USS Sturgeon, a 1449-ton Salmon class submarine built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, was commissioned in June 1938. She made a shakedown cruise to South America in October-December 1938, then operated along the West Coast and in Hawaiian waters until November 1941. Sturgeon then went to the Philippines, arriving a few weeks before Japanese attacks opened the Pacific War on 8 December 1941 (local time). Immediately afterwards, she began a war patrol off Formosa, during which she endured the first of many depth chargings by enemy escort ships. A second patrol, off Borneo, followed in late December and lasted through February, ending at Fremantle, Australia. As on her first combat cruise Sturgeon attacked Japanese ships, and probably inflicted damage.
On her third patrol, also off Borneo, Sturgeon sank her first ships, a freighter and an escort. She got a transport during her next cruise, off Luzon at the beginning of July 1942 and an aircraft ferry in the Solomon Islands on her fifth war patrol early in October. In early 1943, after her sixth patrol, she returned to the U.S. for overhaul.
Operating out of Pearl Harbor following the completion of this work, Sturgeon's seventh and eighth war patrols produced no sinkings, but her ninth, in Japanese home waters from December 1943 to February 1944, cost the enemy two freighters. Another was sunk in May and two more in June and July, during her tenth and eleventh patrols. Upon her return to Pearl Harbor in August 1944, Sturgeon went to the West Coast for another overhaul and was then retired to training service. Based at New London, Connecticut, she spent the first ten months of 1945 performing this duty. USS Sturgeon was decommissioned in mid-November 1945 and sold for scrapping in June 1948.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Sturgeon (SS-187).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 99230 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 May 1943. Note the barrage balloon in the right background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-46400 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 May 1943. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 99231 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 May 1943. Ship in the left center distance is probably USS Bushnell (AS-15), which was then completing her post-commissioning outfitting. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99232 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 3 May 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-46405 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) At the Hunters Point Navy Yard, San Francisco, California, 23 April 1943, following overhaul. White outlines mark recent alterations, among them the relocation of Sturgeon's 3"/50 deck gun, installation of watertight ready service ammunition lockers in her sail, and fitting of 20mm machine guns. Note the large concrete weight on deck, indicating that Sturgeon was then undergoing an inclining experiment to check her stability. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 99233 USS Sturgeon (SS-187) At the Hunters Point Navy Yard, San Francisco, California, 23 April 1943, following overhaul. White outlines mark recent alterations. Note the weights on Sturgeon's deck, indicating that she was then undergoing an inclining experiment to check her stability. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 139KB; 610 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 77086 USS Stingray (SS-186), foreground Operating in formation with other submarines, during Battle Force exercises, circa 1939. The other three submarines are (from left to right): Seal (SS-183); Salmon (SS-182) and Sturgeon (SS-187). Collection of Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 77089 USS Stingray (SS-186), foreground Submerging in formation with other submarines, during Battle Force exercises, circa 1939. USS Sturgeon (SS-187) is immediately beyond Stingray, with the wakes further in the distance probably belonging to USS Seal (SS-183) and USS Salmon (SS-182). Collection of Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98985 USS Stingray (SS-186), foreground Surfacing in formation with other submarines, during Battle Force exercises, circa 1939. The other three submarines are (from left to right): Seal (SS-183); Salmon (SS-182) and Sturgeon (SS-187). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 107KB; 740 x 645 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 68481 USS Holland (AS-3) Panoramic photograph of the ship moored at Bouy 19, San Diego harbor, California, in 1940, with eleven submarines alongside. Submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Stingray (SS-186); Perch (SS-176); Pollack (SS-180); Cachalot (SS-170); Cuttlefish (SS-171); Skipjack (SS-184); Sturgeon (SS-187); Snapper (SS-185) and Sargo (SS-188). SS-182 through SS-187 were members of Submarine Division 15, commanded by R.W. Christie. USS Richmond (CL-9), flagship of the Submarine Force, is in the right distance. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 53KB; 900 x 310 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-451131 Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii Aerial view, looking west, with the supply depot in upper center, 13 October 1941. Part of the Submarine Base is at lower left; the Navy Yard is in the upper left; and Ford Island is in the top right. See Photo # 80-G-451131 (complete caption) for identification of some of the ships present. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 128KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Sturgeon (SS-187). The following list features some of these images:
The images listed below are NOT in
the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
USS Sturgeon (SS-187) offshore, circa 1938. Port broadside surface view. The submarine is not moving, or is moving very slowly. She wears the number "S6" on her sail. Low land is visible in the background. USS Sturgeon (SS-187) underway, circa the later 1930s. Starboard broadside (somewhat toward the stern) surface or low aerial view. She wears the number "187" on her sail. The original caption states that Sturgeon is off New London, Connecticut, but the shoreline in the distance resembles Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.
Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 6 April 2004