USS Bumper (SS-333)

USS Bumper (SS-333)
Overview
Keel laying	November 14, 1943
Launch	August 6, 1944
1. Period of service
period of service	December 9, 1944-16. November 1950
Whereabouts	deleted on December 20, 1950; sold to Turkey .
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 engines (total 5400 PS) 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) 2 × 12.7 cm (5 inch) gun 1 × 40 mm Bofors gun 1 × 20 mm Oerlikon - MK 2 × Browning - MGs

Overview
1. Period of service
period of service	November 16, 1950-11. August 1976
Whereabouts	out of service on August 11, 1976
Technical specifications
Armament	10 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (6 in the bow; 4 in the stern)

The USS Bumper (SS-333) was a submarine of the Balao-class submarine . It was from the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy during World War II in the Pacific against Japan used. The boat was later sold to Turkey and served under the name TCG Çanakkale (S 333) in the Turkish Navy from 1950 to 1976.

The boat was the only ship in the US Navy that was named Bumper . The name refers to a kind of jack fish with the scientific name Chloroscombrus chrysurus .

Technology and armament

The Bumper was a Balao-class diesel-electric patrol submarine. The Balao class was only slightly improved compared to the Gato class and, like those, was designed for long offensive patrols 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 bumper was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide, and its maximum draft was 5.1 meters. When surfaced it displaced 1526 ts , and when submerged it displaced  2424 ts. The drive was provided by four 16-cylinder diesel engines from General Motors , model 16-278A, each with an output of 1000 kW (1350 hp). 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 bumper managed 8.75 knots. The possible diving time was 48 hours, the maximum construction 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 of the bumpers consisted of ten 533-mm torpedo tubes , six in the bow, four aft, for which 24 torpedoes were on board. A 5-inch deck gun with a length of 25 calibers was mounted in front of and behind the turret , which were suitable for combating sea targets and shelling on land. A 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannon and a 40 mm anti - aircraft gun were housed in the winter garden . In addition, two 12.7 mm machine guns could be mounted in various positions on the ship if necessary and stowed back in the boat after use. For locating enemy ships, the USS possessed Bumper 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.

GUPPY I

Before the submarine was sold to Turkey , the bumper was modernized, whereby the external appearance then largely corresponded to that of a submarine converted according to GUPPY I. Data on the modifications made are not available. Externally visible are the more streamlined tower of the submarine with a modified sail and slightly modified sensors (periscope, radar) as well as the removed 12.7 deck guns, 4.0 cm flak and 2.0 flak. In contrast to later GUPPYs, the bow remained in the V-shape typical for the submarines of the US Navy during World War II, which suggests that no modern bow sonar was installed.

Mission history

The hull of the submarine with the number SS-333 was on November 14, 1943 at Electric Boat in Groton , Connecticut on down Kiel and ran on August 6, 1944 by stack, with the submarine on the name USS Bumper was baptized . Godmother was Mrs. Joseph W. Williams Jr., the wife of the designated first commander of the submarine. The commissioning took place on December 9, 1944. As the first commander of the bumper , Commander JW Williams Jr. took over the command of the new submarine.

Second World War

After sea trials, practice drives and the transfer to the Pacific Ocean to Pearl Harbor , the USS Bumper arrived just in time to complete two enemy voyages against Japan between April 22 and August 15, 1945 . The areas of operation during the two patrols were the Java Sea , the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam . One of the main tasks on both voyages, in addition to fighting enemy shipping, was the support of air raids by taking up positions to rescue crashed aircraft crews (" lifeguard duty" ).

The two patrols were partly successful. Shortly before the end of the war, the Japanese ship population was already greatly reduced, so that attacks on worthwhile targets were hardly possible. In total, the bumper claimed the sinking of seven enemy units. The torpedoing of the 1,189 t tanker Kyoei Maru No. 3 was the boat's greatest success and at the same time the only one that was confirmed by the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) after the war . This was attacked and sunk with the last three torpedoes of the submarine after the convoy had been chased for two weeks and several unsuccessful attacks. Six other ships were destroyed during the second patrol, all of them by artillery fire . With the arrival in Fremantle at the end of the second patrol, the Second World War also ended for the bumpers .

post war period

After the war, the bumper remained in the Pacific and moved from August 31 to September 9 to Subic Bay and then operated from there mainly in Philippine waters. In February 1946, the boat moved to San Francisco for repairs and maintenance. After the shipyard stay, the Bumper operated from Pearl Harbor until the beginning of 1950 . In addition to the routine service in the waters off Hawaii , the bumper made two longer trips to the western Pacific and East Asia . She ran to the Philippines, the Carolines , Tsingtau , Hong Kong , Sasebo , Okinawa , Yokosuka and Midway . For a few weeks she worked with the Northern Training Group, Western Pacific in the Yellow Sea. The service was interrupted by another stay in the shipyard in the first half of 1948.

On February 7, 1950, the bumper left Pearl Harbor, passed the Panama Canal on February 22, and then operated for a few months along the east coast of the United States until it was finally decommissioned on September 16, 1950.

TCG Çanakkale (S 333)

Under an agreement between the United States and Turkey, the Turkish armed forces received American arms supplies, including some submarines. One of the first submarines to go into the Turkish Navy was the USS Bumper . In the course of the sale it was renamed from Turkey to TCG Çanakkale . Before being sold to Turkey, the submarine was modernized as part of the GUPPY program. The submarine remained in service with the Turkish Navy until August 11, 1976.

Achievements and Awards

Successes in 1945

During her service in World War II, the bumper took part in combat operations and achieved the following successes against Japanese ships.

• unknown , schooner , approx. 100 ts, sunk by gunfire on July 15, 1945
• unknown , tanker , approx. 800 ts, sunk by a torpedo hit on July 17, 1945
• Kyoei Maru # 3 , tanker, 1,189 ts, sunk by torpedo hit on July 20, 1945
• Kyoraku Maru # 3 , patrol boat , 38 ts, sunk by gunfire, July 20, 1945
• unknown , coaster , approx. 100 ts, sunk by gunfire, August 5, 1945
• unknown , tugboat , approx. 100 ts, sunk by gunfire, August 5, 1945
• unknown , logger , approx. 100 ts, sunk by gunfire, August 5, 1945

Of these successes, only the sinking of Kyoei Maru No. 3 was officially confirmed by JANAC . One reason for this may be that the other ships were too small and therefore their loss was not included in the official Japanese reports.

Awards

The bumper was awarded a Battle Star for its second patrol .

Web links

• USS Bumper in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
• USS Bumper in DANFS
• USS Bumper : sinkings according to SORG
• USS Bumper : sinkings according to JANAC
• USS Bumper : sinkings according to JANAC
• USS Bumper at navsource.com (annotated photo gallery)
• USS Bumper at uboat.net
• USS Bumper at fleetsubmarine.com
• The Balao class at fleetsubmarine.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Norman Friedman: US Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History . United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland 1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3 , pp. 285-304.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} K. Jack Bauer, Roberts, Stephen S .: Register of Ships of the US Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants . Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 1991, ISBN 0-313-26202-0 , pp. 275-280.
3. ↑ USS Bumper on fleetsubmarine.com
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} USS Bumper in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .
6. ↑ The Balao class at fleetsubmarine.com
7. ↑ ^{a b} USS Bumper at navsource.com; see in particular the pictures after 1950 and the corresponding comments.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Bumper ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Sinkings according to JANAC 
9. ↑ ^{a b} bumper : recesses according to JANAC
10. ↑ USS Bumper at uboat.net.
11. ↑ ^{a b} USS Bumper : sinkings according to SORG.