Allied Warships

Harder (SS-257)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Harder leaving the Mare Island Navy Yard after a refit on 19 February 1944.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	257
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered	1 Jul 1940
Laid down	1 Dec 1941
Launched	19 Aug 1942
Commissioned	2 Sep 1942
Lost	24 Aug 1944
Loss position	15° 50'N, 119° 43'E

History	USS Harder (Cdr. Samuel David Dealey, USN) is sunk by the Japanese corvette Kaibokan No.22 (offsite link) off the west coast of Luzon, Philippines in position 15º50'N, 119º43'E, there were no survivors. Cdr. S.D. Dealey was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Commands listed for USS Harder (257)

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	T/Cdr. Samuel David Dealey, USN	2 Dec 1942	24 Aug 1944 (+)

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Notable events involving Harder include:

14 Feb 1943
Upon completion of a period of torpedo firing test, USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN), returned to New London, Connecticut from Newport, Rhode Island.

27 Apr 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

9 May 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN) transited the Panama Canal.

7 Jun 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu, Japan.

21 Jun 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese oiler Kyoei Maru No.3 (1189 GRT) east of Daiozaki, Japan, in position 34°30'N, 137°32'E.

23 Jun 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese seaplane carrier Sagara Maru (offsite link) (7189 GRT) off southern Honshu in position 33°45'N, 138°10'E. The Sagara Muru is beached and finally destroyed on 4 July 1943 by the USS Pompano.

7 Jul 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway.

24 Aug 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol off Honshu, Japan.

9 Sep 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Koyo Maru (3010 GRT) off the south coast of Honshu, Japan in position 35°30'N, 140°40'E.

11 Sep 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Yoko Maru (1050 GRT) south of Mikura Island, Japan in position 33°48'N, 139°37'E.

19 Sep 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Kachisan Maru (814 GRT) off the south coast of Honshu, Japan in position 33°25'N, 135°38'E.

22 Sep 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant tanker Daishin Maru (5957 GRT) and the Japanese army cargo ship Kowa Maru (4520 GRT) off the south coast of Honshu, Japan in position 34°46'N, 140°55'E.

30 Sep 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) sank the Japanese trawler Shosei Maru No.3 with gunfire in the North Pacific in position 34°10'N, 150°45'E.

8 Oct 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

30 Oct 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Mariana Islands area.

12 Nov 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) sank the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Misago Maru No.11 and damaged the Japanese motor sailing vessel Hei Maru with gunfire off the Mariana's in position 21°40'N, 144°40'E.

19 Nov 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transports Hokko Maru (5385 GRT) and Udo Maru (3936 GRT) north-east of the Marianas in position 22°28'N, 147°22'E.

20 Nov 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Nikko Maru (5949 GRT) north-east of the Marianas, in position 23°20'N, 147°30'E.

30 Nov 1943
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) ended her 3rd war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard for a major overhaul.

27 Feb 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) arrived back at Pearl Harbor.

16 Mar 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Caroline Islands area.

13 Apr 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi (1980 tons, offsite link) some 180 nautical miles south-south-west of Guam in position 10°13'N, 143°51'E.

17 Apr 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Matsue Maru (7061 GRT) about 150 nautical miles north-west of Woleai, Caroline Islands in position 09°30'N, 142°35'E.

3 May 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

26 May 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Celebes Sea.

6 Jun 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Minazuki (1500 tons, offsite link) some 120 nautical miles east-north-east of Tarakan, Borneo in position 04°05'N, 119°30'E.

7 Jun 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Hayanami (2080 tons, offsite link) south-east of the Sibitu Passage, Borneo in position 04°43'N, 120°03'E.

8 Jun 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) evacuates 6 British coast-watchers from northeast coast of North Borneo.

9 Jun 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Tanikaze (2035 tons, offsite link) in the Sibitu Passage about 90 nautical miles south-west of Basilan Island in position 05°42'N, 120°41'E.

21 Jun 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) enters Darwin, Australia for fuel and torpedo's and then resumes her 5th war patrol. She now went to the Flores Sea.

3 Jul 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) ended her 5th war patrol at Darwin.

2 Aug 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. L.E. Tozer, RAN), HMAS Dubbo (Lt.Cdr. W.J.C. Webb, RANR) and HMAS Horsham (T/A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Newby, RANR(S)), USS Corpus Christie (Cdr. W.W. Childress, USCG) and USS Isabel (Lt. E.G. Zacher, USNR) conducted exercises off Fremantle with the submarines USS Hake (T/Lt.Cdr. F.E. Hayler, USN), USS Harder (T/Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN), USS Jack (T/Cdr. A.E. Krapf, USN), USS Flier (T/Cdr. J.D. Crowley, USN) and USS Redfin (T/Cdr. M.H. Austin, USN). (1)

5 Aug 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) departed from Fremantle for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea east of Luzon, Philippines.

5 Aug 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. L.E. Tozer, RAN) and HMAS Dubbo (Lt.Cdr. W.J.C. Webb, RANR) conducted radar tracking and gunnery exercises off Fremantle. They then joined USS Corpus Christie (Cdr. W.W. Childress, USCG) and USS Isabel (Lt. E.G. Zacher, USNR) for exercises with the submarines USS Hake (T/Lt.Cdr. F.E. Hayler, USN) and USS Harder (T/Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN). (1)

22 Aug 1944
USS Harder (Cdr. S.D. Dealey) torpedoed and sank the Japanese escort vessels Matsuwa (870 tons) and Hiburi (940 tons, both offsite links) about 50 nautical miles west-south-west of Manila in position 14°15'N, 120°05'E.

24 May 2024
The U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command announces the discovery of the wreck of USS Harder off the Philippines in more than 3,000 feet of water. Depth charge damage is apparent just aft of the conning tower where one of Kaibokan No.22’s depth charges exploded in close proximity to Harder.