USS Bowfin (SS-287)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Namesake: | Bowfin |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down: | 23 July 1942 |
| Launched: | 7 December 1942 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Jane Gawne, wife of Captain James Gawne |
| Commissioned: | 1 May 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 February 1947 |
| Recommissioned: | 27 July 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 April 1954 |
| Recommissioned: | 10 January 1960 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 December 1971 |
| Struck: | 1 December 1971 |
| Status: | Museum ship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii since 1 August 1979 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Balao-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Endurance: |
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| Test depth: | 400 feet (120 m) |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Bowfin (submarine)
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| Location | 11 Arizona Memorial Dr., Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Coordinates | 21°22′7.29″N 157°56′21.91″W / 21.3686917°N 157.9394194°WCoordinates: 21°22′7.29″N 157°56′21.91″W / 21.3686917°N 157.9394194°W |
| Built | 1942 |
| Architect | Portsmouth Navy Yard |
| NRHP Reference # | 82000149 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 16 November 1982 |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986 |
USS Bowfin (SS/AGSS-287), a Balao-class submarine, was a boat of the United States Navy named for the bowfin fish. Since 1981, she has been open to public tours at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, next to the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center.
Bowfin was laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, on 23 July 1942, and launched on 7 December 1942 by Mrs. Jane Gawne, wife of Captain James Gawne, and commissioned on 1 May 1943, Commander Joseph H. Willingham in command.
Following fitting out, the submarine proceeded via Newport, Rhode Island, to New London, Connecticut, her base for shakedown training. Early in July, she got underway for the Pacific war zone and, after transiting the Panama Canal and crossing the Pacific, reached Australia. After-voyage repair at Brisbane preceded her getting underway on 19 August to move north and west along the Australian coast to Darwin. She topped off her fuel tanks at that port and sailed on the morning of 25 August for her first war patrol.
The warship reached the Mindanao Sea on 2 September, but plied its waters for more than three weeks without encountering any worthwhile targets. On 24 September, she met with Billfish (SS-286) to conduct coordinated operations. The next day, the two submarines began tracking a six-ship convoy and continued the chase for some five hours before Bowfin finally attained a suitable attack position. She then launched her six bow torpedoes — four at a freighter and two at a trailing transport. Three exploded against the side of the first ship and both of those fired at the second struck home. The submarine immediately turned her fantail toward the convoy and emptied her stern tubes, sending four torpedoes in the direction of a tanker. Gunfire at her periscope forced Bowfin to go deep, so prevented her crew from observing the progress of her last salvo, but they heard its torpedoes explode. When the submarine rose to periscope depth about an hour later, the 8,120-ton passenger-cargo ship Kirishima Maru was slowly sinking, the tanker was on fire, and the transport seemed to be settling by the stern. However, the two latter ships apparently were able to limp back to port, for the sinking of neither was confirmed by postwar study of Japanese records. Later in the day, members of Bowfin’s crew heard distant explosions and inferred that Billfish was going after the remnants of the convoy, a conclusion which proved to be correct, for their sister ship managed to damage two Japanese ships totaling about 12,000 tons. Although the submarines continued to pursue the remaining enemy vessels as they fled during the night, the battered group of Japanese ships finally managed to slip away in the darkness.
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Wikipedia