USS Shark (SS-314)

USS Shark being launched at Electric Boat Company
History
United States
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down	28 January 1943[1]
Launched	17 October 1943[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. Albert Thomas
Commissioned	14 February 1944[1]
Fate	Sunk by Harukaze off Taiwan, 24 October 1944 - with all hands.[2]
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears 2 × propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed	20.25 kn (37.5 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 kn (16.2 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[4] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Shark (SS-314), a Balao-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the shark, a large marine predator.

Construction began in 1943 and commissioning occurred in 1944. Following shakedown, Shark was deployed to the Pacific where she attacked ships and rescued downed airmen. Shark was sunk on its third patrol by a Japanese destroyer on 24 October 1944. In the engagement in which it was sunk, Shark torpedoed and sank the Japanese freighter Arisan Maru. Arisan Maru was transporting captured Americans but carried no markings or flag indicating this. The Americans had no way of recognizing Arisan Maru was a prison ship. The sinking of Arisan Maru is the greatest loss of American life in a single military sinking.