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Captain Harry A. Guthrie

Captain Ralph R. Gurley

Captain Gurley relieved Captain Guthrie on 20 December 1944 at Perth. He was a Commander at the time but upon his new command he was promoted to Captain. He proved to be a sailor's Captain.

A Brief History of USS Euryale

USS Euryale (AS-22), named for one of the Gorgons in Greek mythology, was built in 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Kearny, New Jersey, for the United States Maritime Commission as a Type C3-S-A2 ship named SS Hawaiian Merchant. The vessel was launched on 12 April 1941.

The merchantman was acquired by the United States Navy on 15 April 1943, converted into a submarine tender, and commissioned on 2 December 1943 with Captain H. A. Guthrie in command. When commissioned, the modified C3 merchantman, now a submarine tender of the Euryale class, was 492 feet 6 inches in length overall, had an extreme beam of 69 feet 6 inches, and had a standard displacement of 7,600 tons. When in that condition, the ship had a mean draft of 21 feet. Her light displacement was 8,282 tons and the full load displacement was 15,400 tons. At that weight, the ship had a maximum draft of 25 feet. Ship's compliment was 90 officers and 1,313 enlisted men. Armament included one 5-inch/38 caliber, four 3-inch/50 caliber, two 40-mm twin mount anti-aircraft, and twenty-two 20-mm anti-aircraft, guns. Two water-tube Foster Wheeler boilers, built by the Boiler Division of Babcock and Wilcox Company of Barberton, Ohio, supplied steam to a De Laval geared turbine which could develop 8,500 horsepower on the single propeller shaft for a designed top speed of 16.5 knots. Good fuel economy was obtained at 15 knots via the mechanical drive propulsion system. Bunkerage was provided for 2,228 tons of fuel oil.

USS Euryale (AS-22) reached Brisbane, Australia, from New York, on 5 March 1944, and, after loading provisions and supplies, voyaged to Milne Bay, New Guinea. There, between 14 March and 26 May 1944, the submarine tender refitted submarines and repaired surface ships. At Manus, from 28 May to 11 August 1944, she established a forward base and rest camp for submariners, clearing the island, constructing buildings, and, at the same time, refitting twenty-six submarines.

The submarine tender returned to Brisbane on 16 August 1944, to load passengers, torpedoes, ammunition, and general cargo, and, with this load, arrived at Fremantle on 28 August 1944. She tended submarines there, until 11 April 1945; then at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii, until 16 August 1945. On 28 August 1945, USS Euryale arrived at Guam to develop a submarine base and rest camp.

On 2 September 1945, the Second World War officially ended when representatives of the Empire of Japan signed the instruments of surrender on board battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) which was anchored in Tokyo Bay, Japan, for that occasion. On 16 September 1945, USS Euryale got underway and set course for Okinawa, and later for Sasebo, Japan. Until 12 January 1946, USS Euryale worked with Japanese submarines, maintaining them and preparing them for disposal. The ship transited over the Pacific Ocean to Pearl Harbor with a salvage ship and two Japanese submarines, one of which the submarine tender towed for the last leg of the passage then continued on alone to San Francisco, California where she arrived on 22 February 1946.

USS Euryale (AS-22) was decommissioned and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 7 October 1946. On 1 December 1971, the vessel was stricken from the Navy List and transferred to the United States Maritime Administration for disposal. Later, the ship was sold.

Ship's Itinerary

USS Euryale (AS-22), WWII Sub-Tender

  1.  Dec 2, 1943 Commissioned
  2.  Jan 25, 1944 Departed New York
  3.  Feb 1-5, l944 Panama
  4.  Feb 9, 1944 Galapagos Islands
  5.  Feb 19-24, 1944 Society Island
  6.  Mar 5-10, 1944 Brisbane, Australia
  7.  Mar 16-May 26,1944 Milne Bay, New Guinea
  8.  May 28-Aug 11,1944 Admiralty Island
  9.  Aug 16-20, 1944 Brisbane, Australia
10.  Aug28-Apr 11, 1945 Perth (Fremantle) Australia
11.  Apr 24-Apr26, 1945 Admiralty Island
12.  May 6-Aug 16, 1945 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
13.  Aug 28-Sept 16, 1945 Guam
14.  Sept 20-Sept 27,1945 Okinawa
15.  Sept 28-Oct 16,1945 Sasebo, Japan
16.  Oct 17-Oct 29,1945 Kure, Japan
17.  Oct 31-Jan 12, 1946 Sasebo, Japan
18.  Jan 20-Jan 25, 1946 Guam
19.  Jan 30-Jan 31, 1946 Entwetok
20.  Feb 13-Feb 16, 1946 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
21.  Feb 22, 1946 San Francisco, Treasure Island Navy Base
22.  Feb 27, 1946 Terminal Island

Awards, Citations and Campaign Medals

	World War II Victory Medal
	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
	American Campaign Medal
	Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

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