Allied Warships

Darter (SS-227)

Submarine of the Gato class

Launch of USS Darter 6 June 1943

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	227
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	20 Oct 1942
Launched	6 Jun 1943
Commissioned	7 Sep 1943
Lost	24 Oct 1944
History	USS Darter (Cdr. David Hayward McClintock) was grounded in the Palawan Passage while tracking the Japanese Center Force fleet and scuttled by her crew to prevent her capture. Her crew was taken onboard the submarine USS Dace and taken to Freemantle, arriving there on 7 November 1944.

Commands listed for USS Darter (227)

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. William Shirley Stovall, Jr., USN	7 Sep 1943	15 Jun 1944
2	T/Cdr. David Hayward McClintock, USN	15 Jun 1944	24 Oct 1944

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Notable events involving Darter include:

22 Sep 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN) departed New London, Connecticut for Newport, Rhode Island for her torpedo trials.

24 Sep 1943
Having completed her torpedo trials, USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN), returned to New London, Connecticut from Newport, Rhode Island.

30 Sep 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN) departed Newport, Rhode Island for Bar Harbour, Maine for special tests for the Bureau of Ordnance.

5 Oct 1943
With her special tests for the Bureau of Ordnance completed, USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN), departed Bar Harbour, Maine for New London, Connecticut.

6 Oct 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN) arrived at New London, Connecticut from Bar Harbour, Maine.

31 Oct 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr., USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

26 Nov 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

21 Dec 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Caroline Islands area.

29 Dec 1943
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) returns to Pearl Harbor for repairs. She left Pearl Harbor to continue her patrol on 3 January 1944.

30 Jan 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) pulls into Tulagi for repairs. She continues on to Milne Bay for further repairs. These repairs were completed on 8 February 1944 and once again Darter continues her patrol.

29 Feb 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) ended her 1st war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

17 Mar 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) departed from Brisbane for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol north of western New Guinea and south of Davao Gulf, Philippines.

22 Mar 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) topped up with fuel at Milne Bay.

30 Mar 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Fujikawa Maru (2829 GRT) about 175 nautical miles north-west of Manokwari, New Guinea in position 01°50'N, 133°00'E.

30 Apr 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) refuels and restores at Darwin, Australia and then continues her 2nd war patrol.

23 May 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. W.S. Stovall, Jr.) ended her 2nd war patrol at Manus.

21 Jun 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. David H. McClintock) departed from Manus for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol between Halmahera and Mindanao.

29 Jun 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) torpedoed and sank the Japanese minelayer Tsugaru (4400 tons, offsite link) off the northern tip of Halmahera in position 02.10N, 128.05E.

8 Aug 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) ended her 3rd war patrol at Brisbane.

1 Sep 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) departed from Brisbane for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Celebes Sea.

10 Sep 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) calls at Darwin, Australia to make repairs. Also she topped up her fuel tanks.

27 Sep 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) calls at Mios Woendi to take on fuel.

1 Oct 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) departed from Mios Woendi to continue her patrol.

22 Oct 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) detects a group of Japanese warships North-West of Borneo in position 07°31'N, 115°22'E.

23 Oct 1944
USS Darter (Cdr. D.H. McClintock) and USS Dace attack what proves to be the Center Force (Vice Admiral Kurita), one of the three main bodies of the Japanese fleet moving toward Leyte in a major effort to drive US forces from the Philippines. Darter torpedoed and sank the Japanese heavy cruiser Atago (offsite link) and damaged her sister ship Takao (offsite link) in position 09°24'N, 117°11'E.