View source for USS Bonefish (SS-223)

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Bonefish}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Bonefish (SS-223).jpg|300px|USS Bonefish launching]]
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book
  | last = Friedman
  | first = Norman
  | title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
  | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
  | year = 1995
  | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
  | pages = 285–304
  | isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}</ref>
|Ship laid down=25 June 1942<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=7 March 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. F.&nbsp;A. Daubin
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=31 May 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sunk by Japanese vessels in [[Toyama Bay]], [[Honshū]], 18 June 1945<ref name="Register">{{cite book
  | last = Bauer
  | first = K. Jack
  |author2=Roberts, Stephen S.
   | title = Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants
  | publisher = Greenwood Press
  | year = 1991
  | location = [[Westport, Connecticut]]
  | pages = 271–273
  | isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Gato class submarine|''Gato''-class]] [[Diesel-electric transmission|diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1525|LT|t|0}} surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*{{convert|2424|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|9|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|abbr=on}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-early-GM-4-GE}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|21|kn|km/h}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305-311</ref>
*{{convert|9|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km}} surfaced at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=6 officers, 54 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-4-inch}}
}}
|}

'''USS ''Bonefish'' (SS-223)''' was a [[Gato class submarine|''Gato''-class]] [[submarine]], the first [[United States Navy]] ship to be named for the [[bonefish]].

She had a busy career in the Pacific against Japanese shipping after being launched and commissioned in May 1943.  She was sunk in June 1945 after sinking a ship on her eighth cruise.

== Operational history ==
''Bonefish''{{'}}s keel was laid down by the [[Electric Boat]] Company of [[Groton, Connecticut]] on 25 June 1942. She was launched 7 May 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth S. Daubin, wife of Rear Admiral [[Freeland A. Daubin]]), and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 31 May 1943, Lieutenant Commander [[Thomas W. Hogan]] in command.

The submarine conducted shakedown training out of [[Naval Submarine Base New London|New London, Conn.]], and [[Naval Station Newport|Newport, R.I.]], until 23 July, when she set out for the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]]. She transited the [[Panama Canal]] on 4 August and arrived at [[Brisbane]], Australia, on the 30th. Following a week of training out of that port, she again got underway for more days of drills in [[Moreton Bay]]. The submarine departed there on 16 September for her first war patrol.

=== First patrol, September – October 1943 ===

After transiting [[Balabac Strait]] on 22 September, ''Bonefish'' continued on to her patrol area in the central part of the [[South China Sea]]. Three days later, the submarine attacked a [[convoy]] of eight ships, scoring three hits on a freighter before the escorts forced her to go deep to avoid a [[depth charge]] attack. ''Bonefish'' encountered another convoy on 27 September and launched four torpedoes at the lead ship, the largest of the five, and sank the 9,908&nbsp;ton [[transport (ship)|transport]] ''Kashima Maru'' and damaged the ''Chihaya Maru''. The escort ships pursued ''Bonefish'', but she was able to dive and elude her attackers. On 6 October, the boat approached a third convoy and scored hits on two heavily laden cargo vessels. Again forced to go deep to avoid the counterattack, she failed to evaluate the damage that her torpedoes had done to the targets. On 10 October, in her last action of the patrol, ''Bonefish'' fired a spread of four torpedoes at two ships of a convoy off [[Indochina]], sending both the 4,212&nbsp;ton cargo ship ''Isuzugawa'' and the 10,086&nbsp;ton transport ''Teibi Maru'' to the bottom.  On 14 October the ''Bonefish'' sank a Japanese sailing vessel in the [[Makassar Strait]]. ''Bonefish'' concluded her first war patrol back at [[Fremantle]], [[Western Australia]], on 21 October.

=== Second patrol, November – December 1943 ===

After refit and training, the submarine got underway on 22 November for the South China Sea and her second war patrol. She entered the [[Flores Sea]] on 28 November and, the next day, intercepted two enemy ships. ''Bonefish'' made a submerged approach and launched four torpedoes. Two of the four&nbsp;— one hit amidships and another struck the freighter under her mainmast&nbsp;— sent the 4,646&nbsp;ton cargo ship ''[[Suez Maru]]'' down rapidly by the stern. The escort increased speed and headed for ''Bonefish'', but the sub went deep and escaped the barrage of depth charges. Unknown to ''Bonefish'', ''Suez Maru'' was carrying 414 British and 133 Dutch [[prisoners of war|POWs]]. Minesweeper ''W.12'' picked up the Japanese survivors although recently released documents state that W.12 machine-gunned the surviving POWs (a minimum of 250) in the water,<ref name=USNChron1943>{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII | title = The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II | chapter = Chapter V: 1943 | chapter-url = https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html | first = Robert | last = Cressman | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-55750-149-3 | oclc = 41977179 | access-date = 2007-11-29 | url-access = registration }}</ref>

On 1 December, the boat sighted a convoy of three ships with two escorts hugging the [[Sulawesi|Celebes]] coast. In two separate attacks, the submarine scored a hit on a large passenger/cargo ship ''Nichiryo Maru'' which later sank and another on a destroyer escort which apparently survived.

''Bonefish'' conducted a submerged patrol of [[Sandakan Harbor]], [[Borneo]], from 4 – 6 December and then sailed for [[Tarakan Island|Tarakan]]. On 11 December, she surfaced to engage small cargo vessel ''Toyohime Maru ''<ref name=USNChron1943/> with gunfire, scoring several hits before a mechanical problem put her gun out of action. The next day, the boat made a submerged approach on an unidentified Japanese vessel and fired six torpedoes, scoring one hit; ''Bonefish'' never learned the fate of her target. She cleared the area and arrived at Fremantle on 19 December.

=== Third patrol, January – March 1944 ===

Following refit and training, the submarine sailed from Fremantle on 12 January 1944 to conduct her third war patrol. While operating in the vicinity of [[Makassar Strait]] on 22 January, ''Bonefish'' encountered a large sailing vessel. The stranger's crew of seven acted suspiciously as the submarine approached, and despite repeated orders to do so, the crew refused to abandon ship. When ''Bonefish'' opened fire with her machine guns, the natives leaped overboard. As the vessel began to sink, Japanese troops emerged from below decks; ''Bonefish'' counted 39 men going over the side.

On 6 February, the submarine sighted a convoy composed of at least 17 ships. As she maneuvered into attack position, ''Bonefish'' selected a large [[Oiler (ship)|oiler]] as her primary target and launched four bow "fish" at it. She fired the other two bow tubes at a cargo ship and then tried to swing her stern into position to fire her after tubes. With escorts charging her, the boat suddenly lost depth control and ducked her [[periscope]] below the water. Nine tons of water rushed into her forward torpedo room before the proper valves were secured. ''Bonefish'' managed to evade the escorts, and her crew heard explosions which they interpreted as at least two hits on the oiler and one on the cargo ship. Nevertheless, it seems that neither target sank.

The submarine next trained her [[torpedo tube]]s on a convoy of 13 ships which she contacted on 9 February in [[Camranh Bay]]. Although detected by a [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese]] [[destroyer]], ''Bonefish'' succeeded in firing five torpedoes at the ex-[[whaler|whale]]-[[factory ship|factory]] [[tanker (ship)|tanker]] ''Tonan Maru No. 2'' before making an emergency dive in shallow water.<ref name=Hackett>{{cite web |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/Tonan2_t.htm |title=Tonan Maru No. 2: Tabular Record of Movement |first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Peter |last2=Cundall |work=combinedfleet.com |year=2014 |accessdate=13 August 2014}}</ref> The submarine escaped damage from both the destroyer's depth charges and from aerial bombs which enemy aircraft dropped, but they prevented her from observing the results of her attack. (The ''Tonan Maru'' was hit but quickly repaired.<ref name=Hackett />) Following this action, she continued to seek targets for more than a month before returning to Fremantle on 15 March.

=== Fourth patrol, April – May 1944 ===

Underway again on 13 April, ''Bonefish'' headed for the [[Celebes Sea]] and her fourth war patrol. On 26 April, she intercepted a convoy of four ships steaming along the [[Mindanao]] coast. The submarine maneuvered into a position suitable to attack ''Tokiwa Maru'', launched four torpedoes, and then turned to evade the escorts. Two torpedoes struck the 806&nbsp;ton passenger/cargo ship amidships and aft, sinking her. The next day, ''Bonefish'' fired a spread of four torpedoes at a cargo ship headed for [[Davao Gulf]] but, in spite of three hits, failed to sink the target.

While in the [[Sulu Sea]] on 3 May, ''Bonefish'' approached a convoy but was forced to dive when an enemy plane dropped two depth bombs which exploded close aboard. The boat sustained minor damage and surfaced to make repairs, but two Japanese ships began to close in on her. ''Bonefish'' went deep once again and rigged for the depth charges, 25 in all. When her pursuers left the area, so did ''Bonefish''. She moved to the northern approach to [[Basilan Strait]]. She attacked a convoy in those waters on 7 May, firing four torpedoes at an escort vessel, but could not observe the results.

On 14 May, ''Bonefish'' approached a convoy of three tankers and three escorting destroyers, steaming off [[Tawitawi]] in the [[Philippines]] and headed for [[Sibutu Passage]]. The submarine fired five torpedoes. One hit under the bridge of a tanker and another struck under the stack, enveloping the ship in smoke and flames. The destroyers converged on ''Bonefish'' for counterattack, but she escaped into the depths. Postwar records show that, while her torpedoes only damaged the tanker, they sank one of the escorting destroyers, [[Japanese destroyer Inazuma (1932)|''Inazuma'']], which was known for having rescued 376 survivors from {{HMS|Exeter|68|6}} and 151 from {{USS|Pope|DD-225|6}} during the [[Second Battle of the Java Sea]].

''Bonefish'' then set course for Sibutu Passage on a reconnaissance mission. She sighted a Japanese task force consisting of three [[battleship]]s, one [[aircraft carrier]], three [[heavy cruiser]]s, and one [[light cruiser]], screened by eight [[destroyer]]s. The submarine relayed the information, then continued her reconnaissance. She again sighted and reported the same task force on the 17th, this time anchored in [[Tawitawi Bay]]. Upon completing this mission, she headed for Australia and arrived at [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] on 30 May.

=== Fifth patrol, June – August 1944 ===

Under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Lawrence L. Edge, the submarine began her fifth war patrol on 25 June and headed again for the [[Celebes Sea]]. On 6 July, she surfaced to destroy a wooden-hulled [[schooner]] by gunfire. She then cleared the area and, the next day, engaged and destroyed another small ship with gunfire. Later that same day, the boat fired eight torpedoes at a small cargo ship, scoring several hits. On 8 July, she used her guns to touch off a blazing fire in a small, inter-island steamer and, two days later, sank a [[sampan]] with gunfire.

On 29 July, ''Bonefish'' commenced tracking a large, but empty, tanker with escorts and, early the next morning, gained a favorable attack position. She fired six torpedoes and scored four hits. The target, ''Kokuyo Maru'', immediately settled by the stern, and ''Bonefish'' headed for the traffic lanes north of [[Sibutu]] and Tawitawi. On 3 August, she damaged a tanker with one torpedo hit. She set course for Fremantle the next day, ending her patrol there on 13 August.

=== Sixth patrol, September – October 1944 ===

With her crew refreshed and her provisions and ammunition replenished, ''Bonefish'' got underway on 5 September for the [[Sibuyan Sea]]. After three days there without encountering any enemy ships, she departed those waters on 24 September. Four days later, while patrolling off [[Mindoro]], the submarine sighted a large, heavily laden tanker escorted by two destroyers. She fired all of her bow torpedoes and heard and felt the hits on the 2,068&nbsp;ton Japanese ship ''Anjo Maru''. ''Bonefish'' tracked the target whose rapidly falling speed indicated her distress until the crippled tanker's escorts forced the boat to retire. A postwar examination of Japanese records confirmed that ''Anio Maru'' sank later that day.

During the later part of this patrol, ''Bonefish'' joined {{USS|Flasher|SS-249|3}} and {{USS|Lapon|SS-260|3}} in forming a [[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|coordinated attack group]]. Patrolling in the vicinity of [[Cape Bolinao]] on 10 October, the boats attacked a convoy of cargo ships, and ''Bonefish'' scored three hits for undetermined damage. Four days later, while en route to a lifeguard station, she sank cargo ship ''Fushimi Maru''. On 18 October, the submarine rescued two naval aviators. She departed her lifeguard station the next day, stopped at [[Saipan]] for fuel on the 27th, and continued on to [[Pearl Harbor]], where she arrived on 8 November.

From [[Hawaii]], ''Bonefish'' continued on to [[San Francisco, California]], where she underwent overhaul at the [[Bethlehem Steel Submarine Repair Basin]] from 18 November 1944 to 13 February 1945. Then, after refresher training off [[Monterey, California|Monterey, Calif.]], she returned to Pearl Harbor where she conducted exercises until 20 March.

=== Seventh patrol, March – May 1945 ===

''Bonefish'' then set sail via [[Guam]] for the [[East China Sea]] and her seventh war patrol. Despite thorough coverage of the waters assigned her, she made few contacts and each of these was a small antisubmarine vessel. On Friday, 13 April, she attempted to sink a patrol vessel, but the target's radical maneuvers enabled it to escape. While on lifeguard duty off [[Korea]]'s southern coast on 16 April, ''Bonefish'' rescued two Japanese aviators who had been shot down by a Navy plane. The USS Bonefish then completed a "special mission". On 7 May, the submarine returned to [[Apra Harbor]], Guam, ending another successful war patrol.

=== Eighth patrol, May – June 1945 ===

Upon completion of refit on 28 May, ''Bonefish'' got underway in company with {{USS|Tunny|SS-282|3}} and {{USS|Skate|SS-305|3}}, as part of "Pierce's Pole Cats", commanded by ''Tunny''{{'}}s skipper, Commander George E. Pierce. Equipped with a new [[Naval mine|mine]]-detecting device, the submarines were ordered to penetrate the [[Sea of Japan]] to sever the last of the Japanese overseas supply lines. ''Bonefish'' successfully threaded her way through the minefields by [[Tsushima Island]] as she transited the [[Korea Strait]] to enter the Sea of Japan for an offensive patrol off the west central coast of [[Honshū]].

During a rendezvous with ''Tunny'' on 16 June, ''Bonefish'' reported sinking ''Oshikayama Maru'', a 6,892&nbsp;ton cargo ship. In a second rendezvous two days later, she requested and received permission to conduct a daylight submerged patrol of [[Toyama Bay]], a bay farther up the Honshū coast. The attack group was to depart the Sea of Japan via [[La Perouse Strait]] on the night of 24 June. ''Bonefish'' did not make the scheduled pre-transit rendezvous. Still, ''Tunny'' waited in vain off [[Hokkaidō]] for three days. On 30 July, ''Bonefish'' was presumed lost.

Japanese records reveal that the 5,488&nbsp;ton cargo ship ''Konzan Maru'' was torpedoed and sunk in Toyama Wan on 18 June and that an ensuing severe counterattack by Japanese escorts, the [[Japanese escort ship Okinawa|''Okinawa'']], ''[[Japanese escort ship CD-63|CD-63]]'', ''[[Japanese escort ship CD-75|CD-75]]'', ''CD-158'' and ''[[Japanese escort ship CD-207|CD-207]]'', brought debris and a major oil slick to the water's surface. There can be little doubt that ''Bonefish'' was sunk in this action. She was the second to last United States Submarine lost in the war, with {{USS|Bullhead|SS-332|3}} being lost in August 1945.

==Awards==
* {{ribbon devices|number=4|type=service-star|ribbon=U.S. Navy Unit Commendation ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Navy Unit Commendation]] – five awards, for her first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth war patrols
* {{ribbon devices|number=7|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with seven [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service
* [[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]

== See also ==
*[[List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Refbegin}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bonefish-i.html|http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss223.htm}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{wikisource}}
*{{navsource|08/08223|Bonefish}}
*[https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-bonefish-223.htm On Eternal Patrol: USS ''Bonefish'']
*[http://pigboats.com/ww2/bonefish.html Kill record: USS ''Bonefish'']

{{Gato class submarine}}
{{June 1945 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonefish (Ss-223)}}
[[Category:Gato-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Sea of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1945]]
[[Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by Japanese warships]]