Sargo-class submarine
Name Hull number Builder Laid Down Launched Commissioned Fate
Sargo SS-188 Electric Boat , Groton , Connecticut 12 May 1937 6 June 1938 7 February 1939 Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland , California
Saury SS-189 Electric Boat , Groton , Connecticut 28 June 1937 20 August 1938 3 April 1939 Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland , California
Spearfish SS-190 Electric Boat , Groton , Connecticut 9 September 1937 29 October 1938 12 July 1939 Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland , California
Sculpin SS-191 Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine 7 September 1937 27 July 1938 16 January 1939 Damaged by depth charges and gunfire from the Japanese destroyer Yamagumo 19 November 1943 ; scuttled
Squalus SS-192 Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine 18 October 1937 14 September 1938 1 March 1939 Sank on trials 23 May 1939 . Raised and recommissioned as Sailfish 15 May 1940 Sold for scrap 18 June 1948 to Luria Brothers and Company of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
Swordfish SS-193 Mare Island Navy Yard , Vallejo , California 27 October 1937 4 January 1939 22 July 1939 Depth charged by Japanese anti-submarine vessels 12 January 1945
Seadragon SS-194 Electric Boat , Groton , Connecticut 18 April 1938 21 April 1939 23 October 1939 Sold for scrap 2 July 1948 to Luria Brothers and Company of Philadelphia
Sealion SS-195 Electric Boat , Groton , Connecticut 20 June 1938 25 May 1939 27 November 1939 Bombed by Japanese aircraft at Cavite Navy Yard 10 December 1941 ; scuttled 25 December 1941
Searaven SS-196 Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine 9 August 1938 21 June 1939 2 October 1939 Target in Operation Crossroads atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll 1946 , later expended as target 11 September 1948
Seawolf SS-197 Portsmouth Navy Yard , Kittery , Maine 27 September 1938 15 August 1939 1 December 1939 Sunk by friendly fire from the escort USS Richard M. Rowell 3 October 1944
Ships in class
The Sargo-class submarines were among the first US submarines to be sent into action after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, starting war patrols the day after the attack, having been deployed to the Philippines in late 1941. Similar to the previous Salmon class, they were built between 1937 and 1939. With a top speed of 21 knots, a range of 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) (allowing patrols in Japanese home waters), and a reliable propulsion plant, along with the Salmons they were an important step in the development of a true fleet submarine. In some references, the Salmons and Sargos are called the New S Class, 1st and 2nd Groups. The Sargo-class submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) had the distinction of being the first US Navy submarine to sink a Japanese ship in World War II.