>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1970) Vol. 5, pp.318-319.





PIRANHA



		Piranha:  The most ferocious of freshwater fishes, 

found in the Amazon and Orinoco river systems.





SS-389



Displacement:

	Surfaced:  1,526 t.

	Submerged:  2,391 t.

Length:  311’6”

Beam:  27’3”

Draft:  15’3”

Speed:  

	Surfaced:  20 k.

	Submerged:  9 k.

Complement:  66

Armament:  1 5”; 10 21” torpedo tubes

Class:  BALAO



	PIRANHA (SS-389) was laid down 21 June 1943 by 

Portsmouth Navy Yard; launched 27 October 1943; sponsored by 

Mrs. William S. Farber, wife of Rear Admiral Farber, 

Assistant Chief of Naval Operations; and commissioned 5 

February 1944, Lt. Comdr. Harold E. Ruble in command.



	After East Coast training, PIRANHA departed Key West 3 

April 1944 for the Panama Canal and her base, Pearl Harbor, 

arriving 18 May for final training.  With submarines 

GUARDFISH (SS-217), THRESHER (SS-200), and APOGON (SS-308), 

she made her first war patrol between 14 June and 8 August.  

The coordinated attack group prowled waters west and north 

of Luzon, striking fiercely and with notable success at 

Japanese convoys.  PIRANHA's victims were passenger-cargo 

ships NICHIRAN MARU, 6,504 tons, sunk 12 July, and SEATTLE 

MARU, 5,773 tons, sunk four days later.  Several times 

attacked by enemy aircraft and dodging surface patrol craft, 

PIRANHA returned safely to Majuro.



	For the first part of her second patrol, PIRANHA joined 

9 other submarines in offensive reconnaissance covering the 

3rd Fleet during the assault on Peleliu, patrolling 30 

August to 25 September.  When that base, essential for the 

liberation of the Philippines, had been seized, PIRANHA's 

group dissolved and she searched for targets westward along 

the 20th parallel, engaging an enemy patrol craft 9 October.  

She endured a heavy depth charge attack, but outsmarted the 

patrol vessel, returning to Pearl Harbor 23 October.



	During her third war patrol, again with an attack 

group, besides seeking worthwhile targets in the East China 

Sea 19 November to 13 January 1945, PIRANHA served as 

lifeguard during B-29 strikes on Kyushu.  She scored two 

hits on a merchantman 8 January, only to be driven off by an 

escort without being able to regain attack position.



	Refitted at Guam, PIRANHA sailed 11 February for her 

fourth war patrol, a classic exhibition of submarine 

versatility.  With her attack group she sought targets on 

the convoy lanes from Luzon to Formosa and Hong Kong.  She 

spent 17 days on lifeguard during airstrikes on Formosa, on 

27 February sinking a junk presumably serving as aircraft 

spotter.



	She was foiled by a large fleet of fishing junks from 

making a rapid approach on a convoy reported leaving Hong 

Kong 5 March.  Daringly resorting to an ancient ruse of 

naval warfare, she improvised a Japanese naval ensign and 

ran it up.  The deception was successful, and she threaded 

her way through the fishermen at flank speed, but was unable 

to locate the convoy.



	PIRANHA bombarded Pratas Island 26 March with 100 

5-inch shells.  Three times during this patrol, which 

concluded with 10 days off Wake, the submarine successfully 

maneuvered to avoid hits from attacking aircraft.  She 

returned to Midway to refit 21 April-17 May, then sailed for 

patrol, lifeguard, and bombardment at Marcus 22-31 May.  

Here she was attacked several times by shore batteries.  

After refueling at Saipan, PIRANHA sailed to complete this 

patrol off Honshu.



	With the decimated Japanese merchant marine hugging its 

own coast, PIRANHA was frequently frustrated by shallow 

water and omnipresent escorts in her attacks.  Hair-raising 

encounters with submarine chasers and aircraft were rendered 

infinitely more dangerous by being fought so close offshore 

where she had little water depth for maneuver.  But her 

persistence and courage paid off, she heavily damaged a 

freighter 14 June, sank a coastal tanker and destroyed a 

trawler laden with oil drums by gunfire 17 June.  Two more 

trawlers fell to her gun 23 June.  Though slightly damaged 

when their escort retaliated with depth charges, PIRANHA 

returned safely to Pearl Harbor 10 July.



	Her sixth and last war patrol lasted 14 hours, she had 

sailed from Pearl Harbor 14 August and was ordered back when 

hostilities ended the next day.  Returning to San Francisco 

11 September, PIRANHA decommissioned at Mare Island 31 May 

1946.  There she lay in reserve, redesignated auxiliary 

submarine AGSS-389 on 6 November 1962, until struck from the 

Naval Register 1 March 1967.  Her hull was sold for 

scrapping, but her conning tower is preserved at the Fleet 

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Naval Museum at 

Fredericksburg, Tex.



	PIRANHA received 5 battle stars for World War II 

service.





[“JANAC 1.2,” (Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee)

	Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During 

	World War II by all causes; computer program from--

	“Historical Database” 

	6387 S.E. Highway #42

	Summerfield, Florida 34491

	(352) 347-2032]





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com