Submarine USS Escolar (SS-294) | World War II Database

USS Escolar

Country	United States
Ship Class	Balao-class Submarine
Hull Number	SS-294
Builder	Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Laid Down	10 Jun 1942
Launched	18 Apr 1943
Commissioned	2 Jun 1944
Sunk	17 Oct 1944
Displacement	1526 tons standard; 2424 tons submerged
Length	312 feet
Beam	27 feet
Draft	17 feet
Machinery	Four Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-1/8 9-cyl diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed Elliott electric motors (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers
Bunkerage	116,000gal fuel oil
Speed	20 knots
Range	11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged
Crew	66
Armament	6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x127mm deck gun, 1x40mm Bofors gun, 2x .50cal machine guns
Submerged Speed	8.75 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

USS Escolar entered service in Jun 1944 and embarked on her first, and what would turned to be her last, war patrol in Sep 1944. She was a member of a wolfpack searching for Japanese shipping in the Yellow Sea, and her pack mate USS Perch received the last message from her on 17 Oct 1944, routinely reporting her position and course. After that, she was never heard from again. Post war studies of Japanese records revealed no anti-submarine attacks in the region around that time, so USS Escolar was likely lost to a naval mine.

Source: Wikipedia

USS Escolar Operational Timeline

10 Jun 1942	The keel of submarine Escolar was laid down by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
18 Apr 1943	Submarine Escolar was launched at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, sponsored by Mrs. J. Bilisoly Hudgins.
2 Jun 1944	USS Escolar was commissioned into service with Commander W. J. Millican in command.
18 Sep 1944	USS Escolar departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first and only war patrol.
30 Sep 1944	USS Escolar sent out a distress radio signal noting that she was under enemy gunboat attack.
17 Oct 1944	USS Escolar sent her final ship-to-ship message to her wolfpack mates USS Perch, after which she was never heard from again. She was probably mined in the Yellow Sea on or shortly after this day.
24 Nov 1944	USS Escolar was officially listed as lost.