USS Scamp (SS-277)

USS Scamp (around 1943/44)
Overview
Keel laying	March 6, 1942
Launch	July 20, 1942
1. Period of service
Commissioning	September 18, 1942
Whereabouts	Sunk south of Tokyo Bay on November 11, 1944 (83 dead)
Technical specifications
displacement	Surface: 1,525 ts. Submerged: 2,424 ts
length	95.33 m
width	8.30 m
Draft	4.65 m
Diving depth	90 m test depth 140 m maximum depth
crew	83 man (1944)
drive	4 × 990 kW Fairbanks Morse -9- cylinder - Diesel engine 4 × 500 kW GE -electric 2 waves
speed	Surface: 20.25 kn. Submerged: 8.75 kn
Range	11,000 nm at 10 kn 75 days patrol duration Maximum dive time: 48 hours (at 2 kn)
Armament	6 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes in front 4 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes in rear 24 torpedoes 1 × 10.2 cm deck gun (L / 50 Mark 9) 2 × 20 mm flak 2 × 7.62 -mm machine guns

The USS Scamp (SS-277) was a United States Navy submarine that was used in the Pacific theater of war during World War II and was sunk in 1944. The submarine belonged to the Gato class and was named after a group of hawks (English: scamp ). The submarine was on March 6, 1942 as the 66th boat of its class at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery in the US state of Maine paid to Kiel and ran on 20 July 1942 by the stack. The Scamp finally entered service on September 18, 1942 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Walter Gale Ebert.

Operations in World War II

After the enslavement and the completion of testing in early January 1943 moved the the US Pacific Fleet abkommandierte Scamp end of January through the Panama Canal and met in the February 13, 1943 Pearl Harbor one.

First patrol

On March 1, 1943, the Scamp left Pearl Harbor with the assignment to wage a trade war off the east coast of the Japanese main island of Honshu . Lieutenant Commander Ebert achieved two successes:

• March 20, 1943: Torpedoing and damage to the Japanese cargo ship Seinan Maru (1,445 GRT) east of Tomari .
• March 21, 1943: Torpedoing and damage to the Japanese troop transport Manju Maru (6,541 GRT) east of Tomari.

Both ships were only damaged, however, and were ultimately able to escape. During this patrol, the torpedoes' magneto- igniters were increasingly defective , which prevented further success for the Scamp (see torpedo scandal ). On March 16, 1943, the submarine fired six torpedoes at two cargo ships just 1,300 m away and did not score a single hit; two of the torpedoes exploded prematurely and revealed the position of the submarine, which resulted in an air attack by a D3A bomber and damage to the periscope . The scamp returned to Pearl Harbor on April 7th as a result.

Second patrol

On April 19, 1943, leaving Pearl Harbor for a second patrol , the Scamp was ordered to patrol the sea area of ​​the Bismarck Archipelago . Lieutenant Commander Ebert achieved a success:

• May 29, 1943: The Japanese seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru (6,863 ts) was torpedoed and sunk about 255 nautical miles north-northwest of Kavieng . The ship, on the way from Truk to Rabaul and secured by two submarine hunters, only sank after four torpedo hits. 42 people were killed in the sinking.

On June 4, 1943, the Scamp finished her second patrol in Brisbane, Australia .

Third patrol

After a two week stay in the shipyard, the submarine ran out of Brisbane on June 22, 1943 for its third patrol; Again the Scamp was ordered to the area of ​​the Bismarck Archipelago . Lieutenant Commander Ebert achieved two successes, including another one against a warship:

• July 27, 1943: The Japanese submarine I 168 (1,400 ts) was torpedoed and sunk about six nautical miles east of New Hanover ; I 168 was able to sink the American aircraft carrier Yorktown during the Battle of Midway in 1942 . With I 168 , which had previously unsuccessfully fired a torpedo at the Scamp , which could only just be avoided by an alarm diving maneuver , the entire crew of 97 men went under.
• July 27, 1943: Torpedoing and damage to the large Japanese fleet tanker Kazahaya (18,300 GRT) off New Ireland . The ship escaped damaged after being hit by a torpedo or two (?).

On August 6, 1943, the Scamp finished its third patrol in Brisbane.

Fourth patrol

The fourth patrol, which the Scamp embarked on on September 2, 1943, also took the submarine into the area of ​​the Bismarck Archipelago. During this patrol a success could be achieved:

• September 19, 1943: Torpedoing and sinking of the Japanese army transporter Kansai Maru (8,614 GRT) about 350 nautical miles northeast of New Guinea, which was in convoy N-404 consisting of five ships . The ship had been torpedoed by the Scamp on September 18 . As a result of violent attacks with depth charges by two security vehicles, the sinking of the damaged ship with a catch shot was not successful until the following day. 24 Japanese sailors and soldiers died in the sinking.

On October 1, the fourth patrol ended again in Brisbane.

Fifth patrol

After a three-week stay in the shipyard, the Scamp left Brisbane on October 22, 1943 for her fifth patrol. The aim of the mission was patrols between Kavieng and the Truk Atoll . Ebert was able to record two successes:

• 10./12. November 1943: The Japanese troop transport Tokyo Maru (6,481 GRT) is torpedoed and sunk around 400 nautical miles northeast of New Guinea . The ship was torpedoed on November 10, but was initially damaged and towed by the freighter Mitakesan Maru . On November 12th, however, the damaged vessel sank in stormy weather.
• November 12, 1943: The Japanese light cruiser Agano (6,652 ts) was torpedoed and damaged off Neu Hannover . Since the cruiser was accompanied by four destroyers , the Scamp could make no further attack attempt; In total, the fuse dropped 74 depth charges on the submarine, which was able to escape undamaged. The agano had to be brought to Truk and was no longer used until it was sunk in February 1944.

On November 26th, the Scamp returned to Brisbane, where it completed its fifth patrol.

Sixth patrol

The sixth patrol, which began on December 16, 1943, took the submarine into the sea area of ​​the Bismarck Archipelago again and again . Lieutenant Commander Ebert achieved a success:

• January 14, 1944: Torpedoing and sinking of the large Japanese fleet tanker Nippon Maru (10,024 GRT) in a convoy about 180 nautical miles south-southwest of Sorol Atoll . The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank in just two minutes. 43 sailors and soldiers were killed.

The sixth patrol of the Scamp ended on February 6, 1944. The submarine did not move to Brisbane , but to Milne Bay . On the same day, Lieutenant Commander John C. Hollingsworth, a new commander came on board.

Seventh patrol

On March 3, 1944, the Scamp left Milne Bay. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander Hollingsworth, the submarine was to operate primarily in the sea area between New Guinea , Palau and Mindanao . No successes could be achieved on this patrol, only on April 3 the small Japanese fishing cutter Suites Maru (131 GRT) was damaged by gunfire. However, due to a defect in the deck gun , the trawler was ultimately not sunk.

In contrast, the Scamp was attacked surprisingly by a Japanese Aichi E13A seaplane on April 7, 1944 in the Gulf of Davao , while a cruiser formation was being shadowed, and was badly damaged by a close-range bomb. The submarine initially sank to a depth of 90 m before it was stabilized and brought back to the surface after seven hours. On April 16, which reached Scamp with flip side , three ruptured fuel tanks and a battered tower Eagle Harbor where the first emergency repairs could take place. The submarine later moved across Milne Bay to Pearl Harbor , where it arrived in early May 1944.

Japanese Kaibokan-type escort ship (Series D) (1944).

Downfall of the Scamp

After an extensive overhaul and the completion of the repairs, the Scamp ran out on October 16, 1944 on her eighth and last patrol. The submarine should have cleared up especially in the sea area around Ogasawara-guntō . In this context, the Scamp was dispatched to the southern foothills of Tokyo Bay in November to act as a rescue ship for the crews of B 29 bombers that had been shot down . A final report on the situation was issued by the submarine on November 9, 1944. From this point on, the scamp did not answer.

As could be reconstructed later, the submarine was most likely destroyed on November 11, 1944, during an attempted attack on the Japanese small convoy No. 1 running from Yokosuka to Hachijō Jima . 4108, from the Kaibokan CD-4 (under the command of Kaigun Shōsa Mizutani Katsuji), which was part of the security of the convoy and which the Scamp had previously unsuccessfully attacked with three torpedoes, forced to submerge by artillery fire and finally sunk by depth charges. After three attempts and the dropping of 70 water bombs, large air bubbles rose and debris and an oil film could be observed on the surface of the water; It is now widely accepted that the Scamp was sunk by these attacks. Lieutenant Commander John C. Hollingsworth and all 82 crew members went down with the submarine. There were no survivors.

After the submarine had not returned from its patrol, it was struck off the register of ships on April 28, 1945. The wreck of the Scamp has not yet been found.

Awards

For missions in World War II, the Scamp was awarded a total of seven Battle Stars . In total, the submarine was able to sink two freighters and a tanker with a total of 25,119 GRT as well as a seaplane tender and a submarine (with a total of 8,263 ts) on seven patrols. Furthermore, a light cruiser (6,652 ts) and three ships with 26,286 GRT were damaged.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Japanese Auxiliary Seaplane Tenders. In: combinedfleet.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Wrecksite - Kansai Maru passenger / cargo ship from 1930 to 1943. In: wrecksite.eu. Retrieved January 24, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Japanese Auxiliary Oilers. In: combinedfleet.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Wrecksite - Scamp Submarine 1942-1944. In: wrecksite.eu. Retrieved January 24, 2017 . 

literature

• Holwitt, Joel I .: Execute against Japan: The US decision to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare . Texas University Press, Austin 1999.
• Kurowski, Franz: War under water . Dortmund-Oespel 1978, new edition 1999.
• Padfield, Peter: The Submarine War 1939-1945 . Original edition: War beneath the Sea , London 1995.
• Peillard, Léonce : History of the Submarine War 1939-1945 . Original edition: Histoire Generale de la Guerre Sousmarine 1939–1945 . Paris, 1970.
• Roscoe, Theodore / Voge, Richard G .: United States submarine operations in World War II . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1950.

Web links

• The Scamp at uboat.net (English).
• Scamp in the Submarine Photo Archive on NavSource Online .
• The Scamp at Eternal Patrol .
• The Scamp at the Wrecksite Database .