Inside the USS Bowfin

William Joel goes inside the USS Bowfin (SS/AGSS-287), Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the bowfin, a voracious, predatory fish native to the Great Lakes, the Mississippi valley, and nearby waters. This dull green, but iridescent fish is little used for food or sport. Reactivated because of the Navys need to expand the fleet to support United Nations-led forces during the Korean War, the submarine was recommissioned on 27 July 1951 and, following shakedown training, sailed for the Pacific. After arriving at San Diego, California on 6 October, she worked from that port for the next two years, devoting her time to training operations and local exercises. The nominal ending of hostilities in Korea in the summer of 1953 reduced the Navys need for active submarines and prompted Bowfins second inactivation. She arrived at San Francisco on 8 October 1953 and was placed out of commission, in reserve, at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 22 April 1954. The warship remained there until moving to Seattle, Washington, on 1 May 1960 to replace Puffer (SS-268) as the Naval Reserve training submarine there and to begin a bit over a decades service. Her name was finally struck from the Navy list on 1 December 1971, and she was taken back to Pearl Harbor, where she now serves as a memorial. Bowfin was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986 The submarine is owned and operated by the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association, and is now part of the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park in Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Visitors can tour the submarine with an audio narration of life in the vessel during World War II. Bowfin was laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine on 23 July 1942; launched on 7 December 1942 by Mrs. Jane Gawne, wife of Captain James Orville Gawne; and commissioned on 1 May 1943, Commander Joseph H. Willingham in command.