USS Perch, first of a class of six 1330-ton submarines, was built by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned in November 1936, she went to the Pacific in 1937, taking part in fleet exercises and independent operations during the next two years. In October 1939 Perch left the West Coast for the Philippines, where she was stationed during 1940 and 1941 as a unit of the Asiatic Fleet. After Japan began the Pacific war on 8 December 1941 (7 December east of the International Date Line), the submarine patrolled off Subic Bay. Later, while operating in the Formosa and Hong Kong areas, she encountered enemy shipping on two occasions but was unable to make successful attacks. Perch, after suffering damage to engines and a periscope, went to Darwin, Australia, in January 1942.
Perch began her second combat cruise in February, assigned to help defend the East Indies from the Japanese offensive. Initially patrolling off Celebes, she received damage in an attack on an enemy ship on the 25th, and was then transferred to the waters north of Java. During the night of 1 March she was the object a depth charge attack by two destroyers, which left her in a crippled condition. Another depth charging the next day made her problems even worse. Perch attempted to leave the area, but was trapped half-submerged in shallow water. Surrounded by enemy ships, her Commanding Officer ordered the submarine abandoned and scuttled early on 3 March 1942. Her officers and men were promptly taken captive, and several of them did not survive the more than three years they spent as prisoners of war.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Perch (SS-176).
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 19 October 2004
New image added 28 October 2004