USS Billfish (SS-286)

Billfish (SS-286)
Overview
Keel laying	June 23, 1942
Launch	November 12, 1942
1. Period of service
period of service	April 20, 1943–1. November 1946
Whereabouts	In reserve until March 31, 1968. Wrecked 1971
Technical specifications
displacement	1526  ts surfaced 2424 ts surfaced
length	95.0 meters
width	8.3 meters
Draft	5.1 meters (maximum)
Diving depth	120 meters
crew	10 officers, approx. 70 NCOs and men
drive	4 × 1350 PS diesel engines 4 × electric motors (total 2740 PS)
speed	Surfaced 20.25 knots surfaced 8.75 knots
Range	11,000  nautical miles at 10 knots
Armament	10 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (6 in the bow; 4 in the stern) 1 × 10.2 cm (4 inch) gun 1945 replaced by 1 × 12.7 cm (5 inch) 2 × 20 mm MK 1 × 7.62 mm MG

The USS Billfish (SS-286) was a submarine of the United States Navy . It belonged to the Balao class .

The USS Billfish was named after a species of spearfish and thus followed the scheme of naming submarines after fish, as was common in the US Navy. The submarine was laid down on July 23, 1942 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine . The launch took place on November 12, 1942. The ship was christened by the widow of a naval officer. The USS Billfish entered service on April 20, 1943. First in command was Lieutenant Commander Frederic C. Lucas Jr.

The Billfish took an active part in the war against Japan . She drove a total of eight missions, all in the Pacific. Despite many attacks on enemy ships, only three sinkings could be confirmed even after the war. The boat received seven Battle Stars for her patrols during World War II .

Technology and armament

The Billfish was a Balao-class diesel-electric patrol submarine. The Balao class was only slightly improved compared to the Gato class and was designed for long offensive patrol trips in the Pacific . In particular, the diving depth has been increased and the interior has been improved based on experiences during the war against Japan . Outwardly and in their dimensions, the boats of both classes were largely the same.

technology

The Billfish was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide, the draft was fully equipped up to 5.1 meters. When surfaced it displaced 1526 ts , and when submerged it displaced  2424 ts. The drive was carried out by four 16-cylinder diesel engines from General Motors Model 16-278A, each 1,350 horsepower delivered. Under water, the submarine was powered by four electric motors with a total of 2740 hp, which obtained their energy from two 126-cell accumulators . The motors gave their power via a gearbox on two shafts with one screw each. The surface speed was a maximum of 20.25 knots , submerged the Billfish still managed 8.75 knots. The possible diving time was 48 hours, the maximum diving depth was 120 meters. 440 cubic meters of fuel could be stored in the fuel tanks, giving the boat a range of 11,000 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Armament

The main armament consisted of ten 533 mm torpedo tubes , six in the bow, four aft, for which 24 torpedoes were on board. A four-inch deck gun was installed in front of the turret . At the conservatory was a slight 7.62 mm M1919 -Maschinengewehre and two 20-mm machine guns for anti-aircraft housed. For locating enemy ships ordered the Billfish a JK / QC - and a QB - sonar under the bow, on deck were JP - hydrophones installed. On extendable electronics mast was a SD - radar with 20 mile range reconnaissance to locate enemy aircraft attached, in addition, the submarine had a SJ -Oberflächensuchradar about 12 nautical miles range. When submerged, enemy ships could also be located via the ST radar with a range of 8 nautical miles attached to the periscope .

history

On November 12, 1942, the Billfish was launched. She was previously baptized by the widow of a fallen US Navy officer, Mrs. Zelda L. Parks. The following months the boat spent on the equipment quay of the shipyard and with the sea trials off the east coast of the United States .

Second World War

Between August 12, 1943 and August 27, 1945, the USS Billfish made eight war missions from its home port of Pearl Harbor . She was awarded a total of seven Battle Stars. During her missions she sank three cargo ships with a total of 4,074 ts and five small vehicles, including a 40 t transport boat with a diesel drive. The moderate successes against Japanese shipping can partly be explained by her operations as a rescue ship for crashed aircraft crews off the coast of Japan in the last missions. In addition, the success of attacks due to counter-attacks by escort ships could not be determined several times.

First mission (August 12, 1943 - October 10, 1943)

American Mark XIV torpedo, as used by the Billfish against Japanese ships.

On August 12, 1943 , the Billfish set out from Brisbane , Australia , on her first patrol in Japanese-controlled waters in the Dutch East Indies . Her first contact with the enemy was on August 29 in Balabac Street . Shortly after midnight, a tanker was located and an attack attempt was made. However, the Billfish did not get a shot. The boat fired its first sharp shot that afternoon. Four torpedoes were fired at what was believed to be the tanker that escaped during the night. No torpedo hit and the ship turned out to be a light warship that did not attack the Billfish any further. The next use of weapons took place on September 8th. The Billfish fired a volley of four torpedoes on a convoy consisting of five ships , which was sailing along the coast of French Indochina , and then immediately submerged. An explosion could be heard, but the Japanese countermeasures prevented it from surfacing. A determination of the damage to the target could not be undertaken and the destruction or sinking of the ship could not be confirmed. On September 25th, the Billfish sighted another convoy that it was unable to attack itself. She reported the convoy to the sister ship USS Bowfin (SS-287) , which made a successful attack and was able to sink one of the ships. On October 10, 1943, the Billfish ended its first mission and entered Fremantle .

Second mission (November 1, 1943 - December 24, 1943)

Her second voyage, beginning on November 1, 1943, led the Billfish first into the Java Sea and from there further north into the Strait of Makassar . There, a Japanese destroyer attacked the boat on November 13th and damaged it considerably with depth charges. The Billfish sank to a depth of around 200 m, significantly exceeding its construction diving depth of 120 m. After the commander and other officers had failed, the boat owed its rescue to the flight engineer Charles Rush, who had meanwhile been in command. Only after 16 hours, the destroyer ended his attacks on the boat after about 60 depth charges on the Billfish were thrown. The damage caused water ingress. In addition, three of the four diesel engines had failed. One of them tore from its anchorage and had to be laboriously lifted into its original position. This was achieved under the leadership of Chief Electrics Mate John Rendernick. The situation in which both of them saved the boat from sinking was so threatening because there was a lack of oxygen, an enrichment of the air with carbon dioxide and pollution with poisonous gases, as a result of which some of the crew, including the officers on the navigating bridge, were temporarily was incapacitated. Both of them received recognition for their commitment after more than five decades. Rush received the Navy Cross in 2002 . Rendernick, who died in 2002, was awarded the Silver Star posthumously.

After makeshift repairs to the damage, the Billfish continued operations. On November 28, they sighted and reported a convoy that they attacked together with the sister ship USS Bowfin . The latter initially sank the 2,886 ts tanker Tonan Maru with four torpedo hits . This then sank the 5425 ts passenger ship Sydney Maru before Billfish could launch an attack and fire four torpedoes at a Japanese ship. Once again, the boat was able to sense explosions without any confirmation of the damage or sinking of the target.

Third mission (January 19, 1944 - March 24, 1944)

From Fremantle, Billfish set sail again on January 19, 1944. The area of ​​operation was predominantly the South China Sea . There she achieved a success under the new commandant Lieutenant Commander Vernon C. Turner in the only battle of this mission against two lightly armed Japanese cutters. Both ships were severely damaged. Several light hits by the enemy did not result in any serious damage to the submarine. The journey was otherwise uneventful.

Fourth mission (April 18, 1944 - June 13, 1944)

On April 18, 1944, the next mission of the Billfish began , which took them to the Marianas and Carolines . An attempted attack on May 2nd on a ship escorted by two guards had to be aborted after the ship changed course. An underwater attack on four troop transports accompanied by four escort vehicles on May 21 was somewhat more successful . Four of the six torpedoes fired hit their targets, with the crew claiming the sinking of a ship. The sinking could not be observed, however, as the Japanese immediately forced the submarine underwater and attacked with depth charges for three hours. The sinking could not be confirmed by Japanese sources even after the end of the war.

The next day, the Billfish sighted the Japanese submarine I-43 and chased it for six hours until it came into attack position and fired four torpedoes. None of them hit and the Japanese boat disappeared into the depths. A few days later an enemy submarine was sighted again, pursued for a time, but could not fire a torpedo. In the following days, Japanese planes repeatedly attacked the Billfish , before it broke off its mission on June 5 and entered Pearl Harbor on June 13 .

Fifth mission (July 9, 1944 - September 13, 1944)

After the ship had been thoroughly overhauled in Pearl Harbor and some new crew members had been prepared for the next mission in practice drives off Hawaii, the Billfish left Pearl Harbor on July 9 for the fifth patrol. The Billfish operated together with USS Sailfish (SS-192) and USS Greenling (SS-213) in a so-called Wolfpack . In contrast to the practice of the German wolf packs in the Atlantic , the three American boats operated together during the entire mission. The Wolfpack's commander, Commander Stanley Moseley, embarked on USS Billfish . The Moseley's Maulers group was named after him. The Billfish attacked a Japanese cargo ship on August 7, 1944 after a long search in the area between the Philippines and the island of Hainan . On August 8th, one passed a sea area in which a Japanese troop carrier must have sunk the day before. Numerous dead Japanese sailors and marines floated on the water. On August 11, the Billfish made a Japanese formation of a cruiser and three destroyers, but could not attack due to heavy seas. However, Sailfish, informed by radio, was able to sink a destroyer. More Japanese ships were sighted off Okinawa on August 22, heading for the port of Naha , but could not be fought. Except for an enemy air raid, the journey was uneventful. The boat ended on September 13 when it entered the port of Majuro in the Marshall Islands , where a new submarine base had been established.

Sixth mission (October 6, 1944 - November 27, 1944)

The sixth combat mission of the Billfish began on October 6, 1944 and led the boat first in waters off the Bonin Islands , after about a week then on to Japan. One of the tasks on this trip was serving as a rescue ship for crashed American planes off Kyushu . At the time of the patrol, the Allies began to retake the Philippines . On its way north towards the main Japanese islands, the Billfish encountered three Japanese warships, which it could not attack. All three were sunk by other submarines a short time later on their way to the Philippines.

In the late evening hours of October 30th and 31st, Japanese anti-submarine troops were sighted but not attacked. A short time later, on November 3rd, the Billfish sighted a convoy of 10 medium-sized freighters heading south. An attack was not possible. The next day a lone driver could be attacked without escort. However, the torpedoes all missed the target. On November 7th, another convoy, consisting of six freighters and ten escort ships, was sighted and, after hours of pursuit, was shot at with seven torpedoes in a nightly, radar-supported surface attack. Six torpedoes hit. One ship was hit by three, one by two torpedoes, and another was hit. The escort ships immediately began countermeasures. In order not to get into danger, the submarine withdrew. Once again, only secured hits, but no scuttling, could be recorded. At least three ships were damaged.

On November 13th, the Billfish was able to sink a motorized Saipan of 40 ts by artillery fire in an artillery battle. Then you took course on Midway and from there to the home port of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii . After a short stay, the boat was ordered to go to San Francisco to be completely overhauled at a shipyard . The stay in the shipyard was also used to replace the 10.2 cm on-board gun with a length of 50 calibers by a 12.7 cm gun with a barrel length of just 25 calibers (1.25 m).

Seventh mission (April 24, 1945 - June 17, 1945)

Sampan - the Billfish sank several of these small sailing ships in 1945

Under the orders of the new commandant Lieutenant Commander LC Farley, Jr., formerly first officer on board, Billfish set sail again from Pearl Harbor on April 24, 1945. The partially renewed team had previously trained there for a few weeks. The destination was Saipan Island . North of Saipan, she took up position as a rescue ship for crashed aircraft crews for a week. On May 26th, the Billfish sank the freighter Kotobuki Maru # 7 (991 ts) southwest of Kyushu, where it patrolled for a few days. This was the first confirmed sinking of a freighter by the USS Billfish . On June 4, the Billfish sank the freighter Taiu Maru (2,220 ts) in the Yellow Sea . It was there that four sampans were sunk by artillery fire in the course of the same day . One of the boat's crew members was killed and another injured by machine-gun fire from Japanese ships. The mission was then terminated and the course was set for Midway . On the way there, the boat was attacked by a Japanese submarine. A torpedo hit the Billfish , as later found out in the harbor . However, it did not explode. The torpedo head was still in the hull of the boat when the voyage ended in Midway on June 17th.

Eighth mission trip (July 12, 1945 - August 27, 1945)

For her last war mission, the USS Billfish set sail from Midway on July 12, 1945 with destination Japan. On August 5, she sank the freighter Kori Maru (1,091 ts) in the waters off Japan . On August 7, another, smaller freighter was sunk by torpedo fire. Again, this could not be confirmed by Japanese sources after the end of the war. On August 8th, a fishing boat accidentally became the Billfish's last victim . The boat was unintentionally rammed and sunk. During the last days of the war, the boat was again used as a rescue ship for crashed aircraft crews. After the capitulation of Japan , the boat arrived in Pearl Harbor on August 27th.

Post War and Cold War

In the fall of 1946, the Billfish was taken out of active service and transferred to the reserve fleet. It remained in reserve until 1968. Since 1960 she served in New London as a training ship for the training of reservists . She no longer set sail. In 1962 she was reclassified as a training submarine (AGSS-286). She remained in this role until she was removed from the fleet register on November 1, 1968.

in spring 1971 the boat was sold to a demolition company for scrapping and then scrapped.

Web links

• The USS Billfish in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Engl.)
• Sinks: USS Billfish (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List by Billfish sunken ships (Engl.)
2. ↑ fleetsubmarine.com , as of September 10, 2012
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The USS Billfish in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
4. ↑ ^{a b} USS Billfish at fleetsubmarine.com
5. ↑ ^{a b} USS Billfish in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
6. ^ Eyewitness report on the fourth mission of the Billfish
7. ^ Eyewitness report on the fifth mission of the Billfish
8. ↑ ^{a b} Eyewitness report on the sixth mission of the Billfish
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Confirmed sinkings of the USS Billfish
10. ↑ Eyewitness report on the seventh mission of the Billfish
11. ↑ Eyewitness report on the eighth mission of the Billfish