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USS Mingo SS-261

The USS Mingo was a States Navy Gato-class submarine who was awarded five Battle Stars for her World War II service. These results were aided by an armament that consisted of 10 x 21-inch torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1 x 3-inch / 50 caliber deck gun, and four machine guns. She could carry 60 sailors and endure 48 hours at 2 knots when submerged to 300 feet, and 75 patrol days. Her 311 foot long body could reach a top speed of 21 knots per hour while surfaced, and 9 knots if submerged. This was possible due to propulsion comprised of 4 x diesel engines driving electrical generators, 2 x 126-cell batteries, 4 x high-speed electric motors with reduction gears, and two propellers.

Early War Damage

Mingo was laid down in 1942 by the Electric Boat Company and launched the same year. She was commissioned in1943 and began her shakedown off Long Island. After her fitting out, Mingo traveled first to Newport, Rhode Island, to assist with the torpedo station. She then set sail for her maiden voyage to Pearl Harbor through the Panama Canal Zone. Mingo was ready for her first war patrol by June, and immediately struck and damaged three Japanese merchant ships. The voyage ended with a bombing of Sorol Island. USS Mingo embarked on her next mission that fall, when she set sail around the Marshalls; Carolines; and Marianas; while doing so, she fired at, and seriously damaged, a Japanese cruiser.

Success and Sadness

By that time Mingo needed an overhaul, which she received at Mare Island Navy Yard in San Pablo Bay, California. She could not commence operations until February, 1944, when she stood out for the Pacific once again and joined the US 7th Fleet. Her orders were to patrol the South China Sea, and then leave for Brisbane. Once in Australia, directives took her to Manus, in the Admiralty Islands, for additional training in June. After those exercises, USS Mingo sailed to the Philippines; within a month of arriving, she succeeded in sinking the 2,100-ton destroyer Tamanawi. Then sent to perform lifeguard duty around the Philippines and Borneo during the Thirteenth Air Force strikes, she struck and sank four coastal freighters. However, she still excelled as lifeguard, saving a total of 16 B-24 Liberator aviators. (Six were afloat in rubber boats in Makassar Strait and 10 were near Celebes Island.) During this period, Mingo was based at Fremantle, Australia, and her consequent jobs were in vicinities west of Borneo. It was on Christmas Day, 1944, that she attacked a Japanese convoy-sinking the 9,486-ton tanker Manila Maru, and damaging a gunboat escort. It was somewhat symbolic that the Japanese lost the vessel named after the Philippine capital around the same time they lost their hold on the city itself. This coup was repeated with another attack before Mingo required more repairs. Stationed next in the South China Sea, Mingo had the misfortune of losing two men in a hurricane before being told to go to the Gulf of Siam.

Working for the Japanese

Traveling back to Hawaii that August, Mingo heard that the war was over, and she returned to the West Coast. USS Mingo was decommissioned in January, 1947 at Mare Island, and she thus entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Eight years later she was re-commissioned and transferred to Japan under the Military Assistance Program. Her new name was Kuroshio, and she served the Japanese Navy until being decommissioned in March of 1966. It was in 1973 that the former USS Mingo was sunk as a target.

Mingo's tragic loss of life was the singular incident of catastrophe in her five-year war contribution, and it seems rather ironic that it was due to inclement weather and not enemy fire. Such a situation proves that disaster could occur, regardless of the crew's training and response to proper protocol. The crew, as well as the rest of the country, must have been deeply saddened that such a horrible fate fell upon those men. Military life was often fraught with such dangers, and surprisingly, decades later, former sailors must still be concerned that they were placed in peril. This time it is from the suspicion that they may have potentially inhaled or swallowed tiny asbestos fibers that could have been inside their submarine. Asbestos was heavily relied upon in the middle of the last century to offer additional protection against heat, flame, fire and electricity in all construction, and was seen as especially useful onboard ships. With its versatility and lightweight composition, asbestos seemed ideal for submarines. But, if its sealant became ripped during repeated jarring, it gave tiny pieces of asbestos the chance to escape into the vessel's air system. Unfortunately, those pieces have remained in people's bodies for up to 40 or 50 years, and their long term irritation has been known to cause serious medical conditions and even malignancies. If any former crew member of the USS Mingo notices unusual physical symptoms, they should contact a physician immediately and then call us for additional information.

Submarines Index

USS Albacore SS 218 USS Amberjack SS 219 USS Angler SS 240 USS Apogon SS 308 USS Archer-Fish SS 311 USS Argonaut-SM-1 USS Argonaut SS 475 USS Aspro SS 309 USS Atule SS 403 USS Balao SS 285 USS Bang SS 385 USS Barbel SS 316 USS Barbero SS 317 USS Barb SS 220 USS Barracuda SS 163 USS Bashaw SS 241 USS Bergall SS 320 USS Besugo SS 321 USS Billfish SS 286 USS Blackfin SS 322 USS Blackfish SS 221 USS Blenny SS 324 USS Blower SS 325 USS Blueback SS 326 USS Bluefish SS 222 USS Bluegill SS 242 USS Boarfish SS 327 USS Bonefish SS 223 USS Bonita SS 165 USS Bowfin SS 287 USS Bream SS 243 USS Brill SS 330 USS Bugara SS 331 USS Bullhead SS 332 USS Bumper SS 333 USS Burrfish SS 312 USS Cabezon SS 334 USS Carbonero SS 337 USS Hake SS 256 USS Hammerhead SS 364 USS Harder SS 257 USS Hardhead SS 365 USS Hawkbill SS 366

USS Herring SS 233 USS Hoe SS 258 USS Icefish SS 367 USS Jack SS 259 USS Jallao SS 368 USS Kete S 369 USS Kingfish SS 234 USS Kraken SS 370 USS Lagarto SS 371 USS Lizardfish SS 373 USS Loggerhead SS 374 USS Macabi SS 375 USS Mackerel 204 USS Manta SS 299 USS Mapiro SS 376 USS Marlin SS 205 USS Mingo SS 261 USS Moray SS 300 USS Muskallunge SS 262 USS Narwhal SS 263 USS Nautilus SS 168 USS Paddle SS 167 USS Pampanito SS 383 USS Parche SS 384 USS Pargo SS 264 USS Perch SS 176 USS Permit SS 178 USS Peto SS 265 USS Pickerel SS 177 USS Picuda SS 382 USS Pike SS 173 USS Pilotfish SS 386 USS Pintado SS 387 USS Pipefish SS 388 USS Piranha SS 389 USS Plaice SS 390 USS Plunger SS 179 USS Pogy SS 266 USS Pollack SS 180 USS Pomfret SS 391 USS Pompano SS 181 USS Pompon SS 267 USS Porpoise SS 172

USS Puffer SS 268 USS Queenfish SS 393 USS Quillback SS 424 USS Rasher SS 269 USS Raton SS 270 USS Ray SS 271 USS Razorback SS 394 USS Redfin SS 272 USS Redfish SS 395 USS Robalo SS 273 USS Rock SS 274 USS Ronquil SS 396 USS Runner SS 275 USS Runner SS 476 USS S-1 SS 105 USS S-20 SS 125 USS S-46 SS 157 USS Sailfish SS 192 USS Salmon SS 182 USS Sand Lance SS 381 USS Sargo SS 188 USS Saury SS 189 USS Sawfish SS 276 USS Scabbardfish SS 397 USS Scamp SS 277 USS Scorpion SS 278 USS Sculpin SS 191 USS Sea Cat SS 399 USS Sea Devil SS 400 USS Sea Dog SS 401 USS Seadragon SS 194 USS Sea Fox SS 402 USS Seahorse SS 304 USS Sealion SS 195 USS Seal SS 183 USS Sea Owl SS 405 USS Sea Poacher SS 406 USS Searaven SS 196 USS Sea Robin SS 407 USS Seawolf SS 197 USS Segundo SS 398 USS Sennet SS 408

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