Allied Warships

Sturgeon (SS-187)

Submarine of the Salmon class

USS Sturgeon as completed

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Salmon
Pennant	187
Built by	Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	27 Oct 1936
Launched	15 Mar 1938
Commissioned	25 Jun 1938
End service	15 Nov 1945
History	Decommissioned 15 November 1945. Stricken 30 March 1948. Sold 12 June 1948 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Sturgeon (187)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt. Arthur Dayton Barnes, USN	25 Jun 1938	mid 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. William Leslie Wright, USN	mid 1940	13 Aug 1942
3	Lt.Cdr. Herman Arnold Pieczentkowski, USN	13 Aug 1942	6 Aug 1943
4	T/Cdr. Charlton Lewis Murphy, USN	6 Aug 1943	Nov 1944
5	T/Lt.Cdr. Morton Haynes Lytle, USN	Nov 1944	Dec 1944
6	T/Lt.Cdr. William James Ruhe, USN	Dec 1944	Oct 1945
7	Frederick C. Wyse, Jr., USN	Oct 1945	15 Nov 1945

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Notable events involving Sturgeon include:

8 Dec 1941
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. William Leslie Wright) leaves Manila for her first war patrol. She was ordered to patrol between the Pescadores Islands and Formosa.

25 Dec 1941
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) ended her first war patrol at Mariveles Bay.

28 Dec 1941
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) leaves Mariveles Bay for her second war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Tarakan, Borneo, Netherlands East Indies.

13 Feb 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) ended her second war patrol at Surabaya, Java, Netherlands East Indies. Due to the Japanese air attacks on that base she departed for Tjilatjap shortly afterwards.

20 Feb 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) left Tjilatjap bound for Fremantle, Australia.

3 Mar 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) arrived at Fremantle, Australia.

15 Mar 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) leaves Fremantle for her third war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Makassar Strait.

30 Mar 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Choko Maru (842 GRT) off Makassar, Celebes, Netherlands East Indies in position 05°39'S, 119°00'E.

7 May 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) ended her 3th war patrol at Fremantle.

5 Jun 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) leaves Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol west of Manila.

1 Jul 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Montevideo Maru (7266 GRT) about 65 nautical miles west of Cape Bojeador, Luzon, Philippines in position 18°37'N, 119°29'E.

1 Jul 1942
The Montevideo Maru was carrying Australian POWs ( approximately 700 and 136 civilians. The Sturgeon found no survivors however they were who related their story to officials in Manila. More Australians died in the loss of the Montevideo Maru than in the entire Vietnam War.

5 Jul 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese oiler San Pedro Maru (7268 GRT) south of Palauig, Luzon, Philippines in position 16°07'N, 119°13'E.

22 Jul 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Wright) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle.

4 Sep 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. Herman A. Piaczentkowski) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Solomon Islands area.

1 Oct 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) torpedoed and sank the Japanese aircraft transport Katsuragi Maru (8033 GRT) off Cape St. George, New Ireland in position 05°51'S, 153°18'E.

25 Oct 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) ended her 5th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

30 Nov 1942
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) leaves Brisbane for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to off Truk.

4 Jan 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was ordered to the Hunters Point Navy Yard for an overhaul.

12 Jun 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

2 Aug 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Piaczentkowski) ended her 7th war patrol at Midway.

29 Aug 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. Charlton Lewis Murphy, Jr.) departed from Midway for her 8th war patrol.

23 Oct 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

13 Dec 1943
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

11 Jan 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Erie Maru (5493 GRT) about 20 nautical 20 miles east of Saeki, Kyushu, Japan in position 32°56'N, 132°02'E.

16 Jan 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. Charlton Lewis Murphy, Jr.) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese destroyer Suzutsuki (offsite link) in the Bungo Channel in position 32°15'N, 132°29'E. Suzutsuki is hit by two torpedoes. The bow and the stern were blown off. 135 members of her crew, including the captain, were killed. Suzutsuki was out of action until October 1944.

24 Jan 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Chosen Maru (3110 GRT) off Bungo Suido, Japan in position 32°28'N, 132°23'E.

5 Feb 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) ended her 9th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

8 Apr 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) leaves Pearl Harbor for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol near Marcus Island.

11 May 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Seiryu Maru (1904 GRT) about 140 nautical miles north of Chichi Jima in position 29°41'N, 141°35'E.

28 May 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) ended her 10th war patrol at Midway.

10 Jun 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) leaves Midway for her 11th and last war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters off the Ryukyu Islands.

29 Jun 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Toyama Maru (7089 GRT) in the Nansei Shoto, off Taira Jima, Japan in position 27°47'N, 129°05'E.

3 Jul 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Tairin Maru (6862 GRT) north of the Nansei Shoto, Japan in position 28°58'N, 129°51'E.

5 Aug 1944
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. C.L. Murphy, Jr) ended her 11th and final war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was now assigned to training duties.

17 Jan 1945
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) arrived in the Panama Canal Zone. She departed for New London, Connecticut later the same day.

26 Jan 1945
USS Sturgeon (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) arrived at New London, Connecticut.

5 Mar 1945
USS Sturgeon (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) and USS Sailfish (T/Lt.Cdr. L. Marcy, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Henry R. Kenyon (Lt.Cdr. G.F. Stearns, USNR) and USS SC-642 (?). (1)

8 Mar 1945
USS Sturgeon (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) and USS Sailfish (T/Lt.Cdr. L. Marcy, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Henry R. Kenyon (Lt.Cdr. G.F. Stearns, USNR). (1)

9 Mar 1945
USS Sturgeon (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) and USS Sailfish (T/Lt.Cdr. L. Marcy, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Gillette (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Daniel, Jr. USNR) and USS Henry R. Kenyon (Lt.Cdr. G.F. Stearns, USNR). (1)

10 Mar 1945
USS Sturgeon (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Ruhe, USN) and USS Sailfish (T/Lt.Cdr. L. Marcy, USN) conducted exercises in Long Island Sound with USS Gillette (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Daniel, Jr. USNR) and USS Henry R. Kenyon (Lt.Cdr. G.F. Stearns, USNR). (1)