Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Dace

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ClassGato class
TypeSubmarine (SS)
HullSS-247
BuilderElectric Boat, Groton
Launched1943-04-25
Commissioned1943-07-23
FateAfloat. On 23 October 1944, in Palawan Passage, she sank the heavy cruiser Maya. The same morning Darter sank Atago and torpedoed Takao. Dace was not sunk.
Armament (class)Fleet submarine. A deck gun forward of the conning tower.

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.

Dace
U.S. Navy photograph. New London submarine base, Groton, 23 July 1943, the day Dace was commissioned. The Wikimedia Commons caption identifies Dace as the boat at the left. Another submarine is in the foreground. Public domain.

Dace was a Gato-class submarine, SS-247. Electric Boat at Groton launched her on 25 April 1943, and the Navy commissioned her on 23 July 1943.

On the morning of 23 October 1944 she was in Palawan Passage with Darter, on the route Kurita's force was taking toward Leyte. Darter sank Atago and torpedoed Takao. Dace sank Maya. The heavy cruiser did not reach the Sibuyan Sea the next day.

That night Darter grounded on Bombay Shoal while she was closing the damaged Takao. Dace took off Darter's crew before dawn. No one from Darter was lost. Darter's demolition charges failed. Dace's torpedoes exploded on the shoal, and she put 21 four-inch hits into the hull. Dace was not sunk.

Dace survived the war.

The pictures on this page are the originals.