USS Snapper (SS-185) - First and Second War Patrols

First and Second War Patrols

On 19 December, Snapper departed Manila for her first war patrol, covering the shipping lanes between Hong Kong and Hainan Strait until 8 January 1942, when she set sail for Davao Gulf in the Philippines. On 12 January, she made an unsuccessful attack on a Japanese supply ship which escaped when Snapper was forced down by an escorting destroyer. While off Cape San Agustin on 24 January, she attacked another supply ship without success, again being forced deep by destroyer escorts. On 1 February, as the submarine approached Bangka Strait, she was detected by an enemy destroyer which made a fruitless depth charge attack. In return, Snapper fired two torpedoes but both failed to find the target. Snapper arrived at Soerabaja, Java, on 10 February and then continued on to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Snapper departed Fremantle on 6 March for the approaches to Tarakan, Indonesia, and her second war patrol. Finding no suitable targets there, she was directed to Davao Gulf where, on 31 March, she closed a large armed tender or auxiliary cruiser. She fired two bow torpedoes at 600 yards (500 m) and, after reversing course, came to periscope depth to observe the enemy ship dead in the water. After firing one torpedo from her stern tube, she was forced deep to evade an attacking escort ship. Later that night, she was ordered to Mactan Island to unload ammunition and take on board 46 tons of food for the besieged island of Corregidor. Arriving there on 4 April, she transferred her cargo to submarine rescue vessel Pigeon (ASR-6), took on board 27 evacuees, and headed back to Fremantle, evading Japanese destroyer patrols on the way.

On 23 April, Snapper received word that Searaven (SS-196) was in trouble and reversed course to go to her aid. After towing the stricken submarine to Fremantle, she sailed for Albany and then returned to Fremantle.