Stories From the US Submarine Force
In the waning days of 1943, Warner Bros. released Destination Tokyo, a submarine adventure film headlined by Cary Grant and John Garfield. Packed with tension and torpedoes, the story followed the fictional USS Copperfin on a secret mission into the heart of enemy territory, gathering weather data to support the Doolittle Raid. The film thrilled audiences and stirred patriotism, delivering a clear message: America’s submariners were silent, bold, and brave.
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When we talk about the legacy of the U.S. Submarine Force during the Second World War, we often gravitate toward the celebrated names—Tang, Wahoo, Barb. But woven just as tightly into the silent steel of America’s wartime submarine story is the USS Snook (SS-279), a Gato-class boat launched in 1942 that would go on to serve valiantly and vanish mysteriously in the closing months of the war. Her story begins with the hard-earned lessons of a young submarine fleet still feeling its way through the murky depths of undersea warfare.
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In March of 1943, the Pacific War had reached a fever pitch. The U.S. Navy’s submarine force, already proving itself to be one of the most effective weapons in America’s arsenal, was actively hunting Japanese shipping in the vast, contested waters of the South Pacific. Submarines, operating in deadly cat-and-mouse games with Japanese destroyers, were crucial in strangling enemy supply lines. However, with every daring success, there was an equal measure of peril. It was in these waters, north of the Admiralty Islands, that USS Triton (SS-201) embarked on her sixth and final war patrol, never to return.
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Patrol Reports 