Allied Warships

Spearfish (SS-190)

Submarine of the Sargo class

A wartime photograph showing USS Spearfish

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Sargo
Pennant	190
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	9 Sep 1937
Launched	29 Oct 1938
Commissioned	17 Jul 1939
End service	22 Jun 1946
History	Decommissioned 22 June 1946. Stricken 19 July 1946. Sold in October 1947 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Spearfish (190)

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	Charles Edward Tolman, USN	17 Jul 1939	Jan 1941
2	Lt. Roland Fremont Pryce, USN	Jan 1941	2 Mar 1942
3	Lt. James Charles Dempsey, USN	2 Mar 1942	Mar 1943
4	Lt.Cdr. George Arthur Sharp, USN	Mar 1943	10 Aug 1943
5	T/Lt.Cdr. Joseph Warford Williams, Jr., USN	10 Aug 1943	30 May 1944
6	T/Cdr. Cyrus Churchill Cole, USN	30 May 1944	Feb 1945
7	Jim D. Miller, USN	Feb 1945

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Notable events involving Spearfish include:

8 Dec 1941
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Pryce) leaves Manila for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Camranh Bay, French Indochina. Later she shifted her patrol area to Strait Makassar.

29 Jan 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Pryce) ended her 1st war patrol at Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies.

7 Feb 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Pryce) leaves Surabaya for her 2nd war patrol. she was ordered to patrol in the Java and Flores Sea.

2 Mar 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Pryce) called at Tjilatjap, Java, and took on board 12 members of the staff of the commander of the submarines of the Asiatic Fleet.

5 Mar 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Pryce) ended her 2nd war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

27 Mar 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) leaves Fremantle for her 3th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Sulu Sea and in Lingayen Gulf.

25 Apr 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Toba Maru (6995 GRT, built ????) off north-western Luzon in position 17°01'N, 120°15'E.

3 May 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) evacuated 27 people from the beleaguered fortress Corregidor.

20 May 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) ended her 3th war patrol at Fremantle.

26 Jun 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) leaves Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

27 Jul 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese submarine depot ship Rio de Janeiro Maru (9626 GRT, built 1930, offsite link) about 95 nautical miles east of Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina in position 11°28'N, 110°52'E.

17 Aug 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle.

8 Sep 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the west coast of Luzon.

11 Nov 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) ended her 5th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

2 Dec 1942
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) leaves Brisbane for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the New Britain / New Ireland area before continuing to Pearl Harbor.

25 Jan 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Dempsey) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul.

29 May 1943
USS Spearfish (T/Cdr. G.A. Sharp, USN) and USS Searaven (T/Cdr. H. Cassedy, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Allen (T/Lt.Cdr. H.H. Nielsen, USN). (1)

30 May 1943
USS Spearfish (T/Cdr. G.A. Sharp, USN) and USS Searaven (T/Cdr. H. Cassedy, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Allen (T/Lt.Cdr. H.H. Nielsen, USN). (1)

6 Jun 1943
With her overhaul completed USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. G.A. Sharp) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Caroline / Marshall islands area.

12 Jul 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. G.A. Sharp) damaged the Japanese destroyer Kawakaze (built 1937, offsite link) about 20 nautical miles south-west off Eniwetok in position 11°12'N, 161°50'E.

1 Aug 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. G.A. Sharp) ended her 7th war patrol at Midway.

25 Aug 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) departed from Midway for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

11 Sep 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese transport ship Tsuyama Maru (6962 GRT, built 1916) south-west of Kyusyu, Japan in position 30°56'N, 132°47'E.

18 Sep 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) damaged the Japanese torpedo boat Sagi due to the premature explosion of two torpedoes south-west of Kyusyu, Japan in position 29°08'N, 134°29'E.

10 Oct 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

7 Nov 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to perform photographic reconnaissance of Jaluit, Wotje, and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.

19 Dec 1943
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) ended her 9th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

17 Jan 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of Formosa.

30 Jan 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Tamashima Maru (3560 GRT, built 1940) about 400 nautical miles north-north-east of Saipan in position 21°15'N, 149°18'E.

10 Feb 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese transport ship Tatsuwa Maru (6345 GRT, built 1938) south-west of Formosa in position 21°53'N, 119°13'E.

29 Feb 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) ended her 10th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

31 Mar 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) leaves Pearl harbour for her 11th war patrol. she was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea north of the Ryukyu Islands.

5 May 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Toyoura Maru (2510 GRT) and torpedoed and damaged the munitions ship Mamiya (15820 GRT, offsite link) in the East China Sea west of Kyushu, Japan in position 32°16'N, 127°08'E.

27 May 1944
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Williams, Jr) ended her 11th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. she was ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul.

12 Nov 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Cole) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 12th and last war patrol.

11 Jan 1945
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Cole) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire off the Bonin Islands in position 23°47'N, 139°49'E.

24 Jan 1945
USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Cole) ended her 12th and final war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is assigned to training duties.

12 Feb 1945
USS Bugara (Cdr. A.F. Schade, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour together with USS Pruitt (Cdr. P.H. Bjarnason, USN), USS PC-599 and USS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Miller, USN).