USS Pilotfish
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1] |
| Laid down | 15 May 1943[1] |
| Launched | 30 August 1943[1] |
| Commissioned | 16 December 1943[1] |
| Decommissioned | 29 August 1946[1] |
| Stricken | 25 February 1947[2] |
| Fate | Used as a target for the atomic bomb test, 25 July 1946, and sunk[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 6 in (94.95 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[4] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[4] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[4] |
| Armament |
|
USS Pilotfish (SS-386), a
Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named after the pilot fish, a carangoid fish, often seen in warm latitudes in company with sharks
.
Construction and commissioning
Pilotfish was
Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, Maine, on 15 May 1943; launched on 30 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Martha Szolmeczka Scheutz; and commissioned
on 16 December 1943.
Operational history
After underway trials, training, and shakedown in the Portsmouth area, Pilotfish departed
Pacific Fleet 10 April and joined Submarine Division 202, Submarine Squadron 20
.
On 16 May, Pilotfish departed on her first patrol in company with
Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands
, arriving 4 July.
Pilotfish departed on her second war patrol in the
lifeguard duty in addition to offensive patrol. She returned via Midway
to Pearl Harbor, 14 September.
Pilotfish departed 14 October via Midway Island on her third war patrol, again in the Bonins area. On 31 October she torpedoed and damaged a 4,000-ton cargo ship. On 2 November Pilotfish proceeded to the
Nansei Shoto
area for the balance of the patrol. After 57 days of patrol, she returned to Midway Island, arriving 10 December.
On 20 January 1945 Pilotfish departed on her fourth war patrol, in company with Finback (SS-230) and Rasher (SS-269). The group proceeded via Saipan to the East China Sea area, where a long patrol brought no contacts but a hospital ship and small craft. Pilotfish returned to Pearl Harbor, 25 March.
On 21 May Pilotfish departed for her fifth patrol. She spent fifteen days on lifeguard duty off
Marcus Island, then proceeded to Tanapag Harbor, Saipan. On 20 June Pilotfish left for the second half of her lifeguard patrol in the vicinity of the Japanese Home Islands. Pilotfish arrived Apra Harbor, Guam
, 14 July.
On 9 August Pilotfish departed on her sixth patrol, again to lifeguard duty. Only two days had been spent in the patrol area, southeast of Japan, when on 15 August the “Cease Firing” order arrived. Pilotfish remained on station off
Kii Suido for continued lifeguard duty, and neutrality patrol. On 31 August Pilotfish rendezvoused with other ships and proceeded to Tokyo Kaiwan in order to participate in the initial occupation of Japan and the formal surrender ceremonies. The afternoon of 31 August all submarines of the formation moored alongside Proteus (AS-19) in Yokosuka Naval Basin
.
On 3 September, Pilotfish got underway for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco.
Disposal
By a directive dated 1 July 1946, Pilotfish was selected for disposal by use as a target for
decommissioned on 29 August 1946 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 25 February 1947.
Many sources claim that the wreck of Pilotfish was refloated, towed to
Eniwetok Atoll, again used as an atomic bomb test target there during Operation Sandstone in 1948, and resunk off Eniwetok as a target on 16 October 1948. However, in 1991 the U.S. National Park Service reported that this narrative is incorrect, and that Pilotfish′s wreck was not salvaged after her 1946 sinking and remains on the bottom of the lagoon at Bikini Atoll.[9]
Honors and awards
Pilotfish received five
battle stars for World War II
service.
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
- ^ 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
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ Delgado, James P., Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare, Osprey Publishing, 2012, p. 193.
- ^ Delgado, James, P., Daniel J. Lenihan, and Larry E. Murphy, The Archaeology of the Atomic Bomb: A Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment of the Sunken Fleet of Operation Crossroads at Bikini and Kwajalein Atoll Lagoons, Santa Fe, New Mexico: National Parl Service, 1991, p. 72.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
External links
- Photo gallery of Pilotfish at NavSource Naval History
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1946 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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