USS Sculpin (SS-191)

USS Sculpin (SS-191) off San Francisco, California, on 1 May 1943, following an overhaul.
History
United States
Builder:	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down:	7 September 1937
Launched:	27 July 1938
Commissioned:	16 January 1939
Fate:	Scuttled off Truk Lagoon on 19 November 1943 after being damaged by Japanese destroyers (8°40′N 155°02′E / 8.667°N 155.033°E / 8.667; 155.033Coordinates: 8°40′N 155°02′E / 8.667°N 155.033°E / 8.667; 155.033)
General characteristics
Class and type:	Sargo-class composite diesel-hydraulic and diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,450 long tons (1,470 t) standard, surfaced, 2,350 tons (2,388 t) submerged
Length:	310 ft 6 in (94.64 m)
Beam:	26 ft 10 in (8.18 m)
Draft:	16 ft 7 1⁄2 in (5.067 m)
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines (two hydraulic-drive, two driving electrical generators), 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries, 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears, two shafts, 5,500 shp (4.1 MW) surfaced, 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed:	21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) @ 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance:	48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged
Test depth:	250 ft (76 m)
Complement:	5 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament:	8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, four aft; 24 torpedoes), 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal deck gun, four machine guns

USS Sculpin (SS-191), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin.

Her keel was laid down on 7 September 1937 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 27 July 1938 sponsored by Mrs. Bernice F. Defrees, wife of Rear Admiral Joseph R. Defrees, Sr, Chief of Staff to the Commander, Scouting Force, US Fleet. (Their son would later lose his life on this boat. See below) The boat was commissioned on 16 January 1939, Lieutenant Warren D. Wilkin in command.

While on her initial shakedown cruise on 23 May 1939, Sculpin was diverted to search for Squalus. Sighting a red smoke bomb and a buoy from Squalus, she established communications, first by underwater telephone and then by signals tapped in Morse code on the hull. Sculpin stood by while Falcon rescued the survivors, and rendered further assistance by familiarizing the divers with the configuration of her sister ship. Sculpin aided in the salvage of the sunken vessel by sounding out the approaches to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and preparing supplementary charts of the area where Squalus was refloated.

Following the assistance given in the recovery of Squalus, Sculpin engaged in type training off the Atlantic coast until transferred to the Pacific Fleet. Departing Portsmouth on 28 January 1940, she arrived at San Diego, California on 6 March. She sailed west on 1 April, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 9 March, where she was based for the next 18 months. Departing Pearl Harbor on 23 October 1941 as part of Submarine Division 22, she arrived at Manila on 8 November. From Cavite, she engaged in local operations and type training until war broke out.