Submarine Gunnel (SS-253)

Gunnel

Country	United States
Ship Class	Gato-class Submarine
Hull Number	SS-253
Builder	Electric Boat Company
Laid Down	21 Jul 1941
Launched	17 May 1942
Commissioned	20 Aug 1942
Decommissioned	18 May 1946
Displacement	1,549 tons standard; 2,463 tons submerged
Length	312 feet
Beam	27 feet
Draft	17 feet
Machinery	Four Hooven-Owens-Rentschler diesel engines (5,400shp), four General Electric electric motors (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers
Bunkerage	97,140gal fuel oil
Speed	21 knots
Range	11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged
Crew	60
Armament	6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x76mm 50cal deck gun, 2x .50cal machine guns, 2x .30cal machine guns
Submerged Speed	9 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUSS Gunnel was commissioned into service in May 1942 with Lieutenant Commander John S. McCain, Jr., son of Rear Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. and father of the future US Senator John S. McCain III. Her first war patrol saw her attached to the invasion fleet for Operation Torch, during which she conducted a pre-invasion reconnaissance mission and used infra-red signals to guide invasion ships to one of the invasion beaches. En route between Scotland, United Kingdom and the east coast of the United States, one of her four main diesel engines failed, which led to a major overhaul Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States before she was able to rejoin the war effort. Starting with her second war patrol, which began in May 1943, she served in the Pacific Ocean. Her first sinking was achieved on 15 Jun 1943 when she sank Japanese cargo ship Kayo Maru in the East China Sea off Jeju Island, Korea. She would embark on a total of eight war patrols in her career, four of which were considered successful, during which she was credited with six sinkings. The Pacific War ended as she was refitting at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. She was decommissioned in 1946 and was sold for scrap in 1959.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: May 2013

Submarine Gunnel (SS-253) Interactive Map

Photographs

Submarine Gunnel at sea off Groton, Connecticut, United States, 17 May 1942

Two submarines of US Navy Submarine Squadron 50 at Rosneath, Scotland, United Kingdom, circa 7 Dec 1942; sub possibilities were USS Barb, USS Blackfish, USS Herring, USS Shad, USS Gunnel, and USS Gurnard

Bow view of USS Gunnel off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States, Oct 1943

Stern view of USS Gunnel off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States, Oct 1943

See all 7 photographs of Submarine Gunnel (SS-253)

Gunnel Operational Timeline

21 Jul 1941	The keel of submarine Gunnel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, United States.
17 May 1942	Submarine Gunnel was launched at Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored by the wife of US Navy Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks Ben Morell.
20 Aug 1942	USS Gunnel was commissioned into service with Lieutenant Commander John S. McCain, Jr. in command.
19 Oct 1942	USS Gunnel started her first war patrol.
6 Nov 1942	USS Gunnel conducted reconnaissance in Fedhala Roads off French North Africa.
8 Nov 1942	USS Gunnel used infra-red signals to guide ships to a invasion beach in Operation Torch.
7 Dec 1942	USS Gunnel ended her first war patrol and departed North African waters.
28 May 1943	USS Gunnel started her second war patrol.
15 Jun 1943	USS Gunnel sank Japanese cargo ship Kayo Maru in the East China Sea, hitting her with 2 of 7 torpedoes fired.
19 Jun 1943	USS Gunnel sank Japanese cargo ship Tokiwa Maru in the East China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 6 torpedoes fired She also claimed 1 torpedo hit (of 2 fired) on a Japanese destroyer, but the sinking was not confirmed.
3 Jul 1943	USS Gunnel ended her second war patrol.
2 Aug 1943	USS Gunnel began a period of overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States.
31 Oct 1943	USS Gunnel completed a period of overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States.
17 Nov 1943	USS Gunnel started her third war patrol.
2 Dec 1943	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese carrier in the Pacific Ocean; all 4 torpedoes missed.
4 Dec 1943	USS Gunnel sank Japanese passenger-cargo ship Hiyoshi Maru in the Pacific Ocean, hitting her with 4 of 4 torpedoes.
7 Jan 1944	USS Gunnel ended her third war patrol.
5 Feb 1944	USS Gunnel departed Midway Atoll for her fourth war patrol.
6 Apr 1944	USS Gunnel arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her fourth war patrol.
3 May 1944	USS Gunnel started her fifth war patrol.
4 Jul 1944	USS Gunnel ended her fifth war patrol.
29 Jul 1944	USS Gunnel started her sixth war patrol.
18 Aug 1944	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese transport with her deck gun in the South China Sea, causing no damage.
20 Aug 1944	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all 9 torpedoes missed.
22 Aug 1944	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all 6 torpedoes missed.
22 Sep 1944	USS Gunnel ended her sixth war patrol.
21 Oct 1944	USS Gunnel started her seventh war patrol.
8 Nov 1944	USS Gunnel sank Japanese motor torpedo boat Sagi in the South China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
17 Nov 1944	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, sinking passenger-cargo ship Shunten Maru and damaging several ships; 16 torpedoes were expended during this attack, 7 of which scored hits.
1 Dec 1944	USS Gunnel embarked 11 US naval aviators at Palawan, Philippine Islands.
28 Dec 1944	USS Gunnel ended her seventh war patrol.
13 Jun 1945	USS Gunnel started her eighth war patrol.
9 Jul 1945	USS Gunnel attacked a Japanese submarine south of Japan; all 4 torpedoes missed.
24 Jul 1945	USS Gunnel arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her eighth war patrol.
18 May 1946	USS Gunnel was decommissioned from service at New London, Connecticut, United States.
1 Aug 1958	Submarine Gunnel was struck from the US Naval Register.
17 Jul 1959	Submarine Gunnel was sold to the firm Luria Bros. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States for scrapping.
1 Aug 1959	The firm Luria Bros. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States took control of submarine Gunnel.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

Alan Chanter says:
16 May 2013 02:43:39 AM

Oh no! Not ANOTHER US Navy submarine. Why can't we have something a little bigger as a feature article occasionally? (HMS Nelson or HMS Rodney perhaps).

C. Peter Chen says:
16 May 2013 07:58:40 PM

Alan - Challenge accepted! Will prepare for RN battleships shortly!

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