Allied Warships

Piranha (SS-389)

Submarine of the Balao class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Balao
Pennant	389
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	8 Jun 1942
Laid down	21 Jun 1943
Launched	10 Oct 1943
Commissioned	5 Feb 1944
End service	31 May 1946
History	Decommissioned 31 May 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Stricken 1 March 1967. Her hull was sold for to be broken up for scrap, her connning tower is preserved at Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Naval Museum, Fredericksburg, Texas.

Commands listed for USS Piranha (389)

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.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Harold Eustace Ruble, USN	5 Feb 1944	24 Jan 1945
2	T/Cdr. Donald Greer Irvine, USN	24 Jan 1945	9 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Piranha include:

10 Apr 1944
USS Pirhana arrived at Key West, Florida for duty with the Fleet Sound School.

11 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

12 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

13 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

14 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

15 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

17 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

18 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

19 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

20 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

21 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

22 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

24 Apr 1944
USS Piranha conducted exercises off Key West.

25 Apr 1944
USS Piranha departed Key West for the Panama Canal Zone.

18 May 1944
With her trials and initial training completed USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

14 Jun 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Luzon Strait.

12 Jul 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker Nichiran Maru (6503 GRT) off the north-east coast of Luzon, Philippines in position 18°50'N, 122°40'E.

16 Jul 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Seattle Maru (5773 GRT) in Luzon Strait in position 19°17'N, 120°15'E.

8 Aug 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) ended her 1st war patrol at Majuro.

30 Aug 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) departed from Majuro for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Palau's to support the landings at Peleliu. Later she was ordered to patrol north of the Philippines.

23 Oct 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

13 Nov 1944
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

8 Jan 1945
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese auxiliary net layer Shinto Maru No.2 (540 GRT) off the Ryukyu Islands in position 29°55'N, 130°05'E.

13 Jan 1945
USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble) ended her 3rd war patrol at Guam.

11 Feb 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) departed from Guam for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Formosa.

27 Feb 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire off the south coast of Formosa in position 22°15'N, 120°17'E.

21 Apr 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) ended her 4th war patrol at Midway.

17 May 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) departed from Midway for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu in Japanese home waters.

16 Jun 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Eiso Maru (6890 GRT) off the northern coast of Honshu, Japan in position 41°57'N, 140°56'E.

17 Jun 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire off the northern coast of Honshu, Japan in position 42°07'N, 141°36'E.

21 Jun 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) damaged the Japanese merchant cargo ship Shirogane Maru (122 GRT) with gunfire off the east coast of Honshu, Japan in position 39°28'N, 142°10'E.

22 Jun 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese corvette Kaibokan No.196 (740 tons) off the east coast of Honshu, Japan in position 39°32'N, 142°11'E.

23 Jun 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) sank two small Japanese vessels with gunfire off the east coast of Honshu, Japan at positions 39°09'N, 142°10'E and 39°01'N, 142°01'E.

10 Jul 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

14 Aug 1945
USS Piranha (Cdr. D.G. Irvine) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol but after only half a day at sea she was ordered back as hostilities ended.

1 Sep 1945
The submarine tender USS Aegir (T/Capt. J.M. Boyd, USN) and the submarines USS Gurnard (T/Lt.Cdr. G.S. Simmons, 3rd, USN), USS Devilfish (T/Lt.Cdr. S.S. Mann, Jr., USN), USS Hackleback (T/Cdr. F.E. Janney, USN), USS Lionfish (T/Lt.Cdr. B.M. Ganyard, USN), USS Moray (T/Cdr. F.L. Barrows, USN), USS Aspro (T/Cdr. J.H. Ashley, Jr., USN) and USS Piranha (T/Cdr. D.G. Irvine, USN) departed Midway for the Mare Island Navy Yard where they arrived on 11 September.