USS Sealion

Two submarines of the United States Navy have been named USS Sealion for the sea lion, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific.

USS Sealion (SS-315)

USS Sealion (SS/SSP/ASSP/APSS/LPSS-315), a Balao-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sea lion, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific. She is sometimes referred to as Sealion II, because her first skipper, Lieutenant Commander Eli Thomas Reich, was a veteran of the first Sealion, serving on her when she was lost at the beginning of World War II.

Her keel was laid down on 25 February 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 31 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Emory S. Land, and commissioned on 8 March 1944.

World War II

Following the shakedown, Sealion, assigned to Submarine Division 222 (SubDiv 222), sailed for the Pacific and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 17 May. Further training occupied the next three weeks, and on 8 June, she headed west on her first war patrol.

Sailing with Tang, she stopped off at Midway Atoll on 12 June, glanced off a whale on 15 June, and on 22 June, transited Tokara Strait to enter the East China Sea. On 23 June, she and Tang took up stations in the Ōsumi Islands, an island group to the south of Kyūshū. That afternoon, Sealion unsuccessfully conducted her first attack, then underwent her first depth charging.

USS Sealion (SS-195)

USS Sealion (SS-195), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sea lion, any of several large, eared seals native to the Pacific.

Her keel was laid down on 20 June 1938 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 25 May 1939 sponsored by Mrs. Augusta K. Bloch, wife of Admiral Claude C. Bloch, Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, and commissioned on 27 November 1939, Lieutenant J. K. Morrison Jr. in command.

Service history

Following shakedown, Sealion, assigned to Submarine Division 17 (SubDiv 17), prepared for overseas deployment. In the spring of 1940, she sailed, with her division for the Philippine Islands, arriving at Cavite in the fall to commence operations as a unit of the Asiatic Fleet. Into October 1941, she ranged from Luzon into the Sulu Archipelago, then, with her sister ship Seadragon, another submarine in SubDiv 202, she prepared for a regular overhaul at the Cavite Navy Yard. By 8 December, her yard period had begun; and, two days later, she took two direct hits in the Japanese air raid which demolished the navy yard.