Built by: Electric Boat
Design: EB 209A
Keel laid: 25 May 1936
Launched: 25 August 1937
Sponsor: Mrs. J. F. Greenslade
Commissioned: 30 April 1938
First Skipper: Lt. Karl G. Hensel

While guarding the approaches to Vigan (north of Lingayen Gulf) USS SEAL torpedoed and sank the last enemy ship to be attacked by American submarines in 1941; HAYATAKA MARU.

USS SEAL (along with USS STURGEON) were pioneers in the tactic of the Sound Aimed Attack (sound shots). USS SEAL was making a normal approach upon a convoy of four cargo ships guarded by three destroyers. They ran in so fast (submerged) that Sound lost contact with the convoy for a while, but slowing SEAL regained contact. They fired four and heard two detonations.

28 May 1942 - Again this tactic was tested when SEAL dived for a submerged sound attack. The bright moon made a surfaced attack too dangerous. Two torpedoes were fired - and missed astern. The target was traveling about 3 knots faster than Hurd estimated, so they set up another shot, and fired two more. There was a huge explosion, so SEAL came to periscope depth to view the damage. The bow was almost underwater, but she was making about 6 knots astern, obviously trying to prevent the sinking. SEAL went deep and soon, there was another, far stronger, explosion topside. When Hurd finally came up to periscope depth - the ocean was bare.

On 11 November, SEAL came upon a convoy of nine cargo ships escorted by just two destroyers. They got into position, fired - and sank one ship but in the resulting panic above with ships trying to maneuver to escape the American submarine, SEAL herself was rammed by one of the other ships and nearly sunk. Both ‘scopes were damaged too badly to be used again.

SEAL took station in the Marshall Islands as part of Operation GALVANIC during the siege for Tarawa and Makin. Some weeks before D-Day, USS SEAL was one of the American submarines taking photos of the Marshall Islands group during what is known as Operation FLINTLOCK. It was not a difficult operation, as Admiral Kurita had little ASW forces operating there. SEAL was off Ponape & did more lifeguarding than anything else.

USS SEAL did her share to attack the enemy shipping, but she did not come out of the combat unscathed either.

16 November 1942 off Palau while at 61 foot depth and just twelve seconds after firing at a Japanese freighter, SEAL was run down by a second Japanese cargo ship which passed directly overhead. The periscopes, radar and their supporting shears were all damaged. The boat rose from 61 to 55 feet due to the suction effect and hung there for nearly a minute before again going down. The No. 2 periscope had been extended, and was bent over horizontally. The SD radar mast was also bent all the way over. No. 1 periscope could not be used due to misalignment of the upper bearing. No. 2 periscope housing was broken off level with the top of the housing for the No. 1 periscope. The patrol was terminated.

8 July 1943 off Northern Honshu, SEAL was depth charged by an ASASHIO Class destroyer, springing a leak in the fuel tanks. A Japanese floatplane followed the trail of oil and found SEAL, and dropped bombs on her. A total of 72 bombs and depth charges were used against USS SEAL over a ten hour period. The damage was minor and included a small internal leak in an oil transfer line in the pump room and the No. 2 auxiliary tank leaked to the sea, causing SEAL to become heavy overall. The patrol was terminated due to the oil leakage, but the source of the leak was not located.

USS SEAL was awarded ten Battle Stars for World War II. After the war, she was a US Navy Reserve training ship in Boston until 1956. She was decommissioned and stricken on 1 May 1956. On 6 May 1957, she was delivered to A. G. Schoonmaker in New York to be broken up for scrap.

Commanders of USS SEAL were:

K. C. Hurd for war patrols #1 through #5;
H. B. Dodge for patrols $6 through #10;
and J. H. Turner for patrols #11 and #12.

War Patrols of USS SEAL

WP	FROM	TO	DURATION	SINKINGS
1	CV N. Luzon	SJ	53 days	Note A
2	TJ Java	FA	53 days	None
3	FA S. China S	FA	53 days	Note B
4	FA S. China S	FA	53 days	None
5	FA Palaus	PH	37 days	Note C
6	PH Palaus	MI	50 days	Note D
7	MI Empire	PH	30 days	None
8	PH Kuriles	PH	50 days	None
9	PH Kwajaline	PH	52 days	Note E
10	PH Ponape	PH	58 days	Note E
11	PH Kuriles	MI	50 days	Note F
12	MI Kuriles	PH	50 days	Note G

Note A - SEAL sank the 856 ton cargo ship SORYU MARU;
Note B - sank the 1,946 ton cargo ship TATSUFUKU MARU;
Note C - sank the 5,477 ton cargo ship BOSTON MARU;
Note D - sank the 7,354 ton tanker SAN CLEMENTE MARU;
Note E - performed lifeguard duty, two patrols;
Note F - sank the 531 ton cargo ship TOSEI MARU and also the 5,859 ton cargo ship SHINAN MARU;
Note G - sank the 5,742 ton transport HAKUYO MARU.

As we promised some months ago - once we got into the American combat submarines, this portion of our KTB Magazine takes on a life of its own. These were great submariners!