Why the Bonefish?

The name, USS Bonefish (SS-223), the 51st of 52 submarines lost in World War II was assigned to Washington State by the United States Submarine Veterans of WWII. (Each state was assigned a lost submarine name, except California and New York, who were assigned two each.) Bonefish was lost with all hands (85) on June 18, 1945.

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 25 June 1942, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 7 March 1943; Commissioned USS Bonefish (SS-223), 31 May 1943; Final Disposition, sunk on 8th patrol by Japanese warship in Toyama Wan, west coast of Honshu, 18 June 1945, all hands lost.; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown). Bonefish received five Navy Unit Commendations and seven battle stars during World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311′ 9″; Beam 27′ 3″; Draft 15′ 3″; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Additional details of Bonefish’s short history are recorded at On Eternal Patrol and on Wikipedia.

The list of the crew of the Bonefish SS-223 can be found HERE

Photo’s courtesy of navsource.org