USS Cero file photo [17071]

Cero

CountryUnited States
Ship ClassGato-class Submarine
Hull NumberSS-225
BuilderElectric Boat Company
Laid Down24 Aug 1942
Launched4 Apr 1943
Commissioned4 Jul 1943
Decommissioned23 Dec 1953
Displacement1,549 tons standard; 2,463 tons submerged
Length312 feet
Beam27 feet
Draft17 feet
MachineryFour General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed General Electric electric motors (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers
Bunkerage97,140 gallons oil
Speed21 knots
Range11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged
Crew60
Armament6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x76mm 50cal gun, 2x .50cal machine guns, 2x .30cal machine guns
Submerged Speed9 knots

Contributor:

ww2dbaseCommissioned into service in Jul 1943, USS Cero embarked on her first war patrol by Sep of the same year as a member of the first wolfpack deployed by the US Navy, consisted of Cero, Shad, and Grayback. While her first sixth war patrols saw accomplishments both in terms of disrupting Japanese shipping and transporting supplies to Philippine guerrilla fighters, it was her seventh war patrol that would saw the most apparent successes, during which she sank two Japanese picket boats, three freighters, and one trawler. She conducted eight patrols during the war, during which she was given credit for the sinking of a total of 18,159 tons of enemy shipping. She was in decommissioned status between 1946 and 1952, when she was activated for service in the Caribbean Sea based out of Key West, Florida, United States. She was decommissioned once again in 1953, though saw service between 1960 and 1967 as a reserve pierside training vessel at the Detroit Naval Armory, Detroit, Michigan, United States. She was sold for scrap in Oct 1970.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Jan 2013

Submarine Cero (SS-225) Interactive Map

Photographs

Submarines Bonefish, Cod, Cero, and Corvina under construction at the Electric Boat Co. yard, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 7 Mar 1943Launching of submarine Cero, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 4 Apr 1943Bow of USS Cero seen from the conning tower, New London, Connecticut, United States, Aug 1943, photo 1 of 4Bow of USS Cero seen from the conning tower, New London, Connecticut, United States, Aug 1943, photo 2 of 4
See all 26 photographs of Submarine Cero (SS-225)

Cero Operational Timeline

24 Aug 1942 The keel of submarine Cero was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States.
4 Apr 1943 Submarine Cero was launched at Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored by Mrs. D. E. Barbey.
17 Apr 1943 USS Cero departed New London, Connecticut, United States.
4 Jul 1943 USS Cero was commissioned into service.
26 Sep 1943 USS Cero departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol.
12 Oct 1943 USS Cero attacked a Japanese convoy consisted of three freighters escorted by two destroyers, damaging one freighter; nine torpedoes were expended.
5 Nov 1943 USS Cero damaged two Japanese transports south of Japan, hitting them with 3 of 9 torpedoes fired.
11 Nov 1943 USS Cero damaged a small Japanese boat southeast of Japan with her deck gun.
16 Nov 1943 USS Cero arrived at Midway Atoll, ending her first war patrol.
13 Dec 1943 USS Cero departed Midway Atoll for her second war patrol.
12 Jan 1944 USS Cero entered Milne Bay, Australian Papua, ending her second war patrol.
4 Feb 1944 USS Cero departed Milne Bay, Australian Papua for her third war patrol.
17 Feb 1944 USS Cero fired four torpedoes at a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea; all torpedoes missed.
19 Feb 1944 USS Cero sank a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea, hiting her with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired.
21 Feb 1944 USS Cero damaged a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea, hitting her with 2 of 9 torpedoes fired.
22 Feb 1944 USS Cero attacked a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea; all four torpedoes missed.
2 Mar 1944 USS Cero arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her third war patrol.
3 Apr 1944 USS Cero departed Brisbane, Australia for her fourth war patrol.
21 May 1944 USS Cero damaged a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
23 May 1944 USS Cero attacked a Japanese convoy off the Palau Islands, sinking a freighter and damaging a tanker, hitting them with 4 of 6 torpedoes fired.
2 Jun 1944 USS Cero arrived at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, ending her fourth war patrol.
26 Jun 1944 USS Cero departed Manus, Admiralty Islands for her fifth war patrol.
22 Jul 1944 USS Cero fired six torpedoes at a Japanese transport north of Dutch New Guinea; all torpedoes missed.
5 Aug 1944 USS Cero sank a Japanese tanker north of Dutch New Guinea, hitting her with 4 of 6 torpedoes fired.
20 Aug 1944 USS Cero arrived at Brisbane, Australia, ending her fifth war patrol.
19 Sep 1944 USS Cero departed Darwin, Australia for her sixth war patrol.
27 Oct 1944 USS Cero damaged two small Japanese boats with gunfire west of the Philippine Islands.
3 Nov 1944 USS Cero disembarked 15 tons of supplies and 16 troops north of Manila, Philippine Islands and took on four evacuees.
5 Dec 1944 USS Cero entered Mare Island Navy Shipyard in Vallejo, California, United States for a scheduled overhaul.
24 Dec 1944 USS Cero arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her sixth war patrol.
26 Feb 1945 USS Cero completed her scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Navy Shipyard in Vallejo, California, United States.
31 Mar 1945 USS Cero departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her seventh war patrol.
19 Apr 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese patrol vessel south of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired.
22 Apr 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese patrol vessel and damaged a second one with her deck gun south of Japan.
29 Apr 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese tanker south of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired.
4 May 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese transport east of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 2 torpedoes fired; an additional 3 torpedoes were expended (but missed) in attacking other ships in the same convoy.
6 May 1945 USS Cero fired three torpedoes at a Japanese transport east of Japan; all torpedoes missed.
13 May 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese transport east of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
20 May 1945 USS Cero sank a Japanese trawler east of Japan, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
27 May 1945 USS Cero arrived at Guam, Mariana Islands, ending her seventh war patrol.
27 Jun 1945 USS Cero departed Guam, Mariana Islands for her eighth war patrol.
15 Jul 1945 USS Cero rescued three downed US airmen off Japan. Later in the day, she bombarded the Japanese lighthouse and radio station at Shiriya Saki at Higashidori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
18 Jul 1945 USS Cero was attacked by Japanese aircraft and suffered extensive damage; she set sail for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for repairs.
30 Jul 1945 USS Cero arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her eighth war patrol.
5 Nov 1945 USS Cero arrived at New London, Connecticut, United States.
8 Jun 1946 USS Cero was decommissioned from service at New London, Connecticut, United States and was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
4 Feb 1952 USS Cero was recommissioned into service at New London, Connecticut, United States.
22 Mar 1952 USS Cero arrived at Key West, Florida, United States.
23 Dec 1953 USS Cero was decommissioned from service and was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
30 Jun 1967 Submarine Cero was sold for scrap and was struck from the US Naval Register.




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. B. Pennell says:
4 Jun 2020 12:42:44 AM

My grandfather served on the Cero Submarine. He told me they were bombed by our own airplanes and not the enemy. Your report said attacked by Japanese. Was a friendly fire incident that, nearly, sunk their submarine.
2. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
4 Jun 2020 03:08:02 PM

B. Pennell (above):
Thank you for sharing your grandfather’s story about serving aboard the Cero. I’m glad he came back so he could tell it. While I have no doubt that the belief among the crew at the time was that Cero suffered damage from friendly fire, the records do not support that. By her own War Diaries, Cero was damaged 18 Jul 1945 off the coast of Etorofu Jima (Iturup) in the Kurile Islands north of the principal islands of Japan. The War Diaries describe the attacking airplane only as a “gull-wing, single engine plane.” Upon sighting the airplane, the sub instantly went into an emergency dive so no better observation of the plane could be made. Any allied single engine plane attacking a submarine north of Japan would certainly have to be carrier-based. On this date, the US carrier force was over 800 miles away launching strikes on targets in and around Tokyo, making Cero well outside their patrol radius. Certainly the most familiar gull-wing plane was the American F4U Corsair, but there were others. The Corsair was also flown by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm but by this stage of the war, the British carriers were sailing with the American carrier task forces and were also south of Japan. A far more likely candidate for this airplane was the Japanese Aichi B7A Ryusei carrier-based torpedo/dive bomber (code named Grace). Grace’s gull-wing shape is not as pronounced as the Corsair but was still distinctive. The US Navy’s official history in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, which is not always as authoritative as the name suggests, also says Cero was damaged in an “enemy air attack.” Japanese records may or may not have something to say about this event but I do not have access to them. The fog of war being what it is, anything is possible but a friendly fire incident seems unlikely.
3. Ron Silverberg says:
11 Aug 2021 07:18:14 AM

Something is off with the dates in Detroit. I joined the reserve in 1955 at Brodhead & went to meeting there and on Cero until late 1956 when I was called for 2 years active duty. Graduated from sub in late 1956 and was assigned to the uSS Angler SSK- 240.

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Submarine Cero (SS-225) Photo Gallery
Submarines Bonefish, Cod, Cero, and Corvina under construction at the Electric Boat Co. yard, Groton, Connecticut, United States, 7 Mar 1943
See all 26 photographs of Submarine Cero (SS-225)


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