Allied Warships

Seal (SS-183)

Submarine of the Salmon class

USS Seal as completed

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Salmon
Pennant	183
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	25 May 1936
Launched	25 Apr 1937
Commissioned	30 Apr 1937
End service	1 May 1956
History	Decommissioned 15 November 1945. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Placed In service 19 June 1947 as a Naval Reserve Training Ship. Placed Out of service and stricken 1 May 1956. Sold 7 May 1956 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Seal (183)

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	Karl Goldsmith Hensel, USN	30 Apr 1937	Jun 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. Kenneth Charles Hurd, USN	Jun 1940	Dec 1942
3	Lt. Francis Albert Greenup, USN	Dec 1942	Jan 1943
4	T/Cdr. Harry Benjamin Dodge, USN	Jan 1943	2 Jan 1944
5	Robert J. Duryea, USN	2 Jan 1944	7 Jan 1944
6	T/Cdr. Harry Benjamin Dodge, USN	7 Jan 1944	Apr 1944
7	T/Cdr. John Henderson Turner, USN	Apr 1944	7 Dec 1944
8	Lcmdr Frederic B. Clarke, USN	7 Dec 1944	Jun 1945
9	Richard T. Fahy, USN	Jun 1945	15 Nov 1945

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Notable events involving Seal include:

13 Dec 1941
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. Kenneth C. Hurd) leaves Manila for her first war patrol.

23 Dec 1941
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Soryu Maru (856 GRT) off Vigan, Luzon, Philippines in position 17°35'N, 120°12'E.

5 Feb 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) ended her first war patrol at Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies.

11 Feb 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) leaves Surabaya for Tjilatjap.

14 Feb 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) arrived at Tjilatjap.

19 Feb 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) left Tjilatjap for her second war patrol.

9 Apr 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) ended her second war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

10 May 1942
HMAS Voyager (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Robison DSC, RAN) conducted A/S exercises off Albany with USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd, USN). (1)

12 May 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) departed Fremantle for her third war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the south China Sea off the coast of French Indo-China.

28 May 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese transport ship Tatsufuku Maru (1946 GRT) at the western entrance to Balabac Strait in position 07°27'N, 116°17'E. The damaged Japanese ship is sunk on the next day by USS Swordfish in position 07°33'N, 116°18'E.

4 Jul 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) ended her third war patrol at Fremantle.

24 Jul 1942
HrMs Tromp (Cdr. J.B. de Meester, RNN) departed Albany as escort for the US submarine tender USS Holland (T/Capt. P.E. Pendelton, USN) and the US submarines USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd, USN) and USS Saury (Lt.Cdr. L.S. Mewhinney, USN). (2)

25 Jul 1942
HrMs Tromp (Cdr. J.B. de Meester, RNN), USS Holland (T/Capt. P.E. Pendelton, USN) and the US submarines USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd, USN) and USS Saury (Lt.Cdr. L.S. Mewhinney, USN) arrived at Fremantle.

10 Aug 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) left Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

10 Aug 1942
HMAS Voyager (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Robison DSC, RAN) conducted A/S exercises off Fremantle with USS Seal (T/Cdr. K.C. Hurd, USN).

On completion of the exercises HMAS Voyager anchored in Gage Roads. During the night, in a gale, she dragged her anchor and then got underway. She returned to Fremantle early the following morning. (3)

3 Sep 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese passenger-cargo ship Kanju Maru (1688 GRT) south-east of Cape Padaran, French Indochina in position 11°00'N, 109°00'E.

5 Sep 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) sank the Japanese passenger-cargo ship Kanju Maru (1680 GRT) southeast of Cape Padaran, French Indochina in position 11°00'N, 109°32'E. Kanju Maru was already damaged by USS Seal two days previously.

2 Oct 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle.

24 Oct 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) left Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau.

16 Nov 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Boston Maru (5477 GRT) off Palau in position 06°18'N, 135°20'E. Just after firing the torpedoes at the Boston Maru, Seal is rammed and heavily damaged by another Japanese ship. She is forced to terminate her patrol.

30 Nov 1942
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. K.C. Hurd) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor and after repairs she was ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul.

14 Apr 1943
With her overhaul completed USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. Harry Benjamin Dodge) left Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau.

4 May 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker San Clemente Maru (7354 GRT) about 50 nautical miles south-east of Palau in position 06°30'N, 130°30'E.

3 Jun 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) ended her 6th war patrol at Midway.

24 Jun 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) left Midway for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters off Honshu.

8 Jul 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) is badly damaged by bombs and depth charges off northern Honshu in position 39°53'N, 142°10'E, and is forced to terminate her patrol.

24 Jul 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

16 Aug 1943
After repairs USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) leaves pearl Harbour for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Kuril Islands.

4 Oct 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

7 Nov 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) left Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Kwajalein.

19 Dec 1943
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) ended her 9th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

17 Jan 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) left Pearl Harbor for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Ponape.

6 Mar 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. H.B. Dodge) ended her 10th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. she was ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul.

8 Aug 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. John Henderson Turner) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 11th war patrol, and was ordered to patrol off northern Hokkaido.

24 Aug 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Tosei Maru (531 GRT) off the southeast coast of Hokkaido in position 42°30'N, 144°05'E.

8 Sep 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese destroyer Namikaze (offsite link) off Hokkaido in position 47°28'N, 148°20'E.

9 Sep 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Shonan Maru (5859 GRT) in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Etorofu, Kuril Islands in position 47°57'N, 148°15'E.

17 Sep 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) ended her 11th war patrol at Midway.

10 Oct 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) leaves Midway for her 12th and last war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Kuril Islands.

25 Oct 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Hakuyo Maru (5742 GRT) north of Urup, Kuril Islands in position 50°18'N, 150°50'E.

29 Nov 1944
USS Seal (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Turner) ended her 12th and final war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was now assigned to training duties.

17 Jun 1945
USS Seal arrived in the Panama Canal Zone.

21 Jun 1945
USS Seal departed the Panama Canal Zone for New London, Connecticut.

22 Jun 1945
USS Seal returned to the Panama Canal Zone with defects. After repairs she departed again for New London, Connecticut.

30 Jun 1945
USS Seal arrived at New London, Connecticut from the Panama Canal Zone.