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the loggerhead, Caretta caretta, a very large, carnivorous sea turtle common in the warmer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Loggerhead (SS-374), during sea trials on Lake Michigan, winter 1944.
History
United States
Builder	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1]
Laid down	1 April 1944[1]
Launched	13 August 1944[1]
Commissioned	9 February 1945[1]
Decommissioned	16 June 1946[1]
Stricken	30 June 1967[1]
Fate	Sold for scrap, 29 August 1969[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears 2 × propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[4] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Loggerhead (SS-374) was laid down on 1 April 1944 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc.; launched 13 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Barbara Fox; and commissioned on 9 February 1945.

Loggerhead emerged from the Manitowoc River into Lake Michigan on 1 March 1945 and headed via Chicago to Lockport, Ill., where she entered a floating drydock and was towed down the Mississippi River. She arrived at New Orleans 7 March and departed 5 days later transiting the Panama Canal and arriving at Pearl Harbor on 8 April.

Loggerhead's first war patrol started 15 May when she departed Hawaii and headed via Saipan for the Luzon Straits and the South China Sea. Patrolling along the east coast of Hainan Island, she sighted an enemy hospital ship 11 June and allowed it to pass unharmed. Three days later, Loggerhead bombarded a suspected radar installation at Gap Rock south of Hong Kong, causing severe damage to the tower.

Much time was devoted to lifeguard duty during this patrol. Changing patrol areas and briefly stopping at Subic Bay 1 July for fuel, the submarine headed for an assigned lifeguard station south of Hong Kong. She stopped numerous native boats, questioned their crews, and learned that the Japanese were commandeering all native boats in the ports which they controlled.

On 13 July the submarine fired five torpedoes at enemy ships in Semarang Roadstead. The next day, the submarine headed for Australia, transiting Lombok Straits between Bali and Lombok Island during daylight on 14 July. While Loggerhead passed between these islands, the enemy shore batteries surprised her with hot fire. Evading the bursts of the Japanese shells through skillful maneuvers, Loggerhead escaped undamaged. She arrived at Fremantle on 19 July.

The end of hostilities on 15 August found Loggerhead two days out of Fremantle heading for the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol. She put in Subic Bay on 22 August, departed for the United States 31 August via Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Francisco 22 September 1945. Loggerhead was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard 16 June 1946 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

In 1960 she was assigned as a US Naval Reserve Training Ship and towed to Portland, Oregon. In December 1962 she was reclassified an auxiliary submarine, AGSS-374, and she continued to serve as a reserve training submarine in Portland until 30 June 1967 when she was relieved by auxiliary submarine Rasher (SS-269). Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the same date, Loggerhead was sold for scrap in early 1969.