- USS Boarfish (SS-327)
USS "Boarfish" (SS-327), a "Balao"-class
submarine , was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for theboarfish , a fish having a projecting hog-like snout."Boarfish" (SS-327) was laid down on
12 August 1943 ; launched on21 May 1944 byElectric Boat Co.,Groton, Conn. , sponsored by Miss Barbara Walsh, daughter of Senator Arthur Walsh ofNew Jersey ; and commissioned on23 September 1944 , Commander Royce L. Gross in command.World War II
Following shakedown training off the coast of
New England , the submarine departed New London, Conn. on29 October 1944 forPanama . After a week of intensive training in Panamanian waters, "Boarfish" transited thePanama Canal on21 November and set out forPearl Harbor where she arrived on2 December . Another three weeks of training inHawaii followed, and then "Boarfish" stood out of Pearl Harbor on24 December bound for thewestern Pacific . She refueled and took on provisions atSaipan before embarking upon her first war patrol on5 January 1945 ."Boarfish" sailed to the
South China Sea to patrol the coast ofFrench Indochina . Early on21 January , the submarine'sradar picked up a smallconvoy of five or six small ships. "Boarfish" closed the convoy three times in three hours, firing 16torpedo es, all of which apparently passed under the targets. She broke off the attack at daybreak and did not regain contact. On31 January , the boat made another radar contact on two cargo ships under escort. During "Boarfish"’s initial approach, an escort sighted the submarine and chased her away. The boat then fired her torpedoes atperiscope depth and scored hits on both ships. When "Boarfish" submerged to avoid the escorts, she left "Enki Maru" (6,968 tons) sinking and "Taietsu Maru" (6,890 tons) burning fiercely and beached nearby. Even while avoidingdepth charge s, "Boarfish" tried to close the beach to finish the job. She abandoned the attempt after 36 hours because fire had so ravaged the cargo ship that she seemed unsalvageable. "Taietsu Maru" was destroyed completely by American planes of the 14th Air Force later that same day, and "Boarfish" received partial credit for the sinking. The submarine ended her first patrol on15 February when she pulled into Fremantle,Australia , for refit alongsidesubmarine tender USS|Euryale|AS-22|3.The submarine's second patrol began on
11 March 1945 when she departed Fremantle for a second tour of duty in the South China Sea. Although she encountered and attacked two small convoys, their alert escorts foiled both attacks. "Boarfish" successfully carried out two reconnaissance missions along the east coast of French Indochina before ending her patrol inSubic Bay on21 April .After refit alongside USS|Anthedon|AS-24|3, "Boarfish" left Subic Bay on
16 May for theJava Sea . Her first action came when she sighted a small two-masted junk on27 May . A boarding party searched the junk for arms, contraband, and Japanese, but found nothing, and the junk was allowed to proceed. Two days later, a small convoy of three ships accompanied by two escorts crossed "Boarfish"’s path. She fired four torpedoes at the lead ship before losing firing position. Her crew heard an explosion; but, when the officer at the conn peered through herperiscope , he saw a charging escort instead of a sinking ship. The submarine dived, intending to put convert|215|ft of the convert|240|ft charted at that location between her and the escort. At convert|216|ft, the submarine grounded, knocking off her sound gear and making enough noise to betray her position easily. Eight depth charges followed as "Boarfish" tried to free herself. Despite damage to her portpropeller , the submarine backed off theseamount and eased up to convert|180|ft to escape. The damage sustained in the grounding was severe enough to force an early return to Fremantle, where she arrived on8 June .After repair and refit alongside USS|Clytie|AS-26|3, she departed on
5 July for her fourth war patrol. Operating in a coordinated attack group "Boarfish", USS|Blenny|SS-324|3, and USS|Chub|SS-329|3 covered the Java Sea offJava and the north coast ofBali . They made no surface contacts but encountered a number of enemy planes, one of which depth-bombed "Boarfish" on8 July . On the 29th, "Boarfish" performed lifeguard duties during an Allied air strike onSingapore , and she remained off theMalay coast patrolling until6 August , when she set course for Subic Bay. The submarine pulled alongside USS|Howard W. Gilmore|AS-16|3 for refit on10 August and was there when the Japanese capitulation was announced.1945 – 1948
"Boarfish" sailed from Subic Bay on
30 August in company with "Howard W. Gilmore" and 17 submarines. She parted company with them on5 September and put intoApra Harbor ,Guam , where she remained until17 November training in postwar maneuvers and drills. She got underway on17 November and set course via Pearl Harbor for San Diego, Calif. where she arrived early in February 1946."Boarfish" operated out of San Diego in local training exercises until
9 September , when she got underway for a tour in the western Pacific. After a brief stopover in Pearl Harbor, the submarine got underway on1 October for a tour that included visits to Midway Island;Marcus Island ;Okinawa ; Tsingtao,China ; and Guam. She began her return cruise to San Diego on11 November and, upon her arrival, resumed local operations."Boarfish" remained in the San Diego area until
15 November 1947 except for one cruise to Pearl Harbor in February 1947 and another toAlaska andCanada between July and November. Commensing30 July 1947 "Boarfish" was the flagship of the first exploration under the Polar Ice Cap in theBering Strait , this mission designated as Task Group 17.3 under the command of R. Adm.Allan R. McCann for the purpose of testing the under-ice use ofSonar , developed byWaldo K. Lyon who was also aboard. On15 November , the submarine entered theMare Island Naval Shipyard for overhaul before transfer to theTurkish Navy . She left Mare Island on21 February 1948 and steamed via San Diego, Panama, New London,Malta , andPort Argostoli ,Greece , toIzmir ,Turkey . On23 May , "Boarfish" was decommissioned and immediately recommissioned in the Turkish Navy as TCG "Sakarya" (S 332), the second submarine named in honor of the 1921Battle of Sakarya . [DANFS gives her name as "Gur".]"Boarfish" was struck from the
Naval Register on20 May 1948 , and transferred (sold) toTurkey under terms of the Security Assistance Program,23 August 1948 . She was returned to US custody for scrapping,1 January 1974 ."Boarfish" received one
battle star for her service inWorld War II .References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/boarfish-i.htm|http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss327.htm
External links
*navsource|08/08327|Boarfish
* [http://www.rddesigns.com/ww2/boarfish.html Sinkings by boat: USS "Boarfish"]
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