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

Photo # NH 69872:  USS Salmon running speed trials in early 1938

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

USS Salmon (SS-182), 1938-1946

USS Salmon, first of a class of six 1435-ton submarines, was built at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned in March 1938, she operated in the western Atlantic until late 1939, when she went to the Pacific. Salmon was based on the west coast in 1940 and most of 1941, then shifted to the Philippines, where she was stationed when war began with Japan on 7 December 1941. After her initial war patrol in Philippines and East Indies waters, her base moved to Australia, from which she conducted the next four war patrols in the East Indies, South China Sea, Indochina and Philippines areas during February-December 1942. In the course of her third and fifth patrols she sank three ships, totalling 21,300 tons.

Salmon completed her fifth war patrol at Pearl Harbor. After a west coast overhaul, she made her sixth war patrol off Japan in April-June 1943. Her seventh patrol, in the northwestern Pacific during July and August, cost the enemy a 2500-ton ship. The submarine's eighth and ninth patrols, into Japanese waters in September 1943 - February 1944, produced no sinkings. There were also no sinkings on her tenth, during April and May, but that patrol produced valuable photographic intelligence on enemy bases in the Caroline Islands.

Following another overhaul, Salmon began her eleventh war patrol in September 1944. Operating as part of a "wolf pack" against Japanese shipping, she torpedoed and damaged a tanker but was seriously hurt in the ensuing depth charge attack. Forced to surface, she aggressively attacked the enemy escort ships with her deck guns, driving them off. She escaped the combat area with little additional damage. Her crew received the Presidential Unit Citation for their heroism during this action.

Now showing her age and the lingering results of her depth charging, Salmon saw no further fighting. She transited the Panama Canal to the Atlantic, arriving in February 1945 and spending the rest of the war in overhaul and training service. USS Salmon decommissioned in September 1945 and was scrapped in April 1946.

This page features selected views of USS Salmon (SS-182).

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 69872

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Running speed trials in early 1938.

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

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 63417

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Running speed trials in 1938.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-42433

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 22 March 1943.

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

Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 535 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-42439

USS Salmon (SS-182)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 23 March 1943, following completion of an overhaul.
Circles on the image mark recent alterations to the ship.
Note rope laid out on deck, aft of the conning tower.

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

Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 610 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-70935

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 August 1944.

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

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 610 pixels

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

 
Photo #: NH 97462

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 August 1944.

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

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97463

USS Salmon (SS-182)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 16 August 1944, following overhaul. Circles on the photo mark recent alterations to the ship.

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

Online Image: 114KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97464

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Underway at sea on 15 February 1945, while in the Atlantic en route to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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

Online Image: 118KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-19930

USS Salmon (SS-182)


Ready for launching, at the Electric Boat Company shipyard, Groton, Connecticut, 12 June 1937.
Taken by an Electric Boat Co. photographer.

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

Online Image: 119KB; 590 x 765 pixels

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

 
Photo #: NH 68481

USS Holland (AS-3)


Panoramic photograph of the ship moored at Bouy 19, San Diego harbor, California, in 1940, with eleven submarines alongside. Submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Stingray (SS-186); Perch (SS-176); Pollack (SS-180); Cachalot (SS-170); Cuttlefish (SS-171); Skipjack (SS-184); Sturgeon (SS-187); Snapper (SS-185) and Sargo (SS-188). SS-182 through SS-187 were members of Submarine Division 15, commanded by R.W. Christie.
USS Richmond (CL-9), flagship of the Submarine Force, is in the right distance.

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 53KB; 900 x 310 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 68479

Submarines in San Diego harbor, California, 1940


Moored alongside USS Holland (AS-3), from which the photograph was taken, the submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Pickerel (SS-177); Plunger (SS-179); Snapper (SS-185) and Permit (SS-178).
Note the small motor boats, of the type carried by fleet submarines prior to World War II.
One of the men standing on Salmon's deck is Yeoman Clayton Johnson, who in 1969 was a Commander serving at the Naval History Division.
USS Enterprise (CV-6) is in the distance, tied up at Naval Air Station, North Island.

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 565 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 68482

USS Plunger (SS-179)


Backing clear of a nest of submarines, alongside their tender in San Diego harbor, California, in 1940. Other identifiable submarines present are:
Salmon (SS-182);
Seal (SS-183); and
Stingray (SS-186).

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 


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


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Page made 1 December 2000
New image added 6 July 2003