USS Bowfin - Submarine Science

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USS Bowfin
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Education Program
USS Bowfin (SS-287)

A Brief History of USS Bowfin:

USS Bowfin's equipment was tested and personnel were trained at Portsmouth Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island; and Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut. She departed New London 1 July 1943 for Brisbane, Queensland, Australia by way of the Panama Canal. Bowfin arrived at Brisbane 10 August 1943 and was tied up alongside USS Fulton (AS-11) for post-voyage repairs and fitting out. The crew also underwent more gunnery training and fast deep-submergence practice dives off Brisbane. Bowfin underwent several war patrols, the details of which can be found in the history section of this site here. USS Bowfin was en route from Pearl Harbor to Guam, and thence to her assigned tenth war patrol area with CDR Tyree as Commanding Officer when Japan surrendered. She returned to Pearl Harbor for a few days and then departed for duty with the Atlantic Fleet, arriving in Tompkinsville, Staten Island (New York) on 21 September 1945. Bowfin served there until 1947 when it was first decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet New London Group. With the outbreak of the Korean War, USS Bowfin was recommissioned 27 July 1951 and was sent to San Diego after a three-month overhaul at San Francisco Naval Shipyard. After serving as a training vessel until 1960, USS Bowfin was finally classified as "out of commission in reserve." For the next ten years provided training services to submarine reservists and acted as a famous historical landmark in the City of Seattle. In December 1971, USS Bowfin was officially stricken from the U.S. Navy list and towed to the Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor. She was later transferred to the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association which had been given authority to restore, preserve and exhibit the vessel. In 1981, Bowfin opened for public tours at Pearl Harbor, hosting approximately a quarter of a million visitors annually. USS Bowfin was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986, and proudly continues to honor the U.S. Submarine Force.

USS Bowfin

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