Allied Warships

Springer (SS-414)

Submarine of the Balao class

USS Springer postwar.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Balao
Pennant	414
Built by	Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered	8 Jun 1942
Laid down	3 Oct 1943
Launched	3 Aug 1944
Commissioned	18 Oct 1944
End service	23 Jan 1961
History	Decommissioned 26 June 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned in 1960. Decommissioned and transferred to Chile 23 January 1961 being renamed Thomson (SS-22). Stricken by the Chilean navy and stripped for spare parts, her hulk was sold for scrapping.

Commands listed for USS Springer (414)

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	T/Cdr. Russell Kefauver, USN	18 Oct 1944	3 Jun 1945
2	T/Lt.Cdr. John Frederick Bauer, USN	3 Jun 1945	27 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Springer include:

17 Feb 1945
USS Springer (Cmdr Russell Kefauver) departed from Guam for her 1st war patrol, and was ordered to patrol of the Ryukyu Islands.

18 Mar 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) torpedoed and sank the Japanese fast transport T 18 (1500 tons) and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese minesweeper W-17 (578 tons, offsite link) near Mutsure Jima, Ryukyu Islands in position 26°38'N, 127°12'E.

25 Mar 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) ended her 1st war patrol at Guam.

20 Apr 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) departed from Guam for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Yellow Sea.

28 Apr 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) torpedoed and sank the Japanese submarine chaser Ch 17 (438 tons, offsite link) off Fukue Shima, Goto archipelago, Japan in position 32°25'N, 128°46'E.

2 May 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. Russell Kefauver) torpedoed and sank the Japanese frigate Ojika (940 tons, offsite link) in the Yellow Sea in position 33°56'N, 122°49'E.

3 May 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) torpedoed and sank the Japanese corvette Kaibokan 25 (745 tons, offsite link) in the Yellow Sea in position 34°56'N, 122°49'E.

18 May 1945
USS Springer (Cdr. R. Kefauver) ended her 2nd war patrol at Guam.

17 Jun 1945
USS Springer (Lt.Cdr. John F. Bauer) departed from Saipan for her 3rd war patrol, and was ordered to patrol south of Honshu, Japan.

2 Jul 1945
Around 0545K/2, USS Devilfish (T/Lt.Cdr. S.S. Mann, Jr., USN) and USS Sea Robin (T/Cdr. P.C. Stimson, USN) made rendezvous. One aviator which the USS Sea Robin had rescued, was towed across in a lifebelt. During the transfer USS Sea Robin hit the stern of USS Devilfish with her bow but damage was minor.

Around 1749K/2, USS Devilfish (T/Lt.Cdr. S.S. Mann, Jr., USN) and USS Springer (T/Lt.Cdr. J.F. Bauer, USN) made rendezvous. One aviator which the USS Springer had rescued, was put across in a rubber boat.

26 Jul 1945
USS Springer (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Bauer) ended her 3rd war patrol at Guam.