Allied Warships

Nautilus (SS-168)

Submarine of the Narwhal class


USS Nautilus early in the war

NavyThe US Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassNarwhal 
Pennant168 
Built byMare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down10 May 1927 
Launched15 Mar 1930 
Commissioned1 Jul 1930 
End service30 Jun 1945 
History

Decommissioned 30 June 1945.
Stricken 25 July 1945.
Sold 16 November 1945 to be broken up for scrap.

 

Commands listed for USS Nautilus (168)

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. Alf Ole Ruh Bergesen, USN3 Jul 1937Jul 1940
2Lt.Cdr. Lloyd Dallas Follmer, USNJul 19403 Jun 1941
3Lt.Cdr. Joseph Phillip Thew, USN3 Jun 19413 Mar 1942
4Lt.Cdr. William Herman Brockman, Jr., USN3 Mar 194226 Aug 1943
5Lt.Cdr. William Davis Irvin, USN26 Aug 194318 Apr 1944
6Lt.Cdr. George Arthur Sharp, USN18 Apr 194417 Dec 1944
7Willard de Loss Michael, USN17 Dec 194430 Jun 1945

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Notable events involving Nautilus include:


21 Apr 1942
With her extensive refit at the Mare Island Navy yard completed (this refit lasted from 15 July 1941 to 20 April 1942) USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. William Herman Brockman, jr.) departed from San Francisco bound for Pearl Harbor.

28 Apr 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

24 May 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Pearl Harbor to take part in the defence of Midway. She was ordered to patrol north-west of Midway.

4 Jun 1942
During the battle of Midway USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) escaped strafing from Japanese planes, then escaped depth charges from Japanese warships, managed to move into a attack position and hit the burning hull of the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga (offsite link) with one torpedo (that fails to explode) in position 30°20'N, 179°17'W and once again she managed to escape unscathed.

7 Jun 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) arrived at Midway to take on provisions.

7 Jun 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Midway for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu, Japan.

25 Jun 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Yamakaze (1685 tons, offsite link) south-east of Yokosuka, Japan in position 34°34'N, 140°26'E.

27 Jun 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Musashi Maru (227 GRT) east of Nojimazaki, Japan in position 34°38'N, 140°08'E.

28 Jun 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) is damaged by depth charges off Honshu, Japan in position 34°34'N, 140°13'E. She is forced to terminate her patrol.

11 Jul 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) ended her 1st war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

8 Aug 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol together with USS Argonaut. They were to transport and land marine commandos on Makin in the Gilbert Islands. The convoy arrived off Makin on 16 August; and at 0330hours the next day, the marines began landing. Their rubber rafts were swamped by the sea and most of the outboard motors drowned. The Japanese either forewarned or extraordinarily alert because of the activity on Guadalcanal-gave the Americans a warm reception. Snipers were hidden in the trees and the landing beaches were in front of the Japanese forces instead of behind them as planned. By midnight of 10 August, all but 30 of the troops had been recovered. Both submarines arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 26 August 1942.

15 Sep 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

29 Sep 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank Japanese merchant cargo ship Tamon Maru No.6 (4994 GRT, former Greek Pleiades) east of Japan in position 40°35'N, 141°50'N.

1 Oct 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Tosei Maru (2432 GRT) east of Shiriyazaki, Japan in position 41°20'N, 141°35'E.

12 Oct 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) is damaged by depth charges off northern Honshu, Japan in position 41°05'N, 141°58'E. She is however able to continue her patrol.

24 Oct 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Kenun Maru (4673 GRT) about 20 nautical miles east of Shiriya Zaki, off northern tip of Honshu, Japan in position 41°24'N, 141°50'E.

25 Oct 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire east of Honshu, Japan in position 41°45'N, 145°32'E.

31 Oct 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) arrived at Midway to perform some much needed repairs. She later continues on to Pearl Harbor.

13 Dec 1942
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Solomon Islands.

1 Jan 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) evacuates 32 civilians (including 3 children) from Teop Island, Solomon Islands.

9 Jan 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Yoshinogawa Maru (1422 GRT) east of Kieta, Bougainville, Solomon Islands in position 06°13'S, 156°00'E.

19 Jan 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese destroyer Akizuki (offsite link) in position 05°55'S, 156°20'E.

4 Feb 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) ended her 4th war patrol at Brisbane, Australia. She disembarks her passengers and later heads towards Pearl Harbor.

15 Apr 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

20 Apr 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Dutch Harbour, Alsaka.

27 Apr 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) arrived at Dutch Harbour.

1 May 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) departed from Dutch Harbour bound for Attu. Aboard were 109 Scouts to be landed at Attu.

11 May 1943
USS Nautilus (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Brockman) lands the scouts at Attu five hours before the main assault.

25 May 1943
USS Nautilus commences a refit at the Mare Island Navy Yard.

17 Aug 1943
USS Nautilus ended her refit at the Mare Island Navy Yard. She proceeded to Pearl Harbor.

16 Sep 1943
USS Nautilus (Cdr. William Davis Irvin, jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to perform a photo-reconnaissance of the Gilbert Islands.

17 Oct 1943
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

8 Nov 1943
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Gilbert Islands area during the US landings.

19 Nov 1943
While supporting the US landings on Tarawa that were to commence the next day USS Nautilus (Cdr. William Davis Irvin, jr.) is damaged by friendly fire from the US light cruiser Santa Fe and the US destroyer Ringgold off Tarawa, Gilbert Islands in position 01°05'N, 173°03'E. Despite some damage to her conning tower Nautilus is able to remain on patrol.

21 Nov 1943
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) lands a Marine reconnaissance company on Abemama, Gilbert Islands.

4 Dec 1943
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

27 Jan 1944
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Philippine Sea.

6 Mar 1944
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport America Maru (6069 GRT) about 420 nautical miles north-north-west of Saipan in position 22°19'N, 143°54'E.

21 Mar 1944
USS Nautilus (Cdr. W.D. Irvin) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

26 Apr 1944
USS Nautilus (Cdr. George A. Sharp) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Brisbane, Australia. While operating out of Australia she carried supplies to the Philippine resistance and evacuates several refugees. Nautilus completed her 14th and last war patrol at Darwin on 30 January 1945.

14 Jun 1944
While on her 9th war patrol USS Nautilus (Cdr. G.A. Sharp) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire in the Banda Sea in position 04°28'S, 126°27'E.

25 Jun 1944
While on her 9th war patrol USS Nautilus (Cdr. G.A. Sharp) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire in the Banda Sea in position 04°15'S, 126°00'E.

11 Mar 1945
USS Nautilus arrived in the Panama Canal Zone.

16 Mar 1945
USS Nautilus departed the Panama Canal Zone for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

25 Mar 1945
USS Nautilus arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

25 May 1945
USS Nautilus arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from Australia and is decommissioned.

Media links


U. S. Submarines in World War II

Kimmett, Larry and Regis, Margaret


U.S. Submarines Through 1945

Friedman, Norman


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