Lost Subs - USS Argonaut (SM-1)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Compiled June 30, 2008, by David Barth.
The first USS Argonaut (SF-7/SM-1/APS-1), a United States Navy submarine, was laid down as V-4 on 1 May 1925 at
Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 10 November 1927, sponsored by Mrs. Philip Mason Sears, the daughter of
Rear Admiral William D. MacDougall, and commissioned on 2 April 1928, Lieutenant Commander W.M. Quigley in
command.
V-4 was the first of the second generation of V-boats commissioned in the late 1920s, which remain the largest
non-nuclear submarines ever built by the U.S. These submarines were exempt by special agreement from the armament
and tonnage limitations of the Washington Treaty. V-4 and her sister ships V-5 (Narwhal, hull number SS-167) and V-6
(Nautilus, hull number SS-168) were designed with larger and more powerful diesel engines than those which had
propelled the earlier series of V-boats, which had proven to be failures. Unfortunately, the specially-built engines
failed to produce their design power and some developed dangerous crankshaft explosions. V-4 and her sister ships were
slow in diving and, when submerged, were unwieldy and slower than designed. They also presented an excellent target to
surface ship sonar and had a large turning radius.
V-4 was designed primarily as a minelayer. She was the first and only such experimental ship ever built by the United
States. She had four torpedo tubes forward and two minelaying tubes aft. At the time of the construction, V-4 was the
largest submarine ever built in the United States. Following commissioning, V-4 served with Submarine Division 12 based
at Newport, Rhode Island.
Trials and a new name in the 1930s
In January and February 1929, V-4 underwent a series of trials off Provincetown, Massachusetts. On a trial dive during
this period, she submerged to a depth of 318 feet (97 m). This mark was the greatest depth which an American submarine
had reached up to that time. On 26 February 1929, V-4 was assigned to Division 20, Submarine Divisions, Battle Fleet,
and arrived at San Diego, California, her new home port, on 23 March. From there, she participated in battle exercises
and made cruises along the west coast.
V-4 was renamed Argonaut on 19 February 1931, and redesignated SM-1 (submarine, minelayer) on 1 July of that year. On 30
June 1932, she arrived at Pearl Harbor, where she was assigned to Submarine Division 7. She carried out minelaying
operations, patrol duty, and other routine work. In October 1934 and again in May 1939, Argonaut took part in joint
Army-Navy exercises in the Hawaiian operating area. Argonaut became the flagship of Submarine Squadron 4
(Captain Freeland A. Daubin) in mid-1939. The submarine returned to the west coast in April 1941 to participate in
fleet tactical exercises.
Pacific patrols
On 28 November 1941, Argonaut (commanded by Stephen G. Barchet) left Pearl Harbor and was on patrol near Midway
Island when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After sunset on 7 December, Argonaut surfaced and heard naval gunfire
around Midway. It was assumed the Japanese were landing a large invasion force. Argonaut then submerged to make a sonar
approach to the "invasion force." While designed to be a minelayer and not an attack submarine, Argonaut made the first
wartime approach on enemy naval forces.
The "invasion force" turned out to be two Japanese destroyers whose mission was shore bombardment on Midway. The ships
may have detected Argonaut, and one passed close by the submarine. They completed the bombardment then retired before
Argonaut could make a second approach.
One week later, Argonaut made contact with three or four Japanese destroyers. Barchet wisely decided not to attack.
On 22 January 1942, she returned to Pearl Harbor and, after a brief stop, proceeded to the Mare Island for conversion
to a troop transport submarine.
Argonaut returned to action in the South Pacific in August. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz assigned Argonaut and Nautilus
(SS-168) to transport and land Marine Raiders on Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands for the Makin Raid. This move was
designed to relieve pressure on American forces that had just landed on Guadalcanal. On 8 August, the two submarines
embarked troops of Companies A and B, 2d Raider Battalion, and got underway for Makin. Conditions during the transit
were unpleasant, and most of the marines became seasick. The convoy arrived off Makin on 16 August; and, at 0330 the
next day, the marines began landing. Their rubber rafts were swamped by the sea and most of the outboard motors drowned.
The Japanese, either forewarned or extraordinarily alert because of the activity on Guadalcanal, gave the Americans a
warm reception. Snipers were hidden in the trees, and the landing beaches were in front of the Japanese forces instead of
behind them as planned. However, by midnight of 18 August, the Japanese garrison of about 85 men was wiped out, radio
stations, fuel, and other supplies and installations were destroyed, and all but 30 of the troops had been recovered.
21 troops were KIA and 9 were captured/executed.
Final battle
Argonaut arrived back in Pearl Harbor on 26 August. Her hull classification symbol was changed from SM-1 to APS-1
(transport submarine) on 22 September. She was never formally designated SS-166, but that hull number was reserved
for her. Her base of operations was transferred to Brisbane, Australia, later in the year. In December, she
departed Brisbane under Lieutenant Commander John R. Pierce to patrol the hazardous area between New Britain and
Bougainville, south of St. George's Channel. On 2 January 1943 Argonaut sank a Japanese gunboat, Ebon Maru, in the
Bismark sea. On 10 January 1943, Argonaut spotted a convoy of five freighters and their escorts, Japanese
destroyers Maikaze, Isokaze, and Hamakaze, returning to Rabaul from Lae. An army aircraft, which was out of bombs,
was by chance flying overhead and witnessed Argonaut's attack. A crewman on board the plane saw one destroyer hit by
a torpedo, and the destroyers promptly counterattack. Argonaut's bow suddenly broke the water at an unusual angle. It
was apparent that a depth charge had severely damaged the submarine. The destroyers continued circling Argonaut and
pumping shells into her. She slipped below the waves and was never heard from again. One hundred and five officers and
men went down with the submarine. Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 February 1943.
Japanese reports that were made available at the end of the war recorded a depth charge attack followed by artillery
fire, at which time they "destroyed the top of the sub".
On the basis of the report given by the Army flier who witnessed the attack in which Argonaut perished, she was
credited with damaging a Japanese destroyer on her last patrol. (Postwar, the JANAC accounting gave her none.) Since
histories of none of the three escorting destroyers report damage on 10 January; the destroyer "hit" may have been a
premature torpedo explosion.
Argonaut won two battle stars for her World War II service.