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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 98895:  USS Pike submerging, circa 1936-1939

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Pike (SS-173), 1935-1957

USS Pike, a 1310-ton Porpoise class submarine built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, was commissioned in December 1935. After operating in the Atlantic for somewhat more than a year, she went to the Pacific in February 1937 and took part in maneuvers in the Hawaiian area during that year and the next. Beginning in late 1939 Pike was stationed in the Philippines. She cruised to China in 1940 and, after the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, conducted her first war patrol off Hong Kong. Her second patrol took her to the waters off Celebes and her third, from a base in Australia, was made off Timor as part of the unsuccessful defense of the Netherlands East Indies in February and March 1942.

Pike was transferred from Australia to Pearl Harbor in April 1942 and had picket duty off Midway during the great battle there in early June. Following a West Coast overhaul, she made three more war patrols between December 1942 and mid-1943, enduring two serious depth charge attacks by Japanese anti-submarine forces and sinking one enemy passenger-cargo ship. The now elderly Pike was retired from active combat service after September 1943 and spent the rest of World War II training submarine crews in the Long Island Sound area. Decommissioned in mid-November 1945, she was given a new mission in September 1946 as a stationary Naval Reserve training vessel at Baltimore, Maryland. USS Pike was stricken from the Navy list in February 1956 and sold for scrapping in January 1957.

This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Pike (SS-173).

For more images concerning this submarine, see:

  • USS Pike (SS-173) -- in groups with other ships.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 50116

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    In New York Harbor, circa 1936. The Manhattan skyline is faintly visible in the distance, beyond Pike's bow.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98895

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Submerging, circa 1936-1938.
    Photograph distributed by the U.S. Navy Recruiting Bureau, Room 726, Washington & Christopher Sts., New York.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, collection of Commander E.S. Moale, USN (Retired).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: 19-N-36006

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 October 1942.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-36002

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 October 1942.
    The city of Vallejo is visible in the distance, and barges YF-267 and YF-387 are in the left center.
    White outlines mark recent alterations to this submarine, among them external bow torpedo tubes.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-36001

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 October 1942.
    The city of Vallejo is visible in the background.
    White outlines mark recent alterations to this submarine.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-214327

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Operating off the coast of Rhode Island, 14 February 1944.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 142KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National

     
    Photo #: 80-G-214326

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Submerging off the Rhode Island coast, with only her periscope visible, 14 February 1944.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 123KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-233813

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Underway off New London, Connecticut, while serving as a training submarine, 5 May 1944.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-233852

    USS Pike (SS-173)


    Underway off Fisher's Island, New York, in May 1944.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Pike (SS-173). The following list features some of these images:

    The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 80-G-1027073
    USS Pike (SS-173) taking part in some kind of review, during the later 1930s. Her crew is on deck, manning the rails, and two other submarines are in the background.
    Starboard broadside surface (or low aerial) view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-456134
    USS Pike (SS-173) smashing through the waves, during the later 1930s.
    Port quarter surface view, with the submarine's hull cropped out of the view aft of her deck gun. Her bow is pitching up and is shrouded in spray.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • For more images concerning this submarine, see:

  • USS Pike (SS-173) -- in groups with other ships.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 8 October 2003