By James Heinz
The highest scoring submarine made in Wisconsin during World War II was the USS Rasher, named after a vermilion rockfish found along the California coast.
Of the twenty-eight submarines made by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., the Rasher ranked first with the highest tonnage of ships sunk during the war.
During its service, the submarine sank eighteen enemy vessels and destroyed 99,901 tons of Japanese shipping, the third highest total for a US sub. Postwar accounting ascribed the Rasher with sinking the second highest tonnage of any U.S.combat submarine.
–––––––––––––––––––––––
Visit WMHS on Facebook
–––––––––––––––––––––––
A Gato-class submarine, the keel of the USS Rasher (SS-269) was laid down May 4, 1942, at Manitowoc, Wis., on Lake Michigan, launched Dec. 20, and commissioned June 8, 1943. After decommissioning, as was customary, the vessel was maneuvered on a floating drydock through Chicago area waterways to the Mississippi River and on to New Orleans. From there the submarine moved to the Bay of Panama, arriving at Brisbane, Australia, Sept. 11, 1943. War patrols were her next ventures:
● Operating in the Makassar Strait-Celebes Sea area near Indonesia, between Sept. 24 and Nov. 24, 1943, the Rasher sank a passenger-cargo ship; torpedoed a freighter; and sank an oil tanker.
● Patrolling the South China Sea off Borneo, between Dec. 19, and Jan. 24, 1944, the Rasher sank one tanker and may have sunk another, and planted mines off Saigon. During this time she experienced the unreliability of American torpedoes. In three failed attacks on enemy convoys, her torpedoes exploded prematurely.
● Looking for the enemy in the Java-Celebes Sea area between Feb. 19 and April 4, 1944, the Rasher attacked a Japanese convoy off Bali, sank a cargo ship, killing 3,500 Javanese laborers and POW’s, and another ship killing 5,000 Japanese soldiers. Later, she destroyed another cargo ship, and a 2,750 ton freighter.
● On her fourth patrol, April 30 to June 23, 1944, she torpedoed and sank a freighter, then a converted gunboat, and a tanker in the Celebes Sea off Manado. Six days later a cargo ship was sent to the bottom.
● Between July 22 and Sept. 3, 1944, the Rasher spent most of her time with the USS Bluefish, made by the Electric Boat Co., in Groton, Conn., in the South China Sea west of Luzon. There the Rasher sank an ammunition ship; on Aug. 18 seeing numerous enemy aircraft which the commander concluded were escorting a convoy, the Rasher fired two torpedoes and sank a tanker loaded with gasoline. She also sank a 17,000 ton transport, killing 2,665 Japanese soldiers. Three additional torpedoes hit and sank a 20,000 ton aircraft carrier. The Rasher also struck four more ships.
● The Rasher’s patrols between January and August 1945 mainly involved acting as a lifeguard patrol for Allied aircraft that might be shot down.
* * *
After serving as a training submarine for Naval reservists, she was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for outstanding performance in combat. The Rasher received seven battle stars in World War II and two battle stars for service off Vietnam. Personnel assigned to the submarine were awarded four Navy Crosses, twelve Silver Stars, sixteen Bronze Stars, one Legion of Merit, one Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and six Commendations.
A submarine’s success in enemy combat is based on the combined tonnage of the ships she sinks, not the number. “However, a Japanese destroyer credited as sunk by another sub may have been a case of mistaken identity,” Wikipedia states. “If the tonnage credited for this ship is removed from the record of Flasher, then Rasher becomes the second highest-scoring US submarine for tonnage.” The Electric Boat Co. made the USS Flasher (SS-249).
Two hundred and sixty three US submarines undertook war patrols, claiming 1,392 ships and 5,583,400 tons during the war, Wikipedia reports. Submarines in the U.S. Navy were responsible for sinking 540,192 tons or 30% of the Japanese navy and 4,779,902 tons of shipping, or 54.6% of all Japanese shipping in the Pacific Theater. “This despite the fact that submarine crews were only 2% of Navy personnel.”
* * *
More information about the USS Rasher:
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rasher
Military History of the Great Lakes
https://ss.sites.mtu.edu/mhugl/2015/10/12/ss-rasher/
Pacific Wrecks
https://pacificwrecks.com/subs/SS-269.html
Wisconsin Maritime Museum
https://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/submarines/manitowoc-28/uss-rasher/
uboat.net
https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3015.html
Naval History and Heritage Command
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/rasher.html
Photo credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:USS_Rasher_(SS-269)
* * *
Note: See other stories by James Heinz in our blog index.
James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
