Allied Warships

Tuna (SS-203)

Submarine of the Tambor class

USS Tuna as completed

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Tambor
Pennant	203
Built by	Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered	1 Nov 1938
Laid down	19 Jul 1939
Launched	2 Oct 1940
Commissioned	2 Jan 1941
End service	11 Dec 1946
History	Decommissioned 11 December 1946. Sunk 24 September 1948 off the American west coast. Stricken 21 October 1948.

Commands listed for USS Tuna (203)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. John Jarvis Crane, USN	2 Jan 1941	Jan 1942
2	Lt.Cdr. John Leslie DeTar, USN	Jan 1942	Jun 1942
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Arnold Henry Holtz, USN	20 Jun 1942	22 Oct 1943
4	T/Cdr. James Thomas Hardin, USN	22 Oct 1943	6 Sep 1944
5	T/Cdr. Edward Frank Steffanides, Jr., USNR	6 Sep 1944	Aug 1945
6	Harold M. Lindsay, Jr., USN	Aug 1945

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Notable events involving Tuna include:

26 Jan 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.L. De Tar) departed Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

21 Mar 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.L. De Tar) ended her 1st war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

14 Apr 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.L. De Tar) departed Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu in Japanese home waters.

15 May 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.L. De Tar) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Toyoharu Maru (805 GRT) about 65 nautical miles off Sohuksando, Korea in position 33°34'N, 125°09'E.

16 Jun 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.L. De Tar) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

13 Jul 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) departed Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Aleutian Islands.

5 Sep 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) ended her 3rd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

9 Nov 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) departed Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Solomon Islands.

27 Dec 1942
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) ended her 4th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

18 Jan 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) departed from Brisbane for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Solomon Islands and off New Ireland.

17 Feb 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) ended her 5th war patrol at Brisbane.

4 Mar 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) departed from Brisbane for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Bismarck Archipelago.

30 Mar 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Kurohime Maru (4697 GRT) north of Manus, Admiralty Islands in position 00°22'S, 147°46'E.

20 Apr 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) ended her 6th war patrol at Brisbane.

21 Aug 1943
After a futile 7th war patrol USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) departed from Fremantle, Australia for her 8th war patrol.

14 Oct 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. A.H. Holtz) ended her 8th war patrol at Fremantle.

3 Nov 1943
USS Tuna (T/Cdr. J.T. Hardin, USN) conducted exercises off Fremantle during which HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. F.T. Burghard, RNethN) acted as target. Also A/S exercises were carried out. (1)

7 Nov 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) departed from Fremantle for her 9th war patrol.

12 Dec 1943
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Tosei Maru (5484 GRT) north of Halmahera in position 02°44'N, 126°14'E.

1 Jan 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) ended her 9th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was ordered to the Hunters Point Navy Yard for an overhaul.

24 Apr 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) left Pearl Harbor for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau.

4 May 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) sank the Japanese guard boat Tajima Maru (89 GRT) with gunfire north of Wake Island in position 22°06'N, 166°47'E.

21 Jun 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) ended her 10th war patrol at Majuro.

15 Jul 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) departed Majuro for her 11th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Shikoku and Kyushu in Japanese home waters.

5 Sep 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Hardin) ended her 11th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

8 Oct 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Steffanides, Jr) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 12th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Philippines.

2 Dec 1944
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Steffanides, Jr) ended her 12th war patrol at Saipan.

6 Jan 1945
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Steffanides, Jr) departed for her 13th and final war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off north-east Borneo.

3 Mar 1945
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Steffanides, Jr) lands supplies near Labuk Bay on the northeast coast of Borneo.

13 Mar 1945
USS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Steffanides, Jr) ended her 13th and last war patrol at Fremantle, Australia. She is now assigned to training duties.