USS Lionfish (SS-298)

USS "Lionfish" (SS-298), a "Balao"-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy named for the lionfish, a scorpaenoid fish found in the West Indies and the tropical Pacific.

"Lionfish" was laid down on 15 December 1942; launched on 7 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Harold C. Train; and commissioned on 1 November 1944. Her first captain was Lieutenant Commander Edward D. Spruance, son of World War II admiral Raymond Spruance.

After completing her shakedown cruise off New England, she began her first war patrol in Japanese waters on 1 April 1945. Ten days later, she avoided two torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine. On 1 May "Lionfish" destroyed a Japanese schooner with her deck guns. After a rendezvous with the submarine USS Ray, she transported B-29 survivors to Saipan and then made her way to Midway Island for replenishment.

On 2 June she started her second war patrol, and on 10 July fired torpedoes at a surfaced Japanese submarine, after which "Lionfish"'s crew heard explosions and observed smoke through their periscope. She subsequently fired on two more Japanese submarines. "Lionfish" ended her second and last war patrol performing lifeguard duty (the rescue of downed fliers) off the coast of Japan. When World War II ended on 15 August she headed for San Francisco and was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard on 16 January 1946.

"Lionfish" was recommissioned on 31 January 1951, and headed for the East Coast for training cruises. After participating in NATO exercises and a Mediterranean cruise, she returned to the East Coast and was decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 15 December 1953.

In 1960, the submarine was recommissioned a second time, this time serving as a reserve training submarine at Providence, Rhode Island. In 1971, she was stricken from the Navy Register, and in 1973, she was for permanent display as a memorial at Battleship Cove, where she is one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.

References

External links

*http://www.battleshipcove.com/ss298-history.htm
* [http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/SubmarineLionfish/index.htm USS Lionfish] Photos on board the Submarine USS Lionfish SS-298 in Fall River, MA
* [http://www2.brazosport.edu/~nstevens/lionfish.html Lionfish on Deep Domain] The (Unofficial) Lionfish Homepage
* [http://www.hnsa.org/ships/lionfish.htm HNSA Web Page: USS Lionfish]