Allied Warships

Sea Poacher (SS-406)

Submarine of the Balao class

USS Sea Poacher with a blimp

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Balao
Pennant	406
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	8 Jun 1942
Laid down	23 Feb 1944
Launched	20 May 1944
Commissioned	30 Jul 1944
End service	15 Nov 1969
History	Decommissioned 15 November 1969. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Stricken 15 August 1973. Transferred to Peru 1 July 1974 and renamed Pabellion de Pica (S-49). Decomissioned by the Peruvian Navy in 1995.

Commands listed for USS Sea Poacher (406)

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. Francis Michael Gambacorta, USN	30 Jul 1944	Apr 1945
2	T/Lt.Cdr. Charles Francis Leigh, USN	Apr 1945

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Notable events involving Sea Poacher include:

9 Oct 1944
USS Sea Poacher (Cdr. F.M. Gambacorta, USN) departed the Panama Canal Zone for Pearl Harbor.

25 Oct 1944
USS Sea Poacher (Cdr. F.M. Gambacorta, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

15 May 1945
While on her 3rd war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr. Charles Francis Leigh) sank Japanese army luggers Ume Maru No.56 (100 GRT) and Fukumo Maru (20 GRT) with gunfire of the Kurile Islands in position 45°29'N, 149°01'E.

27 Jun 1945
Around 1500K/27, USS Cero (T/Lt.Cdr. R. Berthrong, USN), USS Angler (Lt.Cdr. H. Bissell, Jr., USNR), USS Lapon (T/Lt.Cdr. D.G. Baer, USN), USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN), USS Carp (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hunnicutt, USNR) and USS Sea Poacher (T/Lt.Cdr. C.F. Leigh, USN) all departed Saipan for patrol. They were escorted until 2020K/27 by USS Presley (Lt.Cdr. R.S. Paret, USNR).

All boats proceeded independently to their assigned lifeguard stations in the early afternoon of 1 July 1945.

20 Jul 1945
While on her 4th war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr C.F. Leigh) sank two small Japanese vessels with gunfire off the east coast of Honshu, Japan in position 37°29'N, 141°06'E.

23 Jul 1945
While on her 4th war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr C.F. Leigh) sank the Japanese guard boat Kiri Maru No.2 (334 GRT) with gunfire off the east coast of Honshu, Japan in position 37°16'N, 141°04'E.

24 Jul 1945
While on her 4th war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr C.F. Leigh) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire off the east coast of Honshu, Japan in position 37°10'N, 141°05'E.

26 Jul 1945
While on her 4th war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr C.F. Leigh) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire off the Tsugaru Strait, Japan in position 42°06'N, 142°50'E.

27 Jul 1945
While on her 4th war patrol USS Sea Poacher (Lt.Cdr C.F. Leigh) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire off the Tsugaru Strait, Japan in position 42°14'N, 143°26'E.