USS Lionfish (SS-298)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Lionfish (SS-298)
USS Lionfish (SS-298)
Overview
Keel laying December 15, 1942
Launch November 7, 1943
1. Period of service flag
period of service

November 1, 1944 - January 16, 1946
January 31, 1951–15. December 1953
1960–20. December 1971

Whereabouts Museum ship since August 30, 1972
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 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
(6 in the bow; 4 in the stern)
1 × 127 mm (5 inch) gun
(1 × 127 mm from April 1945)
1 × 40 mm Bofors gun
1 × 20 -mm- Oerlikon - MK
4 × Browning M2 - MGs

The USS Lionfish (SS / AGSS-298) 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 the only ship in the US Navy that was named Lionfish . The name is the English name for lionfish (Pteroinae) from the family of scorpion fish (Scorpaenidae).

Technology and armament

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

technology

The USS Lionfish was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide. Her 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 nine-cylinder diesel - opposed piston engines of Fairbanks-Morse , Model 38D8-1 / 8, which generated an output of 1000 kW. 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 Lionfish still managed 8.75 knots. The maximum possible diving time was 48 hours, the construction diving depth was around 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 USS Lionfish consisted of ten 533 mm torpedo tubes , six in the bow and four aft, for which 24 torpedoes were on board. A 5-inch deck gun was mounted behind the turret . A 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannon (rear) and a 40 mm anti - aircraft gun (front) were housed in the winter garden . In addition, two or four 12.7 mm machine guns could be mounted in various positions on the boat and stowed back in the submarine after use. Whether these were actually carried on the Lionfish has not been proven beyond doubt. The operational logs do not mention the MG, but do mention the 20mm and 40mm guns. For locating enemy ships ordered the lionfish 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 for locating sea targets. When submerged, enemy ships could also be located using the ST radar attached to the periscope with a range of eight nautical miles.

Mission history

The hull with the number SS-298 was on the 15 December 1942 keel laid. Launching and christening under the name of USS Lionfish took place on November 7, 1943. Mrs. Harold C. Train was the godmother of the submarine. On November 1, 1944, the new submarine was put into service. First in command of the Lionfish was Lieutenant Commander Edward D. Spruance, whose father was Admiral Raymond A. Spruance , who had contributed significantly to the victories of the US Navy in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea .

Second World War

After commissioning, the Lionfish completed sea ​​trials and first training trips off the coast of New England , before moving to the Pacific via Key West and Panama in early 1945 (January 8th - February 15th) .

First patrol (March 19 - May 22, 1945)

The Lionfish set out on March 19, 1945 with a largely inexperienced crew from Pearl Harbor , initially heading for Saipan . From there, after replenishing supplies and replenishing fuel, she began the actual operation on April 1st. On April 11 , two torpedoes launched by a Japanese submarine were sighted running towards the Lionfish while attempting to penetrate the East China Sea near the Tokara Islands . By changing to a course parallel to the approaching torpedoes, the submarine avoided them. On May 1st, apart from the shelling of enemy mines (May 9th), the only successful use of weapons during the patrol, in which a schooner (100 ts) loaded with wood was set on fire and sunk. The patrol was otherwise largely unsuccessful, with the submarine often having to submerge in front of approaching aircraft or evade Japanese warships. In addition, the patrol was interrupted several times in order to move into station as a rescue ship for Allied air strikes (including on Shanghai ). The USS Ray (SS-271) did the same, rescuing ten crew members from a crashed B-29 Superfortress . At a meeting of the two submarines on the high seas on May 9, Lionfish took over the rescued, including three wounded, from the Ray . After another brief deployment as a rescue ship, Lionfish finally set course for Saipan, where it arrived on May 15, disembarked the ten rescued planes and was refueled before leaving for Midway . On Midway the patrol ended on May 22nd.

Following the first patrol, on June 5, 1945, command of the Lionfish passed from Lieutenant Commander Spruance to Commander Bricker McDowell Ganyard.

Second patrol (June 20, 1945 - August 22, 1945)

On July 2, the Lionfish left the base on Midway for the second patrol that took them to the sea area south of the main Japanese islands. She took position several times to secure air strikes on Japan and to rescue crashed pilots from the sea if necessary. Besides the occasional dive in front of airplanes and smaller warships, notable events were rare. Lionfish torpedoed Japanese submarines that were sighted three times. The crew of the Lionfish claimed one of them as a sinking. However, the sinking could not be confirmed after the war.

With the end of hostilities after the surrender of Japan , the Lionfish began the march back and ended her second and last patrol in the Second World War on August 22, 1945. She continued to San Francisco and was finally decommissioned on January 16, 1946 and handed over to the reserve fleet in Mare Island .

Post War and Cold War

Due to the Korean War, the US Navy ordered the reactivation of many submarines in reserve. The Lionfish was also returned to active service in the US Navy on January 31, 1951 and relocated to the east coast of the United States. There she mainly went on training trips. These were interrupted by participation in a NATO maneuver and a trip to the Mediterranean . Eventually the boat was decommissioned again on December 15, 1953 and handed over to the reserve fleet in the Boston Navy Yard .

In 1960, the boat was put back into service, from now on until its final decommissioning as a training ship in the port of Providence , Rhode Island .

Museum ship

In 1971 the Lionfish was finally removed from the fleet register. In 1973 she was opened to visitors as a museum ship as part of the Battleship Cove naval museum and is still used as a museum ship there today. The boat was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 14, 1986 as a National Historic Landmark .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b 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. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k USS Lionfish in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  4. ↑ a b c d e U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
  5. ↑ a b c 1st patrol of the USS Lionfish
  6. ↑ a b c d USS Lionfish ( Memento from September 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) hnsa.org.
  7. ↑ a b c USS Lionfish on navysite.de.
  8. ↑ a b The Balao class at FleetSubmarine.com
  9. ↑ a b c USS Lionfish at uboat.net.
  10. ↑ USS Lionfish on fleetsubmarine.com
  11. ↑ 2nd patrol of the USS Lionfish
  12. ^ National Register Information System . In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  13. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 11, 2019.

Trivia

The lionfish is shown on the packaging of the Ubisoft computer game Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific , released in 2007 .

Web links

Commons : USS Lionfish  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files