was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the bonefish.
She had a busy career in the Pacific against Japanese shipping after being launched and commissioned in May 1943. She was sunk in June 1945 after sinking a ship on her eighth cruise.
Operational history
Bonefishs keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut on 25 June 1942. She was launched 7 May 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth S. Daubin, wife of Rear Admiral Freeland A. Daubin), and commissioned on 31 May 1943, Lieutenant Commander Thomas W. Hogan in command.
The submarine conducted shakedown training out of New London, Conn., and Newport, R.I., until 23 July, when she set out for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 4 August and arrived at Brisbane, Australia, on the 30th. Following a week of training out of that port, she again got underway for more days of drills in Moreton Bay. The submarine departed there on 16 September for her first war patrol.
First patrol, September – October 1943
After transiting Balabac Strait on 22 September, Bonefish continued on to her patrol area in the central part of the South China Sea. Three days later, the submarine attacked a convoy of eight ships, scoring three hits on a freighter before the escorts forced her to go deep to avoid a depth charge attack. Bonefish encountered another convoy on 27 September and launched four torpedoes at the lead ship, the largest of the five, and sank the 9,908 ton transport Kashima Maru and damaged the Chihaya Maru. The escort ships pursued Bonefish, but she was able to dive and elude her attackers. On 6 October, the boat approached a third convoy and scored hits on two heavily laden cargo vessels. Again forced to go deep to avoid the counterattack, she failed to evaluate the damage that her torpedoes had done to the targets. On 10 October, in her last action of the patrol, Bonefish fired a spread of four torpedoes at two ships of a convoy off Indochina, sending both the 4,212 ton cargo ship Isuzugawa and the 10,086 ton transport Teibi Maru to the bottom. On 14 October the Bonefish sank a Japanese sailing vessel in the Makassar Strait. Bonefish concluded her first war patrol back at Fremantle, Western Australia, on 21 October.
Second patrol, November – December 1943
After refit and training, the submarine got underway on 22 November for the South China Sea and her second war patrol. She entered the Flores Sea on 28 November and, the next day, intercepted two enemy ships. Bonefish made a submerged approach and launched four torpedoes. Two of the four — one hit amidships and another struck the freighter under her mainmast — sent the 4,646 ton cargo ship Suez Maru down rapidly by the stern. The escort increased speed and headed for Bonefish, but the sub went deep and escaped the barrage of depth charges. Unknown to Bonefish, Suez Maru was carrying 414 British and 133 Dutch POWs. Minesweeper W.12 picked up the Japanese survivors although recently released documents state that W.12 machine-gunned the surviving POWs (a minimum of 250) in the water,
On 1 December, the boat sighted a convoy of three ships with two escorts hugging the Celebes coast. In two separate attacks, the submarine scored a hit on a large passenger/cargo ship Nichiryo Maru which later sank and another on a destroyer escort which apparently survived.
Bonefish conducted a submerged patrol of Sandakan Harbor, Borneo, from 4 – 6 December and then sailed for Tarakan. On 11 December, she surfaced to engage small cargo vessel Toyohime Maru with gunfire, scoring several hits before a mechanical problem put her gun out of action. The next day, the boat made a submerged approach on an unidentified Japanese vessel and fired six torpedoes, scoring one hit; Bonefish never learned the fate of her target. She cleared the area and arrived at Fremantle on 19 December.
Third patrol, January – March 1944
Following refit and training, the submarine sailed from Fremantle on 12 January 1944 to conduct her third war patrol. While operating in the vicinity of Makassar Strait on 22 January, Bonefish encountered a large sailing vessel. The stranger's crew of seven acted suspiciously as the submarine approached, and despite repeated orders to do so, the crew refused to abandon ship. When Bonefish opened fire with her machine guns, the natives leaped overboard. As the vessel began to sink, Japanese troops emerged from below decks; Bonefish counted 39 men going over the side.