Allied Warships

Seahorse (SS-304)

Submarine of the Balao class

USS Seahorse as completed.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Balao
Pennant	304
Built by	Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered	15 Dec 1941
Laid down	1 Aug 1942
Launched	9 Jan 1943
Commissioned	31 Mar 1943
End service	2 Mar 1946
History	Decommissioned 2 March 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Stricken 1 March 1967. Sold 14 December 1968 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Seahorse (304)

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. Donald McGregor, USN	31 Mar 1943	30 Sep 1943
2	T/Lt.Cdr. Slade Deville Cutter, USN	30 Sep 1943	27 Jul 1944
3	T/Capt. Charles Warren Wilkins, USN	27 Jul 1944	3 Nov 1944
4	T/Cdr. Harry Holt Greer, Jr., USN	3 Nov 1944	25 Sep 1945

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Notable events involving Seahorse include:

3 Aug 1943
USS Seahorse (Cmdr Donald McGregor) left Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol, and was to patrol off the Palau Islands.

6 Sep 1943
USS Seahorse (Cmdr Donald McGregor) is damaged by depth charges while on her first war patrol off the Palau Islands in position 07°31'N, 134°21'E. She was attacking a convoy, but despite being damaged she remains on patrol.

27 Sep 1943
USS Seahorse (Cdr. D. McGregor) ended her first, unsuccessful, war patrol at Midway.

20 Oct 1943
After a refit USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. Slade Deville Cutter) left base for her 2nd war patrol, and was to patrol off Honshu in Japanese home waters.

2 Nov 1943
While operating south of Honshu USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) had a very successful day. She torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Chihaya Maru (7089 GRT) in position 29°31'N, 134°50'E, the transport ship Yawata Maru (1852 GRT) in position 28°30'N, 135°35'E and finally the transport ship Ume Maru (5859 GRT) in position 28°40'N, 135°35'E.

22 Nov 1943
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Daishu Maru (3322 GRT) in the East China Sea in position 33°41'N, 128°35'E.

27 Nov 1943
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker San Ramon Maru (7309 GRT) in the East China Sea in position 33°36'N, 128°57'E.

12 Dec 1943
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) ended a successful 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

6 Jan 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) left Pearl Harbor for her 3th war patrol. She was to patrol off the Palau Islands.

16 Jan 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Nikko Maru (784 GRT) south-east of the Mariana Islands in position 12°49'N, 150°19'E.

21 Jan 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Ikoma Maru (3156 GRT) and transport ship Yasukuni Maru (3021 GRT) about 280 nautical miles east-south-east of Palau in position 03°19'N, 137°02'E.

30 Jan 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Toko Maru (2747 GRT) south-east of Palau in position 06°10'N, 138°14'E.

1 Feb 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Toei Maru (4004 GRT) about 175 nautical miles south of Woleai in position 04°24'N, 143°15'E.

16 Feb 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) ended her very successful 3th war patrol when she returned to base at Pearl Harbor.

16 Mar 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) left Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was to patrol in the Mariana Islands area.

8 Apr 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. Slade Deville Cutter) torpedoed the Japanese munitions transport Aratama Maru (6783 GRT) and damaged the water carrier Kizugawa Maru (1915 GRT) off Guam in position 13°16'N, 145°11'E. The explosion on Aratama Maru damaged the Japanese destroyer Asakaze (offsite link). The burning Aratama Maru is beached but explodes and sank the next day. The damaged Kizugawa Maru is towed to port by the Japanese destroyer Minazuki (offsite link).

9 Apr 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Misaku Maru (4667 GRT) about 40 nautical miles west of Saipan in position 15°32'N, 145°00'E.

20 Apr 1944
There is a claim that USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese submarine RO-45 (offsite link) off the Mariana Islands in position 15°19'N, 145°31'E. But according to the combinedfleet.com website this is not the case as RO-45 was active after this date.

27 Apr 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Akikawa Maru (5244 GRT) about 150 nautical miles west of Saipan in position 14°46'N, 143°22'E.

11 May 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) ended her 4th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

11 Jun 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) leaves Brisbane, Australia for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Luzon Strait between Formosa and Luzon.

27 Jun 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker Medan Maru (5135 GRT) south-south-west of Formosa in position 21°10'N, 120°31'E.

3 Jul 1944
During the night of 3 / 4 July 1944 USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchants Gyoyu Maru (2232 GRT), Niito Maru (2186 GRT) and Kyodo Maru No.28 (1518 GRT) in the South China Sea about 140 nautical miles south of Hong Kong in position 20°18'N, 115°02'E.

19 Jul 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Cutter) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

10 Aug 1944
During 10/11 August 1944, USS Skipjack (T/Cdr. R.S. Andrews, USN) and USS Searaven (T/Cdr. M.H. Dry, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Burden R. Hastings (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fay, USNR).

Later USS Seahorse (T/Capt. C.W. Wilkins, USN) and USS Allen (Lt. W.J. Riley, Jr., USNR) before the night exercises commenced.

On the 11th, USS Greiner (T/Lt.Cdr. L.H. Kiser, USN) also joined. (1)

6 Oct 1944
While on her 6th war patrol USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. Charles Warren Wilkins) torpedoed and sank the Japanese Coast Defense Vessel Kaibokan 21 (745 tons, offsite link) about 140 nautical miles North-West of Cape Bojeador, Luzon in position 19°27'N, 118°08'E.

18 Oct 1944
USS Seahorse (Lt.Cdr. C.W. Wilkins) ended her 6th war patrol at Midway. She was ordered to the Mare Island Navy Yard for overhaul.

5 Mar 1945
USS Bullhead (Cdr. W.T. Griffith, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour together with USS Pruitt (Lt. D.B. Harby, USNR), USS YMS-300 (Lt. R.A. Woods, USNR) and USS Seahorse (Cdr. H.H. Greer, Jr., USN).

9 Mar 1945
USS Seahorse (Cmdr Harry Holt Greer, Jr.) left base for her 7th war patrol, and was ordered to patrol the Tsushima Strait.

9 Apr 1945
USS Seahorse (Cdr. H.H. Greer, Jr) sank a small junk with gunfire in position 33°20'N, 127°36'E.

18 Apr 1945
USS Seahorse (Cdr. H.H. Greer, Jr) is damaged by depth charges in Tsushima Strait in position 33°45'N, 128°26'E and is forced to terminate her patrol.

12 Jul 1945
After repairs and overhaul USS Seahorse (Cdr. H.H. Greer, Jr) left Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was to patrol of the Izu Islands, Japan. When the war ended on 15 August 1945 Seahorse was on patrol 40 miles southeast of Hachijo Shima. She returned to Midway in the latter half of August.