USS BOWFIN HISTORY

LAUNCHING & COMMISSIONING

On 15 December 1941, eight days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Portsmouth Navy Yard was given the order to start construction on the new Balao class fleet submarines. The third boat of the class was to bear the name USS Bowfin (SS-287). Her keel was laid on 23 July 1942.

Construction proceeded smoothly, and Bowfin was launched at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine on 7 December 1942, exactly one year after the Pearl Harbor attack. Due to this historic coincidence, and in hopes of future success against the enemy, she was appropriately dubbed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger.”

Bowfin was christened by Mrs. Jane Gawne, wife of Captain James Orville Gawne who was head of the Portsmouth Navy Yard.

After a period of trial runs, Bowfin was deemed ready to begin her career as a U.S. Navy submarine. Her commissioning party was held on 24 April 1943 at the Pannaway Club in New London, CT, followed a week later by her formal Commissioning Ceremony held on her main deck on 1 May 1943.

USS Bowfin takes her name from the hard fighting, aggressive, and voracious fish found in fresh water from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River, and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. As the last survivor of the family Amiidae, which dates back to the Jurassic Period, this living fossil is at home in backwaters and marshy areas. Due to its primitive lung, it thrives in water with low oxygen content, and can survive for days at a time in little or no water. A more appropriate name could not have been found for an air-breathing diesel boat, this one soon to be legendary in the submarine force for her bold determination and insatiable appetite for enemy shipping.

Bowfin Launching

 

Bowfin Launch Party

BOWFIN TIMELINE

LAUNCHING & COMMISSIONING

On 15 December 1941, eight days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Portsmouth Navy Yard was given the order to start construction on the new Balao class fleet submarines. The third boat of the class was to bear the name USS Bowfin (SS-287). Her keel was laid on…Read More

PATROL 1

PATROL 1 – SECRET MISSION 25 August 1943 to 10 October 1943 After the launching of Bowfin she headed west towards Australia from Portsmouth via the Panama Canal, which she passed through on 15 July 1943. Then on 10 August 1943 Bowfin sailed into Fremantle. From Fremantle, Bowfin traveled over…Read More

PATROL 2

PATROL 2 – PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION 1 November 1943 to 9 December 1943 On USS Bowfin’s second war patrol they sailed from Fremantle towards the South China Sea with a new commanding officer, LCDR Walter Thomas Griffith. This was LCDR Griffith’s first war patrol as commanding officer, before he had…Read More

PATROL 3

PATROL 3 – AN ADMIRAL ABOARD 8 January 1944 to 5 February 1944 On 8 January 1944 Bowfin and crew steamed away from Fremantle and set course for the Celebes Sea, yet again. The valiant crew was departing for their third war patrol and their second patrol with LCDR Griffith.…Read More

PATROL 4

PATROL 4 – THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED 28 February 1944 to 1 April 1944 USS Bowfin left Fremantle for Darwin on 28 February 1944 as she started her fourth war patrol. This time she would be patrolling in the Celebes Sea, in between the Philippines and Indonesia, rather than…Read More

PATROL 5

PATROL 5 – TOUGH LUCK 25 April 1944 to 21 June 1944 USS Bowfin set off from Fremantle for her fifth war patrol on 25 April 1944 and this time she and her crew started the 4,000-mile journey to Palau and the surrounding areas. Unbeknownst to the crew, this war…Read More

PATROL 6

PATROL 6 – SIGHTED BUS, SANK CRANE 16 July 1944 to 13 September 1944 Once Bowfin had received a refit at Pearl Harbor she and her crew were headed out for their sixth war patrol on 16 July 1944. First stop, Midway, where Bowfin rendezvoused with USS Fulton (AS-11), the…Read More

PATROL 7

PATROL 7 – ZOOMIES WITH SQUIDS 25 January 1945 to 25 March 1945 After training and testing at Pearl were complete the crew embarked for Bowfin’s seventh war patrol on 25 January 1945. This patrol largely took place in the waters east of the Japanese mainland, and Bowfin’s secondary assignment…Read More

PATROL 8

PATROL 8 – HELL’S BELLS 23 April 1945 to 15 May 1945 Bowfin’s eighth war patrol took the crew to the northeastern part of the Japanese mainland between the main island of Honshu and the island of Hokkaido. Bowfin had originally received orders to proceed alone and without a coding…Read More

PATROL 9

PATROL 9 – OPERATION BARNEY 24 May 1945 to 4 July 1945 Upon their return to Guam, the crew of Bowfin got as much rest and relaxation as possible in the short time allocated before their final war patrol. This patrol consisted of a secret mission designated Operation Barney that…Read More

POST-WAR

POST-WAR SUMMARY Bowfin’s four World War II commanding officers believed that she sank 179,646 tons (34 large vessels, plus 10 more under 500 tons) and damaged 33,934 tons (five large vessels plus two smaller ones) for a total of 213,580 tons sunk or damaged. The Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC)…Read More