May Lost Boats
USS Lagarto (SS-371)
Lost on May 3, 1945 with the loss of 86 men near the Gulf of Siam. On her 2nd war patrol, she is believed to have been lost to a radar equipped minelayer. This minelayer was sunk by the USS Hawkbill (SS-366) 2 weeks later.
Class: SS 285
Commissioned: 10/14/1944
Launched: 5/28/1944
Builder: Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co
Length: 312 Beam: 27
#Officers: 10 #Enlisted: 71
Fate: Baya tried to contact Lagarto and she made no reply. Japanese records state that during the night of 3-4 May, mine layer Hatsutaka attacked a U.S. submarine in that location, it is presumed that Lagarto perished in battle with all hands. 86 men lost.
USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was returning to Norfolk, VA. from a Mediterranean deployment. On May 22,1968 she reported her position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Scorpion was never heard from again. The exact cause of her loss has never been determined. 99 officers and men were lost.
Class: SSN 588
Commissioned: 7/29/1960
Launched: 12/29/1959
Builder: Electric Boat Co (General Dynamics)
Length: 252 Beam: 32
#Officers: 8 #Enlisted: 75
Fate: Shortly after midnight of 22 May 1968,She indicated her position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Her last transmission ended at 0302. Later information has determined the time of the hull collapse as 1842 UDT on 22 May, 1968 at a depth of 1525 f
USS Squalus (SS-192)
On May 23, 1939 USS Squalus suffered a catastrophic valve failure during a test dive off the Isle of Shoals. Partially flooded, the submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in 240 feet of water. Commander Charles Momsen and Navy divers on the USS Falcon (ASR-2) rescued 33 survivors use the diving bell he invented. 26 men drowned in the after compartments. Later Squalus was raised and recommissioned as the USS Sailfish. In an ironic turn of fate, Sailfish sank the Japanese aircraft carrier carrying surviving crew members from Sculpin, which had located Squalus in 1939. Only one of survived after spending the rest of the war as slave laborers in Japan.
Class: SS 188
Commissioned: 3/1/1939
Launched: 9/14/1938
Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard
Length: 311 Beam: 27
#Officers: 5 #Enlisted: 50
Fate: Sailfish was sold for scrapping to Luria Brothers of Philadelphia, PA. Her conning tower stands as a memorial to the lost crew of the USS Squalus at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME.
USS Stickelback (SS-415)
Lost on May 28, 1958 when it sank off Hawaii while under tow after collision with USS Silverstein (DE-534). The entire crew was taken off prior to sinking.
Class: SS 285
Commissioned: 3/29/1945
Launched: 1/1/1945
Builder: Mare Island Navy Yard
Length: 312 Beam: 27
#Officers: 10 #Enlisted: 71
Fate: She holed her port side. All crew were removed and efforts were made to save the submarine. Compartments flooded, but even with lines tied around her, she sank in 1800 fathoms of water.