Allied Warships

Hammerhead (SS-364)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Hammerhead about to hit the water during launch.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	364
Built by	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	5 May 1943
Launched	20 Oct 1943
Commissioned	1 Mar 1944
End service	7 Aug 1954
History	Ordered as a Balao-class submarine but the yard was not ready to start construction of this class after completion of her previous contract so she was built as a Gato-class submarine. Decommissioned 10 May 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 6 February 1952. Decommissioned 22 May 1952. Recommissioned again on 16 July 1954. Decommissioned again 7 August 1954 and transferred to Turkey while being renamed Cerbe (S-341).

Commands listed for USS Hammerhead (364)

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. John Croysdale Martin, USN	1 Mar 1944	Feb 1945
2	T/Cdr. George Hays Laird, Jr., USN	Feb 1945	3 Mar 1945
3	T/Cdr. Frank McElhany Smith, USN	3 Mar 1945	30 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving Hammerhead include:

6 Jun 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of Formosa.

17 Aug 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) ended her 1st war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

2 Sep 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. L.E. Tozer, RAN) and HMAS Mildura (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Little, RANR(S)) conducted exercises off Fremantle with the submarines Bonefish (T/Cdr. L.L. Edge, USN) and Hammerhead (T/Cdr. J.C. Martin, USN). (1)

9 Sep 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Java and South China Seas.

1 Oct 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese ore carriers Kokusei Maru (5396 GRT) and Hiyori Maru (5321 GRT) and the Japanese merchant cargo ship Higane Maru (5320 GRT) north of Borneo in position 06°30'N, 116°11'E.

20 Oct 1944
While operating north of Borneo USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Oyo Maru (5458 BRT) in position 04°41'N, 113°22'E, and the Japanese army cargo ship Ugo Maru (3684 BRT) in position 04°52'N, 113°24'E.

2 Nov 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) ended her 2nd war patrol at Fremantle.

25 Nov 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) departed from Fremantle for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

8 Dec 1944
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) and USS Paddle (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Fitz-Patrick) teams up to sink the Japanese merchant tanker Shoei Maru (2854 GRT) in the South China Sea in position 03°50'N, 111°30'E. The two submarines share the kill.

17 Jan 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Martin) ended her 3rd war patrol at Fremantle.

19 Feb 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Laird, Jr.) departed from Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea along the French Indo-China coast.

23 Feb 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Laird, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese frigate Yaku (940 tons, offsite link) about 15 nautical miles south of Cape Varella, French Indo-China in position 12°42'N, 109°30'E.

3 Mar 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Laird, Jr.) ended her 4th war patrol at Subic Bay, Philippines.

10 Mar 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. F.M. Smith) departed from Subic Bay for her 5th war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea along the French Indo-China coast.

29 Mar 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. F.M. Smith) torpedoed and sank the Japanese corvette Kaibokan 84 (740 tons, built 1944) (offsite link) about 115 nautical miles north of Cape Varella, French Indo-China in position 14°44'N, 109°16'E.

6 Apr 1945
USS Hammerhead (Lt.Cdr. F.M. Smith) ended her 5th war patrol at Subic Bay.

24 Apr 1945
USS Caiman (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Fey, Jr., USN) conducted exercises off Subic Bay together with USS Eichenberger (Lt.Cdr. N. Harrell, USN) and USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith, USN).

3 May 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) departed from Subic Bay for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Gulf of Siam.

6 May 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) torpedoed and sank the Japanese fleet tanker Kinrei Maru (867 GRT) in the Gulf of Siam in position 08°15'N, 102°00'E.

15 May 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Tottori Maru (5978 GRT) in the Gulf of Siam in position 09°12'N, 101°20'E.

25 May 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) ended her 6th war patrol at Fremantle.

21 Jun 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) departed from Fremantle for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Gulf of Siam.

10 Jul 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant tankers Sakura Maru (851 GRT, built 1944) and Nanmei Maru No.5 (834 GRT, built 1944) in the Gulf of Siam in position 09°38'N, 101°31'E.

21 Aug 1945
USS Hammerhead (Cdr. F.M. Smith) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.