In Front of the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’ Brien lies the USS Pampanito – SS-383 a Balao class submarine. She is named after the Pompano fish. The Balao class with 120 submarines was the most successful design of the United States Navy during World War Two. The class was in production from 1942 until 1945. The USS Pampanito laid down her keel on November the 6th in 1943 and sailed off to Pearl Harbor. She sailed six war patrols in the Pacific on which she sank 6 ships and damaged 4. On her third war patrol she unknowingly sank the Kachidoki which was transporting 900 British prisoners of war. Pampanito picked up 73 survivors and called in three other vessels to assist.
After World War Two she returned to San Francisco were she was off and on in service until December 1971. Like the SS Jeremiah O’Brien she is a museum ship to be seen on Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf.
United States Navy Submarine USS Pampanito SS-383
The vwas a Balao-class submarine of the United States Navy, commissioned during World War II. Built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, it was launched on July 12, 1943, and was one of the most successful American submarines of the war.
The Pampanito was 95 meters (311 feet) long, with a beam of 8.3 meters (27 feet) and a draft of 5.13 meters (16.1 feet). Powered by four diesel engines, the submarine could reach a submerged speed of 8.75 knots (16.2 km/h) and a surface speed of 20 knots (37 km/h). It had a range of 11,000 nautical miles (20,370 km) when traveling at 10 knots on the surface.
Armed with 10 torpedo tubes (six forward and four aft) and a combination of deck guns (5-inch/25-caliber) and machine guns, the USS Pampanito was capable of attacking both surface ships and submarines. It carried 24 torpedoes and had a crew of around 80 officers and enlisted personnel.
During its service, the Pampanito conducted six war patrols in the Pacific, sinking numerous enemy ships and earning several battle stars for its efforts. It also played a key role in the Pacific submarine campaign. After the war, it was decommissioned and later preserved as a museum ship at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.
