Last Known Activity:
On January 10th, 1943, the USS Argonaut (SS-166) was attacking a Japanese convoy when she was counterattacked by the convoy escorts. An allied plane witnessed her attack. The submarine was apparently damaged by a depth charge. When she came to the surface, she was subsequently sunk by gun fire from the Japanese destroyers escorting the convoy, with a loss of all crew members. Seaman 1st Class Ball was officially declared dead on January 11, 1944.
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Comments/Citation:
Service number: 3764500
Submarine war patrols:
USS Nautilus (SS-168) - 1st through 3rd
USS Argonaut (SS-166) - 2nd
Robert Norman Ball was born March 28, 1918 in Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, California, the only child of Robert Henry and Bertha Ball. His parents, both born in England, immigrated to the US in 1915 and 1916 respectively. His family lived in Pajaro, in Santa Cruz county, where his father was a farmer. Robert graduated from high school and attended San Francisco State College. He was employed by Wire Rope Corporation of America in San Francisco when he registered for the draft in October 1940.
On December 2, 1941 he entered the Navy at San Francisco. He served aboard USS Nautilus (SS-168) as a Seaman 2nd class before reporting aboard USS Argonaut (SS-166) in October 1942. While aboard Argonaut, his rate would change to Seaman 1st class in December 1942.
USS Argonaut (APS-1, later known as SS-166) was the largest American submarine during WWII. Her first patrol near Midway had resulted in no damage to enemy ships, but her second was a most successful one. It was conducted following a complete modernization, at Mare Island. Her mission on this one had been to cooperate with Nautilus in transporting 252 Marine officers and men to Makin Island for a diversionary raid against enemy shore installations. In the early morning of 17 August 1942, the raiders were debarked in boats. After nearly two days ashore, the Marines returned, and the submarines transported them back to Pearl Harbor, Argonaut arriving on August 26.
While operating in the area southeast of New Britain in the Solomon Sea off Papau, New Guinea during her third patrol, Argonaut intercepted a Japanese convoy returning to Rabaul from Lae on January 10, 1943. A U. S. Army plane which was out of bombs saw one destroyer hit by a torpedo, saw the explosion of two other destroyers, and reported that there were five other vessels in the group. On the basis of the report given by the Army flier who witnessed the attack in which Argonaut perished, this ship was credited with having damaged one Japanese destroyer on her last patrol.
Argonaut was sunk by Japanese aircraft and destroyers Isokaze and Maikaze during this encounter on January 10, 1943. S1 Robert N. Ball was among the 8 officers and 94 crew members lost. Later issued letters of commendation indicate “as a result of a severe counterattack the Argonaut was forced to break surface but with no regard to personal safety and in the face of imminent death, the officers and crew accepted destruction rather than surrender.”
Robert N. Ball’s name appears on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines.
References:
1920; Census Place: Pajaro, Santa Cruz, California; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 293
U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012": San Francisco State College; Year: 1939
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56754303/robert-norman-ball
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/ball-r-n.htm
Ancestry.com. U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941
https://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08166.htm
Naval History and Heritage Command - USS Argonaut
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-argonaut-166-loss.html
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at sgould557@gmail.com.
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