imported>Monkbot: /* top */ task 22: convert table-based ship infobox to {{Infobox ship}};

2025-12-13T13:56:46Z

top: task 22: convert table-based ship infobox to {{Infobox ship}};

imported>AnomieBOT: Dating maintenance tags: {{Morefootnotes}} {{Use American English}}

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Dating maintenance tags: {{Morefootnotes}} {{Use American English}}

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{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{morefootnotes|date=November 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=ARV Carite (S-11).jpg
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1960}}
|Ship name=USS ''Tilefish'' (SS-307)
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book
| last = Friedman
| first = Norman
| authorlink =
| title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
| publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
| date = 1995
| location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
| pages = 285–304
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}</ref>
|Ship laid down=10 March 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=25 October 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=15 December 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=12 October 1959<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=30 January 1960<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=4 May 1960<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 December 1960<ref name="Register">{{cite book
| last = Bauer
| first = K. Jack
| authorlink =
|author2=Roberts, Stephen S.
| title = Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| date = 1991
| location = [[Westport, Connecticut]]
| pages = 275–280
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Venezuela]], 4 May 1960<ref name="Register"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Venezuela
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Jack of Venezuela.svg|60px|Venezuelan Navy Jack]]
|Ship class=
|Ship name=ARV ''Carite'' (S-11)
|Ship acquired=4 May 1960
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=28 January 1977
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Cannibalized for spare parts
|Ship homeport=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Balao class submarine|''Balao''-class]] [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*1,526 [[long ton|ton]]s (1,550 [[tonne|t]]) surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-early-FM-4-E}}
|Ship speed=*20.25 [[knot (unit)|knot]]s (37 km/h) surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305–311</ref>
*{{convert|8.75|kn|km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km|lk=in}} surfaced at {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|400|ft|m}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 70–71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch}}
}}
|}

'''USS ''Tilefish'' (SS-307)''', a [[Balao class submarine|''Balao''-class]] [[submarine]], was the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the [[tilefish]], a large, yellow-spotted deepwater food fish.

Her keel was laid down on 10 March 1943 at [[Vallejo, California]], by the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 25 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Wilson D. Leggett, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 28 December 1943.

==First and second war patrols==

During February and March 1944, ''Tilefish'' underwent trials and shakedown off the California coast before getting underway for [[Hawaii]]. On 3 April, the submarine departed Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol, setting course for the Japanese home islands. While patrolling in the "Hit Parade" area east of [[Honshū]], ''Tilefish'' sighted many enemy aircraft but found few targets for her torpedoes. Early in the patrol, she was hampered by the failure of her fathometer; and, throughout the mission, she was plagued by periscope fogging and overcast weather which ruled out celestial navigation. Finally, on the morning of 11 May, the novice submarine and her crew encountered their first opportunity for action. ''Tilefish'' sighted a small convoy and launched a determined attack. Choosing a passenger liner as her target, the submarine unleashed a spread of [[torpedo]]es, scoring a hit under the ship's bridge. As ''Tilefish'' dove amid the sounds of explosions, she experienced problems which caused her inadvertently to take on a large amount of water. Before the situation was brought under control, ''Tilefish'' had made a hair-raising dive to {{convert|580|ft}}, well below test depth. Too deep to be reached by the [[depth charge]]s of her pursuers, she evaded their attack and continued her patrol.

The son of a Tilefish crew member recalls from his childhood hearing a detailed account of this initial engagement:

"My father, Motor Machinists Mate 2nd Class George Oberhofer, found himself in the thick of things during Tilefish’s first attack. At the time the target was sighted, repairs to the submarine’s ballast system were underway in her compressor compartment, with one disassembled pipe leaving the compartment in open communication with the sea. As a result, the compartment began to flood during the attack dive. Had the water level reached the electrical compressor motors, they would have shorted out, leaving her able to surface once but unable to dive again, a sitting duck for enemy destroyers.

"MM2C Oberhofer dove into the flooding compartment to the offending pipe and managed to close it off and get the compartment pumped out before the compressor motors were damaged. For these actions he was awarded a silver star, rare in the submarine service where unit commendations for collective performance were the more typical way to recognize valor in combat.

"My father kept a curious memento from the TIlefish, a tank watch in which the hands had become detached and floated freely around under the crystal. I asked what had happened to his watch and he replied, ‘Depth charges.’ This may shed light on events after the initial attack run. We may reasonably speculate that Tilefish was under heavy depth charging by Japanese destroyers after sinking her target, and was diving to extreme depths in search of a thermocline—a layer of water of a sharply different temperature than the water above it. Thermoclines reflect sonar pings, rendering a submarine that dives below one invisible. It seems likely that Tilefish successfully found one at 580 feet and slipped away because of it."

Finding further contact with the enemy to be very light, ''Tilefish'' requested another patrol area and was assigned to the northern [[Mariana Islands]] where she searched for targets on 19 and 20 May. She completed this patrol at [[Majuro]] on 29 May 1944.

After a refitting by submarine tender {{USS|Bushnell|AS-15|3}}, ''Tilefish'' departed [[Majuro]] on 22 June 1944 and headed with an attack group for the [[Luzon Strait]] area. In company with submarines {{USS|Sawfish|SS-276|3}} and {{USS|Rock|SS-274|3}}, ''Tilefish'' set course, via [[Batan Island]] and [[Bashi Channel]], for her assigned position. On the morning of 18 July, ''Tilefish'' launched a torpedo attack on a large convoy Hi-69 and had the satisfaction of seeing a freighter sustain two hits. Meanwhile, ''Rock'' had joined in the attack and was being held down by a [[destroyer]] of the convoy's screen. At 10:50, ''Tilefish'' made a [[torpedo]] attack on the [[destroyer]]. Seeing their [[Wake (physics)|wake]]s, the enemy ship attempted to evade the torpedoes, but the first hit under its forward mount and wrapped her bow around the bridge. A second hit added to the destroyer's damage. Before ''Tilefish'' was forced down by enemy aircraft, she caught one last glimpse of the destroyer, listing and dead in the water. Nine minutes later, the submarine made a periscope sweep and found no sign of the enemy ship. The enemy ship, frigate CD-17, survived her damage, however.

In the days that followed, the submarine patrolled the waters east of [[Taiwan|Formosa]] attempting to intercept the convoy which she had damaged on 18 July. On 26 July, ''Tilefish'' surfaced just at the moment when ''Sawfish'' launched a three-torpedo attack on Japanese submarine [[Japanese submarine I-29|''I-29'']] (one of only six [[Axis powers]] submarines to attempt trans-oceanic [[Yanagi missions]]), which exploded, leaving behind only smoke and flames. On 31 July, after ''Sawfish'' had reported a convoy contact off [[Luzon]], ''Tilefish'' set course to intercept the enemy ships but never found the quarry. ''Tilefish'' fueled at [[Midway Island]] before completing her second patrol at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 15 August.

==Third and fourth war patrols==

''Tilefish'' departed [[Oahu]] on 10 September 1944. This patrol, conducted in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] and off the [[Kuril Islands]], was made difficult by rough seas which produced swells reaching heights of 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 m). Despite the problems imposed by high seas, ''Tilefish'' sank a small trawler with her four-inch (102 mm) gun on 23 September.<ref>[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3053.html Uboat.net]</ref> On 3 October, she destroyed two small cargo vessels as they were leaving [[Hitokappu Bay]] of [[Iturup]]. On 6 October, ''Tilefish'' claimed two more kills—a cargo ship and a wooden-hulled antisubmarine vessel.During the mid-watch on 13 October, an adventurous owl came on board. The feathered seafarer was promptly dubbed Boris Hootski and made official ship's mascot. On 16 October she sank the Japanese guard boat Kyowa Maru No.2 (108 GRT)<ref>[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3053.html Ubaot net]</ref> On 17 October, to prevent its being salvaged, she blew out the stern of a vessel grounded west of Japan's Shimushiru Island (today the [[Russia]]n island [[Simushir]]). ''Tilefish'' ended her third patrol at [[Midway Island]] on 24 October 1944.

On 15 November, ''Tilefish'' got underway for the [[Kuril Islands]]. During the first half of this patrol, she operated in northern waters but was hampered by bitterly cold weather, poor visibility, and hurricane-force winds. The mountainous waves forced the submarine to submerge to ride out the storm. On 25 November, ''Tilefish'' entered the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] to patrol the coast of Shimushiru Island. Snow frosted the periscope and prevented accurate identification of possible targets. By 16 December, ''Tilefish'' had moved south to take up a lifeguard station off Najima Saki. On the morning of 22 December, she sank ''Chidori'', a torpedo boat [758 tons],<ref>[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3053.html Uboat net]</ref> and evaded a Japanese counterattack of [[depth charge]]s and aerial bombs without damage. She departed the patrol area on 24 December and arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 2 January 1945.

==Fifth and sixth war patrols==

After refitting by submarine tender {{USS|Orion|AS-18|3}}, ''Tilefish'' set course for the [[Mariana Islands]] in company with submarines {{USS|Thresher|SS-200|3}} and {{USS|Peto|SS-265|3}} on 31 January 1945, under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Walter F. Schlech, Jr. En route, she participated in exercises and searched for the survivors of a downed American plane. Underway from [[Saipan]] on 13 February, ''Tilefish'' proceeded independently to her patrol area in the [[Nansei Shoto]] where she prowled the traffic lanes in search of targets. She reported sinking a 90-ton cargo ship (Sampan)[?]in a morning gun attack on 28 February before taking up a lifeguard station in support of planned strikes on [[Amami Shima]]. On 1 March, she rescued a flier from aircraft carrier {{USS|Hancock|CV-19|3}} whose plane had splashed and sank only 500 yards off the starboard bow of the submarine. On 4 March She sent a fishing trawler "Shiko Maru" to the bottom off Setsuko Saki, 28°15'N, 129°08'E.<ref name="US Navy war Chronology 1945">[https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1945.html US Navy war Chronology 1945]</ref> On the following day, in the course of a day-long attack on the 2812 ton freighter "Hangzhou Maru" (evaded attacks), she sank a Japanese minesweeper (W 15 500 tons))<ref>[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3053.html Uboat.net]</ref> which was escorting the cargo ship [W 15 was run aground but was a total loss]<ref name="US Navy war Chronology 1945"/>.. From 10 March to 19 March, she performed lifeguard duties in support of strikes on [[Nagoya]] and other Japanese targets. After patrolling the approaches to [[Tokyo Bay]] on 22 March, ''Tilefish'' set course, via [[Midway Island]] and [[Pearl Harbor]], for [[San Francisco, California]] where she was overhauled.

''Tilefish'' returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] on 11 July and was soon underway for [[Midway Island]] and [[Saipan]]. When the war in the Pacific ended, ''Tilefish'' was on lifeguard station off the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. She continued lifeguard duties and patrols in the western Pacific until 7 September when she returned to [[Pearl Harbor]]. Early in 1946, ''Tilefish'' returned to [[San Francisco, California]], and operated off the West Coast throughout most of the year. In May, she participated in "[[Wolfpack (naval tactic)|wolfpack]]" exercises and in September took part in live load training, using the hulk of the former SS ''Schuyler Colfax'' as a target. In October, she made a brief trip to the [[Hawaiian Islands]] and then returned to the West Coast. From January 1947 to September 1950, ''Tilefish'' continued to operate out of [[California]] ports with occasional voyages to [[Pearl Harbor]]. During this period, she conducted underway training and took part in fleet exercises off the West Coast.

==Post World War II service==

On 5 September 1950, ''Tilefish'' departed [[Pearl Harbor]] for [[Japan]]. From 28 September 1950 through 24 March 1951, the submarine operated out of Japanese ports conducting patrols in [[Korea]]n waters in support of the [[United Nations]] [[Korean War|campaign in Korea]]. She made reconnaissance patrols of [[La Perouse Strait]] to keep the Commander, Naval Forces Far East, informed of Soviet seaborne activity in that area. After this tour, the submarine resumed her routine of operations out of Hawaiian and West Coast ports until 1957. Highlights of this period were convoy attack exercises in Hawaiian waters and a goodwill visit to [[Acapulco]], [[Mexico]], early in June 1956.

Following a period of reduced status and overhaul, ''Tilefish'' again got underway in April 1957 for Far Eastern waters. During this deployment, she visited ports in [[Japan]] and the [[Ryukyu Islands]] before completing the cruise at [[San Diego, California]], on 27 September 1957.

On 16 September 1958, the veteran submarine made way via [[Pearl Harbor]] for [[Midway Island]] and the [[Marshall Islands]]. With four civilian geophysicists on board from the Hydrographic Office, the submarine completed a submerged survey of [[Eniwetok]], [[Wake Island|Wake]], and [[Midway Island]], operating at sea for nearly three months. She returned to [[San Diego, California]], on 5 December 1958 for inactivation.

''Tilefish'' was decommissioned on 12 October 1959, underwent overhaul at the [[San Francisco Naval Shipyard]], and was recommissioned on 30 January 1960. Her final decommissioning was in May 1960. She was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1 December 1960, and sold to the [[Venezuela]]n government.

==ARV ''Carite'' (S-11)==

The ex-''Tilefish'', now commissioned as [[ARV Carite (S-11)|ARV ''Carite'' (S-11)]], served in the ''Armada Venezolana'' (the [[Venezuelan Navy]]) for 16 years. In 1969 and 1970, she played the part of a German [[U-boat]] hiding in the [[Orinoco River]] during the filming of the movie ''[[Murphy's War]]''. For the role, she was modified by the addition of a "cigarette deck" aft of her sail and was painted in a "dazzle" camouflage pattern.

''Carite'' was decommissioned by the Venezuelan Navy on 28 January 1977 and cannibalized for spare parts.

==Awards==

''Tilefish'' received five [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service. She received one battle star for [[Korean War]] service.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/tilefish.html}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08307b.htm Photo gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328091749/http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08307b.htm |date=2009-03-28 }} at navsource.org
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGFarhnUQ_8 Liberty Ship tanker SS ''Schuyler Colfax'' sunk by torpedoes from USS ''Tilefish'' in September 1946]
{{Commons category}}
{{Balao class submarine|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilefish (Ss-307)}}
[[Category:Balao-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Vallejo, California]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela]]
[[Category:Balao-class submarines of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela]]

USS Tilefish - Revision history

imported>Monkbot: /* top */ task 22: convert table-based ship infobox to {{Infobox ship}};

imported>AnomieBOT: Dating maintenance tags: {{Morefootnotes}} {{Use American English}}