World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAfter her shakedown and training cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, Shark sailed for San Diego, California, United States via the Panama Canal, arriving on 4 Mar 1937. Until Nov 1938, she performed various training and exercise missions as a part of Submarine Squadron 6. On 16 Dec 1938, she got underway for Pearl Harbor to join Submarine Squadron 4. Patrolling in the Hawaii area for about two years, on 3 Dec 1940, she sailed to Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands to join the Asiatic Fleet.

ww2dbaseWhen the Pacific War began, Shark departed Manila on 9 Dec 1941, escaping the Japanese bombing of the American port facilities at Manila the next day. After patrolling Tayabas Bay for the following week, she returned to Manila on 19 Dec to embark Admiral Thomas C. Hart for his evacuation to Soerbaja, Java. On 6 Jan 1942, she narrowly escaped a torpedo attack from a Japanese submarine. For the remainder of Jan 1942, she patrolled off Ambon Island, Maluku Islands, in the Molucca Passage, and east of Bangka Strait. On 2 Feb, after a failed torpedo attack on a Japanese ship, Shark came under depth charge attack 10 miles off Tifore Island in the Maluku Islands area. Five days later, she radioed in a report that she was chasing an empty cargo ship heading northwest. All communications were lost with Shark after that report.

ww2dbaseAfter WW2, captured Japanese documents revealed there were many attacks on unidentified submarines in Shark's area in Feb 1942. One of them, at 0137 on 11 Feb, described that destroyer Yamakaze sank a surfaced submarine by 5-inch gunfire. That incident was generally regarded as the fate of Shark.

Submarine Shark (Porpoise-class) (SS-174) Interactive Map

Photographs

Shark (Porpoise-class) Operational Timeline

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