USS Harder (SS-257)

USS Harder (SS-257)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Harder.

USS Harder (SS-257), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the harder, a fish of the mullet family found off South Africa. One of the most famous submarines of World War II, she received the Presidential Unit Citation. Her skipper, the resolute and resourceful Commander (Cmdr) Samuel D. Dealey (1906–1944), "a submariner's submariner", was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 1 December 1941. She was launched on 19 August 1942 (sponsored by Miss Helen M. Shaforth), and commissioned on 2 December 1942 with Cmdr Dealey, (Class of 1930) in command.