|
USS ''Rasher'' (SS/SSR/AGSS/IXSS-269), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the rasher, a vermilion-colored rockfish or scorpionfish found along the California coast. ''Rasher'' (SS-269), a fleet-type submarine, was laid down 4 May 1942 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc.; launched 20 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. G. C. Weaver; and commissioned 8 June 1943, Comdr. E. S. Hutchinson in command. Admiral Charles A. Lockwood had earlier relieved Hutchinson of command of ''Grampus'' for lacking aggressiveness. Following builder's trials in Lake Michigan, ''Rasher'' was decommissioned and towed down the Mississippi on a floating drydock. After recommissioning and fitting out in New Orleans, the new submarine trained in the Bay of Panama, departed Balboa 8 August 1943, and arrived at Brisbane, Australia, on 11 September. == First war patrol, September – November 1943 == On her first war patrol, 24 September through 24 November 1943, ''Rasher'' operated in the Makassar Strait–Celebes Sea area, and sank the passenger-cargo ship ''Kogane Maru'' in a submerged attack at dawn on 9 October. Four days later, off Ambon Harbor, she spotted a convoy of four merchantmen escorted by two destroyers and a "Pete" seaplane. She fired two salvoes of three torpedoes each, then crash dived to avoid the destroyers and bombs from the scout plane. Freighter ''Kenkoku Maru'' broke up and sank, while the escorts struck back in a vigorous but vain counterattack. On the afternoon of 31 October, while patrolling the shipping lanes off the Borneo coast, ''Rasher'' commenced trailing tanker ''Koryo Maru'', but because of a patrolling float plane, was unable to attack until night. ''Rasher'' then surfaced, attacked and sent the tanker to the bottom after a thunderous explosion of exploding torpedoes and gasoline. The submarine's next victim was tanker ''Tango Maru'' which lost her stern to a spread of three torpedoes on the afternoon of 8 November. ''Rasher'' escaped the escorts by diving deep and silently slipping away. A midnight attack on a second convoy in the Makassar Strait off Mangkalihat Peninsula resulted in a hit on a tanker, but vigorous countermeasures by enemy destroyers prevented any assessment of damage. ''Rasher'' escaped the enemy surface craft and, her torpedoes expended, headed home and arrived at Fremantle on 24 November. Hutchinson had cleared his record on ''Grampus'' with the sinkings and was promoted to command a submarine division.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Rasher (SS-269)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|