Allied Warships

Snook (SS-279)

Submarine of the Gato class


USS Snook being launched 15 August 1942.

NavyThe US Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassGato 
Pennant279 
Built byPortsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.) 
Ordered9 Sep 1940 
Laid down17 Apr 1942 
Launched15 Aug 1942 
Commissioned24 Oct 1942 
LostApr 1945 
History

USS Snook (Cdr. John Franklin Walling) was lost while conducting her ninth war patrol, in the South China Sea or Luzon Strait. On 8 April 1945, she reported her position to submarine USS Tigrone (SS 419) and when she did not acknowledge messages sent from Tigrone the next day, it was presumed that she had headed toward Luzon Strait. On 12 April, she was ordered to take lifeguard station in the vicinity of Sakeshima Gunto in support of British carrier air strikes. On 20 April, the commander of the British carrier task force reported that he had a plane down in Snook's assigned area, and that he could not contact the submarine by radio. Snook was ordered to search the area and to acknowledge the order. When she failed to make a transmission, USS Bang (SS 385) was sent to make the search and rendezvous with Snook. Although Bang arrived and rescued the downed aviators, she saw nothing of the missing submarine and on 16 May 1945 USS Snook, credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels in her two and one-half years of active service, was presumed lost after 8 April 1945, the victim of unknown causes.

The loss date given is an approximate one.

 

Commands listed for USS Snook (279)

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.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Charles Otto Triebel, USN24 Oct 19427 Mar 1944
2T/Cdr. George Henry Browne, USN7 Mar 19445 Dec 1944
3T/Cdr. John Franklin Walling, USN5 Dec 19448 Apr 1945 (+)

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Notable events involving Snook include:


3 Mar 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel, USN) departed New London bound for the Panama Canal Zone.

16 Mar 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel, USN) transited the Panama Canal.

31 Mar 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

11 Apr 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China and Yellow Seas.

30 Apr 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) lays mines off Saddle Island, China.

5 May 1943
While operating in the Yellow Sea USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ships Kinko Maru (1268 GRT, former British Stangton) in position 38°39'N, 122°35'E and Daifuku Maru (3194 GRT) in position 38°38'N, 122°39'E.

7 May 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ships Tosei Maru (4363 GRT) and Shinsei Maru No.3 (1258 GRT) in the Yellow Sea in position 36°05'N, 123°21'E.

16 May 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) sank a Japanese trawler with gunfire south of Honshu, Japan in position 30°29'N, 141°55'E.

23 May 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway.

9 Jun 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) departed from Midway for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Ryukyu Islands.

24 Jun 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese fleet oiler Ose (7986 GRT, former Dutch Genota captured on 9 May 1942 about 500 nautical miles off east of Madagascar by the Japanese merchant cruisers Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru) west of Amami Oshima in position 28°50'N, 126°56'E.

3 Jul 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese troop transport Atlantic Maru (5872 GRT) and torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ships Liverpool Maru (5865 GRT) and Koki Maru (5290 GRT) about 250 nautical miles north-north-east of Keelung, Formosa in position 28°40'N, 124°10'E.

18 Jul 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

18 Aug 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China and Yellow Seas.

13 Sep 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Yamato Maru (9655 GRT) in the East China Sea in position 30°08'N, 123°32'E.

22 Sep 1943
While operating in the Yellow Sea USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Katsurahama Maru (715 GRT) in position 39°00'N, 124°20'E and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakutetsu Maru (762 GRT) in position 39°15'N, 123°30'E.

8 Oct 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) ended her 3rd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

31 Oct 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Mariana Islands.

28 Nov 1943
While operating north-west of Saipan USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kotobuki Maru (5874 GRT) in position 18°48'N, 139°50'E and the Japanese troop transport Yamafuku Maru (4928 GRT) in position 18°21'N, 140°08'E.

29 Nov 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Shiganoura Maru (3512 GRT) west off the Mariana Islands in position 18°38'N, 139°35'E.

7 Dec 1943
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) ended her 4th war patrol at Midway.

6 Jan 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the west coast of Kyushu in Japanese home waters.

23 Jan 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Magane Maru (3120 GRT) about 175 nautical miles north-northwest of Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands in position 29°49'N, 140°08'E.

8 Feb 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Lima Maru (6989 GRT) and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese army cargo ship Shiranesan Maru (4739 GRT) about 30 nautical miles south-east of the Goto Archipelago in position 31°05'N, 127°37'E.

14 Feb 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nittoku Maru (3591 GRT) south- west of Tsushima, Japan in position 33°48'N, 128°50'E.

15 Feb 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kamone Maru (875 GRT) off the south coast of Korea in position 34°23'N, 128°23'E.

23 Feb 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kayo Maru (5471 GRT) about 120 nautical miles north-north-west of Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands in position 28°49'N, 141°13'E.

6 Mar 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. C.O. Triebel) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. she was now sent to the Hunters Point Navy Yard for a major overhaul.

25 Jun 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol.

14 Aug 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

17 Sep 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Luzon Strait and the South China Sea.

25 Sep 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) puts into Saipan to make repairs.

4 Oct 1944
With her repairs completed USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) departed from Saipan to resume her 7th war patrol.

23 Oct 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese merchant tanker Kikusui Maru (3887 GRT, former Dutch Iris) in the South China Sea, west of Luzon Strait in position 19°44'N, 118°25'E. The damaged ship sank the next day in position 19°46'N, 118°30'E.

24 Oct 1944
While operating west of Luzon Strait USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ships Arisan Maru (6886 GRT) in position 20°54'N, 118°19'E and Shinsei Maru No.1 (5863 GRT) in position 20°10'N, 118°17'E.

18 Nov 1944
USS Snook (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Browne) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

25 Dec 1944
USS Snook (Cdr. J.F. Walling) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Kuril Islands.

17 Feb 1945
USS Snook (Cdr. J.F. Walling) ended her 8th war patrol at Guam.

25 Mar 1945
USS Snook (Cdr. J.F. Walling) departed from Guam for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea and Luzon Strait.

Media links


Final Dive

Cline, Rick


The Last Patrol

Holmes, Harry


U. S. Submarines in World War II

Kimmett, Larry and Regis, Margaret


U.S. Submarines Through 1945

Friedman, Norman


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