World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUpon commissioning in 1938, USS Skipjack held her shakedown cruise in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, followed by receiving post-shakedown repairs at New London, Connecticut, United States. Before the start of the Pacific War, she participated in fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea and in the South Atlantic in early 1939, went through several scheduled overhauls, and participated in training exercises off California, United States and the Territory of Hawaii. When the Pacific War opened in Dec 1941, she was amidst a tour that took across the Pacific Ocean, having visited Midway, Wake, Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, and Philippine Islands; she was at Cavite Naval Shipyard in the Philippine Islands when the Pearl Harbor attack took place. She embarked on her first war patrol out of the Philippine Islands on 9 Dec with repairs not yet complete (which would be completed while en route), launching two attacks during the patrol that resulted in no confirmed sinkings. While her second war patrol was uneventful, her subsequent patrols saw her sinking and damaging several Japanese ships. Among her most rewarding attacks was the 26 Jan 1944 attack on a Japanese convoy, during which she initially sighted a transport, but shifted target when the escorting destroyer Suzukaze came into view. After successfully sinking Suzukaze, Skipjack suffered flooding from a valve door that failed to close, but she would quickly remedy the situation and return to attack the same convoy, sinking converted seaplane tender Okitsu Maru. In Apr 1944, she participated in the testing of torpedoes in cold waters in the area surrounding the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, then sailed for Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California, United States for overhaul. Her final war patrol, the tenth, was conducted in the Kurile Islands area, during which she damaged a Japanese auxiliary and attacked a Japanese destroyer without success. After the war, she became a training submarine at New London, Connecticut. She was sunk on 25 Jul 1946 at Bikini Atoll during the second atomic detonation of Operation Crossroads. She was raised in 1948 and towed to Mare Island Naval Shipyard to once again serve as a target ship, this time by aircraft rockets.

Submarine Skipjack (SS-184) Interactive Map

Photographs

Skipjack Operational Timeline

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