Submarine Piranha (SS-389)

Piranha

Country	United States
Ship Class	Balao-class Submarine
Hull Number	SS-389
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, United States
Laid Down	21 Jun 1943
Launched	27 Oct 1943
Commissioned	5 Feb 1944
Decommissioned	31 May 1946
Displacement	1,526 tons standard; 2,391 tons submerged
Length	312 feet
Beam	27 feet
Draft	15 feet
Machinery	Four Fairbanks Morse diesel engines, four Elliot Motor Co. electric motors
Bunkerage	116,000 gallons, two 126-cell main storage batteries
Power Output	5,400 shaft horsepower
Speed	20 knots
Range	11,000 miles at 10 knots
Crew	66
Armament	10x21" torpedo tubes with 24 torpedos, 1x5" deck gun, 1x40mm, 1x20mm, 2x0.50 caliber machine guns
Submerged Speed	8.75 knots

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Last Major Revision: Jan 2005

Submarine Piranha (SS-389) Interactive Map

Photographs

Inactivated submarines at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States, early 1946

See all 5 photographs of Submarine Piranha (SS-389)

Piranha Operational Timeline

5 Feb 1944	Piranha was commissioned into service.
16 Jul 1944	West of Luzon in the Philippines, submarine USS Piranha made contact with the 26-ship Japanese Convoy TAMA-21C southbound from Takao in Taiwan to Manila in the Philippines. Piranha torpedoed and sank the 6,000-ton troop ship Seattle Maru and then withstood a depth charge attack of over 100 charges. Piranha’s “Mickey Finns” wolfpack partners, Guardfish and Thresher, closed in on the convoy and launched a continuous attack that lasted into the following day and covered 100 miles of ocean. Thresher sank 2,800-ton transport ship Shozen Maru and 4,916-ton merchant ship Sainei Maru. Thresher also claimed sinking destroyer IJN Kusagaki but she was unscathed. Guardfish sank the 6,000-ton transport ship Mantai Maru and the 5,200-ton transport ship Jinzan Maru and later the 3,000-ton merchant ship Hiyama Maru. A total of 42 torpedoes were fired by the three submarines with 28 hits claimed.
31 May 1946	Piranha was decommissioned from service.

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