Jallao (SS-368)
1944-
A food fish of the Gulf of Mexico
(SS-368: displacement 1,526; length 311'9"; beam 27'3"; draft 15'3"; speed 20 knots; complement 66; armament 1 5-inch, 1 40 millimeter, 1 20 millimeter, 2 .50 caliber machine guns; 10 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Perch)
Jallao (SS-368) was laid down on 29 September 1943 at Manitowoc, Wisc., by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 12 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Oliver G. Kirk; and commissioned on 8 July 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph B. Icenhower in command.
After spending most of July in training, Jallao departed Manitowoc on 26 July 1944 for Chicago, Ill., where she entered a floating dry dock for the trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, La. She subsequently departed New Orleans on 6 August, and, after transiting the Panama Canal, ultimately arrived at Pearl Harbor on 22 September.
Following additional training, the submarine sailed on 9 October 1944 for her first war patrol, operating with Pintado (SS-387) and Atule (SS-403) in a coordinated attack group known as “Clarey’s Crushers.” At first, the boats proceeded toward Luzon Strait, but, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf late in October, they received orders to take up scouting positions between the Philippines and Japan to cut off any crippled Japanese warships struggling home after their defeat at the Battle of Cape Engaño. On the evening of 25 October, Jallao came across the damaged light cruiser Tama and moved in to attack. She fired seven torpedoes, of which three hit and sent the Japanese warship to the bottom. After this notable success on her maiden patrol, Jallao continued her search until 28 November, returning to Majuro 10 December.
Jallao sailed for the Yellow Sea for her second war patrol on 6 January 1945. While the decimated Japanese merchant marine offered few targets, she flushed out a convoy on 5 March. During the attack, she had a close call when an enemy escort trying to ram her, damaging her periscope. Two days later, she sailed for Midway, arriving there on 26 March.
After repairs, the submarine departed Midway on 20 April 1945 for her third war patrol, and was assigned aircraft lifeguard duty off Marcus Island. Responding to reports of flyers in the water north of the island 9 May, Jallao braved shore batteries to move in and pick up five men in a raft, delivering them safely to Saipan on 12 May 1945. She then departed for the coast of Japan and more lifeguard duty as U.S. heavy bombers stepped up their attacks on the home islands. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1945.
After advanced training in the Marianas, Jallao departed Guam on 31 July 1945 to patrol the Sea of Japan. On that, her fourth patrol, the submarine sank the 6,000-ton freighter Timoko Maru on 11 August. Four days later, hostilities ended and the boat sailed, via Guam, to San Francisco, where she arrived on 28 September. She was decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Calif., on 30 September 1946, after which she entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Jallao’s home port was changed to New London in July 1953 and she underwent a conversion in which she was streamlined and equipped with snorkeling gear and new electric equipment. She was recommissioned on 4 December 1953, Lt. Cmdr. J. W. Mercer in command. After shakedown in the San Diego area, the submarine departed on 12 April for the East Coast, steaming via the Panama Canal to Norfolk. Joining Submarine Squadron 6, Jallao operated out of Halifax during 1954, training with Canadian and U.S. antisubmarine units. In January and February 1955, she took part in fleet exercises in the Caribbean, returning to Norfolk on 4 March.
Jallao’s home port was changed to New London in July 1955, and she got underway with British submarine HMS Alderney on 7 August to take part in Joint Exercise New Broom IV. Following this operation, Jallao was deployed to the Sixth Fleet and departed for the Mediterranean on 9 November. In the months that followed, she helped train Italian Navy ships and took part in fleet exercises, beginning the long voyage home in mid-January 1956. The ship proceeded through the Suez Canal, visited several countries of eastern and southern Africa, and crossed the South Atlantic to take part in exercises with Uruguayan and Brazilian destroyers. The veteran submarine returned to New London on 16 April.
After having installed the latest in electronic gear, Jallao resumed operations in January 1957. Combined fleet exercises in the Caribbean occupied her through February, and, after coastal antisubmarine operations, she arrived at Boston late in July for a short midshipman training cruise. She spent September and October in the North Atlantic on a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) evolution before she returned to New London on 24 October.
Jallao spent most of 1958 on training exercises off the Atlantic Coast, taking part in a combined antisubmarine exercise in the North Atlantic in September. She spent the year 1959 largely in the development of equipment and training with the Submarine School at New London. The ship got underway on 20 January 1960 for exercises in the Caribbean, returning on 19 February. The latter part of the year was spent in training out of Bermuda. From 9 January to 24 March 1961, the submarine carried out special training off Scotland, and operated with Canadian ships off Halifax that summer, before she spent the remainder of the year in the waters off New London.
Jallao began 1962 with her second Mediterranean cruise, sailing on 2 January, and exercised with the Sixth Fleet until 7 May. She spent the last four months of the year being extensively modernized and undergoing repairs at the Philadelphia [Pa.] Naval Shipyard. Through 1963 and 1964, the ship took part in training cruises to the Caribbean, served in submarine school training, and participated in equipment evaluation work. On 3 January 1965, she departed for a four-month Sixth Fleet deployment, returning on 1 May for submarine warfare tactics and submarine school operations out of New London. Jallao operated along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean into 1967.
Ultimately, Jallao was transferred to the government of Spain through the Security Assistance Program (SAP) on 1 June 1974, and she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 June 1974.
Jallao received four battle stars for her World War II service.
