Scorpion

 Scorpion departed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 29, 1943 on her fourth war patrol.  The last contact with her was on Jan. 5, 1944 when she met the USS Herring.  Presumably she proceeded to her patrol area in the northern East China and Yellow Seas.  No information has been received from the Japanese which indicates that Scorpion's loss was the result of enemy antisubmarine actions.  However, there were several mine lines across the entrance to the Yellow Sea.  Scorpion was lost soon after these mines were laid, at a time when they offered the greatest threat.  She could have been an operational casualty but her operational area consists of water shallow enough so that it would be expected that some men would have survived.  Since no survivors are known, the most reasonable assumption is that she hit a mine.