Spot
| Country | United States |
| Ship Class | Balao-class Submarine |
| Hull Number | SS-413 |
| Builder | Mare Island Navy Yard |
| Laid Down | 24 Aug 1943 |
| Launched | 19 May 1944 |
| Commissioned | 3 Aug 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 19 Jun 1946 |
| Displacement | 1,550 tons standard; 2,463 tons submerged |
| Length | 312 feet |
| Beam | 27 feet |
| Draft | 17 feet |
| Machinery | Four Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-? 10-cyl diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed General Electric electric motors (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers |
| Bunkerage | 116,000gal fuel oil |
| Speed | 20 knots |
| Range | 11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged |
| Crew | 81 |
| Armament | 6x533m forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 1x127mm deck gun, 1x40mm Bofors gun, 1x20mm Oerlikon gun, 2x .50cal machine guns |
| Submerged Speed | 8.75 knots |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseSubmarine USS Spot was commissioned into service in Aug 1944. She embarked on her war patrol in Dec 1944, departing from Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii as a part of a wolfpack; the war patrol would be very successful, USS Spot having sunk serveral Japanese cargo ships, tankers, and trawlers off the Chinese coast. She saw success in her subsequent two war patrols as well. WW2 ended when she was undergoing a scheduled overhaul at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. After some time with anti-submarine warfare training units in San Diego, California, United States, she was decommissioned in 1946 and was attached to the Pacific Reserve Fleet. In 1961, she was towed to Pearl Harbor for modernization in preparation for loaning to Chile, which took place in Jan 1962. Re-christened Simpson, she officially entered Chilean Navy service in Apr and remained in service until 1982. During that time, in 1975, she was sold to Chile.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Apr 2013
Submarine Spot (SS-413) Interactive Map
Photographs
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Spot Operational Timeline
| 9 Jul 1942 | The US Navy issued an order for the future submarine Spot. |
| 24 Aug 1943 | The keel of submarine Spot was laid down at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. |
| 19 May 1944 | Submarine Spot was launched at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States, sponsored by Mrs. A. A. Gieselmann. |
| 3 Aug 1944 | USS Spot was commissioned into service with Commander William S. Post, Jr. in command. |
| 18 Sep 1944 | USS Spot completed fitting out at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. |
| 14 Nov 1944 | USS Spot arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. |
| 4 Dec 1944 | USS Spot departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. |
| 15 Dec 1944 | USS Spot arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| 17 Dec 1944 | USS Spot set sail for the Yellow Sea between China and Korea. |
| 2 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank a Japanese trawler with her deck gun in the Yellow Sea. |
| 7 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank two small Japanese trawlers with her deck gun in the Yellow Sea. |
| 11 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank a small Japanese freighter with her deck gun in the East China Sea 150 kilometers southeast of Shanghai, China. |
| 13 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank two Japanese trawlers with her deck gun in the East China Sea 150 kilometers southeast of Shanghai, China. |
| 14 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank two Japanese trawlers with her deck gun in the East China Sea 150 kilometers southeast of Shanghai, China. |
| 18 Jan 1945 | USS Spot fired two torpedoes at a Japanese boat in the Yellow Sea; both torpedoes missed. |
| 19 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank a Japanese cargo ship and a tanker in the Yellow Sea, hitting them with 3 of 13 torpdoes fired. |
| 20 Jan 1945 | USS Spot sank a Japanese cargo ship in the Yellow Sea with her deck gun after missing her with 5 torpedoes. |
| 30 Jan 1945 | USS Spot arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her first war patrol. |
| 24 Feb 1945 | USS Spot departed for her second war patrol. |
| 16 Mar 1945 | USS Spot sank a Japanese cargo ship in the East China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 8 torpedoes fired. |
| 17 Mar 1945 | USS Spot attacked a Japanese convoy in the East China Sea, sinking one ship and damaging another; 16 torpedoes were expended in this attack. |
| 23 Mar 1945 | USS Spot arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| 27 Mar 1945 | USS Spot departed Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| 31 Mar 1945 | USS Spot, misidentified as a hostile submarine, was attacked by American destroyer USS Case; USS Spot did not suffer any damage by the two salvos fired. |
| 14 Apr 1945 | USS Spot sank two Japanese trawlers with her deck gun in the East China Sea. |
| 25 Apr 1945 | USS Spot shelled Japanese facilities on Soheugsan island, Korea in the Yellow Sea, destroying or damaging a radio station, oil storage facilities, and barracks. |
| 4 May 1945 | USS Spot arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands, ending her second war patrol. |
| 2 Jun 1945 | USS Spot departed Saipan, Mariana Islands for her third war patrol. |
| 23 Jun 1945 | USS Spot set sail for the East China Sea. |
| 9 Jul 1945 | USS Spot sank two Japanese boats with her deck gun in the Yellow Sea. |
| 18 Jul 1945 | USS Spot arrived at Saipan, Mariana Islands, ending her third war patrol. |
| 19 Jul 1945 | USS Spot departed Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| 29 Jul 1945 | USS Spot arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. |
| 27 Aug 1945 | USS Spot departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for San Diego, California, United States. |
| 3 Sep 1945 | USS Spot was assigned to anti-submarine warfare training at San Diego, California, United States. |
| 2 Mar 1946 | USS Spot completed her duty with anti-submarine warfare training units at San Diego, California, United States. |
| 19 Jun 1946 | USS Spot was decommissioned from service at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. |
| 19 Aug 1961 | USS Spot was recommissioned into service. |
| 12 Jan 1962 | USS Spot was decommissioned from service and was transferred to Chile. |
| 23 Apr 1962 | Submarine Simpson entered Chilean Navy service. |
| 1 Aug 1975 | USS Spot, currently operating as Chilean submarine Simpson, was sold to Chile and was struck from the US Naval Register. |
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George Patton, 31 May 1944
