View source for USS Shark (SS-314)

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Shark}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Shark (SS-314).jpg|300px|USS Shark being launched at Electric Boat Company]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Shark'' being launched at Electric Boat Company
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1944}}
|Ship name=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book
  | last = Friedman
  | first = Norman
  | title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
  | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
  | year = 1995
  | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
  | pages = 285–304
  | isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}</ref>
|Ship laid down=28 January 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=17 October 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Albert Thomas
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=14 February 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sunk by {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Harukaze|1922|2}} off [[Taiwan]], 24 October 1944 - with all hands.<ref name="Register">{{cite book
  | last = Bauer
  | first = K. Jack
  |author2=Roberts, Stephen S.
   | title = Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants
  | publisher = Greenwood Press
  | year = 1991
  | location = [[Westport, Connecticut]]
  | pages = 275–280
  | isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1526|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*{{convert|2424|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-late-GM-4-GE}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|20.25|kn|km/h|1|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305-311</ref>
*{{convert|8.75|kn|km/h|1|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km|lk=in}} surfaced at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 70–71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch}}
}}
|}

'''USS ''Shark'' (SS-314)''', a {{sclass|Balao|submarine}}, was the sixth ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[shark]], a large marine predator.

Construction began in 1943 and commissioning occurred in 1944.  Following [[Shakedown cruise|shakedown]], ''Shark'' was deployed to the Pacific where she attacked ships and rescued downed airmen. ''Shark'' was sunk on its third patrol by a Japanese [[destroyer]] on 24 October 1944. In the engagement in which it was sunk, ''Shark'' torpedoed and sank the Japanese freighter {{ship||Arisan Maru}}. ''Arisan Maru'' was transporting captured Americans but carried no markings or flag indicating this. The Americans had no way of recognizing ''Arisan Maru'' was a [[prison ship]].  The sinking of ''Arisan Maru'' is the greatest loss of American life in a single military sinking.

== History ==
Her [[keel]] was [[Keel laying|laid down]] by the [[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]] in [[Groton, Connecticut]], on 28 January 1943. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 17 October 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. [[Lera Millard Thomas]], the wife of [[Albert Thomas (American politician)|Albert Thomas]], the [[United States Congress]]man from the Eighth District of [[Texas]]), and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 14 February 1944.

Following shakedown off [[New London, Connecticut]], ''Shark'' transited the [[Panama Canal]] and arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 24 April 1944 for final training in the [[Hawaii]]an area. Her first war patrol commenced on 16 May 1944 and was conducted in waters west of the [[Mariana Islands]] as part of a coordinated attack group with submarines {{USS|Pintado|SS-387|6}} and {{USS|Pilotfish|SS-386|6}}. Early on the morning of 2 June, ''Shark'' submerged ahead of an enemy convoy and fired a spread of torpedoes at a Japanese tanker. Although all missed the original target, the torpedoes continued on to hit and sink another enemy vessel, the 4,700-ton cargo ship, ''Chiyo Maru''. After evading an ensuing [[depth charge]] attack, the submarine continued her patrol.

On 4 June, ''Shark'' began tracking another heavily escorted convoy, and, in maneuvering for attack, encountered a patrolling [[destroyer]] dead ahead. Upon failing in a maneuver for a "down-the-throat" shot, the submarine passed down the port side of the enemy at {{convert|180|yd|m}} and launched four torpedoes toward a heavily laden cargo ship. She was rewarded with four solid hits that quickly sent ''Katsukawa Maru'' to the bottom. After escaping from the aroused escort ships, ''Shark'' surfaced and continued the chase. She caught up with the convoy on the afternoon of 5 June, and after nightfall, let go a spread of six torpedoes which sank the 3,080-ton freighter ''Tamahime Maru'' and the 7,006-ton passenger-cargo ship ''Takoka Maru''. ''Shark'' again evaded the escort ships, then surfaced near midnight, but was unable to catch up with the convoy. The remainder of the patrol was uneventful, and the submarine returned to [[Midway Island]] for refit on 17 June.

''Shark'' put to sea on 10 July for her second war patrol, this time in the waters off the [[Volcano Islands]] and [[Bonin Islands]]. On 19 July, she launched four torpedoes at an enemy convoy, but they missed their mark as the convoy made a sharp "zig" away. On 1 August, ''Shark'' was again frustrated in an attack on a Japanese convoy when, while moving into firing position, three escorts forced her to take evasive action, allowing the convoy to escape. The following afternoon, the submarine set course for [[Iwo Jima]] where she took up lifeguard station in support of carrier airstrikes.

On the afternoon of 4 August, ''Shark'' rescued two airmen from a crashed {{USS|Lexington|CV-16|6}} [[Curtiss SB2C Helldiver]] from AG19 piloted by [[William S. Emerson]]. She terminated her lifeguard duties on 19 August and touched at [[Midway Island]] before arriving at [[Pearl Harbor]] ten days later.

''Shark'' was lost during her third war patrol, probably in the vicinity of [[Luzon Strait]], while participating in a coordinated attack group with submarines {{USS|Seadragon|SS-194|6}} and {{USS|Blackfish|SS-221|6}}.

On 24 October, ''Seadragon'' received a message from ''Shark'' stating that she had made [[radar]] contact with a single freighter, and she was going in to attack. This was the last message received from the submarine. She was reported as presumed lost on 27 November.

After making radar contact, ''Shark'' was in pursuit of a single freighter. At approximately 5:00 pm on 24 October 1944 in the Bashi Straits, South China Sea, latitude 20°46'N, longitude 118°18' E, the 6,886-ton Japanese freighter {{ship||Arisan Maru}} was sunk. ''Arisan Maru'' carried no markings or flag to indicate that it was carrying [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[prisoners of war]]. The Americans had no way of recognizing ''Arisan Maru'' was a [[prison ship]]. The torpedo launched from ''Shark'' hit aft of midships causing ''Arisan Maru'' to split in two.

Naval records indicate that ''Shark'' was lost with all 87 hands in the same battle after having torpedoed ''Arisan Maru''. "Regardless of the final count, the sinking of the ''Arisan Maru'' still represents the greatest loss of American life in a single military sinking."<ref>{{cite web |title=THE ARISAN MARU TRAGEDY |url=http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Bowen.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114112516/http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Bowen.htm |archive-date=2019-11-14 |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=US-Japan Dialogue on POWs}}</ref>

''Shark'' received one [[battle star]] for [[World War II]] service.

Japanese records examined after the war indicate that on 24 October 1944, in [[Luzon Strait]], {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Harukaze|1922|2}} made contact with a submerged submarine and dropped [[depth charge]]s. After losing and regaining the contact, the destroyer dropped another 17 depth charges which resulted in "bubbles, heavy oil, clothes and cork" coming to the surface.

She was the second U.S. submarine named ''Shark'' to be sunk during the war. {{USS|Shark|SS-174|3}} was sunk in early February 1942.

==Trivia==
* The novel ''[[Up Periscope]]'' is about a US Navy submarine "USS ''Shark''".

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s11/shark-vi.htm}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|08/08314|Shark}}
* [http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-shark-314.htm On Eternal Patrol: USS ''Shark'']

{{Balao class submarine}}
{{October 1944 shipwrecks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shark (SS-314)}}
[[Category:Balao-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1944]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by Japanese warships]]