USS Argonaut (SS-166)

Argonaut was a unique design, a class of just the one submarine. She was completed in April of 1928 in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

After reaching the assigned area for her third patrol, Argonaut found a convoy of five ships and three escort destroyers. She attacked and hit one of the destroyers with a torpedo. However, the other two destroyers attacked Argonaut and damaged her severely. She was forced to the surface with a large up-angle. Gunfire from the enemy destroyers riddled the bow and that resulted in the sinking of the Argonaut. All of this was witnessed by an Army Air Corps bomber returning from a mission. However, the plane had no bombs left and could only watch helplessly.

Argonaut was the largest submarine used by the U. S. in WW2. She was 381 feet long, nearly 34 feet at the beam and displaced 2,710 tons. (For comparison, the boats we built during the war, such as the Pampanito, were just less than 312 feet long, 27 feet at the beam and displaced 1,550 tons.) Argonaut was designed as a minelayer and was armed with two six-inch guns. She was underpowered which was a serious limitation even though she was designed for endurance rather that speed and maneuverability.

After commissioning, Argonaut conducted a series of tests in the Atlantic in early 1929. In March she was assigned to San Diego. From there she participated in exercises and cruised the West Coast. In 1931, she was featured in two movies as a U-boat. She was also renamed from the V-4 to Argonaut and designated as SM-1 indicating that she was a minelayer.

On 30 June 1932, Argonaut arrived at Pearl Harbor. From there she carried out minelaying exercises, joint operations and other routine work. In April of 1941, she returned to the West Coast for fleet exercises and then sailed back to Hawaii.

Argonaut’s first patrol had not been productive. She had sailed on 29 November to patrol the area around Midway Island. She learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor by radio on 7 December and set general quarters two hours later after sighting two Japanese destroyers shelling Midway. She then made the first wartime approach on enemy forces but poor maneuverability prevented her from reaching a suitable firing position. One of the destroyers spotted Argonaut as she dove for a second attempt to attack. Argonaut was again unable to maneuver into an attack position and the destroyer was unable to locate the boat. She surfaced after being held down all night only to be attacked by an American plane based at Midway. On 20 January, she was escorted back into Pearl Harbor.

On 22 January, Argonaut departed for Mare Island for a major overhaul which included upgrading her engines and batteries. Even after the upgrades, she was still slow and not very maneuverable.

However, her second patrol was very unusual and was described as a success. During her recent overhaul, she had been converted to a transport submarine. On 17 August 1942, Argonaut and USS Nautilus (SS-168), together, carried 121 marines to Makin Island for a diversionary attack. The goals of the raid were to inflict casualties on the Japanese garrison, to capture prisoners, to gather intelligence, and to relieve pressure on the marines landing at Guadalcanal.

Only the first objective was achieved. Most of the Japanese forces were killed. The raid did succeed in boosting morale and testing tactics. However, 19 marines were killed in action. Another 11 were captured, later transferred to Kwajalein and eventually executed. Two days later Argonaut and Nautilus took the survivors, some of whom were injured, off the island and returned them to base. Unfortunately, this raid prompted the Japanese to reinforce the Gilberts, likely making the future conquest more difficult.

Argonaut was lost on her third war patrol and JANAC credited her with damaging the one destroyer but no sinkings.