World War II Database

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ww2dbaseNamed after a game fish, USS Sargo was commissioned in 1939. She had her shakedown cruise in the Atlantic off South America, and joined the Pacific Fleet in July 1939. She was at Manila when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941. The next day she departed Manila to patrol the waters off French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. During these patrols, she was plagued by a series of faulty torpedoes, making her raids utterly ineffective. On 20 Jan 1942, she assisted in the rescue of the crew of S-36 in the Makassar Strait; five days later she ported at Soerabaja in Java, where she picked up a stockpile of ammunition and left for Mindanao of the Philippines. Her return trip to Soerabaja included 24 airmen who escaped from Clark Field.

ww2dbaseOn 25 Feb Sargo was mistaken for a Japanese ship and attacked by Allied plane, inflicting minor damage. She successfully completed that mission, delivering 31 passengers to Fremantle, Australia.

ww2dbaseFor the remainder of the war, Sargo was on patrols all over the Pacific. By the end of 1944, she was operating off the coast of Japan. She spent the remainder of the war as a training submarine.

Submarine Sargo (SS-188) Interactive Map

Photographs

Sargo Operational Timeline