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N7KTP > NAVNET 29.10.05 02:06l 98 Lines 5617 Bytes #999 (0) @ ALLUSA
BID : 46501_N7FSP
Read: GUEST
Subj: USS SEARAVEN
Path: ON0AR<ON0AR<VE2RXY<W4JAX<HS1LMV<N9ZZK<KG6BAJ<WA7V<N7FSP
Sent: 051028/1738z @:N7FSP.#SEA.#WWA.WA.USA.NOAM West Seattle, WA. on 145.010
Searaven completed 12 successful sea patrols before decommissioning
By Fred Miles Watson - Managing Editor - Northwest Navigator
Searaven was a Sargo-class boat and displaced 2,350-tons submerged
and was 310 feet, six-inches in length. Propulsion came via four
General Motors 278A diesel engines producing 5,500 horsepower and four
GE electric motors producing 2,740 horsepower to twin shafts and
propellers. The vessel's draft was 13 feet, 8-inches. Searaven had a
ship's complement of five officers and 50 enlisted. Firepower consisted
of eight 21" torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, one three-inch .50 caliber
deck gun, two .50 caliber machine guns and two .30 caliber machine
guns.
In the two years preceding America's entry into World War II,
Searaven operated in Philippine waters conducting training and
maneuvers. At the outbreak of war between the United States and the
Japanese Empire, the submarine was at the Cavite Navy Yard in Manila
Bay.
During her first two war patrols in December of 1941 and the
spring of 1942, she ran supplies to the American and Filipino troops
besieged on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island. In a night
action in the Molucca Strait on Feb. 3, 1942, she torpedoed a Japanese
destroyer and claimed her first victim of the war.
Searaven conducted her third war patrol in the vicinity of Timor
Island of the Netherlands East Indies,from April 2 to 25, 1942. On the
18th, she rescued 32 Royal Australian Air Force men from enemy-held
Timor. Five days later, fire broke out in her main power cubicle,
immobilizing Searaven completely.
Submarine Snapper (SS-185) assisted her into port in Australia.
Searaven's fourth war patrol was a quiet one and returning from
During her fifth patrol, she claimed 23,400 tons sunk and 6,853 damaged. This tally, however, went unconfirmed.
She ended her fifth patrol on Nov. 24 1942 at Fremantle,
Australia, where she underwent refit. On Dec. 18, she got underway from
Fremantle, bound for the Banda Sea, Ceram Sea, and the Palau Islands.
In the Banda Sea, she welcomed the New Year by loosing a spread of
three torpedoes at the minelayer Itsuku Shima.
Again the sinking claimed by Searasven went unconfirmed. Two weeks
later, on Jan. 14 1943, the submarine pumped four torpedoes into the
freighter Siraha Maru and collected her first confirmed victory.
On Feb. 10, 1943, she sailed into Pearl Harbor, HI, and, two days
later, she set out for overhaul at Mare Island, Calif.
She completed overhaul on May 7 and returned to Pearl Harbor on
the 25th. On June 7, Searaven departed from Pearl Harbor for her
seventh patrol, this time in the Mariana Islands area. During this
patrol, she reconnoitered Marcus Island, but encountered no enemy
shipping. She was put into Midway Island on July 29, 1943 for refit.
Her eighth war patrol began at Midway on Aug. 23. She plied the
waters off the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan, but found no enemy
ship worth a torpedo. After a month and a half at sea, the submarine
made Pearl Harbor on Oct. 6.
A month later, she stood out for her ninth patrol. She patrolled
the Eastern Carolinas and, for a three-day period, operated with a
wolfpack of submarines, which was used as part of the defensive screen
for the Gilbert Islands operation.
On Nov. 25, 1943, she got her second confirmed kill, sending the
10,052-ton tanker To)a Maru to the bottom with four torpedoes. She
sailed back into Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6.
Her tenth war patrol, Jam. 17 to March 3, 1944, was occupied
by photo reconnaissance of Eniwitok Atoll and lifeguard duty for the
air strikes on the Marshalls, Marianas, and Truk. She rescued three
airmen, but put into Midway on March 3 with no additional sinkings to
her credit.
On March 26, she embarked upon her 11th war patrol. Her assigned
area was the southern islands of the Nanpo Shoto, the Bonins. She made
two attacks during this patrol, claimed two more sinkings, but was
officially credited with none. After a complete overhaul at Pearl
Harbor, Searaven set course for the Kuril Islands area. Twelve enemy
vessels were sunk during this patrol.
On Sept. 21, 1944, in a night surface attack, the submarine
torpedoed and sank an unescorted Japanese freighter, Rizan Maru, that
had dropped behind her convoy. On the night of Sept. 25, Searaven
engaged two trawlers, four large sampans, and four 50-ton sampans.
Searaven passed down the column of eight sampans and two trawlers,
250 yards abeam, engaging from one to three at a time at practically
point blank range. Those that did not sink on the first pass were given
another dose of the same treatment until all were destroyed.
On Nov. 1, Searaven sailed as part of a coordinated attack group,
which also included submarines Pampanito (SS-383), Sea Cat (SS-399),
and Pipefish (SS-388) --for her final war patrol. Operating in the
South China Sea, east of Hainan Island, the submarine closed out her
combat career by sinking one transport of the Heinan Maru class and an
oiler of the Omurosan Maru type. With combat ended, Searaven was
assigned target and training duties for the remainder of the war.
Searaven was one of the target ships in the 1946 atomic bomb test,
Operation "Crossroads," at Bikini Atoll.
She escaped the tests with only negligible damage. The submarine
was decommissioned on Dec. 11, 1946 and sunk as a target on Sept. 11,
1948, and struck from the Navy list on Oct. 21, 1948.
Searaven earned 10 battle stars for World War II service.
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