USS Scamp (SS-277)
USS Scamp (SS-277), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp grouper, a member of the Serranidae family.
Her keel was laid down on 6 March 1942 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 20 July 1942 sponsored by Miss Katherine Eugenia McKee, and commissioned on 18 September 1942 with Commander W.G. Ebert in command.
First and Second War Patrols
On 19 January 1943, after training out of New London, Connecticut, Scamp set course for Pearl Harbor, via the Panama Canal. She arrived in Hawaii on 13 February 1943 and commenced final training in the local operating area. Scamp began her first war patrol on 1 March 1943. She stopped at Midway Island on 5 March, debarked her passenger, Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr. Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, fueled, and then, headed for the coast of Honshū.
Her first two attacks on the enemy were doomed to failure by the faulty magnetic detonators in her torpedoes. After the inactivating of the magnetic features on her remaining torpedoes, Scamp scored two hits, one on an unidentified target on the night of 20 March and the other damaged Manju Maru early the next morning. The submarine stopped at Midway Island again on 26 March and returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 April.
USS Scamp
USS Scamp has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:
USS Scamp (SSN-588)
USS Scamp (SSN-588), a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp, a member of the serranidae family of fish.
Her keel was laid down on 23 January 1959 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. She was launched on 8 October 1960, sponsored by Mrs. John C. Hollingsworth, widow of Commander John C. Hollingsworth, the commanding officer of Scamp (SS-277) at the time of her loss in November 1944. She was commissioned at Mare Island on 5 June 1961 with Commander W. N. Dietzen in command.
Operational history
1960s
Scamp’s first four months in the fleet were taken up by advanced trials and training exercises in the Bremerton, Washington, San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor, areas. Following these operations, she returned to Vallejo, California, for post-shakedown availability at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Leaving the shipyard Scamp completed her final acceptance trials and began local operations in the San Diego area. In April 1962 she deployed to the western Pacific, returning to San Diego in July. She operated locally until September, when she departed on another extended training cruise. Scamp returned to San Diego and local operations until February 1963 when she entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard for interim drydocking. She refloated in March and, in April, deployed again to the western Pacific. While in the Far East, she conducted another extended period of advanced training, including operations in the Okinawa area. Scamp reentered San Diego Bay in October 1963. She resumed her West Coast operations out of San Diego until June 1964, then, she headed west again for advanced readiness training. She arrived back in San Diego in September 1964.
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