Cisco (SS-290)
1943
A type of whitefish of the family Coregonidae, genus Leucichthys, that abounds in the waters of the Great Lakes region of North America.
(SS-290: displacement 1,526 (standard), 2,414 (submerged); length 311'9" (overall); beam 27'3" (extreme); draft 15'3" (mean); speed 20.25 knots (surfaced), 8.75 (submerged); complement 66; armament 1 4-inch, 2 20 millimeter, 10 21-inch torpedo tubes; class Balao)
Cisco (SS-290) was laid down on 29 October 1942 by the Portsmouth (N. H.) Navy Yard; launched on 24 December 1942, the day before Christmas; sponsored by Mrs. Andrew C. Bennett (wife of Rear Adm. Andrew C. Bennett, Commandant Eighth Naval District) through her proxy, Mrs. N. Robertson, after illness prevented Mrs. Bennett from attending; and commissioned on 10 May 1943, Cmdr. James W. "Red" Coe, the recipient of a Navy Cross for "actions stamped with extraordinary heroism and a gallantry of conduct" while commanding, in succession, the submarines S-39 (SS-144) and Skipjack (SS-184) in the Southwest Pacific, in command.
Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, Cisco sailed from Panama on 7 August 1943 for Brisbane, Australia, arriving on 1 September to assume local patrol duties, until 18 September, when she docked at Port Darwin. She put out on her first war patrol on 20 September, but never returned.
On 28 September 1943, the gunboat Karatsu (ex-Luzon, PR-7), Lt. Cmdr. Wakasugi Chikazu, commanding, cleared Cebu. As the warship steamed in the Sulu Sea off Panay, 41 nautical miles west of the island of Iloilo later that day, her lookouts sighted an oil slick. Karatsu carried out a depth charge attack. An hour and a quarter into the forenoon watch (0915), a pair of Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 carrier attack bombers [Kate], from the 954th Kokutai [Naval Air Group] based at Cebu, reached the scene.
A half an hour later, Karatsu’s sound operators picked up the contact but lost it before the ship could attack again. A low fuel state prompted one of the Type 97s to return to Cebu at 1120. Less than one hour later, the remaining Nakajima picked up the scent at 1205 and attacked ten minutes later, dropping a depth charge. A second aerial attack resulted in a widening oil slick a little less than three quarters of an hour later.
After the first Type 97 returned to the scene of the action, Karatsu prosecuted another attack after which lookouts sighted more oil, and the warship remained in proximity until 1715. The victim of the attacks was Cisco, and she went to the bottom with all 76 souls.
Cisco was stricken from the List of Ships on the Navy Register on 12 February 1944.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
8 May 2024
