USS Scamp Challenge Coin

November 9, 1944 - 83 Men Lost

A beautiful 1.75 inch brass coin honoring the men of World War II who gave their lives fighting for our country...

The front of the coin honors the USS Scamp SS-277. The back has the following quote:

"To the 374 officers and 3131 men of the Submarine Force who gave their lives in the winning of this war, I can assure you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge their deaths."

-Vice Admiral C.A. Lockwood, Jr. Commander Submarine Force, 1943 - 1946

About the USS Scamp... Leaving Pearl Harbor on October 16, 1944, SCAMP (Cmdr. J.C. Hollingsworth) headed for Midway, topped off with fuel there, and departed that place for her eighth patrol on October 21, 1944. SCAMP was to patrol in the vicinity of the Bonin Islands.

On November 9th, SCAMP was told to stay clear of the Bonins area, and she acknowledged, saying she had made torpedo attacks. This was the last communication received from SCAMP. In order to provide rescue services for downed aviators during Saipan-based B-29 assaults on Tokyo, SCAMP was ordered to lifeguard duty on November 14th. She was told to proceed to a point just east of the peninsula. Between that date and November 26, 1944, numerous messages were sent to SCAMP which required no acknowledgement, thus rendering it impossible to tell whether she received any or all of them.

On November 29, 1944, information was received of an enemy minefield in the vicinity of Inubo Saki, a point on the previously mentioned peninsula, and all submarines in that are were warned. Since all transmissions to SCAMP after November 9, 1944 remained unacknowledged, and she had not appeared by December 21, 1944, she was reported as presumed lost on war patrol in enemy waters.

Since the end of the war, the following facts have been learned from Japanese sources. On November 11, 1944, a Japanese patrol plane bombed what appeared to be oil trails left by a submarine. A coast defense vessel was led to the scene by the plane and dropped some seventy depth charges in three runs on the target whereupon a large oil pool appeared. The position of the attack is one in which SCAMP might be expected to be on November 11th, in proceeding toward her lifeguard station. On November 13th GREENLING, herself on a lifeguard station, contacted a ship. Due to the nature of radar interference, GREENLING thought that her contact was on SCAMP, although she was unable to sight anything.

On November 16th the Japanese made two attacks. Amplifying data on these attacks reveal that on the latter attack, “Great explosive sounds came as a result of this attack.” It would seem then, that SCAMP was attacked several times during her period of lifeguard duty. Whether she was badly damaged and withdrawing from the Japanese coast at the time of the last two attacks is impossible to say. No attack cited here ties in with any anti-submarine attacks reported by submarines returning from patrol. It is probable that damage to SCAMP became progressively more serious as she absorbed each successive attack, and she may have been withdrawing from the Empire without transmission facilities when the end came.

SCAMP, in the seven patrols completed before her loss, sank six ships, totaling 49,000 tons, and damaged eight, for 40,400 tons. Her first patrol was in the Southern approaches of the Japanese Empire in March 1943. Plagues by poor torpedo performance, she could only damage a tanker and two freighters. In the Bismarks-Solomons area on her second patrol, SCAMP sank a large freighter. The same area was the scene of her third patrol, which netted SCAMP a submarine and a large tanker; both damaged. SCAMP’s fourth patrol was in the same area as the previous two; this time she sank a freighter and a freighter-transport, and damaged a destroyer escort.

On her fifth patrol this ship covered the Truk-Kavieng traffic lanes. She sank a freighter- transport, and damaged a heavy cruiser and a transport. Her sixth patrol, in the same area from mid-December 1943 to February 1944, resulted in the sinking of a large tanker. In her seventh patrol, conducted in the New Guinea-Palau-Mindonao area, SCAMP sank a small trawler by gunfire. During this patrol, SCAMP was severely damaged by a close enemy aircraft bomb, and was saved only the heroic work of her Commanding Officer and crew.

Would make an excellent addition to your collection or for your favorite sailor! Collect the entire series!

OPTIONAL: Our Air-Tite acrylic cases provide the ultimate long-term protection for your coin. They are made of crystal clear, hard Acrylic and will never yellow over time; the foam rings are made of Volara and both are free of PVC that could damage your coin.