|
The USS Batfish SS-310:
Hull Number: SS 310
Class: Balao Submarine
Previous Name: Acoupa, changed Sept. 24, 1942 however was never commissioned as the Acoupa
Launched: May 5, 1943
At: Portsmouth, New Hampshire Kittery, ME
Commissioned: August 21, 1943
Sponsor: Mrs. Nellie W. Fortier
Length: 312 feet
Beam: 27 feet, 3 inches
Draft: 15 feet, 3 inches
Speed: 20 knots surface, 9 knots submerged
Surface: 4 Fairbanks Morse 9 cylinder 1600 horsepower diesel engines; Submerged: battery powered electric motors
Displacement: 1,526 tons surfaced and
2415 tons submerged, as per John D. Alden
Armament: Ten 21 inch torpedo tubes 6 bow and 4 stern tubes; deck, one 4 inch 50 caliber gun; forward deck, one 40 mm gun and a 20 mm back aft (after decks).
General Information:
Her first Skipper was Captain LCDR Wayne R. Merrill, however, Commander J.K. Fyfe, a 1936 graduate of Annapolis was the Skipper during most of her War Patrols.
She took her name from the ferocious fish of the West Indies, and during her seven War Patrols sank three Submarines, plus eleven other vessels for a total of over 37,000 tons of enemy ships.
This incredible record earned her the Presidential Unit Citation, nine Battle Stars, and her Crew: The Navy Cross, four Silver Stars, and ten Bronze Stars!
The Batfish left on her 7th and final War Patrol in June of 1945, which lasted 58 days.
The Japanese Surrendered in Japan on August 15, 1945 ceremoniously ending World War II.
Decommissioned: Apr. 6, 1946 and entered the
Reserve Fleet Mare Island Navy Yard
Re-commissioned: Mar. 7, 1952 and went to Key West, Florida for local ops
Special Designations/Conversions: Converted from a SS to an AGSS December 1, 1962 and entered the US Naval Reserves, New Orleans, Louisiana
Final Decommission: November 1, 1969
Transferred: Feb. 18, 1972 to the Oklahoma Maritime Advisory Board Muskogee, Oklahoma, due largely to the diligent hard work of several Oklahoma Submarine Veterans, Legislators and several other interested citizens.
Struck from the Navy Lists: Feb. 28, 1972.
The Cold War continues…
|
|
