USS GUDGEON SS 211

USS GUDGEON SS 211 Tambor Class

June 7, 1944. Sunk by unknown causes. 78 men lost.

From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Gudgeon
A species of small fresh-water minnow.

(SS-211: dp. 1,475; l. 307'; b. 27'3"; dr. 13'3"; s. 20 k.; cpl. 85; a. 13", 10 21" tt.; cl. Tambor)

Gudgeon sailed from Pearl Harbor for her 12th and final war war patrol April 4, 1944. The battle-tested submarine stopped off at Johnston Atoll on April 7, and was never seen or heard from again. On June 7, 1944, Gudgeon was officially declared overdue and presumed lost. Captured Japanese records shed no light on the manner of her loss, and it remains one of the mysteries of the silent sea. According the Commander Submarines Pacific Fleet website, The probability as to the cause for Gudgeon's loss is that she was depth-charged, bombed, or both. However, all of these conclusions are presumptive, and there is a great likelihood that Gudgeon was lost during an unrecorded enemy attack.

During her 3-year career, Gudgeon earned herself a proud place in the Pacific submarine fleet. Her total tonnage sunk, 71,047, placed her 15th on the honor roll of American submarines, and she had accounted for a total of 12 confirmed kills. She is best remembered for for departing Pearl Harbor on December 11, 1941, in company with USS Plunger, on America's first submarine offensive patrol of World War II. She was also the first American submarine to patrol along the Japanese coast and the first U.S. Navy submarine to sink an enemy warship in World War II, Japanese submarine I-173. The Japanese submarine had just returned from a patrol which took her well into American waters off the coast of California and Washington.

For her first seven war patrols Gudgeon received the coveted Presidential Unit Citation. She earned 11 battle stars for World War II service.