USS Bumper (SS-333)

USS Bumper (SS-333), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the bumper, a small fish of the North and South Atlantic Ocean.

History
United States
Name: USS Bumper (SS-333)
Builder: Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down: 4 November 1943[1]
Launched: 6 August 1944[1]
Commissioned: 9 December 1944[1]
Decommissioned: 16 November 1950[1]
Stricken: 20 December 1950[2]
Fate: Transferred to Turkey, 16 November 1950[2]
Turkey
Name: TCG Çanakkale (S 333)
Commissioned: 16 November 1950
Decommissioned: 11 August 1976
General characteristics
Class and type: Balao class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement:
  • 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2]
  • 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length: 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft: 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion:
Speed:
  • 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[6]
  • 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[6]
Range: 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[6]
Endurance:
  • 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[6]
  • 75 days on patrol
Test depth: 400 ft (120 m)[6]
Complement: 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[6]
Armament:

Bumper (SS-333) was launched 6 August 1944 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. Margaret Williams (née Smith), wife of the prospective commanding officer; and commissioned 9 December 1944, Commander J. W. Williams, Jr., in command.

Between 22 April and 15 August 1945 Bumper completed two war patrols in the Java and South China Seas and the Gulf of Siam. During this time she sank a 1189-ton tanker, destroyed another small tanker at anchor, and sank four miscellaneous small craft by gunfire.

Bumper arrived at Fremantle, Australia, from her last war patrol 15 August 1945. On 31 August 1945 she departed Fremantle for Subic Bay, Philippine Islands where she arrived 9 September. She served as a unit of Submarines, Philippine Sea Frontier, until February 1946 when she returned to California for repairs. Repairs completed, she reported for duty with Submarine Squadron 5 at Pearl Harbor and operated in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands until December.

On 16 December 1946 she departed Pearl Harbor to conduct a simulated war patrol. She called at Truk, Caroline Islands; Subic Bay, Philippine Islands; Yokosuka, Japan; and Midway. She also spent six weeks with Northern Training Group, Western Pacific, at Tsingtao, China, and in the Yellow Sea. She returned to Pearl Harbor 29 March 1947.

Early in January 1948 Bumper proceeded to California and underwent yard overhaul until 1 June 1948. She arrived back at Pearl Harbor 12 June and shortly thereafter commenced her second simulated war patrol in the Western Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor 29 September 1949.

TCG Çanakkale (S 333)

Bumper operated out of Pearl Harbor until 7 February 1950 when she returned to the United States. She transited the Panama Canal 22 February 1950 and operated along the eastern seaboard until 16 September 1950 when she was decommissioned. She was transferred to Turkey 16 November 1950 and recommissioned as TCG Çanakkale (S 333). She served in the Turkish Navy until she was decommissioned 11 August 1976.

Honors and awards

Bumper received one battle star 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. 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 0-313-26202-0.
  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. 275–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
  4. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
  5. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  6. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311


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