Introduction to Lost Boat List.
The boats listed below are not in date of loss order, rather they are in a cause of loss grouping. For an a tabular form supplied by Ric Hedman scroll to the bottom of the page.
The first boat to be ‘lost’ was the USS F-4. To find a boat, circumstances of loss, date of loss and crew lost with the boat (if any) click on the boat name below. To sequence through the boats click on the “First Lost Boat” above then use the “Next Boat” and “Previous Boat” links on each page. The boats are arranged roughly in date order in this sequence. The USS A-7 is the first boat listed. It is a special case in that the boat was not ‘lost’ but the entire crew was lost in a fire.
Recent accidents such as the fire on USS Bonefish, grounding of the USS Nathaniel Greene and so on will be addressed at a later date.
There is a discussion of the loss dates given on a separate page. This discussion is necessary due to the disparity in dates given in various authoritative sources. This discussion can be accessed at “Loss Date Data”
Counting the losses incurred by the US Naval Submarine Force and arriving at a firm number for use in memorial ceremonies, speeches, presentations and writing should not be difficult and the number should be easily agreed on. Such is not the case. The actual number of US Submarines lost since 1862 (The beginning of the submarine force) is sixty-five (65). Of these, 53 have been lost during wartime and the remainder during the Force’s unending battle with the sea. For many years, the number normally used was 52. This has been the traditional number used since the end of World War II. It is useful to the discussion to understand where that number came from. This will establish the criteria for the counting of lost submarines.
In 1949, the Preliminary Design Branch of the Bureau of Ships issued a multivolume work which formalized the "lessons learned" in ship design in World War II. This work detailed damage to selected submarines and listed "Depth Charge, Bomb, Mine, Torpedo and Gunfire Damage including Losses in Action". The 52 submarines listed in the "Losses in Action" became the core listing for US submarine losses. The criteria for what constituted a loss is generally straight forward. It included:
Submarines lost at sea by enemy action with or without personnel loss.
Submarines lost by stranding and foundering with or without personnel loss
Submarines lost at sea by collision with personnel loss
Submarines lost for unknown reasons.
Submarines lost due to material or operational causes with or without personnel loss.
Submarines lost due to scuttling.
The
period for actions for which a lost submarine could be listed in this report
was the that of the
Total Losses in Wartime
The
two declared wars in the 20th century were World Wars I and II. World War I
period of
USS F-1 (SS-20), USS S-26 (SS-131),USS Shark (SS-174),USS
Grunion (SS-216), USS Argonaut (SS-166), USS Amberjack (SS-219), USS Grampus (SS-207), USS
Triton (SS-201), USS Pickerel (SS-177), USS R-12 (SS-89), USS Runner
(SS-275),,USS Pompano (SS-181), USS Grayling (SS-209), USS
Cisco (SS-290), USS Wahoo (SS-238), USS Dorado (SS-248), USS
Corvina (SS-226), USS Capelin (SS-289), USS Scorpion (SS-278), USS Grayback (SS-208), USS
Trout (SS-202), USS Gudgeon (SS-211), USS Herring (SS-233), USS S-28
(SS-133), USS Golet (SS-361), USS Growler (SS-215), USS
Robalo (SS-273), USS Harder (SS-257), USS Escolar (SS-294),
USS Shark (SS-314), USS Seawolf (SS-197), USS Albacore (SS-218),
USS Scamp (SS-277), USS Barbel (SS-316), USS Swordfish (SS-193), USS
Kete (SS-369), USS Trigger (SS-237), USS Snook (SS-279), USS
Lagarto (SS-371), USS Bonefish (SS-223), USS Bullhead (SS-332),
USS Sealion (SS-195), USS Perch (SS-176), USS Grenadier (SS-210), USS
S-44 (SS-155), USS Sculpin (SS-191), USS Tullibee (SS-284), USS
Flier (SS-250), USS Tang (SS-306), USS S-36 (SS-141), USS S-27
(SS-132), USS S-39 (SS-144), and USS Darter (SS-227).
Losses in Peacetime
The portions of the 20th century not included in WWI and WWII are considered, for the purposes of this discussion, peacetime. This is a point of semantics and it will be argued by participants and historians for many decades to come. During these peacetime periods we lost no more due to enemy action (Criteria 1).
By stranding and foundering (Criteria 2), we lost USS H-1 (SS-28).
By
collision (Criteria 3) we lost USS O-5 (SS-66), USS S-51 (SS-162), USS S-4 (SS-109)
and USS Stickleback (SS-415).
Losses for unknown reasons (Criteria 4) we lost USS O-9 (SS-70), and USS Scorpion (SSN-589).
Due
to material or operational causes (Criteria 5) we lost USS
F-4 (SS-21), USS S-5 (SS-110), USS Squalus (SS192), USS
Cochino (SS-345) and USS Thresher (SSN-593)
We lost no more boats under Criteria 6.
It is possible, however, that one other catastrophic loss might occur that should be remembered and listed. The USS A-7 had a fire onboard that killed the entire crew. The boat was not lost and, in fact, it continued in service.
In addition, we as a Force have lost many shipmates as a result of enemy action, accident or as it has been called “the hazards of the sea”. These men are listed separately from the boat losses here.
There are indeed other criteria that could be used to count a loss. One could count those submarines which by action of the enemy or by accident became "constructive total losses" and add Salmon, Nathaniel Greene, Bonefish and others. However, those boats and others like them were brought home by their crews and the decommissioned alongside with appropriate ceremony. The decision that the boats structure would be repaired or discarded was made not by the sea, enemy or others of those things beyond our control, but by a considered process with the boat in port and the remainder of the crew safely ashore.
A case could be made for inclusion of S-48 and Guitarro and others which sank but were quickly salvaged and returned to service. To modify the existing criteria to that extent is not necessarily useful either.
After that we
need only pray that the number of lost boats never, ever reaches 66.
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