Specifications -- New "S" Class

Pre-Commissioning and Commissioning Data

Keel laid - 25 March 1936 at Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut

Launched - 25 August 1937

Sponsor - Mrs. John F. Greenslade

Commissioned - 13 April 1938 at Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut

Commanding Officer - Lt. Karl G. Hensel, US Navy

Pre-War Period

After commissioning, the Seal proceeded to Brooklyn Navy Yard for minor alterations, then started on a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea. Many ports were visited, including Coco-Solo, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Aruba, Netherlands, West Indies, Barranquilla, Columbia, and Jamaica. Returning to the States, short visits were paid to Tampa, Baltimore, and Washington, DC before returning to New London, Connecticut.

The first Navy Yard overhaul was accomplished at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after which Seal joined the Fleet for maneuvers in the Canal Zone area. Before returning north, she visited Coco-Solo, the Virgin Islands, Haiti, and Curacao it the Netherlands West Indies. From this area she returned to New London for a short time, and then was ordered to San Diego via the Panama Canal. From San Diego, Seal proceeded to Pearl Harbor. She returned to San Diego later and visited other west coast ports, including Port Townsend, Washington and Mare Island, California. In the spring of 1940, Lt. Comdr. Hensel was relieved by Lt. Comdr. K.C. Hurd, US Navy. In the early part off 1941 Seal returned to Pearl Harbor. After operating there for a few months she was ordered to Mare Island. In October 1941, her squadron was ordered to Manila, Philippine Islands. During her deployment here, the war began.

First Patrol

The first patrol of the USS Seal commenced on December 14, 1941. She departed Manila for the area northwest of Cape Bojeador in the Luzon Straits, Lt. Comdr. K.C. Hurd commanding. Seal was destined to strike an early blow against the enemy. On December 23 Captain Hurd sent the Hayataka Maru (850 ton freighter) to the bottom. She was the third and last Japanese ship destroyed by an American submarine in 1941. From Bojeador the patrol continued through the Bolintang Channel, then south through Molucca Passage to Surabaya, Java for a refit. The Submarine Combat insignia was awarded for this patrol, which lasted 53 days, terminating on 7 February 1942.

After four days of air raids at Surabaya, the basic stores were replenished and Seal got underway to Tjilatjap, Java, where her tender, the USS Holland had arrived from Manila. Here the refit was completed.

Second Patrol

On 19 February 1942, Seal embarked on her second patrol in the Java Sea, Flores Sea, Macassar Straits, and off the south coast of Timor. One day later, Seal was patrolling submerged north of Lombok. At 0800 sonar heard pinging, and shortly thereafter, smoke was sighted. Hurd brought Seal to a normal approach course, and an hour later a convoy of four cargo vessels escorted by three destroyers was sighted.

Hurd gave the order to go deep then speeded up to close the track. After ten minutes he brought the boat to periscope depth. The range was now 5800 yards, angle on the bow 50 degrees port, and estimated speed 13 knots. Hurd selected the largest ship as his target and dove to 110 feet to conduct a sonar torpedo attack, as was the prescribed doctrine before the war. The sea was glassy and calm, and a destroyer was menacingly close. Hurd calculated the only chance Seal had to close the range and still remain undetected was to race in deep and generate bearings by sonar. To take periscope bearings meant slowing the boat to reduce the scope's feather.

During the high speed run, sonar lost contact. Seal slowed down to regain, and it seemed apparent that the convoy had zigged. After four minutes of matching sonar bearings with the estimated TDC solution, the firing party was confident they had a good solution. Hurd fired four torpedoes. Some of the crew reported hearing two hits. Hurd remained submerged for an hour. Upon surfacing, the target was gone. Although post-war records did not verify this sinking, Seal's attack was deemed noteworthy for its tenacity.

During the end of February, 1942, Seal, along with submarines Seawolf and Sailfish was ordered to oppose the Japanese landings at Bali. The enemy managed to reach their objective before the subs could intercept, and the Malay Barrier was lost. But during the fateful Battle of the Java Sea, which claimed the cruiser USS Houston, Seal attacked and likely damaged a Japanese light cruiser in Lombok Strait.

The patrol lasted 49 days, and ended in Freemantle, West Australia.

Third Patrol

Seal began her third war patrol on 12 May 1942, conducted off the coast of Indo-China. On May 28, still enroute to her patrol area, had just transited the Balabac Strait at 2127 when a small cargo ship was sighted. Conning to a submerged attack position with the benefit of ample moonlight, Captain Hurd fired two torpedoes. Both missed. After adjusting the TDC to give the enemy ship an additional three knots, Hurd loosed two more torpedoes. He was rewarded with a thudding explosion, and a look through the periscope verified the ship was hit just forward of the bridge and was settling by the bow. As Hurd repositioned his boat for the final blow, a sharp explosion was reported in the direction of the target. This was followed by additional concussions and then sonar reported the target's screw had stopped.

As Hurd brought Seal up to periscope depth, a major explosion occurred. When Hurd viewed the area, there was no ship to be seen. Unknown to the crew of Seal, the submarine Swordfish had witnessed Seal's initial hit. The captain of the Swordfish grew impatient waiting for the enemy vessel to sink and delivered three torpedoes to speed up the process. Thus, Swordfish and Seal split the credit for sending Tatsufuku Maru (1,946 tons) to the bottom of the sea off Palawan. This ensured the crew their second Submarine Combat insignia.

On June 7, while patrolling off Cam Ranh Bay, she attacked an eight-ship convoy and endured a seven-hour depth charging by surface ships and aircraft.

After 54 days at sea, Seal arrived at Albany, West Australia on July 4, 1942 for refit.

Fourth Patrol

The fourth patrol saw Seal once again stationed in the South China Sea, off the Indo-China coast. One 4000 ton freighter was damaged by torpedoes. Despite 11 sightings, premature torpedo explosions and typically sorry torpedo performance cost Seal several opportunites. The patrol lasted from 10 August to 2 October, 1942, a period of fifty-four days. She refitted in Freemantle.

Fifth Patrol

On October 24, Seal headed for the Palau Islands for her fifth patrol, still under the command of Hurd. Patrolling the area on November 15, lookouts sighted two ships on the horizon, too far to gain attack position on. Assuming they were in a productive area, Seal maintained vigilance throughout the night. The next day a convoy was sighted.

Nine cargo ships escorted by a mere two destroyers! Hurd brought the Seal in for a submerged approach. After obtaining an optimum TDC solution, Hurd sent two torpedoes after a freighter. Two gratifying explosions were heard and felt--the Boston Maru (5,477 tons) was fatally holed and sinking. The convoy scattered in every direction. As Seal sought a solution on a second target, a fleeing merchant ship bore down on Seal. Less than a minute after firing, as the crew tried frantically to get their boat to a safe depth, the surface ship skirted across the submarine's conning tower, bending her raised scope horizontal, and damaging the shears to the extent that the other scope was rendered inoperable. A hail of depth charges quickly followed. With great difficulty, Seal managed to slip away. Seal got probable credit for sinking the target that tried to ram her by ripping open the ship's bottom. It's conservatively estimated that nothing short of a battleship with hull armour could have sustained the damage done to its hull by Seal's periscope shears.

Seal terminated her patrol and headed for Pearl. After arriving at Pearl Harbor, it was decided to return to Mare Island for overhaul. During overhaul, Lieutenant Commander K.C. Hurd stepped down and was relieved by Lieutenant Commander H.B. Dodge, USN. Overhaul was completed in the end of March 1943, and Seal was returned to Pearl Harbor to continue combat against the enemy.

The Submarine Combat Insignia was awarded for this patrol.

Sixth Patrol

The sixth patrol lasted from 14 April to 3 June 1943, a period of fifty days. The operating area was again Palau Islands. On May 2, she attacked a freighter and missed; then was the target of an ariel attack. Two days later, May 4, Seal sank the tanker San Clemente Maru (7,354 tons) with torpedoes. The crew was again the recipients of the Submarine Combat Insignia. Seal proceeded to Midway for refit. Returning to Midway on the surface, Seal was caught by a Japanese Mitsubishi Patrol bomber. At first radar contact, Seal crash-dived and reached 90 feet in less than 43 seconds as the depth bomb exploded on top of them. No damage was caused to the boat but some crewmen received minor injuries.

Continue Seal's History: Patrols Seven - Twelve
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