USS Loggerhead (SS-374/AGSS-374), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the loggerhead, Caretta caretta, a very large, carnivorous sea turtle common in the warmer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
Loggerhead (SS-374) was laid down on April 1, 1944 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc.; launched 13 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Barbara Fox; and commissioned on February 9, 1945, Commander Ralph N. Metcalf in command.
Loggerhead emerged from the Manitowoc River into Lake Michigan on March 1, 1945 and headed via Chicago to Lockport, Ill., where she entered a floating drydock and was towed down the Mississippi River. She arrived at New Orleans March 7 and departed 5 days later transiting the Panama Canal and arriving at Pearl Harbor on April 8.
Loggerhead’s first war patrol started May 15 when she departed Hawaii and headed via Saipan for the Luzon Straits and the South China Sea. Patrolling along the east coast of Hainan Island, she sighted an enemy hospital ship June 11 and allowed it to pass unharmed. Three days later, Loggerhead bombarded a suspected radar installation at Gap Rock south of Hong Kong, causing severe damage to the tower.
Much time was devoted to lifeguard duty during this patrol. Changing patrol areas and briefly stopping at Subic Bay July 1 for fuel, the submarine headed for an assigned lifeguard station south of Hong Kong. She stopped numerous native boats, questioned their crews, and learned that the Japanese were commandeering all native boats in the ports which they controlled.
On July 13 the submarine fired five torpedoes at enemy ships in Semarang Roadstead. The next day, the submarine headed for Australia, transiting Lombok Straits between Bali and Lombok Island during daylight on July 14. While Loggerhead passed between these islands, the enemy shore batteries surprised her with hot fire. Evading the bursts of the Japanese shells through skillful maneuvers, Loggerhead escaped undamaged. She arrived at Fremantle on July 19.
The end of hostilities on August 15 found Loggerhead two days out of Fremantle heading for the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol. She put in Subic Bay on August 22, departed for the United States August 31 via Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Francisco September 22, 1945. Loggerhead was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard June 16, 1946 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
In December 1962 she was reclassified an auxiliary submarine, AGSS-374, and towed to Portland, Oregon, where she served as a reserve training submarine until June 30, 1967 when she was relieved by auxiliary submarine Rasher (SS-269). Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the same date, Loggerhead was sold for scrap in early 1969.