USS Angler SS-240

The USS Angler was launched on July 4, 1943 and commissioned on October 1 of the same year. She was awarded six battle stars for her service in World War II. After traveling to Pearl Harbor on November 27, 1943, the USS Angler began her first war patrol on January 10, 1944. After downing the Shuko Maru north of the Mariana Islands, however, she developed structural problems that prevented her from operating as quietly as was necessary. Although her patrol had been scheduled to terminate at Fremantle in Australia, she was forced to head for Midway Island for repairs.

The USS Angler began her second war patrol on February 15, this time in the Mindanao Sea off the east coast of the Philippines. As she neared the area, General Douglas MacArthur requested that a submarine help provide an escape for around 20 civilians who needed evacuation from Panay Island.

The 20 turned out to be 58, and the Angler brought them on board, providing berths in any available spaces. With limited food and many passengers and crew members becoming sick, the Angler made for Fremantle, arriving on April 9.

Before departing on her next patrol, the water tanks of the Angler were cleaned in the hope that the source of the illness would be removed. She sailed from Fremantle on May 3, having been assigned to support a carrier strike on Surabaya, Java by destroying retreating enemy ships. During the action, the Angler torpedoed and sank the cargo ship Otori Maru on May 20, and she escaped damage from vessels that had been escorting the downed ship.

After sailing for Pearl Harbor on November 27, 1943, the USS Angler began her first war patrol on January 10, 1944. After downing the Shuko Maru north of the Mariana Islands, however, she developed structural problems that prevented her from operating as quietly as was necessary. Although her patrol had been scheduled to terminate at Fremantle in Australia, she was forced to head for Midway Island for repairs.

The USS Angler began her second war patrol on February 15, this time in the Mindanao Sea, off the east coast of the Philippines. As she neared the area, General Douglas MacArthur requested that a submarine help provide an escape for around twenty civilians who needed evacuation from Panay Island. The twenty turned out to be 58, and the Angler brought them on board, providing berths in any available spaces. With limited food and many passengers and crew members becoming inexplicably nauseas, the Angler made for Fremantle, arriving on April 9.

Before departing on her next patrol, the water tanks of the Angler were cleaned in the hope that the source of the illness would be removed. She sailed from Fremantle on May 3, having been assigned to support a carrier strike on Surabaya, Java by destroying retreating enemy ships, providing lifeguard services, and guarding the major access points between the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean. During the action, the Angler torpedoed and sank the cargo ship Otori Maru on May 20, and herself escaped damage from vessels that had been escorting the downed ship.

The next day, however, the Angler crew began suffering from nausea again, and the situation was severe enough that the submarine was immediately ordered to return to Fremantle. By May 23, she had to make the rest of the journey submerged, as there were not enough able-bodied crew members available to maintain a surface watch. After her arrival on May 29, the Angler was investigated, and it was concluded that a forbidden can of carbon tetrachloride which had been taken on board was the cause of the sickness.

The Angler's fourth patrol began on June 21 and after a false start in which her propeller was damaged, she was forced to return for repairs. Leaving again on June 29, she met with two other vessels to carry out the first of the so-called “wolf pack” patrols, in which the three patrolled and attacked together in organized fashion. Much of the patrol was uneventful, but by working together, the patrol sank a total of six ships on July 25. The Angler returned to Fremantle on August 23.

She departed for her next patrol on September 18, bound for the Sulu Sea. On October 14, she was back in action, sinking the transport ship Nanrei Maru, before becoming involved in tracking a Japanese task force, beginning on October 23. She managed to track the force for several hours, providing contact reports that proved invaluable to American forces near Leyte. After rendezvousing with the Hardhead on November 1 to receive a pilot who had been rescued from the water, she returned to Fremantle, arriving on November 9.

The sixth war patrol of the USS Angler began on December 3. This patrol was largely uneventful, as she moved from Saipan to Pearl Harbor before ending the patrol at the Bethlehem Steel Company Shipping Yard in California for an overhaul.

The seventh and final patrol of the USS Angler began on June 12. After stopping at Saipan to refuel, she sailed east of Honshu to patrol the waters there. She found few targets in these waters, but on July 26 located and bombarded a Japanese installation on Kinkasan Island. On July 31, she surfaced off the shore of Hokkaido near Tomakomai, firing at a factory installation before joining other submarines in a coordinated bombardment of boats and buildings.

After the War

After the official cessation of hostilities, the USS Angler sailed for Pearl Harbor, arriving at the end of August, before leaving for home. She arrived at New Orleans on September 20, and after a month of leave, sailed to New Hampshire to undergo preparations for deactivation. She was decommissioned on February 12, 1946.

The USS Angler was not inactive for long, however. After being recommissioned on April 2, 1951, she underwent an overhaul and rejoined the Atlantic fleet, operating largely in the West Indies for the next two years. She took part in many exercises before undergoing another overhaul early in 1956. After visiting the West Indies and northern Europe, she participated in exercises along the east coast in 1957 before departing in September to participate in NATO exercises.

The pattern continued over the next several years, as she was deployed to locations in the Mediterranean Sea, Europe, and the Caribbean for training exercises and other activities, before being decommissioned for the last time on April 1, 1967. The USS Angler was removed from the Naval Register on December 15, 1971, and sold for scrap in 1974.

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