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History of the LAGARTO

Lake Michgan to the embattled South Pacific

The USS LAGARTO (SS-371) was one of twenty-eight fleet class submarines built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company during the Second World War. Laid down on the building ways on 12 January 1944, the LAGARTO was the twenty-first submarine and the eleventh of the Balao class boats built by Manitowoc.

A little over four months later the LAGARTO was launched on 28 May 1944 with Illinois Congresswoman Mrs. Paul Douglas and wife of Captain Paul Douglas, USMCR as sponsor. As with the other launching ceremonies a large number of Manitowoc residents and visiting dignitaries turned out for the special occasion and to tour the new submarine built by their small mid-western town.

Following another four and a half months of training and successful builder’s trials on Lake Michigan, the LAGARTO was commissioned on 14 October 1944 with Commander Frank Latta in command. CDR Latta was a well liked and respected veteran submarine skipper with a Navy Cross to his credit for his work done as commanding officer of the NARWHAL (SS-167).

From The Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico

As with all the other Manitowoc submarines, the LAGARTO traveled south along Lake Michigan to Chicago to begin it journey to the sea. Leaving Chicago behind, the LAGARTO followed the Illinois River until it reached the Mississippi where it entered a floating dry dock.

While most of the crew traveled by train to New Orleans, a skeleton crew continued work on the LAGARTO while it was in the floating dry dock, finishing up as many loose ends as possible. Once the tow reached New Orleans, the rest of the crew rejoined the boat and prepared the LAGARTO for the next leg of the journey to the Panama Canal.

Escorted by submarine chaser SC-512, the LAGARTO departed New Orleans on 12 November 1944 to transit the Gulf of Mexico. At first this might not seem to be nothing more than milk run but in reality, during WWII the Gulf of Mexico was considered to be a war zone. The very real threat of German u-boats in the area necessitated an escort and the crew keeping on their toes during the trip.

Arriving at the canal three days later, the LAGARTO would spend the next two weeks in shakedown and training supervised by Captain John Johns. During this time of valuable training for the crew, on 3 December 1944, CMMOM Pat Cole died of coronary thrombosis while off of Perlas Island, Panama.

Pearl Harbor

On 9 December 1944, the LAGARTO cleared Balboa and departed Panama for Pearl Harbor and arrived on Christmas Day 1944. Yet more training was performed by the crew and the LAGARTO received various improvements and installations including the second 5-inch deck gun forward of the conning tower. The 20mm Oerlikon AA guns were replaced by 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and a number of other .50-caliber HMG mounts were also installed topside.

Internally the LAGARTO was fitted out to carry more 5-inch rounds for the second deck gun, allowing for a total of 220 rounds.