 USSSunfish (SS-281) in theMare Island Channel in 1945 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Sunfish |
| Builder | Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1] |
| Laid down | 25 September 1941[1] |
| Launched | 2 May 1942[1] |
| Commissioned | 15 July 1942[1] |
| Decommissioned | 26 December 1945[1] |
| Stricken | 1 May 1960[1] |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 15 December 1960[1] |
| 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 0 in (5.18 m) maximum[2] |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[6] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[6] |
| Armament |
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USSSunfish (hull numberSS-281), aGato-classsubmarine, was the first ship of theUnited States Navy to be named for theocean sunfish,Mola mola, aplectognath marine fish, having a deep body truncated behind, and highdorsal andanal fins.
Sunfish waslaid down on 25 September 1941 by theMare Island Navy Yard atVallejo,California,launched on 2 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. J. W. Fowler, andcommissioned on 15 July 1942,Commander Richard W. Peterson in command.
Sunfish held hershakedown in theSan Diego Bay area and then proceeded toSan Francisco, California, for post-shakedown repairs. On 26 October 1942, she stood out to sea en route to thePacific war zone.
She arrived atPearl Harbor,T.H. on 1 November, and departed on her first war patrol on 23 November. Her assigned patrol area was off the coasts ofHonshū andHokkaidō,Japan. The submarine laid aminefield at the entrance toIseno Imi on the night of 16 December. On 18 December, torpedoed and damaged theKyowa Maru.[7] The patrol ended on 14 January 1943, upon her return toMidway Island.
Sunfish began her second patrol on 4 February, which took her into theEast China Sea. She torpedoed a ship on the night of 4 March, setting it alight.
Two days later, she fired at a transport with a four-torpedo spread, with three explosions heard. When the submarine raised herperiscope, adestroyer passed over theconning tower and attacked with depth charges causing minor damage. On the night of 13 March,Sunfish torpedoed and sunk the 3,262-tonKosei Maru, a cargo ship in the approaches toTakarajima (Toro Shima in DANFS) in29°04′N129°17′E / 29.067°N 129.283°E /29.067; 129.283.[8][note 1] The submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 April.
Her third patrol was made from 4 May to 24 June in the shipping lanes nearTruk Atoll. TheSunfish did not find any enemy shipping, so she reconnoiteredAnguar Island on 23 May and shelled a refinery onFais Island five days later.
From 28 July to 25 September,Sunfish patrolled in waters offFormosa. In two attacks on 13 August, she sank atanker and attacked the converted gunboatEdo Maru which exploded, sending flames 200 feet (60 m) high. In the early-morning hours of 4 September,Sunfish dodged between lightedsampans to attack a 10-ship convoy, sinking theKozon Maru, which also exploded.
Sunfish refitted at Pearl Harbor and sailed on 16 October to patrol area northeast of Formosa. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 14 December 1943 without finding any worthy targets.
On 14 January 1944,Sunfish set off under her new commanding officer CommanderEdward E. Shelby to patrol the shipping lanes between theCaroline andMariana Islands. She made a photographic reconnaissance ofKusaie and anotheratoll in the Carolines between 21 January and 30 January. On 23 February, the submarine made four attacks on a convoy, sinking theKunishima Maru and theShinyubari Maru with a combined tonnage of 9,437 tons of enemy shipping. When she returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 March, she was routed onward to San Francisco for an overhaul, which was completed in early June.
Following her overhaul, theSunfish returned to Pearl Harbor and departed for her seventh war patrol on 22 June in theKuril Islands area. She sank thepassenger-cargo shipShanmai Maru on the night of 5 July. The next day, the submarine engaged and destroyed a fleet of 14sampans andtrawlers with herdeck guns.Sunfish mistakenly sank the Soviet merchant shipOb on 6 July[9][10] and sank the 6,284-ton cargo shipTaihei Maru on the morning of 9 July.Sunfish steamed to Midway for a refit period from 1 August to 19 August.
Sunfish began her eighth war patrol on 20 August when she departed Midway for theYellow Sea. On 10 September she intercepted a convoy coming out ofTsushima Strait, sinkingChihaya Maru and damaging several other targets. On the night of 13 September, theSunfish attacked another convoy sinking theEtashima Maru with damage claimed to other targets, including one ship left with her decks awash. The patrol ended at Pearl Harbor on 27 September.
Sunfish returned to the Yellow Sea on 23 October as part of a "wolf pack" that includedPeto (SS-265) andSpadefish (SS-411). On 17 November, theSunfish sighted a convoy of eight ships led by the 21,000-tonescort carrierShinyo. The carrier quickly passed out of range of theSunfish, which signalled its find to the other members of the wolfpack. TheSunfish attacked the remaining ships of the convoy, sinking two troopships; theEdogawa Maru with 2,113 lives lost; and theSeisho Maru with 448 lives lost. TheSpadefish torpedoed and sank theShinyo, with 1,130 lives lost. As the battle continued, thePeto sankAisakasan Maru andChinkai Maru, whileSpadefish sankSubmarine Chaser No. 156.
On 29 November, theSpadefish sankDaiboshi Maru. The following day theSunfish sank the transportDairen Maru. The patrol ended atMajuro,Marshall Islands, on 19 December 1944, with the wolfpack having sunk a total of 59,000 tons of Japanese shipping.
Sunfish stood out of Majuro on 15 January 1945 to patrol in theEast China andYellow Seas. On 20 February, she collided with an ice floe damaging both periscopes, forcing a premature end to the patrol. TheSunfish arrived atApra Harbor,Guam, on 27 February, for refit and repairs.
Sunfish began her eleventh, and last, war patrol on 31 March 1945 with Commander John W. Reed now in command,[11] patrolling off Honshū and Hokkaidō. She operated in the approaches toOminato in April. On the 9th, she damaged a ship which managed to speed away and enter a protected harbor. Five days later,Sunfish launched three torpedoes at a merchantman; but all missed. The submarine carried out a daylight attack on 16 April, sinking the transportManryu Maru and thefrigateCoast Defense Vessel No. 73. She expended her last torpedoes three days later in night-radar attacks, sinkingKaiho Maru andTaisei Maru.Sunfish returned to Pearl Harbor on 28 April and departed for the United States two days later.
Sunfish was in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard from 7 May to 31 July for an overhaul and returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 August. She was preparing for another patrol when hostilities with Japan ceased. The submarine sailed out of Pearl Harbor on 29 August en route to the West Coast. She arrived at Mare Island on 5 September for inactivation, and was decommissioned there on 26 December 1945. She was the first submarine of theGato class to be decommissioned after the war.Sunfish remained out of commission, serving as a classroom for naval reserve units until she was struck from theNavy List on 1 May 1960.
Sunfish received ninebattle stars forWorld War II.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1944 | |
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