USS Batfish (SS/AGSS-310), is a Balao-class

Balao class submarine

The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

, the first vessel of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for the batfish

Batfish

Batfish is a name given to several fishes:* The California batfish or sting ray .* Some members of the family Ephippidae.* Some members of the family Ogcocephalidae, including the Pancake batfish.and:...

, a small pediculate fish resembling the stingray

Stingray

The stingrays are a group of rays, which are cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes, and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae , Plesiobatidae , Urolophidae , Urotrygonidae , Dasyatidae , Potamotrygonidae The...

.

Construction and commissioning

Originally to be named Acoupa, hull SS-310 was renamed Batfish on September 24, 1942 prior to its keel laying on December 27, 1942. The Batfish was constructed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...

 Kittery, Maine

Kittery, Maine

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...

 and launched May 5, 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Nellie W. Fortier; and commissioned August 21, 1943, with Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 Wayne R. Merrill in command.

1943-1945

Batfishs war operations spanned a period from December 11, 1943 to August 26, 1945 during which she completed seven war patrols. She is credited with having sunk nine Japanese ships totaling 10,658 tons while operating east of Japan, in the Philippine Sea

Philippine Sea

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...

, Luzon Strait

Luzon Strait

The Luzon Strait is the strait between the island country of Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean....

, and South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

. Batfish received the Presidential Unit Citation

Presidential Unit Citation (US)

The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941...

 for her sixth war patrol in the South China Sea during which she sank the three Japanese submarines. She was also awarded six battle stars for her World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 service.

Combatant vessels sunk were: the minesweeper #22 on August 23, 1944 at 8°09′N 134°38′E; the destroyer Samidare

Japanese destroyer Samidare

was the sixth of ten destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program .-History:The Shiratsuyu class destroyers were modified versions of the , and were designed to accompany the Japanese main striking force and to conduct both day and night torpedo attacks against the...

, August 26, 1944 at 08°30′N 134°37′E; RO-55 on February 10, 1945 at 18°56′N 121°34′E; RO-112 on February 11, 1945 at 18°53′N 121°50′E; and RO-113 on February 13, 1945 at 19°10′N 121°25′E.

1946-1952

Batfish arrived in San Francisco on September 9, 1945 after the Japanese surrender. After arriving in San Francisco, Batfish was sent to Mare Island Navy Yard for inactive overhaul to prepare the boat for her peacetime service. Following completion of her pre-inactivation overhaul, Batfish was decommissioned on April 6, 1946 and laid up as a training vessel in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

1952-1969

As the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 gained intensity, Batfish received her reactivation overhaul in January 1952 and was recommissioned on March 7, 1952 with Lieutenant Commander Robert J. Jackson in command. She set course via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 for Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 after six weeks of readiness training. She was assigned to Submarine Division 122, U.S. Atlantic Fleet

U.S. Atlantic Fleet

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

 on April 21. Batfish served the remainder of her commissioned career in training operations in the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard. She was deactivated for the last time May 5, 1957 at the Charleston Naval Shipyard

Charleston Naval Shipyard

Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...

 she was later decommissioned on August 4, 1958 and assigned to the Charleston Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. During the summer of 1959, Batfish was assigned as a naval reserve training vessel in New Orleans, and on July 1 1960, she was redesignated as an Auxiliary Research Submarine (AGSS-310) on July 1, 1960. She continued to serve at New Orleans until she was laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on November 1, 1969 after 26 years of Service.

Procurement

Starting in 1969, Oklahoma Submarine veterans were impressed by the museum in Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, which drew over 300,000 paying visitors its first year. A delegation from the Oklahoma City

Oklahoma city

Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

 and Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

 chapters asked the U.S. Navy if they could adopt a retired submarine. On hand at the time in the New Orleans Naval Yard was , which the Navy agreed to turn over to them if they could fulfill the donation requirements. Wanting Piranha for his hometown, then State Senator James Inhofe agreed to sponsor a bill accepting the submarine for Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

An initial report claimed that it was impossible to get a submarine as far upriver as Tulsa, due to the Arkansas River Channel not being deep enough above Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....

. Later, a direct tow to Muskogee was determined to also not be possible, therefore another method of transport other than direct towing would have to be devised. The Muskogee City-County Trust Port Authority in the meantime donated five acres of prime waterfront real estate for the submarine's berth and memorial park.

The procurement committee met with the Navy for preliminary arrangements for the transfer of Piranha, however the Navy would not hold the submarine unless the committee made a formal application for her with possession being immediate once the donation contract was approved. Since the Arkansas River Navigable Waterway system would not be open for at least a year, interim docking charges would be incurred. The procurement committee decided to wait and take their chances on another submarine being made available.

In September 1970, the procurement committee inspected Batfish as a possible alternative to Piranha, both of which were mothballed at the Naval Inactive Ship Facility in Orange, Texas

Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

. Both submarines had suffered considerable neglect, with Piranha being almost completely cannibalized for parts, whereas Batfish was much cleaner and better outfitted. Batfishs better war record compared to Piranha impressed the committee; in 1971, a formal application to acquire Batfish was made. The Navy made no objection to the last-minute swap, and the donation contract was drawn up on June 24, 1971. John H. Chafee, the Secretary of the Navy, approved the transaction and congressional approval was obtained on November 8, 1971.

Towing and permanent placement

On December 9, 1971, ownership of the boat was transferred to the Oklahoma Maritime Advisory Board. The towing was divided into two phases. Phase one was a direct offshore tow from Orange to the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. At the shipyard, Batfish would be raised on steel lifting straps and cradled between two pairs of bare-decked barges, so the submarine's draft would be high enough to make phase two of the tow, 1350 miles (2,172.6 km) upriver, possible. Strike action

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

 at the Orange drydock caused the submarine to instead be towed to the Bethlehem Steel

Bethlehem Steel

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...

 drydock in Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

. After a general inspection and clearing of fuel and ballast tanks, Batfish was sealed up and was ready to tow to Avondale on March 1, 1972. At Avondale, it was found that the four barges were insufficient to reduce the submarine's draft, and a new plan for six 120 by barges, ballasted to the outside and linked together by steel cables. On March 13, Batfish was partially secured to the barges by lifting straps, but no cables had been placed to bind them together. That afternoon, the English tanker Silverman passed through a nearby 5 knots (2.7 m/s) zone at 11 knots (6 m/s): the resulting wake sank one barge and seriously damaged several others, although Batfish escaped major harm.

The flotilla of barges was re-assembled, and Batfish was slowly moved up-river by two tugs at 4 knots (2.2 m/s). On May 3, 1972 she passed with ease through Lock-and-Dam Number 6, but her superstructure had trouble clearing a bridge on the way into Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

, and was only able to pass under when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowered the river level by 3 foot (0.9144 m). One tug returned downriver, and the second tug continued the tow towards Fort Smith

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

. Batfish arrived at the Will Brothers Port of Muskogee Terminal on May 7, 1972: this was her temporary home until a 120 feet (36.6 m) wide, 1/4 mi trench could be dug to the boat's permanent berthing site. On July 4, 1972, while still at Muskogee Terminal, Batfish was unofficially opened to the public. Heavy spring rains flooded the Arkansas River

Arkansas River

The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

 on March 12, 1973, which caused Batfish to strain at her moorings, with fears that she would rip loose and damage the surrounding docks or collide with the new U.S. Route 62

U.S. Route 62

U.S. Route 62 runs from the US-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas to Niagara Falls, New York, near the United States-Canada border. It is the only east-west US Route that connects Mexico and Canada.Parts of U.S...

 bridge downriver and block the channel. Although the submarine remained moored, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commission wanted to return the submarine to the Navy. However, the Navy expected Oklahoma to honor its contract.

On April 4, 1973, the trench to the new slipway was completed, and Batfish was manoeuvered into position by cables attached to four bulldozers, plus a Port of Muskogee

Port of Muskogee

The Port of Muskogee is a regional port, located in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. It is a local hub for the transport of goods via trucks, railroad, and barges on the Arkansas River. It is one of the farthest inland, ice-free year-round, United States ports that can access the Gulf of Mexico.-External...

 tugboat. Over the next week, further flooding of the slip was used to bring the submarine to her final resting elevation, and by May 1, she had been realigned to overlook the Arkansas River

Arkansas River

The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

. Batfish was officially opened on the Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

weekend; by the end of August 1973, the submarine was attracting a thousand visitors a week, with income from paid attendance doubling over the boat's first seven weeks on display. The submarine had been restored well, with the exception of the conning tower, and she is open to the public from late March until November.

External links

• Historic Naval Ships Association: USS Batfish
• www.ussbatfish.com
• http://www.ss310.com U.S.S. Batfish Living History Association
• www.batfish.org
• Maritimequest USS Batfish SS-310 Photo Gallery
• Kill record: USS Batfish
• U.S.S. Batfish & War Memorial Park information, photos and videos on TravelOK.com Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma