Allied Warships

Snapper (SS-185)

Submarine of the Salmon class

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Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Salmon
Pennant	185
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	23 Jul 1936
Launched	24 Aug 1937
Commissioned	16 Dec 1937
End service	15 Nov 1945
History	Decommissioned 17 November 1945. Stricken 31 April 1948. Sold for scrapping 18 May 1948 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Snapper (185)

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. Franklin Oliver Johnson, USN	16 Dec 1937	May 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. Hamilton Laurie Stone, USN	May 1940	28 May 1942
3	Lt. Harold Edward Baker, USN	28 May 1942	20 Oct 1942
4	Lt.Cdr. Augustus Robert St. Angelo, USN	20 Oct 1942	14 Mar 1943
5	T/Lt.Cdr. John Milton Hyde, USN	14 Mar 1943	mid 1943
6	Lt.Cdr. Augustus Robert St. Angelo, USN	mid 1943	1 Jun 1943
7	T/Lt.Cdr. Merrill Kinsell Clementson, USN	1 Jun 1943	23 Dec 1943
8	T/Lt.Cdr. William Warren Walker, USN	30 Dec 1943	28 Nov 1944
9	T/Lt.Cdr. John Frederick Bauer, USN	28 Nov 1944	Mar 1945
10	Hubert T. Murphy, USN	early 1945	Oct 1945
11	William H. Crawford, USN	15 Oct 1945	17 Nov 1945

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Notable events involving Snapper include:

19 Dec 1941
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. Hamilton L. Stone) left Manila for her first war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Hainan.

10 Feb 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone) ended her first war patrol at Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East indies. Due to the dangerous situation at Surabaya due to Japanese air raids she departed shortly afterwards for Fremantle, Australia.

6 Mar 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone) left Fremantle for her second war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Celebes Sea off Tarakan.

31 Mar 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone) unloaded ammunition at Mactan Island and took on board 46 tons of food for the besieged island of Corregidor.

4 Apr 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone) unloaded her supplies at the besieged island of Corregidor (actually transferred the supplies to USS Pigeon). She evacuated 27 military personnel when she departed.

23 Apr 1942
At 2008H/23, on board USS Searaven (Lt. H. Cassedy, USN) a fire was reported in the maneuvering room when she was in position 28°51'S, 112°55'E (west of Geraldton, Australia). That room and the after torpedo room had to be evacuated.

At 2100H/23, a signal was sent to ComSubs Asiatic Fleet requiring assistance.

At 2300H/23, a signal was sent to ComSubs Asiatic Fleet that the fire had been extinguished and that only the batteries could be used for propulsion.

At 2358H/23, a signal from ComSubs Asiatic Fleet was received stating that the submarine USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone, USN) would come to our assistance and later also the patrol yacht USS Isabel (Lt. J.W. Payne, Jr., USN).

At 0735H/24, USS Snapper was sighted and at 0845H/24, Snapper took Searaven in tow.

Around 1000H/24, the tow line parted. A new tow could be astablished and towing resumed around 1300H/24.

At 1615H/24, the minesweeper HMAS Maryborough(A/Cdr. G.L. Cant, RAN) joined.

At 1700H/24, the destroyers USS Parrott (Lt. J.N. Hughes, USN) and USS Paul Jones (Lt. C.R. Herms, USN) joined as escorts.

Around 1745H/24, the tow parted.

At 1755H/24, USS Snapper. parted company to proceeed to Fremantle.

At 1800H/24, HMAS Maryborough passed a towline.

The tow and its escort arrived at Freemantle on the 25th. (1)

24 May 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Stone) ended her second war patrol at Fremantle.

29 May 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. Harold E. Baker) left Fremantle for her third war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Flores Sea, Makassar Strait and the Celebes Sea.

16 Jul 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Baker) ended her third war patrol at Fremantle.

8 Aug 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Baker) left Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

26 Oct 1942
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Baker) ended her 4th and yet another unproductive war patrol at Fremantle. Two more unproductive war patrols followed before Snapper was overhauled.

26 Jul 1943
With her overhaul completed USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. Merrill Kinsell Clementson) left Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Guam.

27 Aug 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) torpedoed and sank the already damaged Japanese passenger-cargo ship Tokai Maru (8359 GRT) at Apra harbour, Guam in position 13°31'N, 144°37'E.

2 Sep 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese frigate Mutsure (870 tons, offsite link) about 85 nautical miles north-north-west of Truk, Caroline Islands in position 08°40'N, 151°31'E.

17 Sep 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

19 Oct 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) left Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in off Honshu in Japanese home waters.

29 Nov 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Kenryi Maru (4575 GRT) off Hachijo Jima, Japan in position 33°16'N, 139°35'E.

14 Dec 1943
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Clementson) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

14 Mar 1944
After overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. William W. Walker) left Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. she was ordered to patrol off the Bonin Islands.

29 Apr 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) ended her 9th war patrol at Midway.

27 May 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 10th war patrol for lifeguard duties near Truk.

9 Jun 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) is damaged during an attack by a Japanese aircraft. Snapper arrived at Majuro on 13 June to land her wounded and make repairs. She then continued her patrol.

21 Jul 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) ended her 10th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

5 Sep 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) left Pearl Harbor for her 11th and final war patrol. she was ordered to patrol of the Bonin Islands.

1 Oct 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) torpedoed and sank the Japanese coastal minelayer Ajiro (720 tons, offsite link) and the Japanese transport ship Seian Maru (1990 GRT) North-West of the Bonin Islands in position 28°11'N, 139°30'E.

27 Oct 1944
USS Snapper (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Walker) ended her 11th and final war patrol at Midway. She is now assigned to training duties.

17 May 1945
USS Snapper arrived in the Panama Canal Zone.

20 May 1945
Having tansferred the Panama Canal, USS Snapper departed the Panama Canal Zone for New London, Connecticut.

27 May 1945
USS Snapper arrived at New London, Connecticut.