USS Shark (SS-174) was a Porpoise-class submarine. USS Shark was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the shark. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 24 October 1933. USS Shark was launched on 21 May 1935 (sponsored by Miss Ruth Ellen Lonergan, 12-year-old daughter of United States Senator Augustine Lonergan of Connecticut), and commissioned on 25 January 1936, Lieutenant C.J. Carter in command.
On 6 January 1942, USS Shark was almost hit with a torpedo from a Imperial Japanese Navy submarine. A few days later, USS Shark was ordered to Ambon Island, where an enemy invasion was expected. On 27 January, USS Shark was directed to join the submarines patrolling in Strait of Malacca, then to cover the passage east of Lifamatola and Bangka Strait. On 2 February, USS Shark reported to her base at Soerabaja that she had been depth-charged 10 mi (16 km) off Tifore Island and had failed to sink a Japanese ship during a torpedo attack. Five days later, she reported chasing an empty cargo ship headed northwest, for which Admiral Wilkes upbraided her commanding officer. No further messages were received from USS Shark. On 8 February, she was told to proceed to Makassar Strait and later was told to report information. Nothing was heard and, on 7 March, USS Shark was reported as presumed lost, the victim of unknown causes, the first American submarine lost to enemy anti-submarine warfare. USS Shark was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 24 June.
Post-war, Japanese records showed numerous attacks on unidentified submarines in USS Shark's area at plausible times. At 01:37 on 11 February, for example, the Japanese destroyer IJN Yamakaze opened fire with her 5 in (130 mm) guns and sank a surfaced submarine. Voices were heard in the water, but no attempt was made to rescue possible survivors.
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