_off_the_Mare_Island_Naval_Shipyard%2c_California_(USA)%2c_20_April_1944_(NH_98325).jpg) USSFlier (SS-250) off theMare Island Navy Yard inCalifornia on 20 April 1944. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSFlier (SS-250) |
| Namesake | Flier |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down | 30 October 1942[1] |
| Launched | 11 July 1943[1] |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. A. S. Pierce |
| Commissioned | 18 October 1943[1] |
| Fate | Mined in theBalabac Strait, 13 August 1944[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gato-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[2] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[6] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
|
USSFlier (SS-250) was aGato-class submarine. It was the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for theflier.[7]
Flier′skeel waslaid down 30 October 1942 byElectric Boat Company ofGroton,Connecticut. She waslaunched on 11 July 1943,sponsored by Mrs. A. S. Pierce, andcommissioned on 18 October 1943.[7]
Aftershakedown training,Flier departedNew London, Connecticut, in early December 1943 bound for thePanama Canal. While she was on the surface in theCaribbean Sea nearing the approaches to thecanal, anAliedmerchant ship mistook her for a GermanU-boat and opened gunfire on her, firing 13 rounds, but she escaped into a rainsquall without suffering damage or casualties.[8] After transiting the Panama Canal, she reachedPearl Harbor,Hawaii, on 20 December 1943 and prepared for her first war patrol.
Flier departed Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol on 12 January 1944[7] but ran aground nearMidway Atoll in theNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands on 16 January 1944.USS Macaw (ASR-11), aChanticleer-classsubmarine rescue ship, attempted to pullFlier free but ran aground herself and sank.Flier eventually was saved by the submarine rescue shipUSS Florikan (ASR-9) andtowed to first Pearl Harbor and then theMare Island Navy Yard atMare Island,California, for repairs.[9]
On 21 May 1944,Flier again departed for her first war patrol, heading for a patrol area in theSouth China Sea west ofLuzon in thePhilippines. She made her first contact on 4 June 1944, attacking a well-escorted Japaneseconvoy of five merchant ships.[7] Firing threetorpedoes at each of two ships, she sent the 10,380-gross register tontransportHakusan Maru to the bottom and scored a hit on another ship before clearing the area to evade counterattack.[7][9]
On 13 June 1944,Flier attacked a Japanese convoy of 11 ships —cargo ships andtankers — guarded by at least six escorts. The alert behavior of the escorts during the attack resulted in a severe counterattack onFlier before she could observe what damage she had done to the convoy. On 22 June 1944, she began a long chase after another large convoy, scoring four hits for six torpedoes fired at two cargo ships that day, and three hits for four torpedoes launched against another cargo ship of the same convoy the next day.[7]Flier put intoFremantle submarine base atFremantle,Western Australia, on 5 July 1944 and began a refit.
With her refit complete,Flier departed Fremantle on 2 August 1944 on her second war patrol, bound for a patrol area in the South China Sea off the coast of Japanese-occupiedFrench Indochina via theLombok Strait,Macassar Strait, andBalabac Strait. At about 22:00 on 12 August, while transiting the Balabac Strait on the surface, she struck anaval mine. She sank in about a minute, but 15officers and men were able to clamber out. Eight of them reached the beach ofByan Island after 17 hours in the water.Philippine guerrillas guided them to acoastwatcher, who arranged for them to be picked up by submarine, and on the night of 30–31 August 1944 they were taken aboard the submarineUSS Redfin (SS-272).[7][10]
Flier's single completed war patrol was designated "successful." She is credited with having sunk 10,380 gross register tons of Japanese shipping.[7]
On 1 February 2009, the U.S. Navy announced the discovery ofFlier near the Balabac Strait in the Philippines at7°58′43.21″N117°15′23.79″E / 7.9786694°N 117.2566083°E /7.9786694; 117.2566083.[11] The discovery of aGato-class submarine was made during an expedition by YAP Films, based in part on information provided by a survivor of the sinking ofFlier. Further research by theNaval History and Heritage Command revealed that no other submarine, American or Japanese, had been reported lost in that general vicinity. In addition, footage of the wreck showed a gun mount and radar antenna, both of which were similar to the same equipment seen in contemporary photographs ofFlier. The ship rests in 330 ft (100 m) of water.[12]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1943 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in January 1944 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents | |
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1944 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents | |
