USS Bashaw

USS Bashaw (SS/SSK/AGSS-241), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bashaw.

History
United States
Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down: 4 December 1942[1]
Launched: 25 July 1943[1]
Sponsored by: Mrs. Norman S. Ives
Commissioned: 25 October 1943[1]
Decommissioned: 29 June 1949[1]
Recommissioned: 3 April 1951[1]
Decommissioned: 10 May 1952[1]
Recommissioned: 28 March 1953[1]
Decommissioned: 13 September 1969[1]
Stricken: 13 September 1969[1]
Fate: Sold for scrap, 4 August 1972[2]
General characteristics
Class and type: Gato-class diesel-electric submarine[3]
Displacement:
  • 1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced[3]
  • 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[3]
Length: 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[3]
Beam: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3]
Draft: 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[3]
Propulsion:
Speed: 21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced,[7] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[7]
Range: 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced @ 10 kn (19 km/h)[7]
Endurance: 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged,[7] 75 days on patrol
Test depth: 300 ft (91 m)[7]
Complement: 6 officers, 54 enlisted[7]
Armament:

Bashaw was laid down on 4 December 1942 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.. She was launched on 25 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Florence Ives, wife of Captain Norman S. Ives (killed 2 August 1944 near Dol-en-Bretagne, France commanding a naval patrol), and commissioned on 25 October 1943, Lieutenant Commander Richard E. Nichols in command.

Service history

World War II

Bashaw arrived at Milne Bay, New Guinea on 3 March 1944. From 10 March 1944 – 29 April 1945, she completed six war patrols in the Celebes, Philippine, and South China Seas. Bashaw sank three Japanese merchant vessels - totaling 19,269 tons - as well as several small craft.

Bashaw returned to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands on 29 April 1945 and then sailed to Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul. Upon completion of the yard period on 13 August 1945, she departed for Pearl Harbor.

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.

Bashaw was recommissioned on 3 April 1951 and operated out of San Diego along the West Coast 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 to an anti-submarine "hunter-killer submarine" 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 Hawaiian area, before being overhauled at San Francisco. 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 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.[1][2]

She was used as a target and sank off of Hawaii in fairly shallow waters. In the Donny and Marie Osmond movie Goin' Coconuts 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. Her last skipper was Commander Don Walsh.

Awards

Bashaw received five battle stars for her World War II service.

References
  1. Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
  2. "Bashaw (SS-241)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
  3. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  4. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
  5. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
  6. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  7. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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