Scorpion
| Country | United States |
| Ship Class | Gato-class Submarine |
| Hull Number | SS-278 |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, United States |
| Laid Down | 20 Mar 1942 |
| Launched | 20 Jul 1942 |
| Commissioned | 1 Oct 1942 |
| Displacement | 1,549 tons standard; 2,463 tons submerged |
| Length | 312 feet |
| Beam | 27 feet |
| Draft | 17 feet |
| Machinery | Four Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8- 9-cylinder diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers |
| 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, 1.76mm (later 1x100mm) deck gun |
| Submerged Speed | 9 knots |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseUSS Scorpion, with Lieutenant Commander William N. Wylie in command, entered US Navy service in Oct 1942. She conducted shakedown operations off the southern New England coast in northeastern United States in Jan 1943, and sailed for the Panama Canal in late Feb, arriving at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States on 24 Mar. She received a bathythermograph while at Pearl Harbor, and the departed on her first war patrol on 5 Apr 1943. Her first kill was the Japanese converted gunboat Meiji Maru No. 1, destroyed off eastern Honshu, Japan. While en route back to Pearl Harbor to end her first war patrol, she engaged the Japanese patrol ship Ebisu Maru No. 5 on 30 Apr; though successful in sinking the Japanese ship, she also suffered her first casualty when Lieutenant Commander R. M. Raymond was killed. In May, after completing her first war patrol, her 76-millimeter gun was replaced with a 100-millimeter gun at Pearl Harbor.
ww2dbaseScorpion's second war patrol took her to the Ryukyu Islands and the Yellow Sea. At the latter location, she was depth charged on 3 Jul after attacking a convoy (sinking two ships). After striking the sea floor, she attempted to remain stationary, but she was discovered when the Japanese escorting destroyers dragged chains across the area and found her, dropping well-placed depth charges that caused serious damage. Nevertheless surviving the attack, she ended her patrol early, enduring an air attack en route near Akusekijima. Her third war patrol in the Mariana Islands in Oct and Nov 1943 was generally unsuccessful, with many attacks foiled by poor weather.
ww2dbaseScorpion departed Pearl Harbor on her fourth and final war patrol on 29 Dec 1943. On 5 Jan, she submitted a radio message noting one of her crew members suffered a fracture of the upper arm, and requested to rendezvous with submarine Herring to transfer to injured crew member back to base; the rendezvous was made later in the afternoon, but heavy seas prevented the transfer of the injured sailor from taking place. This would become the last time she was seen or heard from. She likely had struck a mine at the entrance to the Yellow Sea in mid-Jan 1944 and was destroyed.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Oct 2011
Submarine Scorpion (SS-278) Interactive Map
Photographs
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Scorpion Operational Timeline
| 20 Mar 1942 | The keel of US submarine Scorpion was laid down. |
| 20 Jul 1942 | The US submarine Scorpion was launched, sponsored by Ms. Elizabeth T. Monagle. |
| 1 Oct 1942 | USS Scorpion was commissioned into service, Lieutenant Commander William Wylie in command. |
| 24 Mar 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. |
| 5 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. |
| 19 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived off Nakaminato, eastern Honshu, Japan; after sundown, she deployed naval mines. |
| 20 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion sank the Japanese converted gunboat Meiji Maru No. 1, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired. |
| 21 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion sank a sampan before 0100 hours with her deck gun. In the afternoon, she patrolled off Shioyasaki, eastern Honshu, Japan. |
| 22 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion sank three sampans with gunfire off Honshu, Japan. |
| 23 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion damaged a Japanese cargo ship off Honshu, Japan with 1 of 4 torpedoes fired. |
| 27 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion fired six torpedoes at a Japanese convoy, sinking the merchant ship Yuzan Maru with four hits; she was depth charged by an escorting destroying and suffered minor damage. |
| 28 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion was ordered to return to her home port. |
| 29 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion sank a Japanese patrol vessel by gunfire. |
| 30 Apr 1943 | USS Scorpion sank the Japanese patrol ship Ebisu Maru No. 5 with a torpedo; during the surface action, Lieutenant Commander R. M. Raymond was killed, the submarine's first casualty. As a Japanese aircraft responded with depth charges, Scorpion dove and survived the attack. |
| 8 May 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her first war patrol. |
| 29 May 1943 | USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. |
| 2 Jun 1943 | USS Scorpion refueled at Midway Atoll. |
| 21 Jun 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived off Takarajima, Tokara Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. |
| 28 Jun 1943 | USS Scorpion was ordered to sail for the Yellow Sea. |
| 30 Jun 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived in the Yellow Sea off Shantung Peninsula, China. |
| 3 Jul 1943 | USS Scorpion fired six torpedoes at a 5-ship Japanese convoy, sinking cargo ships Anzan Maru and Kokuryu Maru with five hits; she suffered serious damage during the subsequent depth charging. |
| 26 Jul 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived at Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii, ending her second war patrol. |
| 13 Oct 1943 | USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her third war patrol. |
| 17 Oct 1943 | USS Scorpion refueld at Midway Atoll. |
| 25 Oct 1943 | USS Scorpion began a reconnaissance mission of Agrihan and Pagan islands in the Mariana Islands. |
| 26 Oct 1943 | USS Scorpion completed a reconnaissance mission of Agrihan and Pagan islands in the Mariana Islands. |
| 1 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion began a reconnaissance mission of Farallon de Pajoras island, Mariana Islands. |
| 2 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion completed a reconnaissance mission of Farallon de Pajoras island, Mariana Islands. |
| 3 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived off Maug Islands of the Mariana Islands. |
| 5 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion spotted a Japanese heavy cruiser, but failed to gain a good position to attack due to poor weather. |
| 7 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion arrived off Agrihan Island, Mariana Islands. |
| 8 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion unsuccessfully attacked a Japanese Q-ship with three torpedoes in the Mariana Islands. |
| 13 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion attacked a Japanese convoy in the Mariana Islands with four torpedoes, damaging oiler Shiretoko with one hit. |
| 15 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion patrolled off Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| 22 Nov 1943 | USS Scorpion observed a Japanese convoy in the Mariana Islands but was unable to attack. |
| 29 Dec 1943 | USS Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her fourth war patrol. |
| 3 Jan 1944 | USS Scorpion refueled at Midway Atoll. |
| 5 Jan 1944 | USS Scorpion made rendezvous with USS Herring in the East China Sea, but the planned transfer of an injured sailor from Scorpion to Herring did not take place due to heavy seas. Some time after this date, she was lost, presumed mined in the Yellow Sea. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
22 Jan 2015 02:14:20 PM
TORpedoman mate BILLY E larimer is my under from scotty
2 Mar 2015 08:12:37 AM
my dad borther was on ss-278 bimer e larimore
9 Aug 2015 06:16:45 PM
I was a good friend of Ms. Bernice Udick who was the sister of Raymond Udick who was one of those aboard Scorpion for the first and last voyage....God bless those brave men!....please keep me posted on any updates regarding Scorpion.......Thanks & Regards, Bob Hampton
29 Dec 2015 02:34:29 PM
my dad was looking for more informent on his billy sub before my dad die 2002 scotty larimer 700 s topeka apt 1 carbondale ks 66414
12 Sep 2017 01:05:22 PM
I have Billy purles heart hii is my dad borther
23 Dec 2017 09:17:58 PM
My Dad was on the Scorpion on her very last patrol when she pulled into Midway for refueling. Dad said he had a "real bad feeling" about getting back on the boat so he deliberately failed the mandatory test to "qualify" on another section of the Submarine. Standard procedure meant he was "put ashore" until he could qualify. The Scorpion left with out him.
11 Aug 2019 02:28:23 PM
My neighbor was on the sub. Rufus Bynum. He came by to see my parents before he left on this last encounter. I was only 6 years old. From Riienzi, ms
10 Aug 2023 12:45:45 PM
We remember Raymond Udick who served his country well!
Raymond was on the first and last voyage of Scorpion SS-278....Thank You for the ultimate sacrifice.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Thomas Dodd, late 1945
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12 Jan 2015 08:15:54 AM
I am named for Torpedoman's Mate Third Class Mark Setvate, my father's cousin. Thank you for this operational timeline, Sir.