USS Golet (SS-361)
History
United States
NameUSS Golet
NamesakeGolet, an alternative name for the Dolly Varden trout
BuilderManitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1]
Laid down27 January 1943[1]
Launched1 August 1943[1]
Commissioned30 November 1943[1]
FateSunk by Japanese vessels northwest of Honshū, 14 June 1944. All 82 crew lost[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeGato-class diesel-electric submarine[3]
Displacement
  • 1,525 tons (1,549 t) surfaced[2]
  • 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged[2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 20.25 knots (23.30 mph; 37.50 km/h) surfaced[4]
  • 8.75 knots (10.07 mph; 16.21 km/h) submerged[4]
Range11,000 nautical miles (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (12 mph; 19 km/h)[5]
Endurance
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) submerged[5]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth300 ft (90 m)[5]
Complement
  • 6 officers, 54 enlisted[5] (peace)
  • 80-85 (war)[4]
Armament

USS Golet (SS-361), a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the golet, a California trout.

Construction and commissioning

Golet initially was ordered as a unit of the Balao class, but her builder, the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, did not receive the drawings for the Balao class from the Electric Boat Company in time to build Golet or the submarines USS Guavina (SS-362), USS Guitarro (SS-363), and USS Hammerhead (SS-364) to the new design, so they were built as Gato-class submarines. Thus, in some references, these four submarines are listed as units of the Balao-class.[6]

War bond purchases by the people of Shreveport, Louisiana, and Cadddo Parish, Louisiana, funded Golet′s construction.[7] Her keel was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was launched on 1 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Wiley, wife of United States Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin, and commissioned on 30 November 1943.

Operational history

Golet departed Manitowoc 19 December 1943 via the Mississippi River for New Orleans, Louisiana, arriving 28 December. After shakedown training at Panama and final battle practice in Hawaiian waters Golet departed Pearl Harbor on 18 March 1944 for her maiden war patrol.

First Patrol: 18 March 1944

Golet departed Pearl Harbor on 18 March 1944 for her maiden war patrol off the Kurile Islands chain, Southern Hokkaidō and Eastern Honshū, Japan. Severe combinations of fog, rain, and ice were encountered and only one ship worth a torpedo came into view. This enemy proved too fast for Golet to close to torpedo range; she returned to Midway Island on 3 May 1944.

Second Patrol: 28 May 1944

Lieutenant Commander James S. Clark took command of Golet, departed Midway Island on 28 May 1944 to patrol off northern Honshū, Japan, and was never heard from again.

Golet had been scheduled to depart her area on 5 July and was expected at Midway Island about 12 July or 13 July. She failed to acknowledge a message sent her on 9 July and was presumed lost 26 July 1944.

Fate: 14 June 1944

Japanese antisubmarine records available after the war revealed that Golet was the probable victim of a Japanese antisubmarine attack made 14 June 1944. These records mention that the attack brought up cork, rafts, and other debris and a heavy pool of oil, all evidence of the sinking of a submarine.

Commemoration

Commissioning Crew: 30 November 1943

U.S.S. Golet (SS-361) commissioning crew and history plaque at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.

A plaque at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, lists the members of Golet′s commissioning crew on 30 November 1943 and provides a brief history of Golet′s career.

Memorial: 9 March 2013

U.S.S. Golet Memorial at Metairie in Orleans Parish, Louisiana

A memorial to Golet and her crew is located in Metairie, Louisiana. Its inscription reads:

U.S.S. Golet SS-361 A submarine built by Manitowoc shipbuilding Co of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Funds for this boat were raised by the citizens of Caddo Parish Louisiana. Launched one August 1943, her second patrol under the command of LCDR. James S. Clark was sunk by enemy depth charges on 14 June 1944. All hands were lost – 82 men. May God rest their souls.

The memorial also lists her crew at the time of her sinking, all of whom were lost, as follows:

  • George Robert Barlow
  • Elwin Charles Barnes
  • Richard Andrew Barta
  • Edward Ludwig Bartz
  • Donald William Beaulieu
  • Donald Lee Belcher
  • Carl McCasland Bickham
  • Edward Richard Blackburn
  • John Wilson Breunig
  • John Warren Brown
  • Joseph Alfred Butor
  • Allan Harold Carr
  • James Seerley Clark, C.O.[8][9]
  • William Melvin Coram
  • Robert Raymond Danko
  • Walter Dearl Davidson
  • Clifton Dowey
  • Vinton Jordan Earle
  • Willard Archie Edwards
  • LeRoy Leo Germann
  • Herbert C. Goetz
  • George Leonard Gormley
  • Joseph Frederick Greenhalgh
  • Stanley Erwin Grumet
  • Oliver Clark Guest, Jr.
  • Robert Edward Hanley
  • Robert Edwin Hardy
  • Raymond Lavern Harville
  • George Donald Hendley
  • Robert Edward Hoffman
  • Elmer James Hughes
  • Jack Junior Humble
  • Robert William Infalt
  • Clarence Herman Johnson
  • Walter Maurice Kane, Jr.
  • John Kolbucar
  • John Mike Koutsos
  • Leo Richard Leinwand, Jr.
  • Cecil Burton Leonard
  • George James Lewis
  • Glen Gordon Lockwood
  • Horace Paul Lytle
  • Clifford Leroy Martin
  • William Evorn McCulough, Jr.
  • Harry Bland McLaughlin, Jr.
  • Ernest Wade Miller
  • Gilbert Lee Millhouse
  • Peter Paul Milus
  • Solomon Joseph Numair
  • Michael Parry
  • Melvin Lars Peterson
  • George Anthony Pinter
  • Frank Rudolph Pograis
  • Robert Charles Reichelt
  • Arthur Judson Rockwood
  • Julius Rose
  • James Guy Rymal
  • Walter Robert Sadler
  • Arvale Elvin Schlemmer
  • Ernest Ferdinand Schramm
  • Clifford Edward Sederstrand
  • Eugene Felix Sieracki
  • Robert Anton Simandl
  • Donald Bruce Smith, Jr.
  • George Sterling, Jr.
  • Arthur Robert Stone
  • John Clinton Strout, Jr.
  • William Gene Stull
  • Jess Elmer Sturdivan
  • Emil Horace Sutherland
  • Woodrow Wilson Swartzback
  • Alfred Horatio Tarr
  • Roland Norris Thompson
  • Raymond Beverly Tinker
  • Alexander Scammel Wadsworth, III, X.O.[10]
  • Raymond Robert Walz
  • John Harris Wesley
  • Joseph Stanley White
  • Ernest Edward Whitney, Jr.
  • Roy Edgar Williams
  • Walter Joseph Winkle
  • Homer Don Wright

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. ↑ Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (Doubleday, 1973), p.78.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lenton, p.79.
  5. 1 2 3 4 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
  6. ↑ Friedman 1995, p. 209
  7. ↑ "Golet (SS 361)". public1.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "On Eternal Patrol – James Seerley Clark". www.oneternalpatrol.com. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Clark, James Seerley". public2.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "VMH: ALEXANDER S. WADSWORTH, III, LCDR, USN". usnamemorialhall.org. Retrieved 9 August 2021.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

41°4′N 141°31′E / 41.067°N 141.517°E / 41.067; 141.517

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