USN · SS

Croaker

Afloat

Gato-class submarine, SS-246. Electric Boat at Groton. Laid down 1 April 1943, launched 19 December 1943, commissioned 21 April 1944, Commander John E. Lee in command. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships prints the launch as 19 December 1942. Her first patrol left Pearl Harbor on 19 July 1944. On 7 August 1944 she sank the light cruiser Nagara, west of the Amakusa Islands, and she sank two freighters on 14 and 17 August. A Navy Unit Commendation. Three battle stars, for the first, second, and fifth of six patrols. The Dictionary says she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 15 May 1946. NavSource dates that decommissioning 15 June 1946. Recommissioned on 7 May 1951. Decommissioned on 18 March 1953 for a hunter-killer conversion, designated SSK-246 on 9 April 1953, and recommissioned on 11 December 1953. Decommissioned on 2 April 1968 and struck on 20 December 1971. Museum ship at Buffalo.

Class	Gato class
Type	Submarine (SS)
Hull	SS-246
Builder	Electric Boat, Groton
Launched	1943-12-19
Commissioned	1944-04-21
Fate	Afloat. Survived the war. On 7 August 1944 she sank the light cruiser Nagara, west of the Amakusa Islands. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships says she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 15 May 1946. NavSource dates that decommissioning 15 June 1946. She is a museum ship at Buffalo.
Armament (class)	Fleet submarine. A deck gun forward of the conning tower.
Command	Lee, John E. Commanding officer from commissioning, 21 April 1944; In command when she sank Nagara on 7 August 1944

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

USS Croaker (SS-246) underway. Hull number 246 is on the sail. The fairwater is the later streamlined sail, so this is not her 1944 appearance. The print carries a Submarine Memorial Association caption. U.S. Navy photograph. Public domain.

The pictures on this page are the originals.

Command

JLLee, John E.Commanding officer from commissioning, 21 April 1944In command when she sank Nagara on 7 August 1944

Loss of Nagara

1944-08-07 · sank Nagara. Not sunk

Sunk

NagaraCL · IJN

Photos and info Battle of Midway Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, night action Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, battleship night Loss of Nagara

Shot and shell

sunk · torpedoIJN Nagara
Croaker sank Nagara on 7 August 1944, west of the Amakusa Islands.

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