Wreck of USS Harder (SS-257)

 shipwreck, United States Navy

Laid down at the Electric Boat Co of New London, CT in December 1st, 1941 as the 46th member of the Gato Class of Fleet Submarines, USS Harder commissioned into US Navy service a year to the day after her keel laying and departed on her shakedown cruise to the Caribbean before joining the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in May 1943.

Under the command of Samuel D. Dealey, Harder and her crew stood out on the first of five exceedingly successful war patrols into Japanese-held waters in June 1943, returning to her base each time with more Japanese shipping sunk to her credit. Sinking one ship on her maiden patrol, Harder would sink five on her second, three on her third, two on her fourth and another three on her fifth for a total of 53,045 tons and 16 ships. Under the command of her intrepid skipper, Harder’s exploits in the face of heavy enemy fire became the stuff of legend among the US Submarine community; most notably her action off Tawi Tawi where she sank three Japanese Destroyers in a heavily defended Japanese Naval Anchorage and rescued an Australian commando unit from the enemy-occupied shores of Borneo, actions which would later earn Dealey the Medal of Honor.

Departing Freemantle on her sixth War Patrol in early August 5th, 1944 bound for the South China Sea, Dealey and Harder were tasked with commanding a three-sub wolfpack consisting of her two sisterships USS Haddo (SS-255) and USS Hake (SS-256) in a coordinated sweep of the waters off Luzon. Alerted on the 17th to the presence of a large but heavily defended Japanese merchant and naval convoy heading out of Mako and bound for Manila, Harder and her sisters joined with three other American Submarines in wait off Paluan Bay, Luzon. Though Harder herself scored no kills in the subsequent action on the 21st of August, she made her presence felt on the remnants of the convoy on the 22nd when she and Haddo attacked and sank three escort vessels off Manila Bay. Returning to the waters off Bolinao to lie in wait for the balance of the original convoy to make a run for Manila, Harder, Haddo and Hake chased a Japanese tanker convoy into Dasol Bay with Haddo using her last torpedoes to sink an escorting Destroyer on August 23rd. After detaching Haddo to Mios Woendi to rearm, Dealey ordered Hake to join Harder in a picket line outside of Dasol to intercept the vital tankers when they attempted their inevitable escape towards Manila.

The following morning Harder and Hake spotted two Japanese warships making their way out of the bay and promptly moved in to attack, with Hake engaging a the former Thai Destroyer Phra Ruang and Harder setting her sights on what appeared to be a large Minesweeper (in reality the former ex-USS Stewart (DD-224), a US Destroyer scuttled at Surabaya in March 1942 repaired and placed into IJN service). As Hake moved into firing position on the Phra Ruang, the old Destroyer suddenly came about and retired back into Dasol Bay, while the Minesweeper began aggressive sonar pinging and clearly picked up the sonar return of the Harder to her Port side. Hake’s Commanding officer watched through his periscope as the Japanese ship took a direct heading towards’ Harder’s raised periscope some 600 yards distant at 0647hrs before he took his sub deep and rigged for silent running, his sonar operator hearing Harder taking similar evasive maneuvers. The Japanese ship continued its aggressive sonar pinging over Harder’s position for almost an hour seemingly without success, however at 0728hrs a series of depth charges were dropped that caused a rapid series of heavy explosions, bringing a slick of oil, wood and cork to the surface at this location, signifying the loss of USS Harder with all 60 of her crew on August 24th, 1944.

For her actions on the date of her loss, USS Harder was awarded her sixth and final Battle Star for World War Two service. Over her six successful war patrols, Harder is confirmed to have sunk 16 Japanese vessels for a total of 54,002 tons and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

www.navsource.org/archives/08/08257.htm