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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Plunger (SS-179)

Radio Call Sign: November - Echo -Golf - Lima

Perch Class Submarine: Laid down, 17 July 1935, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.; Launched, 8 July 1936; Commissioned, USS Plunger (SS-179), 19 November 1936; Decommissioned, 15 November 1945, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.; Placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training Vessel at Brooklyn, NY in May 1946; Declared unessential, 5 July 1956; Struck from the Naval Register, 6 July 1956; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping , 22 April 1957, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA. Plunger received 14 battle stars for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,330 t., Submerged: 1,997 t.; Length 300' 7" ; Beam 21' 5"; Draft 13' 10"; Speed, Surfaced 21 kts, Submerged 9 kts; Maximum Operating Depth, 250'; Complement 5 Officers, 45 Enlisted; Armament, six 21" torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, four .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel-electric, Winston diesel engines, HP 4300, Fuel Capacity, 92,801 gals.; GE motors, HP 2368, 240 battery cells, twin screws.

Click On Image For Full Size	Size	Image Description	Source
	17k	Commemorative postal cover marking the keel laying of the Plunger (SS-179) 17 July 1935, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H.	Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory).
	191k	Plunger (SS-179) is waterborne at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. 8 July 1936. She is pictured here docking after launching.	USN photo # 206-36 courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
	554k	Crew members saluting the colors on 19 November 1936, as the Plunger (SS-179) is commissioned.	US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, Photo No.1985.131.051, courtesy of Mike Green.
	134k	Stern view of the Pollack (SS-180) & Plunger (SS-179) at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H. They are pictured here fitting out, circa April 1937.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
	428k	Photograph of deck of unidentified submarine, which is perhaps Plunger (SS-179) in the late 1930’s.	Photo courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum via Bill Gonyo.
	469k	Plunger (SS-179) departed Gravesend Bay, N.Y. 15 April 1937 for shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, the Canal Zone, and Guayaquil, Ecuador.	Text courtesy of DANFS. Photo courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum via Bill Gonyo.
	350k	Crewmen pictured on board the submarine Plunger (SS-179) during the boat's shakedown cruise. Their dress indicates that they are engaged in some element of the Crossing the Line ceremony. Her crewmen are pictured during the boat's shakedown cruise on 2 May 1937.	Photo No.1985.131.008 courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum via Mike Green.
0817926	NR	Submarine Here on "Shakedown" Cruise Plunger (SS-179) Has Many Mementos of Cruise Through Canal and South. The new submarine *Plunger*, now at the Washington Navy Yard. Inset is her commanding officer, Lieut. G. L. Russell, USN, a former Washingtonian.	Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 15 June 1937, Image 9, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. Insert image via findagrave.com
	21k	Commemorative postal cover marking the boats of the P-class (SS-176/81) first Navy Day, 27 October 1937; Perch (SS-176), Pickerel (SS-177), Permit (SS-178), Plunger (SS-179), Pollack (SS-180) & Pompano (SS-181).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory).
	81k	Photo entitled "Weekly Inspection, Permit* (SS-178).* The Pollack (SS-180) and the Plunger (SS-179) flank the *Permit.*" Naval Recruiting Dept, New York, circa late 1937.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	870k	Perch (SS-176) and sister Plunger (SS-179) anchored in 1938, as seen from the deck of an unidentified warship. The vessels were pictured during the survey of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.	US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, Photo No. 1985.131.010 courtesy of Mike Green.
0817928	1.72k	Views of P-Class nest in San Francisco circa 1938: Front: L to R: Perch (SS-176), (P5), Pollack (SS-180), (P9) & Plunger (SS-179) (P8). Note: Battleship and cruiser in far-right background. Rear of photo: L to R: Pickerel (SS-177) (P6), Permit (SS-178),(P7) & Porpoise (SS-172) (P1).	Photo courtesy of Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum via Darryl L. Baker.
0818017	1.76k	Views of P-Class nest in San Francisco circa 1938: Front: L to R: Perch (SS-176), (P5), Pollack (SS-180), (P9) & Plunger (SS-179) (P8). Likely masts of the Beaver (AS-5) are visible in the background.	Photo courtesy of Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum via Darryl L. Baker.
	43k	Commemorative postal cover marking Snapper (SS-185), Stingray (SS-186), Skipjack (SS-184), Plunger (SS-179), Cachalot (SS-170), Salmon (SS-182), Perch (SS-176) & Pollack (SS-180) participating in Fleet Problem XX, 28 January 1939.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle (of blessed memory).
	103k	Submarines in San Diego harbor, California, 1940. Moored alongside Holland (AS-3), from which the photograph was taken, the submarines are (from left to right): Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); Pickerel (SS-177); Plunger (SS-179); Snapper (SS-185) and Permit (SS-178). Note the small motor boats, of the type carried by fleet submarines prior to World War II. One of the men standing on Salmon's (SS-182) deck is Yeoman Clayton Johnson, who in 1969 was a Commander serving at the Naval History Division. Enterprise (CV-6) is in the distance, tied up at Naval Air Station, North Island.	USN photo # NH 68479, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.
	104k	Plunger (SS-179) backing clear of a nest of submarines, alongside their tender in San Diego harbor, California, in 1940. Other identifiable submarines present are: Salmon (SS-182); Seal (SS-183); and Stingray (SS-186).	USNHC photograph # NH 68482. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute. James C. Fahey Collection.
	253k	The Plunger (SS-179) is actually going or should I say gone under the west end of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge circa 1938 with several of her sisters. Plunger and some of her sister boats were with a Pacific Fleet Maneuvers in spring of 1938.	Text thanks to Darryl L. Baker. USN photo thanks to Jim Kurrasch @ Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center.
	63k	Oil on canvas painting by the artist Jim Christley entitled "Off To War". Although mismanaged and crippled with defective torpedoes, the boats such as this one of the Perch-class (SS-176/81) headed out to do battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy.	Photo & text courtesy of subart.net.
0817929	162k	1942 computer rendering of the Plunger (SS-179).	My father, Charles L. Williams, served in *Plunger* in 1943. Image via Geoff Williams.
0817930	453k	1942 computer rendering of the Plunger (SS-179).	Image via Geoff Williams.
	175k	On 17 February 1942, Plunger (SS-179) was to be hauled out of the water for maintenance at the marine railways in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. By 1527 she had motored in to the railways and was on the keel blocks and by 1530 she secured her engines. At 1545, while being pulled from the water, the starboard keel blocks gave way, allowing the submarine to roll until she came to rest at an angle of 60 degrees against the steel framework of the railways side. One sailor broke his left arm and two others were bruised. *Plunger* herself received only minor damage. All photos dated 17 February 1942; the day of the accident, roughly 90 minutes to two hours after *Plunger* rolled. View from bow aft along starboard side. (roughly two hours after the accident).	Photo # 177-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	243k	Plunger (SS-179) after falling of the marine-railway blocks at Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1942.	Photo courtesy of David W. Genereaux. From Mud, Muscle and Miracles, by Captain Charles A. Bartholomew, USN, and Commander William I. Milwee, Jr., USN, (Retired), courtesy of Robert Hurst.
	161k	View of after end from dock walkway.	Photo # 178-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	188k	View aft along dock against which submarine rests. The riggers have installed some shores.	Photo # 179-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	158k	General view of submarine looking forward from the carriage walkways.	Photo # 181-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	151k	View forward from the side of the dock against which the submarine rests.	Photo # 182-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	140k	View from walkway at head of dock.	Photo # 184-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	161k	Close-up of keel and blocks near frame 60. Note marks on the keel caused by sliding on blocks.	Photo # 184-42: Source: NARA San Francisco, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard General Correspondence 1941-45, John Fitzgerald & Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	251k	Plunger (SS-179) on 10 April 1942. Portside inclines, taken from starboard side.	Photo NARA II, Record Group 19; Bureau of Ships War Damage Reports & Related Records 1942-49, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	182k	Plunger (SS-179) on 12 April 1942. Afloat and leaving Marine Railway, starboard side looking aft.	Photo NARA II, Record Group 19; Bureau of Ships War Damage Reports & Related Records 1942-49, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
	92k	Plunger (SS-179) along side Fulton (AS-11) with what looks to be a present wrapped up for the crew on 21 July 1942.	USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
	83k	The Plunger's (SS-179) officers smile for the camera while underway.	USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
	53k	The Plunger's (SS-179) CO receives an award by Admiral Lockwood.	USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
	100k	Japanese Cargo Ship sinking, as photographed through a periscope by Plunger (SS-179). This ship is probably the *MS Kinai Maru, sunk by Plunger* on 10 May 1943, during her sixth war patrol.	Official USN photo # 80-G-68687, now in the collections of the National Archives.
	59k	Japanese Cargo Ship sinking, as photographed through a periscope by Plunger (SS-179). This ship is probably the *MS Kinai Maru, sunk by Plunger* on 10 May 1943, during her sixth war patrol.	Official USN photo # 80-G-68685, now in the collections of the National Archives.
	166k	Plunger (SS-179) 6 photo PDF of the ship's Booklet of General Plans, C&R Plan # 300947, as updated to 8 December 1943	USNHC photograph # NH 79455.
	113k	Members of the submarine's crew display her battle-flag. The man seated in the center appears to be wearing a Japanese sailor's hat. The photograph is dated 21 June 1943, following Plunger's (SS-179) sixth war patrol.	Official USN photo # 80-G-72010, now in the collections of the National Archives.
	1.05k	Watercolor of the Plunger (SS-179) underway. The painting is by Mr. Ike Lloyd.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
	1.21k	9 Page PDF history of the Plunger (SS-179).	USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
	43k	Rear Admiral Edward J. Fahy, USNA '34, one of Plunger's (SS-179) wartime commanders. He was the CO from 13.06.1944 to 10.10.1944	Photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker. Text info courtesy of Ron Reeves (of blessed memory).
	501k	Photo of the Hoe (SS-258), and Plunger (SS-179) was taken in 1956 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, facing out into the East River toward the Williamsburg Bridge which can be seen in the right of the photo. The structures on the left appear to be the ship building ways.	Photo courtesy of Ric Hedman TN(SS). Text courtesy of Art Cappabianca.