Original, Vintage Folk Art Painting Hand-painted rendition of the emblem of the USS Raton , United States Navy Submarine. Rat in a US Navy Sailor outfit, with dixie cup sailor’s hat, riding a torpedo. Sized 9″ x 9.5″ The wood in 1/2 plywood. Plywood was invented in the 1860’s and in the early 1900’s became widely used as a building material. On the back is some paint from another design which went unfinished. Good condition, and well painted. A unique piece of US Navy folk art. In World War Two , the USS Raton saw much action against the Japanese in the Pacific. Have A Look At My Other Items. Raton (SS-270), was an attack submarine, laid down May 29 1942 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. Manitowoc , Wisconsin , and launched January 24 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs. West and commissioned July 13, 1943, Lt. Following training in Lake Michigan and at Coco Solo , Panama Canal Zone , Raton sailed for the southwest Pacific September 19 1943. She arrived at Brisbane , Australia , on October 16 and joined Submarine Force , 7th Fleet. From Brisbane, Raton sailed to Tulagi in the Solomon Islands for her first war patrol, from November 20 to December 6, 1943, in the Bismarck Archipelago – Solomons – New Guinea area. On November 24, while patrolling west of Massau , Raton sighted two Japanese cargo-type ships , with two destroyers and a “Rufe” float plane in escort. Raton trailed the convoy and that night made a torpedo attack, sinking the Onoe Maru. The excellent countermeasures of the two escorts thwarted four attempts to sink the remaining freighter. On November 28, she sighted a Rabaul-bound convoy of five cargo ships, accompanied by two escorts. In a submerged attack, Raton sank two ships of the convoy, the Hokko Maru and Yuri Maru. After a severe pounding by the escorts, Raton escaped, but remained in the area for a return bout. In a night attack, she heavily damaged a third freighter, and called for assistance, as her torpedoes were nearly expended. Gato arrived and joined the attack, only to be jumped by the two Japanese destroyers. Raton surfaced and raced at flank speed to draw the escorts away from Gato, and succeeded, allowing Gato to sink Columbia Maru. After returning to Milne Bay , New Guinea , for rest and refit alongside Fulton, Raton departed on her second war patrol, from December 11 to January 25, 1944, for the Mindanao – Celebes – Halmahera area. On Christmas Eve, the submarine made an attack on four merchantmen and two destroyers in Morotai Strait, sinking Heiwa Maru and damaging an auxiliary aircraft carrier. She scored hits on one tanker, but the efficient countermeasures of the Japanese escorts interrupted the attack. Raton departed the patrol area on January 19 and reached Fremantle on January 25 for refit by Pelias. Her third patrol, from February 18 to April 14 , was conducted in the Java Sea , the Karimata Strait , and the South China Sea. Her fourth patrol, from May 19 to June 23, in the South China and Java Seas , provided good hunting. On May 23, Raton intercepted two small intercoastal freighters north of the Tambelan Islands , and sank both with her deck gun. That same evening, she contacted fast convoy Hi-63 of three transports and four destroyers. She sank destroyer Iki, and damaged a transport. People in forward torpedo room thought we had struck something or had been struck by something. This turned out to be 2 torpedoes fired by U. Lapon was looking for a Japanese submarine passing through the area and mistook Raton for that enemy sub. The Commanding officer checked fire on the second set of torpedoes realizing he wasn’t shooting at the enemy. Later dry-dock inspection of Raton showed dents where the torpedoes hit. This is the only known friendly fire incident in World War II between two submarines. On May 28, Raton tracked a Japanese RO-61-class sub, but missed due to an unfavorable firing angle. On June 6, a bright moonlit night brought out a large convoy of 11 ships with four destroyer-type escorts. One frigate was blown apart by three hits from a spread of fish fired by Raton, but the submarine received a severe pounding from a prolonged depth charge attack before making her escape. A boarding party from the submarine captured a small sailing vessel on June 13, taking 11 prisoners and scuttling the craft. Four days later, Raton sighted a small freighter, sinking it with one torpedo, and rescuing nine survivors. The fifth patrol, July 18 to September 10, conducted in the South China Sea off Luzon , gave Raton only one victory, a tanker left beached off Dasol Bay , Philippines , on August 4. Raton had better luck on her sixth patrol, October 6 to December 1, in the South China Sea. She fired both sets of torpedo tubes, her bow tubes at six overlapping targets while her stern fish were fired at a large freighter. Two ships, Shiranesan Maru and Taikai Maru went down, and another vessel was damaged. With her torpedo supply running low and a typhoon approaching, Raton pulled into Mios Woendi, Schouten Islands , for more fuel and torpedoes with which to finish the patrol. Leaving Mios Woendi October 27, Raton encountered an enemy task group of two heavy cruisers and five escort vessels on 6 November. In a submerged attack, she scored three hits on a Mogami-class cruiser Kumano, but did not put the heavy out of action. In a surface action Raton sank Unkai Maru and Kurasaki with four torpedoes. Then, both submarines fired torpedoes at the remaining auxiliaries with unconfirmed results. With only four torpedoes remaining, Raton steamed home, arriving San Francisco December 1, 1944 On March 13, 1945, after an overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Raton headed west for Pearl Harbor for additional training. She sailed for the Yellow Sea April 20 for her seventh war patrol. On May 2, she blew up a loaded tanker, Toryu Maru, in a night torpedo attack off Shantung Peninsula despite gunfire from two Japanese escorts. On May 16, she made a submerged attack on two transports, sinking the larger one Eiju Maru. The submarine sailed on June 22 for her final patrol of World War II, lifeguard duty off Hong Kong. No Allied planes went down in the area, and she made no enemy contacts. Arriving at Subic Bay July 23 for upkeep, Raton was preparing for her next patrol when the war ended. On August 31, 1945 she sailed for home, arriving at San Francisco in mid-September. Following overhaul at Mare Island Shipyard, USS Raton transited the Panama Canal, and arrived Naval Submarine Base at New London , Connecticut on March 12, 1946 where she was assigned to the 2d Fleet. She spent the next 2 1/2 years in training exercises in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean , helping to maintain America and the West’s defense posture during the early years of the Cold War. After being placed in reserve in the fall of 1948, Raton was decommissioned at New London, Conn. On March 11, 1949. She remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at New London until July 1952 when she was towed to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion to a radar picket submarine. Redesignated SSR-270 on July 18, 1952, she was recommissioned September 21, 1953, Cmdr. Departing Philadelphia on December 8, she underwent training for several months in the Norfolk area. Ordered to the Pacific, she arrived at San Diego on March 7, 1954 via the Panama Canal. The submarine spent the next year in local operations, and after was deployed to the western Pacific. In the late 1950’s she participated in operations with SEATO and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. In the 1960’s Raton was deployed to the Far East, where she operated with naval forces of Thailand , the Philippines , and the Republic of China , under the Military Assistance Program, and in various training exercises. USS Raton was awarded six battle stars for service in World War II. The item “Old Folk Art Painting USS Raton Submarine Emblem US Navy Sailor & Torpedo WWII” is in sale since Wednesday, July 11, 2018. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\United States\Other US WWII Original Items”. The seller is “rickl711″ and is located in Coventry, Rhode Island. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- United States Navy Submarine USS Raton: Old Hand-painted Emblem , Sailor Torpedo
- World War II Sub Pacific Battle Veteran: Original Old Painting, on wood
