USS Boarfish

	View from the bow of Boarfish (SS-327) in the Chukchi Sea in 1947
History
United States
Name	USS Boarfish (SS-327)
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	12 August 1943
Launched	21 May 1944
Commissioned	23 September 1944
Decommissioned	23 May 1948
Stricken	28 May 1948
Fate	Transferred to Turkey, 23 May 1948
	TCG Sakarya (S-332) off Istanbul in 1973.
Turkey
Name	TCG Sakarya (S-332)
Acquired	23 August 1948
Out of service	1972
Fate	Returned to US custody for scrapping, 1 January 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced; 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged;
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
Propulsion	4 × electrical generators; 2 × 126- batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; 2 × propellers; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced; 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;

USS Boarfish (SS-327), a

Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the boarfish

, a fish having a projecting hog-like snout.

Construction and commissioning

Boarfish (SS-327) was

Arthur Walsh of New Jersey; and commissioned on 23 September 1944, Commander

Royce L. Gross in command.

World War II

Following

western Pacific. She refueled and took on provisions at Saipan

before embarking upon her first war patrol on 5 January 1945.

Boarfish sailed to the

Fremantle, Australia, for refit alongside submarine tender Euryale (AS-22)

.

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 in Subic Bay on 21 April.

After refit alongside

port propeller, the submarine backed off the seamount

and eased up to 180 feet (55 m) to escape. The damage sustained in the grounding was severe enough to force an early return to Fremantle, where she arrived on 8 June.

After repair and refit alongside Clytie (AS-26), she departed on 5 July for her fourth war patrol. Operating in a coordinated attack group Boarfish, Blenny (SS-324), and Chub (SS-329) covered the Java Sea off Java and the north coast of Bali. They made no surface contacts but encountered a number of enemy planes, one of which depth-bombed Boarfish on 8 July. On the 29th, Boarfish performed lifeguard duties during an Allied air strike on Singapore, and she remained off the Malay coast patrolling until 6 August, when she set course for Subic Bay. The submarine pulled alongside Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) for refit on 10 August and was there when the Japanese capitulation was announced.

1945–1948

Boarfish sailed from

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 on 1 October for a tour that included visits to

Okinawa; Qingdao

, China; and Guam. She began her return cruise to San Diego on 11 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 to

Turkish Navy. She left Mare Island on 21 February 1948 and steamed via San Diego, Panama, New London, Malta, and Port Argostoli, Greece, to İzmir

, Turkey.

Boarfish was struck from the

Naval Register on 20 May 1948, and transferred (sold) to Turkey

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 in World War II

.