Built by: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Design: Government
Keel laid: 9 August 1938
Launched: 21 June 1939
Sponsor: Mrs. Cyrus W. Cole
Commissioned: 2 October 1939
First Skipper: Lt. Thomas G. Reamy
Decommissioned: 11 December 1946

At the opening of World War II, USS SEARAVEN was rushed in as part of the defensive ring of American submarines around the Philippines and ordered to cut off Japanese roads of advancement. Her patrol area was off the Formosa Strait. Her initial attempts at attacks were not successful. During the night of 22 December, she fired two torpedoes at a good sized freighter during a night surface attack – both missed. Three days later, on Christmas Day, LCDR Aylward fired one torpedo during a daytime submerged attack at another Japanese ship – with the same result.

By the time SEARAVEN reached her port, rations were almost depleted and they claim they had nothing more than a spoonful of coffee in her food stores.

As Corregidor was being battered by the advancing Japanese, SEARAVEN departed Fremantle on 1 April for ‘the Rock’ with 1,500 rounds of 3-inch anti-aircraft ammunition. However, on 10 April, after the surrender of Bataan, she was ordered to conduct a short patrol on her return to Australia.

On 11 April, SEARAVEN was ordered to grab 33 Australian Army troops off the island of Timor, the same island where Captain William Bligh of the Royal Navy fetched up about 100 or so years earlier. This was not going to be easy. The Skipper, LCDR Hiram Cassedy, initially XO on USS SAILFISH, had learned a lot in a short time on the boats. Getting to Timor on time was no problem nor was the boat’s entry into the lagoon. However, the water was too shallow for SEARAVEN to get to the beach and the Japanese had been snooping around Timor for some time and Cassedy had no idea when they would return. He had no idea where to find the Aussies and he was well aware that this might indeed, be a Japanese trap. The only way to find out was to go in – and they did.

They tried to contact the Aussies for two nights without success, so Cassedy sent volunteer Ensign George C. Cook foward in a small boat. The surf was too rough for the boat to get in, so Cook dived overboard and swam in. He saw a campfire deep in the bush and he walked right into the clearing. Here is what the report in the log of SEARAVEN said about that night:

“He noted about 12 men standing around. When within about twenty-five yards of the campfire he turned his flashlight upon himself and shouted, at which all hands near the fire scattered. He searched the surrounding area for about an hour and then reported he was unable to make contact.”

Later that night, SEARAVEN made radio contact with their HQ and learned that the Aussies were camped on the other side of the island…..so who were the guys in the camp Cook charged into? Best possible guess is that they were a small group of Japanese who were also looking for the Aussies!

The next evening SEARAVEN was off the correct beach and again, the surf made it necessary for Cook to swim ashore but this time, he found the Aussies. They were a sorry lot – suffering from ulcers, tropical fever, malaria and battle wounds. Their haggard Lieutenant said that the Japanese were nearby and they had to get to the boat and quickly, but it was not easy. The small boat capsized in the surf and several of the wounded men almost drowned. Cook and his shore party got them all back aboard the righted boat and made two trips to the submarine. All 33 men were rescued safely before the Japanese could get to their camp.

On the run back to Fremantle, a fire broke out in the maneuvering room. The after quarters of the boat were filled with smoke, power was lost and the submarine went dead in the water as the crew was fighting the fire. SEARAVEN was finally towed into Fremantle for repairs and all the Aussies had been brought safely home.

December 30, SEARAVEN landed 7 agents and a British officer on Ceram Island. Middle of January 1943 saw SEARAVEN patrolling off Palau, keeping a close watch on the approaches to Toagel Mlungui Passage, which had been the “secret door” for Japanese shipping in this area. To this point, she had not been able to sink any ships – officially, that is. Things were about to change.

A little past daybreak on 13 January as SEARAVEN was running submerged, a periscope sweep of the horizons picked up a lot of smoke trails on the horizon about 10 miles to the southeast. They tried to close, but they could not get within 7,000 yards so Cassedy dropped in astern in an effort to figure out the convoy’s base course and speed. Cassedy figured that the base course was 300º and the convoy was making a speed of between 9 and 10 knots. It would not be possible to come storming up on the convoy from astern during daylight hours, so he decided to wait for the darkness and come up on the convoy at night and he figured that the convoy would be about 54 miles ahead, still on base course 300º.

SEARAVEN charged through the seas on three engines with the fourth charging batteries. They ran on through the night and at 0200, Cassedy reckoned that he was within 10 miles of the convoy and he changed course to 6º to the right of the base course, planning to come up on the starboard side of the columns. After an additional two hours, he figured that SEARAVEN was directly abeam of the convoy and all this on dead reckoning – they had no search radar and had no visual contact in more than twelve hours. They then returned to course 300º to remain parallel to the convoy if all was going the way Cassedy figured.

At dawn, not a ship was in sight! Cassedy then figured that the convoy was on a heading of 161º about fifteen miles away, and brought SEARAVEN onto an intercept course – except there were no ships to intercept there either. The convoy was nowhere to be seen. SEARAVEN was slowed to 12 knots and they began an eight-mile circle search pattern. Finally, at 0740 the next morning, smoke was sighted bearing 160º at fifteen miles distance. Throttles were cracked wide and SEARAVEN ran on at 16 knots, headed for a position ahead of the convoy. At 0907 hours, SEARAVEN was 15 miles ahead of the convoy and Cassedy dived the boat to wait for the ships to come to him. She targeted a large cargo steamer.

At 1132 hours, three torpedoes were fired at this ship and another at an anti-submarine vessel in line with this freighter. Their long wait and patience was rewarded with the sounds of detonations and breaking up noises. Forty minutes later, SEARAVEN came back to periscope depth to check the battle scene. The only thing they saw was an anti-submarine vessel picking up survivors.

During the famed Operation GALVANIC, SEARAVEN was on station in the Carolinas and was part of an American “wolf pack” consisting of USS SCULPIN, USS SEARAVEN and either USS SPEARFISH or USS APOGON. The Japanese Battle Fleet did not use these waters, so the American submarine went after any merchantmen they could find.

Prior to Operation FLINTLOCK, USS SEARAVEN was used as a photo boat in the Marshall Islands and later, pulled lifeguard duty off Truk. American pilots, shot down in combat over the ocean, were always more than a little happy to see an American submarine surface near them to bring them safely back home.

Sinkings by USS SEARAVEN
18.12.42	GANJITSU MARU	sub-chaser	216 GRT
18.12.42	SHIRAHA MARU	freighter	5,682 GRT
18.10.43	TOA MARU	tanker	10,050 GRT
??.08.44	RIZAN MARU	freighter	4,850 GRT

Commanding officers were:

T. C. Alyward – patrols 1 and 2;
H. Cassedy – patrols 3 through 8;
M. H. Dry – patrols 9 through 12;
R. Berthrong – patrol #13

USS SEARAVEN received 10 Battle Stars in World War II

11 December 1946 – decommissioned and she was later used in atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll;

11 September 1948 – sunk as target off San Clemente, California.