| HISTORY FOR U.S.S. Plunger | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launched: | Builder: | Sponsor: | Commissioned: | First Captain: | Stricken/Lost: |
| 1936 | Scrapped 1957 | ||||
| Patrols | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No: | Captain: | From: | Date: | Duration: | Score (WT): | JANAC | Return: |
| 1 | David C. White | Pearl Harbor | 12/41 | 52 | 1/7,600 | 1/4,700 | Pearl Harbor |
| Midway | David C. White | Pearl Harbor | 5/42 | 15 | 0/0 | 0/0 | Pearl Harbor |
| 2 | David C. White | Pearl Harbor | 6/42 | 36 | 2/19,000 | 2/6,300 | Pearl Harbor |
| 3 | David C. White | Pearl Harbor | 10/42 | 27 | 0/0 | 0/0 | Brisbane |
| 4 | David C. White | Brisbane | 11/42 | 53 | 1/1,300 | 0/0 | Pearl Harbor |
| 5 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 2/43 | 29 | 1/9,000 | 1/1,800 | Pearl Harbor |
| 6 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 4/43 | 29 | 3/24,100 | 2/15,000 | Pearl Harbor |
| 7 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 6/43 | 32 | 1/5,100 | 1/2,500 | Pearl Harbor |
| 8 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 8/43 | 30 | 2/9,000 | 3/10,500 | Pearl Harbor |
| 9 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 11/43 | 42 | 0/0 | 0/0 | Pearl Harbor |
| 10 | Raymond H. Bass | Pearl Harbor | 1/44 | 55 | 4/22,500 | 3/9,600 | Pearl Harbor |
| 11 | Bafford E. Lewellen | Pearl Harbor | 5/44 | 32 | 1/1,500 | 1/1,300 | Pearl Harbor |
| 12 | Edward J. Fahey | Pearl Harbor | 7/44 | 51 | 1/5,000 | 0/0 | Pearl Harbor |
The SS-179 Plunger submarine was launched on July 8 1936 and commissioned on November 19, 1936. The first few years, the Plunger took part in routine patrols and exercises.
On December 7, 1941, the SS-179 was making preparations to enter Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked and was one of the first three US submarines to go on war patrol in World War Two.
In the following four years the Plunger was very effective as she sank a total of 16 Japanese ships and damaged 7 others, sending a total of 102,107 tons to the bottom. Her impressive accomplishments during the war included the first wartime penetration of the Sea of Japan, the first (and, until the very end of the war, the only) submarine to return to the Sea of Japan, rescue of a naval aviator, and the dubious distinction of being the first US submarine to be depth-charged by the Japanese during the war.
USS Plunger Memorabilia: