USS Triton (SS-201) Ship's Log 



Report a Historic Event
YearDateHistorical Events
1939Jul 6Keel laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME.
1940Mar 25Launched.
 Aug 15Commissioned with LCDR. Willis A. "Pilly" Lent in command.
1941Jan 14Triton held her shakedown training in the Caribbean from 14 January 1941 to 26 March and then conducted training and minelaying exercises in the Portsmouth, NH.-New London, CT. area.
 Jul 1Triton departed Portsmouth, NH.
 Jul 12Triton transited the Panama Canal.
 Jul 20Triton arrived at San Diego, CA.
 Jul 29Triton and Trout (SS-202) headed for Hawaii.
 Aug 4Triton arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Aug 30Triton made a training cruise to Midway from 30 August to 16 September and then participated in local and Fleet operations in the Hawaiian area.
 Nov 19Triton headed West to conduct a practice war patrol.
 Nov 26Triton arrived off Wake Island.
 Dec 9Triton was informed by radio Wake that Pearl Harbor, HI. had been bombed and was ordered to stay out of range of Wake's guns. Triton's practice war patrol turned out to be her 1st "real" war patrol.
 Dec 10Triton was surfaced, at night, charging batteries, when flashes of light from Wake revealed a destroyer or light cruiser on a parallel course. Triton went deep and began evasive action. Triton came to 120 feet and fired 4 stern torpedoes. No hits.
 Dec 31Triton arrived back at Pearl Harbor, HI.
1942Jan 25Triton got underway for the East China Sea and her 2nd war patrol covering the sealanes to Dairen, Shanghai, and Korea.
 Feb 17Triton was off Kyushu when she contacted a freighter. She fired 4 torpedoes and scored 1 hit in the stern. The target stopped for a few minutes and then slowly got underway.
 Feb 17(Cont'd.) Triton sank the Japanese cargo ship Shingo Maru No.5
 Feb 21Triton intercepted 2 cargo ships. She sank the Shokyu Maru with 2 torpedoes but could not attack the second ship because of it's speed and the appearance of a four engine patrol plane.
 Feb 27Triton was on the surface for a battery charge when she sighted a ship approximately 3 miles away. She closed to attack and fired 2 torpedoes. 1 torpedo hit, but haze over the water and smoke from the damaged ship prohibited a 2nd attack.
 Mar 17Triton returned to Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Apr 13Triton departed for the East China Sea on her 3rd war patrol, now in the hands of C.C. Kirkpatrick.
 Apr 23Triton contacted a 2,000 ton trawler near Marcus. After missing with 2 torpedoes, she surfaced to battle with her deck guns and left the trawler a sinking wreck.
 May 1Triton sighted 6 freighters, in 2 columns, escorted by a single torpedo boat. She fired 2 torpedoes, and both hit the leading ship, the 2,200 ton Taei Maru, which sank, then 2 more at the next freighter, both missed.
 May 1(Cont'd.) Triton fired at a 3rd cargoman but the torpedo ran deep; a 2nd torpedo, set shallow and aimed at a different ship, broke the back of the 5,300 ton Calcutta Maru, which promptly sank.
 May 6Titon sank the transport Taigen Maru.
 May 16Triton sank 2 deep sea fishing boats with her deck guns.
 May 17Triton sighted a Japanese submarine and fired a torpedo from 6,200 yards into I-164. Parts of the target were blown 100 feet into the air, and I-164 went down by the stern.
 May 21Triton fired her last 4 torpedoes at another enemy submarine, all missed.
 Jun 4Triton arrived back at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Jun 25Triton departed on her 4th war patrol to Alaskan waters.
 Jul 4Triton was in a heavy fog, in the vicinity of Cape Sabok, when the fog lifted enough to reveal a Japanese destroyer. Triton fired 2 torpedoes, and 1 hit amidships. The Japanese destroyer Nenohi capsized to port and slid under the waves in 5 minutes.
 Aug 15Triton fired torpedoes at a darkened ship from a range of 1,500 yards. There were 2 consecutive explosions and flames shot over 200 feet into the air. However, there is no official record of a sinking on that date.
 Sep 7Triton returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. She then entered Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for an overhaul until 6 December.
 Dec 16Triton got underway, on her 5th war patrol, for a position 20 miles East of Wake, on the Midway-Wake route.
 Dec 23Triton aided in guiding B-24 Liberators in a night bombing attack on Wake island.
 Dec 24Triton sighted a ship on the horizon, headed for Wake anchorage. Triton closed to 1,000 yards and fired 2 torpedoes. 1 hit under the stack, the other under the foremast. Amakasu Maru Number 1 was obliterated in a cloud of smoke and steam as she sank.
 Dec 28Triton fired 3 torpedoes into the transport Omi Maw. The ship sank almost immediately and, although there was much wreckage, no survivors were seen.
1943Jan 13Triton fired 4 torpedoes at a tanker and scored 1 hit. About 20 minutes later, the submarine returned to periscope depth and launched a spread of 4 torpedoes. 2 geysers of water rose amidships as high as the target's bridge, but no explosions followed.
 Jan 16Triton attacked 2 cargo ships, scoring 2 hits on the first and 1 on the second, but her victims forced her to submerge before she could evaluate the damage. Later that day, Triton fired her last 3 torpedoes at a large freighter but heard no explosions.
 Jan 26Triton arrived at Brisbane, Australia.
 Feb 16Triton began her 6th and final war patrol, hoping to destroy enemy shipping between the Shortland Basin and Rabaul.
 Mar 6Triton attacked a convoy of 5 destroyer escorted ships, sinking the cargo ship Kiriha Maw and damaging another freighter.
 Mar 8Triton attacked another convoy and claimed that 5 of the 8 torpedoes she had fired scored hits. She could not observe the results or make a follow up attack because gunfire from the escorts forced her down.
 Mar 11Triton reported she was chasing 2 convoys, each made up of 5 or more ships. She was informed Trigger (SS-237) was operating in an adjoining area and ordered to stay South of the Equator.
 Mar 13Triton was warned that 3 enemy destroyers in her area were either looking for a convoy or were hunting American submarines. No further messages from Triton were ever received.
 Apr 10Triton was reported overdue and presumed lost with 74 men.