Submarine Permit (SS-178)

Permit

Country	United States
Ship Class	Porpoise-class Submarine
Hull Number	SS-178
Builder	Electric Boat Company
Laid Down	6 Jun 1935
Launched	5 Oct 1936
Commissioned	17 Mar 1937
Decommissioned	15 Nov 1945
Displacement	1,370 tons standard; 2,029 tons submerged
Length	301 feet
Beam	25 feet
Draft	15 feet
Machinery	Four Winton Model 16-201A (later 12-278A) 16-cyl 2-cycle diesel engines (1,300hp each), eight General Electric electric motors (538hp each), two 120 cell Gould AMTX33HB batteries, two General Motors 6
Bunkerage	92,801gal fuel oil
Speed	19 knots
Range	11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 10 hours at 5 knots submerged
Crew	73
Armament	4x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 2x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 2x533mm external torpedo tubes (post-1942), 1x102mm 50cal gun, 2x2x7.62mm machine guns
Submerged Speed	8.75 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUSS Permit was commissioned into service in 1937. She was transferred from the east coast to the west coast of the United States later that year, arriving in San Diego, California, United States to join Submarine Squadron 6 of the US Navy. In Oct 1939, she joined the US Asiatic Fleet in the Philippine Islands, where she would be located when the US entered the war, now under the command of Lieutenant Commander Adrian Hurst. Her first four war patrols took place in the Philippine Islands, during which he brought in supplies for the ground troops and evacuated Admiral Thomas Hart's staff in late Dec 1941 and 36 US Navy cryptanalysts in Mar 1942. In mid-1943, she made a very successful patrol penetrating into the Sea of Japan; the sinkings were not significant in terms of tonnage, but it was helpful in terms of lifting morale, especially after her lack of sinkings until this time. She would go on to conduct a total of 14 war patrols during the Pacific War. She was decommissioned in late 1945 and was sold for scrap in 1958.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Oct 2013

Submarine Permit (SS-178) Interactive Map

Photographs

View of submarine Permit with fore poppet, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 4 Oct 1936

Launching of submarine Permit, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 1215 hours on 5 Oct 1936

See all 19 photographs of Submarine Permit (SS-178)

Permit Operational Timeline

6 Jun 1935	The keel of submarine Permit was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States.
5 Oct 1936	Submarine Permit was launched at Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored by the wife of Harold G. Bowen.
17 Mar 1937	USS Permit was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Charles O. Humphreys in command.
29 Nov 1937	USS Permit departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States.
10 Dec 1937	USS Permit transited the Panama Canal.
18 Dec 1937	USS Permit arrived at San Diego, California, United States and joined Submarine Squadron 6 of the US Navy.
11 Dec 1941	USS Permit began her first war patrol in Philippine waters.
20 Dec 1941	USS Permit completed her first war patrol in Philippine waters.
22 Dec 1941	USS Permit began her second war patrol in Philippine waters.
23 Dec 1941	USS Permit fired two torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the South China Sea; both torpedoes missed.
27 Dec 1941	USS Permit completed her second war patrol in Philippine waters.
28 Dec 1941	USS Permit embarked Admiral Thomas Hart's staff at Mariveles Harbor at the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula, Philippine Islands for evacuation.
6 Feb 1942	USS Permit disembarked Admiral Thomas Hart's staff at Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her third war patrol.
22 Feb 1942	USS Permit departed Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, starting her fourth war patrol.
28 Feb 1942	US submarine Permit delivered ammunition to Corregidor, Philippine Islands. Upon departure, the submarine evacuated 31 US Navy personnel.
1 Mar 1942	USS Permit fired three torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the Java Sea; all three torpedoes missed.
13 Mar 1942	USS Permit sank the scuttled PT-32 of US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 in Philippine waters.
16 Mar 1942	USS Permit arrived at Corregidor in the Philippine Islands, delivering ammunition and evacuated 36 US Navy cryptanalysts.
17 Mar 1942	Three Japanese destroyers depth charged USS Permit in Tayabas Bay in southern Luzon, Philippine Islands, causing minor damage.
25 Mar 1942	USS Permit fired three torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Dutch East Indies; all three torpedoes missed.
5 May 1942	USS Permit departed Fremantle, Australia, starting her fifth war patrol.
25 May 1942	USS Permit fired four torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Makassar Strait; all four torpedoes missed.
29 May 1942	USS Permit fired two torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the Makassar Strait; both torpedoes missed.
11 Jun 1942	USS Permit completed her fifth war patrol.
12 Jul 1942	USS Permit began her sixth war patrol.
30 Aug 1942	USS Permit arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her sixth war patrol.
9 Sep 1942	USS Permit began a scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States.
5 Feb 1943	USS Permit began her seventh war patrol.
25 Feb 1943	USS Permit fired five torpedoes at a Japanese transport off Japan; all four torpedoes missed.
2 Mar 1943	USS Permit sank a Japanese transport off Iwate, Japan, hitting her with 3 of 4 torpedoes fired.
4 Mar 1943	USS Permit damaged Japanese transport Hokuto Maru just off of the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Japan, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
7 Mar 1943	USS Permit sank a Japanese sampan off Hakkaido, Japan with her deck gun.
8 Mar 1943	USS Permit attacked a Japanese convoy between Honshu island and Hokkaido island consisted of nine merchant ships and two escort vessels, sinking merchant ship Hisashima Maru, hitting her with 2 of 3 torpedoes fired.
16 Mar 1943	USS Permit completed her seventh war patrol.
6 Apr 1943	USS Permit departed Midway Atoll, starting her eighth war patrol.
5 May 1943	USS Permit damaged a Japanese transport in the Mariana Islands, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
11 May 1943	USS Permit attacked a Japanese convoy east of the Mariana Islands, sinking two transports with 4 torpedo hits and damaging a third with 1 hit; a total of 6 torpedoes was expended.
25 May 1943	USS Permit arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her eighth war patrol.
6 Jul 1943	USS Permit sank a Japanese transport off Hokkaido, Japan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired.
7 Jul 1943	USS Permit sank Banshu Maru No. 33 off Hokkaido, Japan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired; another transport was damaged with 2 of 2 torpdoes fired.
8 Jul 1943	USS Permit sank Japanese merchant ship Showa Maru and Soviet oceanographic vessel No. 20 off Hokkaido, Japan, hitting them with 3 of 10 torpedoes fired.
20 Jul 1943	USS Permit entered the Sea of Japan.
27 Jul 1943	USS Permit arrived at Dutch Harbor, US Territory of Alaska, ending her ninth war patrol.
23 Aug 1943	USS Permit began her tenth war patrol.
3 Sep 1943	Japanese aircraft spotted USS Permit and attacked with bombs off Kwajalein, Marshall Islands; USS Permit escaped unscathed.
9 Sep 1943	USS Permit damaged a Japanese transport between Kwajalein Atoll and Wotje Atoll, Marshall Islands, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired. A Japanese aircraft spotted USS Permit and attacked with depth charges; USS Permit escaped unscathed.
12 Sep 1943	USS Permit attacked a Japanese convoy west of the Marshall Islands, sinking 2 transports and damaging an oiler; 10 torpedoes were expended during the attack. The pursuit would continue into the next day.
13 Sep 1943	USS Permit continued to attack the Japanese convoy she had been attacking since the previous date west of the Marshall Islands, damaging a light cruiser and sinking an oiler; 5 torpedoes were expended during the attack.
24 Sep 1943	USS Permit arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her tenth war patrol.
10 Feb 1944	USS Permit damaged a Japanese cruiser in the Pacific Ocean, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
11 Feb 1944	USS Permit fired 4 torpedoes at a Japanese carrier in the Pacific Ocean; all torpedoes missed.
7 May 1944	USS Permit began lifeguard duty in the Caroline Islands.
23 May 1944	USS Permit damaged a Japanese ship in the Pacific Ocean with her deck gun.
26 May 1944	USS Permit claimed the sinking of a Japanese submarine off Truk, Carolin Islands, hitting her with 1 of 6 torpedoes fired.
29 May 1944	USS Permit damaged a Japanese transport between Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands, hitting her with 1 of 8 torpedoes fired.
1 Jun 1944	USS Permit completed lifeguard duty in the Caroline Islands.
30 Jun 1944	USS Permit departed Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, starting her thirteenth war patrol.
24 Jul 1944	USS Permit sank a Japanese transport off Yap, Caroline Islands, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
13 Aug 1944	USS Permit arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her thirteenth war patrol.
21 Sep 1944	USS Permit departed Brisbane, Australia, starting her fourtheenth war patrol.
13 Oct 1944	USS Permit sank a Japanese patrol craft off Truk, Caroline Islands, hitting her with 1 of torpedoes fired.
22 Oct 1944	USS Permit fired 2 torpdoes at a Japanese patrol craft at Truk, Caroline Islands; both torpedoes missed.
11 Nov 1944	USS Permit arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her fourtheenth war patrol.
29 Jan 1945	USS Permit departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
23 Feb 1945	USS Permit arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States.
30 Oct 1945	USS Permit completed her duty as a training submarine at Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, United States.
15 Nov 1945	USS Permit was decommissioned from service at Boston Naval Shipyard.
26 Jul 1956	Submarine Permit was struck from the US Naval Register.
28 Jun 1958	Submarine Permit was sold to the firm A. G. Schoonmaker, Incorporated of New York, New York, United States for scrap.

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