USS ''Devilfish'' (SS/AGSS-292), a ''Balao''-class submarine, was a 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 ...

named for the

devil fish The devil fish or giant devil ray (''Mobula mobular'') is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae. It is currently listed as endangered, mostly due to bycatch mortality in unrelated fisheries. Description The devil fish is larger than its clo ...

Construction and commissioning

''Devilfish'' was launched on 30 May 1943 by Cramp Shipbuilding Company,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, sponsored by Mrs. Frank W. Fenno Jr., and commissioned on 1 September 1944.

Service history

''Devilfish'' aided the training program of the

Fleet Sonar School The Fleet Sonar School was a United States Navy facility located at Naval Station Key West, Florida for the training of Service personnel in Sonar techniques and equipment, and Anti-submarine warfare. The facility opened in 1940, after personnel ...

at Key West from 18 October-2 November 1944. She reached

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 R ...

on 2 December. On the last day of the year, she sailed on her first war patrol, putting into Saipan to refuel from 12 to 15 January 1945. ''Devilfish'' patrolled the dangerous waters of Kii Suido and Bungo Suido off the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

, and served as lifeguard for Army pilots making bombing raids on Japan. She refitted at Guam from 13 February-15 March, called at Saipan, and sailed on 16 March for her second war patrol. Assigned to the area between Sagami Wan and the northern

Nanpō Islands The is a collective term for the groups of islands that are located to the south of the Japanese archipelago in Micronesia. They extend from the Izu Peninsula west of Tokyo Bay southward for about , to within of the Mariana Islands. The Nanp� ...

, ''Devilfish'' was attacked by a ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

'' plane on 20 March before she entered her patrol area. The plane crashed into her as the submarine was submerging, destroying the mast structure and causing serious leakage. ''Devilfish'' returned to Saipan and Pearl Harbor for repairs, departing Pearl Harbor on 20 May on her third patrol. She sought targets in Bungo Suido and off northern Honshū, and on 16 June, in heavy seas, attacked an enemy submarine carrying a midget submarine on its deck. On 26 June, she attacked an escort ship, but in both cases the targets escaped. During this patrol she acted as lifeguard for strikes accompanying the Okinawa operation, and several times rendezvoused with other submarines to take off medical cases and previously rescued aviators. ''Devilfish'' called at to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

to refit from 7 July-2 August, then sailed to the Nanpō Islands for her fourth war patrol, during which her primary mission was lifeguard duty for the 3rd Fleet raids on Japan. On 10 August, she bombarded Tori Shima, and on 16 August, after the end of hostilities, departed for Midway and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. There she was placed in commission in reserve on 18 April 1946, and out of commission in reserve on 30 September 1946. 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 ...

, ''Devilfish'' was redesignated AGSS-292. She was 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 1 March 1967. ''Devilfish'' was sunk by the submarine USS ''Wahoo'' (SS-565) off

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

on 14 August 1968, as part of a MK 16 MOD 8 torpedo test at in of water.

Awards

''Devilfish'' received three

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 opposing ...

service; her second war patrol was designated as "successful".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devilfish (Ss-292) Balao-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1943 ships Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1968 Shipwrecks of the California coast