_1947.jpg) View from the bow ofBoarfish (SS-327) in theChukchi Sea in 1947 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSBoarfish (SS-327) |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down | 12 August 1943[1] |
| Launched | 21 May 1944[1] |
| Commissioned | 23 September 1944[1] |
| Decommissioned | 23 May 1948[1] |
| Stricken | 28 May 1948[2] |
| Fate | Transferred toTurkey, 23 May 1948[1] |
_at_sea_in_1973.jpg) TCGSakarya (S-332) off Istanbul in 1973. | |
 Turkey | |
| Name | TCGSakarya (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 | Balao classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 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)[3] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
| Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3] |
| Armament |
|
USSBoarfish (SS-327), aBalao-classsubmarine, was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for theboarfish, a fish having a projecting hog-like snout.
Boarfish (SS-327) waslaid down on 12 August 1943;launched on 21 May 1944 byElectric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut, sponsored by Miss Barbara Walsh, daughter ofSenatorArthur Walsh ofNew Jersey; andcommissioned on 23 September 1944,Commander Royce L. Gross in command.
Followingshakedown training off the coast ofNew England, the submarine departedNew London, Conn. on 29 October 1944 forPanama. After a week of intensive training in Panamanian waters,Boarfish transited thePanama Canal on 21 November and set out forPearl Harbor where she arrived on 2 December. Another three weeks of training inHawaii followed, and thenBoarfish stood out of Pearl Harbor on 24 December bound for thewestern Pacific. She refueled and took on provisions atSaipan before embarking upon her first war patrol on 5 January 1945.
Boarfish sailed to theSouth China Sea to patrol the coast ofFrench Indochina. Early on 21 January, the submarine'sradar picked up a smallconvoy of five or six small ships.Boarfish closed the convoy three times in three hours, firing 16 torpedoes, all of which apparently passed under the targets. She broke off the attack at daybreak and did not regain contact. On 31 January, the boat made another radar contact on two cargo ships under escort. DuringBoarfish's initial approach, an escort sighted the submarine and chased her away. The boat then fired her torpedoes atperiscope depth and scored hits on both ships. WhenBoarfish submerged to avoid the escorts, she leftEnki Maru (6,968 tons) sinking andTaietsu Maru (6,890 tons) burning fiercely and beached nearby. Even while avoidingdepth charges,Boarfish tried to close the beach to finish the job. She abandoned the attempt after 36 hours because fire had so ravaged the cargo ship that she seemed unsalvageable.Taietsu Maru was destroyed completely by American planes of the14th Air Force later that same day, andBoarfish received partial credit for the sinking. The submarine ended her first patrol on 15 February when she pulled intoFremantle, Australia, for refit alongsidesubmarine tenderEuryale (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 inSubic Bay on 21 April.
After refit alongsideAnthedon (AS-24),Boarfish left Subic Bay on 16 May for theJava Sea. Her first action came when she sighted a small two-mastedjunk on 27 May. A boarding party searched the junk for arms, contraband, and Japanese, but found nothing, and the junk was allowed to proceed. Two days later, a small convoy of three ships accompanied by two escorts crossedBoarfish's path. She launched four torpedoes at the lead ship before losing firing position. Her crew heard an explosion; but, when the officer at the conn peered through herperiscope, he saw a charging escort instead of a sinking ship. The submarine dived, intending to put 215 feet (66 m) of the 240 feet (73 m) charted at that location between her and the escort. At 216 feet (66 m), the submarine grounded, knocking off her sound gear and making enough noise to betray her position easily. Eight depth charges followed asBoarfish tried to free herself. Despite damage to herportpropeller, the submarine backed off theseamount 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 alongsideClytie (AS-26), she departed on 5 July for her fourth war patrol. Operating in acoordinated attack groupBoarfish,Blenny (SS-324), andChub (SS-329) covered the Java Sea offJava and the north coast ofBali. They made no surface contacts but encountered a number of enemy planes, one of which depth-bombedBoarfish on 8 July. On the 29th,Boarfish performed lifeguard duties during an Allied air strike onSingapore, and she remained off theMalay coast patrolling until 6 August, when she set course for Subic Bay. The submarine pulled alongsideHoward W. Gilmore (AS-16) for refit on 10 August and was there when the Japanese capitulation was announced.
Boarfish sailed fromSubic Bay on 30 August in company withHoward W. Gilmore and 17 submarines. She parted company with them on 5 September and put intoApra Harbor,Guam, where she remained until 17 November training in postwar maneuvers and drills. She got underway on 17 November and set course via Pearl Harbor forSan 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 toMidway Island;Marcus Island;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 toAlaska andCanada between July and November. Commencing 30 July 1947Boarfish was the flagship of the first exploration under the Polar Ice Cap in theBering Strait, this mission designated as Task Group 17.3Operation Blue Nose under the command of R. Adm.Allan Rockwell McCann for the purpose of testing the under-ice use ofSonar, developed by Dr.Waldo K. Lyon, director of theArctic Submarine Laboratory, who was also aboard. On 15 November, the submarine entered theMare Island Naval Shipyard for overhaul before transfer to theTurkish Navy. She left Mare Island on 21 February 1948 and steamed via San Diego, Panama, New London,Malta, andPort Argostoli, Greece, toİzmir, Turkey.
Boarfish was struck from theNaval Register on 20 May 1948, and transferred (sold) toTurkey under terms of the Security Assistance Program, 23 August 1948. She was returned to US custody for scrapping, 1 January 1974.
Boarfish received onebattle star for her service inWorld War II.
On 23 May 1948,Boarfish wasdecommissioned and immediately recommissioned in the Turkish Navy asTCGSakarya (S 332), the second submarine named in honor of the 1921Battle of Sakarya.[5]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.
