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USS Apogon
USS Apogon (SS-308), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogons, a genus of cardinalfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters. The original name planned for the ship was Abadejo, but the name was changed on 24 September 1942 before the keel was laid down.
Apogon was laid down on 9 December 1942, by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; launched on 10 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Helen Lorena Withers (née LaBar), wife of Admiral Thomas Withers, Jr., then Commander of Submarine Forces; and commissioned on 16 July 1943.
The submarine held shakedown in the waters off the New England coast and departed New London on 13 September, bound for Hawaii. Apogon transited the Panama Canal on 25 September and reported for duty on that date to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. She reached Pearl Harbor on 11 October and began three weeks of training.
After loading fuel and provisions, Apogon got underway on 3 November for her first war patrol. Her patrol area comprised the waters within a 60-mile (110 km) radius of Moen Island and those along the shipping lanes between Truk and Kwajalein. The submarine was acting in support of Operation Galvanic, the seizure of the Gilbert Islands.
After a brief stop at Johnston Island on 5 November to top off her fuel tanks, Apogon continued on to her assigned area. During this patrol, she sighted four contacts deemed worthy of torpedo expenditure and actually attacked three. The only major damage she inflicted occurred on 4 December, when the submarine sank Daido Maru, a former gunboat. On 18 December, she ended her patrol and moored at Midway Atoll.
Following a refit there, Apogon proceeded to Pearl Harbor on 26 December for further repairs and training. She left Hawaii on 15 January 1944 for her second patrol, this time in waters surrounding the Mariana Islands. On 1 February, Apogon made the only attack of the patrol. She sighted a six-ship convoy and, soon thereafter, opened fire. The crew heard an explosion and saw their torpedoed target burst into flames. Ten minutes later, the lookout saw about 50 feet of the Japanese ship's stern sticking out of the water, and this soon disappeared. Apogon then attacked another Japanese auxiliary. Although Apogon claimed to have sunk both ships, she was not officially credited with having destroyed either. Apogon ended her patrol after 50 days and returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 March.
Apogon moored beside Bushnell on 10 March to commence refit. The submarine was drydocked at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard from 15 to 19 March for the installation of two new propellers. After additional training exercises, she got underway on 2 April.
She paused at Johnston Island on 4 April to refuel, and later that day resumed her voyage toward waters south of the Japanese home islands. However, when a crewman was preparing to clean a 20 millimeter machine gun the next day, a live cartridge accidentally left in the chamber discharged and ricocheted into the man's leg. Apogon immediately returned to Johnston Island to transfer the wounded man to the dispensary. The submarine again got underway on 6 April and conducted her entire patrol without encountering any enemy shipping. She finally arrived at Majuro on 22 May.
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USS Apogon
USS Apogon (SS-308), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogons, a genus of cardinalfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters. The original name planned for the ship was Abadejo, but the name was changed on 24 September 1942 before the keel was laid down.
Apogon was laid down on 9 December 1942, by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; launched on 10 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Helen Lorena Withers (née LaBar), wife of Admiral Thomas Withers, Jr., then Commander of Submarine Forces; and commissioned on 16 July 1943.
The submarine held shakedown in the waters off the New England coast and departed New London on 13 September, bound for Hawaii. Apogon transited the Panama Canal on 25 September and reported for duty on that date to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. She reached Pearl Harbor on 11 October and began three weeks of training.
After loading fuel and provisions, Apogon got underway on 3 November for her first war patrol. Her patrol area comprised the waters within a 60-mile (110 km) radius of Moen Island and those along the shipping lanes between Truk and Kwajalein. The submarine was acting in support of Operation Galvanic, the seizure of the Gilbert Islands.
After a brief stop at Johnston Island on 5 November to top off her fuel tanks, Apogon continued on to her assigned area. During this patrol, she sighted four contacts deemed worthy of torpedo expenditure and actually attacked three. The only major damage she inflicted occurred on 4 December, when the submarine sank Daido Maru, a former gunboat. On 18 December, she ended her patrol and moored at Midway Atoll.
Following a refit there, Apogon proceeded to Pearl Harbor on 26 December for further repairs and training. She left Hawaii on 15 January 1944 for her second patrol, this time in waters surrounding the Mariana Islands. On 1 February, Apogon made the only attack of the patrol. She sighted a six-ship convoy and, soon thereafter, opened fire. The crew heard an explosion and saw their torpedoed target burst into flames. Ten minutes later, the lookout saw about 50 feet of the Japanese ship's stern sticking out of the water, and this soon disappeared. Apogon then attacked another Japanese auxiliary. Although Apogon claimed to have sunk both ships, she was not officially credited with having destroyed either. Apogon ended her patrol after 50 days and returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 March.
Apogon moored beside Bushnell on 10 March to commence refit. The submarine was drydocked at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard from 15 to 19 March for the installation of two new propellers. After additional training exercises, she got underway on 2 April.
She paused at Johnston Island on 4 April to refuel, and later that day resumed her voyage toward waters south of the Japanese home islands. However, when a crewman was preparing to clean a 20 millimeter machine gun the next day, a live cartridge accidentally left in the chamber discharged and ricocheted into the man's leg. Apogon immediately returned to Johnston Island to transfer the wounded man to the dispensary. The submarine again got underway on 6 April and conducted her entire patrol without encountering any enemy shipping. She finally arrived at Majuro on 22 May.