USS Perch (SS-313)
USS Perch (SS/SSP/ASSP/APSS/LPSS/IX-313), a
Balao-class submarine, was the second submarine of the
United States Navy to be named for the
perch, a rather small European fresh-water spiny-finned fish.
| Perch (ASSP-313), at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA., 11 Sept. 1956. |
| | Career |  | USN Jack |
|
|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1943 |
| Launched: | 12 September 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 7 January 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 December 1971 |
| Struck: | 1 December 1971 |
| Fate: | sold for scrap,
15 January 1973 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
Displacement,
Surfaced:
Submerged: |
1,526 tons (1550 t),
2,424 tons (2460 t) |
| Length: | 311.8 ft (95.0 m) |
| Beam: | 27.3 ft (8.3 m) |
| Draft: | 15.3 ft (4.6 m) |
| Depth limit: | 400 ft (120 m) |
Speed,
Surfaced:
Submerged: |
20.25 knots (37 km/h)
8.75 knots (16 km/h) |
| Propulsion: | four 5400-hp diesel engines
four 2740-hp (2.0 MW) electric motors,
two propellers |
| Submerged Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 knots |
| Patrol Endurance: | 75 days |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi. (20,000 km)
surfaced at 10 knots |
| Complement: | 80 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | ten 21" torpedo tubes,
(six forward, four aft),
24 torpedoes,
one 4"/50 deck gun,
four machine guns |
| Motto: |
The second
Perch (SSâ€"313) was laid down
5 January 1943 by the
Electric Boat Co.,
Groton, Conn.; launched
12 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. David A. Hart; and commissioned
7 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. Blish C. Hills in command.
After shakedown she departed
19 February 1944 for
Key West,
Fla., where she gave services to the Fleet Sound School. She then sailed for
Pearl Harbor, arriving
3 April.
On
29 April she departed Pearl Harbor with
Peto (SS-265) for
Midway where
Picuda (SS-382) joined them. The
South China Sea was the hunting ground for the
wolf pack. Early in the morning of
24 May, a medium
tanker was contacted and damaged by four torpedo hits. The counterattack by a lone escort prevented further observation of the damage inflicted and knocked out both high pressure air compressors by flooding of the pump room.
Perch headed for the
Marshall Islands, arriving
Majuro 4 June.
On
27 June Perch began her second war patrol, this time off
Surigao Strait in the
Philippines. She sank a 100-ton Japanese trawler with gunfire before returning to Pearl Harbor
26 August.
Perch departed Pearl Harbor on her third war patrol
19 September. At Midway she joined submarines
Croaker (SS-246) and
Escolar (SS-294) and the three set out for the confined waters of the
East China and
Yellow Seas.
Perch unsuccessfully attacked one heavily escorted transport, and performed lifeguard duty supporting
B-29 raids on
Honshu.
Perch then headed for
Saipan to refuel en route to
Brisbane,
Australia, for duty with Submarines,
Southwest Pacific Fleet.
The fourth war patrol began
19 December from Brisbane. First
Perch patrolled off
Hainan,
China; next off
Singapore; and finally in
Balabac Straits off
Borneo. She sighted no enemy ships, and the patrol ended at
Fremantle,
Western Australia,
15 February 1945.
On
12 March Perch departed Fremantle carrying with her eleven Australian specialists trained in commando warfare. On the first night of the mission, in the
Makassar Straits, above
Balikpapan, Borneo, she landed four of the party who were to make a reconnaissance of the beach and surrounding territory. Coming in close ashore two nights later to disembark the remainder of the party,
Perch contacted a 300-ton coastal freighter that threatened to cut off her return to open water.
Perch engaged with gunfire and with the second hit the freighter burst into towering flames and sank.
Perch returned to Fremantle, Western Australia, completing her fifth war patrol.
On
15 April Perch departed Fremantle on her sixth war patrol and journeyed to the
Java Sea to hunt out the enemy. When she contacted a
convoy of two ships, an alert Japanese escort discovered
Perch and subjected her to a severe two-hour
depth charging which caused considerable damage throughout the boat. She then sailed to the China coast to patrol off Hainan before returning to Pearl Harbor
5 June.
On
11 July Perch departed Pearl Harbor and after fueling at Saipan, proceeded north for duty in the "Lifeguard League" off Japan. On
13 August she rescued a Navy
Corsair pilot from the water two miles offshore, bombarded fishing vessels and buildings on the beach, and retired to sea. A few hours later the same day, she picked up another pilot from the same fighter squadron five miles offshore. Two days later Japan capitulated and
Perch returned to Pearl Harbor
30 August.
Perch departed Pearl Harbor and set course for the
Golden Gate, arriving
Hunter's Point 8 September. She decommissioned and was placed in reserve in January
1947. On
19 January 1948 Perch was redesignated as a Submarine Transport,
SSPâ€"313, and was placed in an active status, attached to the
U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Perch recommissioned at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard 20 May 1948, Lt. Comdr. O. H. Payne in command. Through
1949, the ship participated in various troop- and cargo-carrying exercises. On
31 January 1950 Perch was reclassified a Transport Submarine,
ASSP-313. In September
1950 Perch transported a force of British
Commandos in a raid on the northeast coast of
Korea west of
Tanchon. The target, a train tunnel on the north-south supply line, was destroyed, with the loss of one man who was buried at sea. The commanding officer, Lt. Comdr. R. D. Quinn, became the only submarine commanding officer to receive a combat award during the
Korean conflict when he was awarded the
Bronze Star for this action.
From August
1951 to March
1952,
Perch underwent overhaul at Mare Island. From 1952 to
1954,
Perch trained, making "reconnaissance-runs" and "raids" on several
Alaskan and
Hawaiian islands. In January
1955 Perch made a cruise to WestPac conducting a "reconnaissance and raid" on
Iwo Jima and observed other islands in the
Bonin Chain. Periods between Far Eastern cruises,
Perch performed type training and intertype amphibious exercises in the
San Diego area.
|
Perch (APSS-313), Polar Icecap, 1952â€"53. |
Perch, again classified as a Submarine Transport,
APSS-313, on
24 October 1956, departed San Diego
5 November for a reconnaissance exercise in the
Panama Canal Area, returning to San Diego
11 December. In late
1957 she made a reconnaissance voyage from San Diego to Hawaii and Alaska, and spent most of
1958 and
1959 in amphibious training exercises in the San Diego area with
marines and
Underwater Demolition Teams.
In December 1959
Perch departed San Diego, decommissioned on
31 March 1960, and entered the Mare Island Group of the
Pacific Reserve Fleet at
Vallejo, Calif.Perch recommissioned
11 November 1961, Lt. Comdr. C.H. Hedgepeth in command, trained on the West Coast and Hawaii through 1962, and arrived at her new homeport,
Subic Bay,
Philippine Islands in March
1963. Her operations consisted of training Marine,
Special Forces, and
UDT personnel in reconnaissance and also in providing training services to allied countries. In May and June
1964 Perch traveled to
Mindoro and trained with British commando forces. July and August were spent in
Hong Kong,
Pohong Bay,
Korea (with R.O.K. Special Forces),
Yokosuka and
Okinawa, Japan.
March and April
1965, saw
Perch participating in exercise "Jungle Drum III" by landing 75 Marine Corps reconnaissance personnel on the
Malay Peninsula from the
Gulf of Siam.
Perch conducted search and rescue operations in the
Vietnam combat zone during August and September. She made two amphibious landings on the coast of
South Vietnam during November and December as part of operation "Dagger Thrust."
During January
Perch landed UDT personnel for beach survey work in South Vietnam as part of operation "Double Eagle." She then provided services at
Legaspi, P.I. to train Filipino and American UDT personnel. Between local training operations in the Subic Bay area, Perch worked with Chinese Special Forces at
Kaohsiung,
Taiwan, and with Army Special Forces at
Keelung, Taiwan.
In July
Perch participated in operation "Deck House II" on the coast of South Vietnam. Again in August,
Perch conducted several independent beach surveys with UDT personnel along the coast of South Vietnam. For operation "Deck House IV" in September
Perch landed UDT personnel on five successive nights for preinvasion beach reconnaissance. On
7 October 1966,
Perch headed for Pearl Harbor via Hong Kong,
Palau Islands,
Guam, and Midway Island. She operated in Hawaiian waters until
1967 when she became Naval Reserve Training submarine at San Diego. On
22 August 1968 Perchs classification was changed from APSSâ€"313 to Submarine Transport LPSSâ€"313.
Perch
was designated an Unclassified Miscellaneous Submarine IXSS-313'
30 June 1971 She was decommissioned and struck from the
Naval Register,
1 December 1971, and Disposition, sold for scrapping,
15 January 1973.
Perch received four
battle stars for
World War II service and one battle star for
Korean War service.
See
USS Perch for other ships of the same name.
*
history.navy.mil: USS Perch*
hazegray.org: USS Perch*
navsource.org: USS Perch
