USS Sea Devil
Richard Lester Satterley - US Navy
MHS FFA - 1948 - 1949 - Future Farmer of America
Roy Reed was in the MHS FFA as the treasurer...click here
Lester Satterley - Vice-President - MHS FFA ...click here
The first SEA DEVIL (SS-400) was laid down on 18 November 1943 at the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard; launched on 28 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Sherman K. Kennedy; and commissioned on 24 May 1944, Comdr. Ralph E. Styles in command.
On 2 March 1951, she was recommissioned, assigned to SubDiv 71, SubRon 7, and based at Pearl Harbor.
Completing shakedown training at New London, SEA DEVIL departed that port on 11 July 1944 and arrived at her home port, Pearl Harbor, on 9 August to join Submarine Division (SubDiv) 281 and prepare for her first war patrol. On 3 September, she sailed west. By the 15th, she was 500 miles
off Honshu, and, during the early morning darkness, made contact with her first enemy ships-two sampan type patrol vessels. Rough seas, however, precluded an attack, and she continued on to patrol in the shipping lanes to Japan's major ports: Yokohama, Kobe, and Osaka.
On the 16th, at 0432, SEA DEVIL made her second contact; submerged; and commenced closing the target. At 0538, the enemy, a cargo submarine, was sighted. At 0545, SEA DEVIL made her first attack. Four torpedoes were fired.
Two exploded against the target. SEA DEVIL lost depth control. A minute later, periscope depth was regained. Brown smoke marked the enemy's previous location. Seven underwater explosions followed. By 0553, a large oil slick covered the site where I-364 had gone down.
SEA DEVIL reloaded and continued to move closer to Japan. On the 17th and 18th, mountainous seas inhibited hunting. On the 21st, the submarine commenced running along the 100 fathom curve, but the strong Kuroshio Current there caused her to lose ground and forced her to shift her course.
On the morning of the 22d, she made several contacts, but all were too small. During the early afternoon, she sighted a small convoy and fired on a freighter. The target turned toward the submarine. SEA DEVIL went deep. An hour later, the surface ships had gone and the hunted submarine again became a hunter.
1915 | 1927 | | 1930 | 1936 | 1950 | 1958 | 1968
