USS Bowfin (SS-287)

Bowfin (SS-287)
Overview
Keel laying	June 23, 1942
Launch	December 7, 1942
1. Period of service
period of service	1943–1947, 1951–1954, 1960–1971 (as a training submarine AGSS-287 Bowfin )
Whereabouts	Training submarine until 1971 Retired December 1, 1971 Museum ship since 1979
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 , 70 NCOs and men
drive	4 × 1350 PS diesel engine 4 × electric motor (total 2740 PS)
speed	Surfaced 20.25 knots surfaced 8.75 knots
Range	11,000  nautical miles at 10 knots
Armament	10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (6 in the bow, the stern 4) 1 × 102-mm (4-inch) - gun 1945 is replaced by: 1 × 127 mm (5 inches) 1 x 40-mm Bofors - FlaK 2 × 12.7 mm Browning M2 - MG later 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon -MK

The USS Bowfin (SS / AGSS-287) was a submarine of the Balao-class submarine , which the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific War against Japan and during the Cold War began. In 1979 the boat was inaugurated as a museum ship in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii .

Like her sister ships, SS-287 was named after a fish . It was named after the bald pike , English: bowfin .

Technology and armament

The Bowfin 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 Bowfin is 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide, the maximum draft was 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 maximum surfaced speed was 20.25 knots , submerged the Bowfin still managed 8.75 knots. The possible diving time was 48 hours, the maximum diving depth was 120 meters. 440 cubic meters of diesel 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 were two 12.7-mm machine guns and two 20 mm machine guns for anti-aircraft housed. For locating enemy ships ordered the Bowfin 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 with about twelve nautical miles range. When submerged, enemy ships could also be located using the ST radar attached to the periscope with a range of eight nautical miles.

The USS Bowfin was one of a total of nine submarines that were equipped with new FM sonar for mine detection in the summer of 1945.

history

The Bowfin was laid down on July 23, 1942 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine . The launch took place on December 7, 1942. She was baptized by Mrs. Jane Gawne, the wife of Captain James Gawne. On May 1, 1943, she was commissioned under Commander Joseph H. Willingham.

Second World War

The USS Bowfin undertook a total of nine patrols during the Second World War, all in the Pacific theater of war. She was one of the particularly successful submarines of the US Navy and was awarded seven Battle Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for her successes until 1945 .

After the equipment and test drives of the boat and subsequent training trips on the east coast of the United States , she passed the Panama Canal in the summer of 1943 and then drove on to Australia , where she finally entered Brisbane . There it underwent some repairs. On August 19, the Bowfin set out for Darwin , where it replenished its fuel supplies before embarking on its first patrol .

First mission (August 25, 1943 - October 10, 1943)

Her first war patrol led the Bowfin toward the Japanese-occupied Philippines . On September 2, she reached the Mindanao Sea , where she initially spent three weeks looking in vain for a worthwhile target.

After operating jointly with her sister ship Billfish from September 24th, the following day the first opportunity to attack a Japanese convoy of six merchant ships and an unknown number of escort ships arose. The Bowfin was the first to fire and initially fired torpedoes at three of the Japanese ships from all six bow tubes and when draining from all four stern torpedo tubes. All targets were hit, but the impact of the hit could not be observed because of the Japanese resistance. It was later observed that a passenger ship sank and the other two ships were apparently badly damaged. Ultimately, however - even after the inspection of Japanese sources after the war - only the passenger and cargo ship Kirishima Maru (8120 ts) is considered sunk. The freighter that was also hit and the tanker last torpedoed were reported as sinking by the crew, but not officially confirmed.

The sister ship USS Billfish was also shot against the convoy and scored torpedo hits on two Japanese ships, which could not be confirmed as sinking either. Forced to go underwater the next day by enemy aircraft, another attack on a Japanese cargo ship followed on September 28. The attack was unsuccessful. It was not until September 30 that the Bowfin succeeded in another successful attack while leaving the Mindanao Sea. This time a barge with over 100 Japanese soldiers on board was destroyed by gunfire in a brief firefight. On October 2, the Bowfin sank another schooner near Balikpapan on the east coast of Borneo , also by gunfire. Their first war mission ended for the Bowfin on October 10, 1943 when they reached the submarine base Fremantle on the west coast of Australia.

The Bowfin completed two secret missions on this trip. Initially, she transported medical supplies, radios, ammunition, money and other material for Filipino guerrillas who were unloaded in a bay on a Philippine island. On September 30th, Bowfin evacuated some selected guerrillas and a US pilot who had escaped from Japanese captivity from the same Philippine island in order to bring them to Australia.

Due to his success, Commander Joseph H. Willingham was appointed chief of a submarine flotilla and left the Bowfin . His successor was Lieutenant Commander Walter Thomas Griffith. He took over command of the boat on October 26, 1943.

The boat received the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for this mission.

Second mission (November 1, 1943 - December 9, 1943)

On November 1, the Bowfin ran out of the second patrol that brought it into the South China Sea . During this mission, too, she operated in phases together with the Billfish .

On November 8, Bowfin sank three out of five schooners sighted before Japanese air strikes forced them underwater. That same night another sailing ship was sunk by gunfire. On November 11th, Bowfin set fire to two more ships - this time small tankers - with their 4-inch gun near Tawi-Tawi .

The successful war patrol of the Bowfin continued with several sinkings between November 26th and 28th. As she approached the coast of Indochina in rain and storm, the Bowfin suddenly found herself in the midst of Japanese ships. First of all, a collision with a Japanese tanker could just be prevented before it and a freighter were torpedoed in an overwater attack. Both ships, the tanker Ogurasan Maru (5069 ts) and the freighter Tainan Maru (5407 ts), sank. The convoy could be attacked again later that day. According to the crew, a large passenger ship estimated at 12,000 ts fell victim to the underwater attack. After the war, this sinking could not be confirmed based on the files. Further research by Commander John Alden ultimately confirmed the sinking of a small passenger ship by USS Bowfin . The Vichy-French Beryl , however, at 671 ts, was considerably smaller than assumed by the Bowfin and therefore possibly too small and insignificant to appear in the Japanese reports.

On the night of November 27th, the next success was achieved with the sinking of the Vichy-French Van Vollenhoven (691 ts). On November 28, the Bowfin first sank a small passenger and cargo ship with only one torpedo. This sinking was not later confirmed. Then Bowfin set course for an escort that the Billfish had reported. During the attack on the convoy, she sank two ships: the freighter Sydney Maru (5425 ts) and the tanker Tonon Maru (9866 ts). She herself received a shell hit by one of the Japanese ships, which made some emergency repairs necessary. The Bowfin had already fired all of the torpedoes carried and was therefore heading for Fremantle. On the way there she was able to destroy a yacht in the Celebes Sea by artillery fire on December 2 , before she entered Fremantle on December 9.

For this patrol, the submarine received the Presidential Unit Citation . Commander Griffith was also awarded the Navy Cross .

Third mission (January 8, 1944 - February 5, 1944)

The submarine ran out on January 8, 1944 for the third patrol , which led them first via Java , Banda and the Flores Sea into the Strait of Makassar , where they sank a schooner by gunfire. The following day, January 17, Bowfin attacked a freighter and two escort ships, including the gunboat Delhi Maru . As a result of faulty torpedoes, the attack was almost unsuccessful. Only one in six torpedoes hit and damaged the freighter. The next day the submarine continued the attack and finally the Shoyu Maru, which had been damaged the day before, was sunk with another four torpedoes . One of the escort ships was damaged by two torpedo hits, but not sunk. Then the submarine drove back to Darwin (Northern Territory) .

Ralph W. Christie, Commander of the Southwest Pacific Submarine Forces (ComSubSoWesPac), was a guest on the USS Bowfin in early 1944

After the ammunition, the submarine continued its operation. Rear Admiral Ralph W. Christie, Commander of the US Submarine Force, Southwest Pacific (ComSubSoWesPac), was a guest on the Bowfin until the end of the mission to get a personal impression of the Bowfin’s successful approach . The admiral confirmed the sinking of a small freighter (4408 ts) the following day, although official Japanese documents did not confirm it. On January 28, Bowfin was able to catch the large Japanese oil tanker Kamoi after a long pursuit . In two attempts, she fired six bow torpedoes each and scored two hits. Eventually the boat made a third attack. The Kamoi fired back with artillery and machine guns. Nevertheless, three torpedoes of the volley hit the tanker and severely damaged it. The Kamoi was still able to escape as darkness fell. On January 29, the Bowfin put a mine lock in the Strait of Makassar before starting the journey home. On January 30, the submarine sank two small schooners with its on-board artillery on the way to Fremantle.

Fourth mission (February 28, 1944 - April 1, 1944)

Leaving for the fifth patrol at the end of February, Bowfin first crossed the Celebes Sea. There she attacked a convoy on March 10 and fired all six bow tubes on the first attempt. Four torpedoes exploded prematurely, at least one hit a freighter. Due to subsequent opposition by the escort ships and aircraft summoned the submarine went to over 100 meters depth where it with water bombs attacked, but was not damaged. Later, despite the reinforced security, the boat dared another attack on the torpedoed freighter, which had been towed by another ship. After firing more torpedoes, the boat had to go down again and stayed there until the next morning. Resurfaced, Bowfin was able to give the abandoned freighter Tsukikawa Maru (4470 ts) four catch shots and sink him. Bowfin later attacked the same convoy again unsuccessfully. Bowfin then drove to Darwin to reload torpedoes .

After the ammunition, she continued her journey on March 15th. On March 18, she again launched two unsuccessful attacks on a Japanese convoy. The Japanese counter-attacks with depth charges were equally unsuccessful. On March 24, Bowfin finally scored a win against another Japanese convoy. In doing so, she damaged a ship and sank the two freighters Shinkyo Maru (5139 ts) and Bengal Maru (5395 ts). Since all torpedoes were fired, she ended the mission and ran back to Darwin.

Fifth patrol (April 24, 1944 - June 21, 1944)

Mark 14 torpedo as used by the USS Bowfin in the Pacific War

Before the start of the next voyage, Commander John H. Corbus replaced the Bowfin as the new commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Griffith. The fifth patrol was the Bowfin’s longest in time and space . However, successes could hardly be achieved. Only the damage to a freighter on May 14th could be recorded. For a long time, Bowfin also acted as a rescue ship for aircraft crews. On June 21st she ended her mission in Pearl Harbor .

Sixth mission (July 16, 1944 - September 21, 1944)

On July 16, Bowfin set sail again with a course for the Ryūkyū Islands . For a long time the journey was uneventful. On August 9, the submarine attacked a convoy that it had pursued to the port of Minami-daitō . Two ships were sunk by torpedoes and another ship was damaged. The observed sinkings were not officially confirmed. During the attack, a jetty was also destroyed by a stray, and with it a crane and a bus. A sinking of the Bowfin, which became particularly well known after the war, occurred on August 22, 1944. During the attack on convoy Namo 103 with three transporters and two companions, the boat sank the Tsushima Maru (6754 ts). At that time there were almost exclusively civilians on board the ship, including 767 children, some of their parents and teachers, who were just about to be evacuated from Okinawa and other islands for fear of Allied attacks and landings in the direction of Japan. Only 59 children could be saved. A total of 1508 people were killed when the Tsushima Maru sank. Bowfin fired her last torpedoes on August 28, without result, at Hinode Maru # 6 , which she then set on fire with her on-board gun. Hinode Maru # 6 sank on September 4th. The journey home continued via Midway and Pearl Harbor to San Francisco , where the submarine was overhauled in the Mare Island Navy Yard .

Seventh mission (January 25th - March 25th)

Under a new commander, Commander Alexander K. Tyree, the Bowfin set sail again on December 16, 1944, heading for Hawaii. After training trips off Oahu , she set course for Honshu , where she served as a rescue ship for US pilots for some time. On February 16, one of them, Kaibokan # 56 , was sunk in combat with two Japanese escort vehicles . Despite resistance, the Bowfin escaped unscathed. In the following two weeks, the patrol boats Chokai Maru on March 2nd and Fukuyu Maru # 1 on March 4th were also sunk. A crew member of the Bowfin was wounded in a battle with the latter and another unit . South of Shikoku , the USS Bowfin was able to rescue the pilot and gunner of a downed torpedo bomber on March 19 . The journey ended on March 25, 1945 in Guam .

Eighth mission trip (April 23, 1945 - May 15, 1945)

The eighth mission led the boat from Guam to Honshū and Hokkaido. Originally, the commander in chief of the submarines had ordered the boat through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of ​​Japan . The path was heavily mined and some submarines had already sunk there. Hardly left when the Bowfin received new orders, which instead led them to the northeast coast of the Japanese main island of Honshu . The patrol was largely uneventful.

On May 1, the boat was able to sink the passenger and cargo ship Chowa Maru from a convoy, whereupon the security ships responded with prolonged throwing of depth charges . The Bowfin then explored mine barriers east of Tsugaru Strait . She sank the freighter Daito Maru # 3 on May 8th. Another ship was damaged. The mission initially ended in Guam. The Bowfin then moved from Guam to Pearl Harbor for retrofitting. Another pilot was rescued from the Pacific.

Ninth mission (May 29, 1945 - July 4, 1945)

Before the ninth and final mission, the Bowfin, like eight other submarines, was retrofitted, in which the submarine received a modern FM sonar suitable for detecting mines. The nine appropriately equipped submarines were referred to by the crews as "Hellcats" and used at the same time in Operation Barney . They were ordered through the heavily mined Tsushima Strait into the Sea of ​​Japan in order to attack Japanese ships there. The mission was very dangerous. The Bowfin anchor chains brushed off sea ​​mines several times . After the successful transfer to the Sea of ​​Japan, various ports were inspected without finding any worthwhile destinations. Only two smaller freighters could be sunk. The passenger and cargo ship Shinyo Maru # 3 sank Bowfin on June 11 and the freighter Akiura Maru on June 13. An attack on a convoy on June 20 failed due to various problems (circularity, poor visibility, unfavorable position). On June 18, the boat was forced underwater by targeted gunfire from a coastal battery.

On June 24, the remaining eight boats of Operation Barney united , broke through the narrow and heavily guarded La Pérouse Strait into the Pacific and returned to their bases. Only one of the boats - USS Bonefish (SS-223)  - did not return from the mission.

The ninth would also be the Bowfin’s last military mission . On the way to the tenth mission, news of the surrender of Japan reached them . She then drove back to the United States.

Ships sunk by USS Bowfin (1943-1945)

• Passenger and cargo ship Kirishima Maru , sunk on September 25, 1943
• Mitake Maru barge with around 100 soldiers on board on September 30, 1943
• Tanker Ogurasan Maru November 26, 1943
• Freighter Tainan Maru November 26, 1943
• Vichy French passenger ship Beryl on November 26, 1943
• Vichy-French freighter Van Vollenhoven on either November 27, 1943 or November 28, 1943
• Passenger and cargo ship Sydney Maru November 28, 1943
• Tanker Tonan Maru on November 28, 1943
• Yacht NN on December 2, 1943
• Schooner NN on January 16, 1944
• Shoyu Maru freighter on January 17, 1944
• Schooner NN on January 30, 1944
• Schooner NN on January 30, 1944
• Tsukikawa Maru freighter on March 10, 1944
• Shinkyo Maru freighter on March 24, 1944
• Freighter Bengal Maru on March 24, 1944
• Freighter Bisan Maru joined USS Aspro (SS-309) on May 14, 1944
• Seiyo Maru freighter on August 10, 1944
• Passenger and cargo ship Tsushima Maru on August 22, 1944
• Hinode Maru # 6 trawler on September 4, 1944
• Kaibokan # 56 on February 16, 1945
• Patrol boat Nanshin Maru # 28 on February 17, 1945.
• Patrol boat Chokai Maru on March 2nd
• Patrol boat Fukuyu Maru # 1 on March 4th
• Passenger and cargo ship Chowa Maru on May 1, 1945
• Daito Maru # 3 freighter on May 8, 1945
• Passenger and cargo ship Shinyo Maru # 3 on June 11, 1945
• Akiura Maru freighter on June 13, 1945
• a bus on August 9, 1944 (errant)

Post War and Cold War

After the end of the war, the Bowfin, like many other submarines, was disarmed and incorporated into the reserve fleet. From 1951 to 1954 the boat was reactivated. However, she did not see combat missions during the Korean War. Rather, their task consisted in patrols in the eastern Pacific and off the Central American coast. Then she was returned to the reserve fleet. The USS Bowfin began its last mission in 1960. It was used as a training submarine for reservists in the US Navy until it was finally retired on December 1, 1971. Since the middle of 1960, the boat was classified as AGSS (auxiliary submarine, English auxilliary submarine ).

Whereabouts

The USS Bowfin has been a museum ship in Pearl Harbor since 1981, not far from the USS Arizona , which was sunk during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941 and converted into a memorial . It was entered as a structure on the National Register of Historic Places in November 1982 . The Bowfin can be viewed there. The submarine has been a National Historic Landmark since January 14, 1986 .

Picture gallery

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  USS Bowfin in Pearl Harbor

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  USS Bowfin command tower

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  Depth control of the USS Bowfin

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  Fittings and valves on the USS Bowfin

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  Stern torpedo room of the USS Bowfin with four torpedo tubes

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  USS Bowfin radio room

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  USS Bowfin 127mm gun

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  USS Bowfin galley

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  Berths for the crew of the USS Bowfin

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  USS Bowfin General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engine

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  The USS Bowfin in dry dock (2004)

Web links

Commons : USS Bowfin  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park (English)
• Sinks: USS Bowfin (English)
• The USS Bowfin in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park
2. ↑ ^{a b} HT Lenton: American Submarines. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1973, p. 79.
3. ↑ The Balao Class on fleetsubmarine.com.
4. ↑ USS Bowfin: Ninth Mission. ( Memento from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Chronicle 1943.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Successes of the Bowfin (1943-45) ; The USS Bowfin in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS).
7. ↑ The successes of the Billfish (1943-45). DANFS.
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} DANFS.
9. ↑ Bowfin: first use. ( Memento from October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Information from the website of the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park. ( Memento from May 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ Summary of the 2nd patrol of the USS Bowfin. ( Memento of October 17, 2012 on the Internet Archive ) Summary of the successes of the USS Bowfin. ( Memento from May 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) USS Bowfin sinks. DANFS, entry to USS Bowfin.
12. ↑ Summary 3. Patrol. ( Memento from October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
13. ↑ Chronicle 1944. Summary 3. Feindfahrt. ( Memento of October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) DANFS.
14. ↑ Tsushima Maru Requiem: Japan's untold WWII tragedy of Titanic proportions. In: Washington Post , August 23, 2012.
15. ↑ DANFS ; Seventh use of the Bowfin. ( Memento from October 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ DANFS. Revised list of sinkings for the Bowfin. ( Memento of May 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) USS Bowfin: Eighth mission. ( Memento from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ DANFS. Revised list of sinkings for the Bowfin. ( Memento of May 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) USS Bowfin: Ninth mission. ( Memento from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
18. ^ Robert Cressman: The official chronology of the US Navy in World War II. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 2000, ISBN 978-1-55750-149-3 . (7 volumes); the work can be called up online with all volumes and contents at www.ibiblio.org ; Abbr .: "Chronicle" + year; here: Volume V, 1943 = Chronicle 1943.
19. ↑ USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, information on museum website bowfin.org
20. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chronicle 1944.
21. ↑ USS BOWFIN in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 9, 2017.
22. ↑ USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park.
23. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Hawaii. National Park Service , accessed July 21, 2019.