USS Harder (SS-257)

History
United States
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	1 December 1941
Launched	19 August 1942
Sponsored by	Miss Helen M. Shaforth
Commissioned	2 December 1942
Fate	Sunk by enemy vessels off Dasol Bay, Luzon, 24 August 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Gato-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced; 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (H.O.R.) diesel engines driving electrical generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed Allis-Chalmers electric motors with reduction gears; two propellers ; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced; 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (4 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;

USS Harder (SS-257), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the harder, a fish of the mullet family found off South Africa. One of the most famous submarines of World War II, she received the Presidential Unit Citation.^[6] Her commanding officer throughout her service,^[6] the resolute and resourceful Commander Samuel D. Dealey (1906–1944), "a submariner's submariner", was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, as well as four Navy Crosses during his lifetime.^[7]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311.
^ ^a ^b "Sub Is Given Up for Lost". The Wilkes-Barre Record. 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 22 November 2017 – via .
^ "Navy Man's Family Will Receive Medal". Eau Claire Leader. 28 August 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 22 November 2017 – via .