USS ''Bashaw'' (SS/SSK/AGSS-241), a ''Gato''-class

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, was the first ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for the

bashaw Bashaw may refer to: Places ;Canada *Bashaw, Alberta ** Bashaw Airport ;United States *Bashaw, Wisconsin, a town *Bashaw, Burnett County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Bashaw Township, Brown County, Minnesota Others *Mose Bashaw (1889–1 ...

Construction and commissioning

''Bashaw'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 4 December 1942 by

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

Company,

Groton, Conn. Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

She was launched on 25 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Florence Ives, wife of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Norman S. Ives (killed 2 August 1944 near Dol-en-Bretagne, France commanding a naval patrol), and commissioned on 25 October 1943,

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Richard E. Nichols in command.

Service history

World War II

''Bashaw'' arrived at

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range to t ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

on 3 March 1944. From 10 March 1944 – 29 April 1945, she completed six war patrols in the

Celebes Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu A ...

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

s. ''Bashaw'' sank three

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

s - totaling 19,269 tons - as well as several small craft. ''Bashaw'' returned to

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 29 April 1945 and then sailed to

Mare Island Navy Yard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

for an overhaul. Upon completion of the yard period on 13 August 1945, she departed for

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

Post-War

The war ended while she was ''en route'' to Pearl and she was ordered to return to Mare Island. On 5 September, she arrived there and began her pre-inactivation overhaul, going into commission in reserve there on 24 November 1945. On 20 June 1949, her status was changed to out of commission in reserve; she was laid up in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

. ''Bashaw'' was recommissioned on 3 April 1951 and operated out of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

along the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

until 10 May 1952, when she went out of commission in reserve. From May 1952-March 1953, she underwent conversion at

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established i ...

to an anti-submarine "

hunter-killer submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies th ...

" and was reclassified SSK-241 on 18 February 1953. ''Bashaw'' was recommissioned on 28 March 1953 and reported to Submarine Division 33 (SubDiv 33) at San Diego. From March–August 1954, ''Bashaw'' made a Far Eastern cruise. During the following year she took part in several type exercises, including one major exercise in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an area, before being overhauled at

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. From January–August 1956, ''Bashaw'' conducted her second postwar tour of the Far East. On 14 August, she arrived at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor. ''Bashaw'' reverted to her original designation - SS-241 - in August 1959, and was redesignated AGSS-241 in September 1962. ''Bashaw'' was finally decommissioned and struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 13 September 1969. She was the last ''Gato'' class submarine to be decommissioned. ''Bashaw'' was sold for scrap on 4 August 1972; however, some sources state she was used as a target. She was used as a target and sank off of Hawaii in fairly shallow waters. In the Donny and Marie Osmond movie ''

Goin' Coconuts ''Goin' Coconuts'' is a 1978 American musical adventure comedy film directed by Howard Morris and starring Donny and Marie Osmond. The feature film was released in theaters on October 18, 1978. It was both a critical and commercial failure. Shoot ...

'' there is an underwater picture of her in the background where she sank and was said to be loaded with gold bars in the movie. One of her last skippers was Commander

Don Walsh Don Walsh (born November 2, 1931) is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe ''Trieste'' when it made a record maximum descent into the Challenger Deep on January 2 ...

as he began serving the Trieste from 1959-1962. CDR. Eugene V. Crabb Would serve between 1966-1968 aboard the ''Bashaw'' just a year short of her decommission in 1969.

Awards

''Bashaw'' received five

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

service.

References

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Bashaw''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashaw (Ss-241) Gato-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1943 ships Ships sunk as targets