USS Devilfish
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Devilfish |
| Builder | Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia[1] |
| Yard number | 547 |
| Laid down | 31 March 1942[1] |
| Launched | 30 May 1943[1] |
| Commissioned | 1 September 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned | 30 September 1946[1] |
| Stricken | 1 March 1967[1] |
| Fate | Sunk as a target off San Francisco, California on 14 August 1968[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | |
| Displacement | 1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced,[2] 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2] |
| Length | 311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced,[3] 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced[3] |
| Endurance | 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged,[3] 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3] |
| Armament |
|
USS Devilfish (SS/AGSS-292), a
.Construction and commissioning
Devilfish was
Frank W. Fenno Jr., and commissioned
on 1 September 1944.
Service history
Devilfish aided the training program of the
Saipan
to refuel from 12 to 15 January 1945.
Devilfish patrolled the dangerous waters of
lifeguard for Army pilots making bombing raids on Japan
. She refitted at Guam from 13 February-15 March, called at Saipan, and sailed on 16 March for her second war patrol.
Assigned to the area between
Sagami Wan and the northern Nanpō Islands, Devilfish was attacked by a kamikaze plane on 20 March before she entered her patrol area.[7] The plane crashed into her as the submarine was submerging, destroying the mast structure and causing serious leakage.[7]
Devilfish returned to Saipan and Pearl Harbor for repairs, departing Pearl Harbor on 20 May on her third patrol.
She sought targets in Bungo Suido and off northern
Honshū, and on 16 June, in heavy seas, attacked an enemy submarine carrying a midget submarine on its deck. On 26 June, she attacked an escort ship, but in both cases the targets escaped. During this patrol she acted as lifeguard for strikes accompanying the Okinawa operation
, and several times rendezvoused with other submarines to take off medical cases and previously rescued aviators.
Devilfish called at to
Tori Shima, and on 16 August, after the end of hostilities, departed for Midway and San Francisco
.
There she was placed in commission in reserve on 18 April 1946, and out of commission in reserve on 30 September 1946. Laid up in the
Pacific Reserve Fleet, Devilfish was redesignated AGSS-292. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 1 March 1967.
Devilfish was sunk by the submarine
San Francisco, California on 14 August 1968, as part of a MK 16 MOD 8 torpedo test at 37°5′N 124°8′W / 37.083°N 124.133°W in 2,000 fathoms
(12,000 ft; 3,700 m) of water.
Awards
Devilfish received three
battle stars for her World War II
service; her second war patrol was designated as "successful".
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
- ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ ISBN 9781781593134.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Devilfish (SS-292).
- Photo gallery of Devilfish at NavSource Naval History
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1968 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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