Stories Of Bonefish
Displacement:
1475 tons surfaced, 2370 tons submerged
Length: 307 feet
Beam: 27 feet
Speed: 20 knots surfaced, 8.75 knots submerged
Test depth: 300 feet
Complement: 6 officers, 54 enlisted men
Class: Gato
Keel laid by the Electric Boat Co.,
Groton, CT. 25JUN42;
Launched: 7MAR43; Sponsored by Mrs. Freeland Daubin;
Commissioned: 31MAY43 with LCdr Thomas W. Hogan, Jr. in command;
Lost 18JUN45.
In company with USS TUNNY (SS-282)
and USS SKATE (SS-305), USS BONEFISH (SS-223), departed
Guam on 28 May 1945 to conduct her eighth war patrol. This coordinated
attack group under Cdr. G.W. Pierce in TUNNY, which was one of
three groups then penetrating the Japan Sea, was ordered to transit
Tsushima Strait on 5 June 1945, and to conduct offensive patrol in the
Sea of Japan off the west central coast of Honshu. This area was further
subdivided, with BONEFISH assigned to patrol the northern
portion.
BONEFISH successfully transited
Tsushima Strait, and made rendezvous with TUNNY on 16 June 1945,
in position 36!-40'N;135!-24'E. BONEFISH reported she had sunk
one large transport and one medium freighter to date. On the morning of
18 June, TUNNY and BONEFISH rendezvoused in the vicinity
of 38!-15'N;138!-24'E. BONEFISH asked permission to conduct a
submerged daylight patrol in Toyama Wan, in the mid part of western
Honshu, and having received it, departed for Suzu Misaki. She was never
seen or heard from again.
BONEFISH, in accordance with the
operation order, was to rendezvous with the other eight submarines of
the three groups, in 46!-50'N;140!E at sunset on 23 June 1945, in
preparation for the transit on 24 June of La Perouse Strait. BONEFISH
did not make this rendezvous, and after the other eight vessels had
successfully transited La Perouse Striat, TUNNY on 25 and 26 June
waited off the entrance to the Strait and unsuccessfully tried to
contact BONEFISH.
Provisions were made in the operation
order governing this patrol group for submarines in case of necessity to
proceed to Russian waters to claim a 24-hour haven, or to submit to
internment in extreme need, or for them to make their exit from the
Japan Sea prior to or after 24 June. When all of these possibilities had
been examined, and she had not been seen or heard from by 30 July 1945, BONEFISH
was reported as presumed lost.
Japanese records of antisubmarine attacks
mention an attack made on 18 June 1945, at 37!-18'N;137!-25'E in Toyama
Wan. A great many depth charges were dropped, and wood chips and oil
were observed. This undoubtedly was the attack which sank
BONEFISH.
In total, this boat sank 31 enemy
vessels, for a total tonnage of 158,500, and damaged 7, for 42,000 tons.
She began her career as an active member of the Submarine Force with a
patrol in the South China Sea in September and October 1943. She sank
three freighters, two transports, a tanker and a schooner, and damaged a
fourth freighter. On her second war patrol, conducted in the Celebes Sea
and near Borneo, BONEFISH sank two freighters and an escort
vessel, and damaged a minelayer. Again in the South China Sea on her
third patrol, BONEFISH sank a very large tanker, a medium
freighter and a schooner, and damaged a second large tanker. This boat
went to the Celebes and Sulu Seas for her fourth patrol and sank two
freighters, a transport and a tanker, while she damaged a sub chaser.
The Bonefish Wardroom Scoreboard [click
for larger view]
Postwar information also reveals that on
14 May 1944, while firing at the large tanker which she sank, BONEFISH
hit and sank a Japanese destroyer.
This boat's fifth patrol was in the same
area as her fourth, and she sank two small freighters, a large tanker
and five miscellaneous small craft, while she damaged a second tanker. BONEFISH
covered a South China Sea area in her sixth patrol, and sank two
large tankers and a freighter during September and October 1944. She
also damaged two medium freighters. Then, after a thorough overhaul and
the installation of much new equipment in San Francicso, BONEFISH made
her seventh patrol in the East China Sea. She had only one attack
opportunity and did no damage. However, she took two Japanese prisoners
from a downed enemy plane, and performed reconnaissance work on the
southern end of Korea.
BONEFISH was awarded the Navy Unit
Commendation for the period of her first and third through sixth
patrols.
Bonefish Stories by Cornelius B.
(Bart) Bartholomew
Cornelius B.
(Bart) Bartholomew
July 2000
Also, sailing lists for: Patrol
1, Patrol
2, Patrol 3, Patrol
4, New
London/Brisbane 1943.
Be sure to
read Bart's stories about USS Sargo
Submarine service:
Cornelius Russell Bartholomew
1 Fallon Circle POB 134
Forsyth, MT. 59327-0134
406-356-2173
bartandbj@rangeweb.net
Chief Warrant Officer
- USS SARGO SS188 October 1940 to February 1943
- USS BONEFISH SS223 March 1943 to May 30, 1944.
- USS BARRACUDA SS163 July 1944 to October 1944.
- USS MARLIN SS 205 November 1944
- USS RONCADOR SS 301 December 1944 to May 1945
Cornelius B.
(Bart) Bartholomew
Boot camp, Great Lakes IL 1940
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Lost June 18, 1945
ABEL, D. A.
ADAMS, T. B., JR.
ADAMS, W. S.
AMBURGEY, L. M.
ANDERSON, G. I., JR.
AURELI, S. J.
BECK, M. L.
BROWN, R. W.
BROWNING, J. A.
BURDICK, C. A.
CANFIELD, K. T.
COLEMAN, J. A.
COOLEY, Q. L.
DANIELSON, 0 . C.
DUNN, D. H.
EDGE, L. L
ENOS, E. R.
EPPS, W. H., JR.
FELD, P. E.
FOX, D. C.
FRANK, R. E.
FUGETT, M. A.
FULLER, G. M.
HACKSTAFF, H. J.
HARMAN, G. P.
HASIAK, J. J.
HESS, R. D.
HOUGHTON, W. S.
JENKINS, R. W.
JOHNSON, J. C.
JOHNSON, S. E., JR.
JOHNSTON, T. M.
KALINOFF, M. W.
KARR,W.G.
KEEFER, R.,T.
KERN, F. B.
KING, E. W.
KISSANE, J. E.
KNIGHT, F. S.
LAMOTHE, J. N.
LARACY, J. J. JR.
LEWIS, M. A.
LOCKWOOD, T. G.
LYNCH, J. F.
MAGHAN, A. G.
MARKLE, J. E.
McBRIDE R. J.
MILES, H. V., JR.
NESTER, S. A.
NEWBERRY, J. R.
OLSON,D.H.
O'TOOLE, W. P.
PARTON, J.F.
PASKIN,T.
PAULEY, G. W.
PHENICIE, J. E.
PRIMAVERA, L. J.
PRUNIER, G. A.
QUENETT, C. F.
RALEY, C. H.
RAY, R. C., JR.
RAYNES, J. A.
REID, J. A.
RHANOR, C. J.
RICE, R. M.
ROSE, R. A., II
SCHILLER, R. G.
SCHMIDLING, C. J.
SCHWEYER, R. G.
SLATER, R.
SMITH, L.G., JR.
SNODGRASS, R. L.
STAMM, R. S.
SURBER, R. M.
TIERNEY, D. R.
VELIE, R. C.
VINCENT, T. F., JR.
WHITRIGHT, W.
WILSON, J. R.
WILLIAMS, J. J.
WILLIAMS, I. R., JR.
WILLIAMS, T. F.
WINEGAR, C. D.
WOLFE, L. E.
WRIGHT, G. W., JR.
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