Allied Warships

Triton (SS-201)

Submarine of the Tambor class


USS Triton mid 1942

NavyThe US Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassTambor 
Pennant201 
Built byPortsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.) 
Ordered1 Sep 1938 
Laid down5 Jul 1939 
Launched25 Mar 1940 
Commissioned15 Aug 1940 
Lost10 Apr 1943 
History

USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. George Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr., USN) went missing in the South Pacific in March 1943. She is often listed as being sunk by three Japanese destroyers on 15 March. She was reported overdue on 10 April 1943 when she failed to return Brisbane, Australia.

More info on USS Triton and her loss can be found in the article Who sank the Triton? (offsite link).

 

Commands listed for USS Triton (201)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Willis Ashford Lent, USN15 Aug 1940Mar 1942
2Lt. Charles Cochran Kirkpatrick, USNMar 194214 Feb 1943
3T/Lt.Cdr. George Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr., USN14 Feb 194310 Apr 1943 (+)

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Notable events involving Triton include:


7 Dec 1941
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) was at sea off Wake when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She had left base on 19 November to conduct a practice war patrol. This practice war patrol now became her first war patrol.

11 Dec 1941
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) unsuccessfully attacked Japanese ships south of Wake Island.

31 Dec 1941
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) ended her first war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

25 Jan 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

17 Feb 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Shinyo Maru No.5 (1498 GRT) off Nagasaki, Japan in position 32°14'N, 127°14'E.

21 Feb 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Shokyu Maru (4886 GRT) in the East China Sea about 60 nautical miles south of Quelpart Island in position 32°10'N, 126°28'E.

17 Mar 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. W.A. Lent) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

13 Apr 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3th war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

1 May 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Calcutta Maru (5338 GRT) about 180 nautical miles north-north-west of Formosa in position 28°06'N, 123°47'E.

6 May 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Taiei Maru (2208 GRT) north-north-east of Keelung, Formosa in position 28°42'N, 123°50'E and the Japanese transport ship Taigen Maru (5665 GRT) in position 28°19'N, 123°28'E.

15 May 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) sank two Japanese sampans with gunfire off Formosa in position 28°22'N, 133°02'E.

17 May 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese submarine I-64 (offsite link) south-east of Kyushu, Japan in position 29°25'N, 134°06'E.

4 Jun 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) ended her 3th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

25 Jun 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Alaskan waters.

4 Jul 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Nenohi (offsite link) off Cape Sabak, off the southeast tip of Agattu, Aleutians in position 52°15'N, 173°51'E.

7 Sep 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) ended her 4th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She now underwent an overhaul.

16 Dec 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) left Pearl Harbor for her 5h war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Wake. Later she patrolled the Truk-Rabaul-New Guinea shipping lanes, north and northwest of New Ireland.

24 Dec 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese water tanker Amakusa Maru No.1 (1913 GRT) south of Wake Island in position 19°16'N, 166°36'E.

28 Dec 1942
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant Omi Maru (3394 GRT) in position 06°24'N, 160°18'E.

13 Jan 1943
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) torpedoed and damaged the tanker Akebono Maru (10182 GRT) north of the St. Matthias Island group in position 00°26'S, 148°40'E.

26 Jan 1943
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Kirkpatrick) ended her 5th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

16 Feb 1943
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. G.K. Mackenzie, Jr) departed from Brisbane for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol the approaches to Rabaul.

6 Mar 1943
USS Triton (Lt.Cdr. G.K. Mackenzie, Jr) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Kiriha Maru (3057 GRT) and torpedoed and damaged the Japanese merchant Mito Maru (7061 GRT) about 145 nautical miles northwest of the Admiralty Islands in position 00°37'N, 145°30'E. USS Triton reports this "kill" on 11 March but she is never heard from again.

Media links


The Last Patrol

Holmes, Harry


U. S. Submarines in World War II

Kimmett, Larry and Regis, Margaret


U.S. Submarines Through 1945

Friedman, Norman


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