USS Cisco (SS-290) - San Diego, CA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 32° 44.126 W 117° 12.711
11S E 480150 N 3621977
The memorial lists about 80 crew members lost when the submarine was sunk by the Japanese in 1943.
Waymark Code: WMT0XH
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/05/2016
Views: 1
This Memorial is one of dozens at San Diego's Liberty Station Park.
The memorial has a photo of the vessel..a submarine and provides a history which Wikipedia (
visit link) echoes:
"USS Cisco (SS-290), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cisco, a whitefish of the Great Lakes. Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 24 December 1942 sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Bennett, through her proxy, Mrs. N. Robertson, and commissioned on 10 May 1943 with Commander James W. Coe in command. She reported to the Pacific Fleet.
Cisco sailed from Panama 7 August 1943 for Brisbane, Australia, arriving 1 September to assume local patrol duties, until 18 September, when she docked at Darwin. She put out on her first war patrol 20 September, but never returned. Japanese records tell of sighting a submarine leaking oil on 28 September in an area where Cisco is known to have been the only submarine then operating. Japanese records state this submarine was sunk by bombs and depth charges. Cisco is thus presumed to have been lost in action 28 September 1943. The only survivor from the crew was Chief Radioman Howell B. Rice (USN ret.), who was taken sick in Darwin and sent ashore to the Navy hospital prior to Cisco's final voyage.
Japanese records state that the submarine was attacked by Type 97 "Kate" attack bombers of the 954 Naval Air Squadron and the riverboat Karatsu (originally the U.S. Navy gunboat USS Luzon (PR-7), captured by Japanese forces and put to work against her former owners)."