USS Sea Fox (SS-402)
Encyclopedia
USS Sea Fox (SS-402), a Balao-class
submarine
, was a ship of the United States Navy
named for the sea fox, a large shark
, also called the thresher shark
, which frequents the coast of Europe and the Americas
.
Sea Fox was laid down on 2 November 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine
; launched
on 28 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Robert N. Robertson; and commissioned
on 13 June 1944, Lieutenant Commander Roy C. Klinker in command.
for Hawaii
and duty in Submarine Division 282 (SubDiv 282). She arrived at Pearl Harbor
on 11 September and, on 4 October, got underway on her first war patrol. On 16 October, she entered her initial patrol area near the Bonin Islands, and remained in the Bonin-Volcano Islands
area through 25 October, hunting enemy shipping and serving on lifeguard duty for B-24 Liberator
strikes against Iwo Jima
.
On 26 October, she conducted her first attack and damaged an enemy freighter; then proceeded on to the Nansei Shoto in the Ryukyus
. There, on 8 November, after firing 11 torpedoes in four attacks, she sank an engines-aft cargoman. Of the 11 torpedoes fired, several broached and one circled and passed over Sea Foxs conning tower
. On 15 November, the submarine departed her assigned area and arrived at Majuro
on 24 November for refit.
to top off with fuel, the submarines and their PC
escort picked up survivors of a downed Liberator. On 28 December, the submarines departed the Marianas
for the Ryukyus; and, on 1 January 1945, Sea Fox reached her patrol area.
Nine days later, she made her only contact worthy of torpedo
fire but, despite two attacks, was unsuccessful. Puffer, to which she reported the contact, later sank the target, Coast Defense Vessel No. 42.
In February 1945, while undergoing refit at Guam
, five of her crewmembers were killed in a Japanese ambush.
–Formosa
area. She made six contacts but was able to close and attack only one, a convoy
of three merchantmen and four escorts. During that action, conducted in heavy fog on the morning of 1 April, she damaged one of the freighters.
That same day, sank the "mercy" ship, Awa Maru
; and, on 2 April, Sea Fox was ordered into the area to pick up survivors and wreckage to determine the type of cargo the maru had been carrying. Sea Fox located no survivors but found bales of sheet rubber covering the area where the ship had gone down. She took aboard one of the sheets and continued her patrol.
The next day, one of Sea Foxs crew was accidentally shot by another crewman. Efforts to transfer the wounded man to a homeward-bound submarine were thwarted by rough seas, and the patient remained aboard for the duration of the patrol.
In mid-April, Sea Fox was off the northwest coast of Formosa where she encountered a shift in Japanese ASW tactics. Patrol planes were numerous at night, precluding recharging. The planes, however, were relatively inactive during daylight hours, and Sea Fox surfaced and recharged accordingly.
On the night of 16 April – 17 April, Sea Fox departed her patrol area. Progress toward Saipan
was slowed by a casualty in the bow plane rigging mechanism on 19 April; but, on 26 April, she arrived in the Marianas, and she reached Pearl Harbor on 6 May. Refit took a month, and Sea Fox sailed on 7 June for her last war patrol. Assigned primarily to lifeguard duty during the 53-day patrol, she picked up nine Army aviators near Marcus Island and a tenth in the Nanpō Islands. On 29 July, she completed the patrol at Midway
.
. Based at Subic Bay
, she operated in the Philippine area into 1946; then, on 12 January, got underway to return to the United States.
Sea Fox arrived in San Francisco Bay
on 2 February. Overhaul followed; and in mid-May, she returned to Pearl Harbor where she rejoined Submarine Division 52 (SubDiv 52). During the remainder of the 1940s, she was deployed three times: to the central Pacific in the summer of 1946, and to the western Pacific in the winter of 1948 and in the fall of 1949. The end of the latter year also brought a brief assignment to SubDiv 13, but January 1950 saw her a unit of SubDiv 12. Six months later, the Korean War
broke out; and Sea Foxs training exercises—mine
planting, torpedo approaches, gunnery, and ASW—increased.
On 2 September 1951, the submarine sailed west. A six-month tour in the western Pacific followed during which she supported the United Nations
' effort in Korea
by providing services to the ASW training group and by patrolling in the northern Sea of Japan
. In March 1952, she returned to the Hawaiian Islands to resume local operations and to prepare for a GUPPY IIA conversion.
, Sea Fox completed conversion the following spring and was recommissioned on 5 June 1953. In August, she returned to Pearl Harbor and resumed operations—training exercises, special operations, and western Pacific deployments—as a unit of SubDiv 71.
Reassigned to SubDiv 33 at San Diego on 1 July 1955, she became flagship
of the division on 1 August and commenced local operations off the southern California
coast. A year later, she sailed west for another six-month tour with the 7th Fleet; and, from then until 1969, she continued to rotate between training operations out of San Diego and duty with the 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. From 1964, her tours in WestPac included support of the Allied effort in Vietnam
.
On 21 December 1968, Sea Fox returned to San Diego from her last WestPac deployment. Local operations, overhaul, and training exercises followed; and, in November 1970, she was declared unfit for further service. She was decommissioned, her name was struck from the Navy List
on 14 December 1970.
.
on 14 December 1970 at Hunters Point Navy Yard
in San Francisco
. The Turkish Navy
renamed her TCG Burakreis (S 335), after the great Ottoman
admiral Burak Reis. She sailed for her new home on 9 April 1971 from San Diego after conducting ASW training. She was commissioned on 8 August 1971.
In 1996, Burakreis was struck from the Turkish Naval rolls.
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...
, was a ship 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...
named for the sea fox, a large shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
, also called the thresher shark
Thresher shark
Thresher sharks are large lamniform sharks of the family Alopiidae. Found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world, the family contains three species all within the genus Alopias.-Taxonomy:...
, which frequents the coast of Europe and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
Sea Fox was laid down on 2 November 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in 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...
; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 28 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Robert N. Robertson; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 13 June 1944, Lieutenant Commander Roy C. Klinker in command.
First patrol: October–November 1944
Two months after commissioning, Sea Fox departed New LondonNaval Submarine Base New London
Naval Submarine Base New London is the United States Navy's primary submarine base, the "Home of the Submarine Force", and "the Submarine Capital of the World".-History:...
for Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and duty in Submarine Division 282 (SubDiv 282). She arrived at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 11 September and, on 4 October, got underway on her first war patrol. On 16 October, she entered her initial patrol area near the Bonin Islands, and remained in the Bonin-Volcano Islands
Volcano Islands
The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...
area through 25 October, hunting enemy shipping and serving on lifeguard duty for B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
strikes against Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
.
On 26 October, she conducted her first attack and damaged an enemy freighter; then proceeded on to the Nansei Shoto in the Ryukyus
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. There, on 8 November, after firing 11 torpedoes in four attacks, she sank an engines-aft cargoman. Of the 11 torpedoes fired, several broached and one circled and passed over Sea Foxs conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
. On 15 November, the submarine departed her assigned area and arrived at Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
on 24 November for refit.
Second patrol: December 1944 – February 1945
On her second war patrol, 20 December 1944 to 5 February 1945, Sea Fox returned to the Nansei Shoto as a unit of Task Group 17.19, a coordinated attack group composed of her, , and . En route to SaipanSaipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
to top off with fuel, the submarines and their PC
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
escort picked up survivors of a downed Liberator. On 28 December, the submarines departed the Marianas
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
for the Ryukyus; and, on 1 January 1945, Sea Fox reached her patrol area.
Nine days later, she made her only contact worthy of torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
fire but, despite two attacks, was unsuccessful. Puffer, to which she reported the contact, later sank the target, Coast Defense Vessel No. 42.
In February 1945, while undergoing refit at Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, five of her crewmembers were killed in a Japanese ambush.
Third and fourth patrols: March – July 1945
Sea Foxs third war patrol, 8 March to 6 May 1945, saw her in the South China SeaSouth 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...
–Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
area. She made six contacts but was able to close and attack only one, a convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
of three merchantmen and four escorts. During that action, conducted in heavy fog on the morning of 1 April, she damaged one of the freighters.
That same day, sank the "mercy" ship, Awa Maru
Awa Maru (1943)
The was a Japanese ocean liner owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The ship was built in 1941-1943 by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. at Nagasaki, Japan...
; and, on 2 April, Sea Fox was ordered into the area to pick up survivors and wreckage to determine the type of cargo the maru had been carrying. Sea Fox located no survivors but found bales of sheet rubber covering the area where the ship had gone down. She took aboard one of the sheets and continued her patrol.
The next day, one of Sea Foxs crew was accidentally shot by another crewman. Efforts to transfer the wounded man to a homeward-bound submarine were thwarted by rough seas, and the patient remained aboard for the duration of the patrol.
In mid-April, Sea Fox was off the northwest coast of Formosa where she encountered a shift in Japanese ASW tactics. Patrol planes were numerous at night, precluding recharging. The planes, however, were relatively inactive during daylight hours, and Sea Fox surfaced and recharged accordingly.
On the night of 16 April – 17 April, Sea Fox departed her patrol area. Progress toward Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
was slowed by a casualty in the bow plane rigging mechanism on 19 April; but, on 26 April, she arrived in the Marianas, and she reached Pearl Harbor on 6 May. Refit took a month, and Sea Fox sailed on 7 June for her last war patrol. Assigned primarily to lifeguard duty during the 53-day patrol, she picked up nine Army aviators near Marcus Island and a tenth in the Nanpō Islands. On 29 July, she completed the patrol at Midway
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
.
1945–1952
The war ended with the completion of refit, and Sea Fox headed toward Pearl Harbor for a two-week visit prior to getting underway for postwar duty with Submarine Squadron 5 (SubRon 5) in the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Based at Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, she operated in the Philippine area into 1946; then, on 12 January, got underway to return to the United States.
Sea Fox arrived in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
on 2 February. Overhaul followed; and in mid-May, she returned to Pearl Harbor where she rejoined Submarine Division 52 (SubDiv 52). During the remainder of the 1940s, she was deployed three times: to the central Pacific in the summer of 1946, and to the western Pacific in the winter of 1948 and in the fall of 1949. The end of the latter year also brought a brief assignment to SubDiv 13, but January 1950 saw her a unit of SubDiv 12. Six months later, 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...
broke out; and Sea Foxs training exercises—mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
planting, torpedo approaches, gunnery, and ASW—increased.
On 2 September 1951, the submarine sailed west. A six-month tour in the western Pacific followed during which she supported the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' effort in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
by providing services to the ASW training group and by patrolling in the northern Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
. In March 1952, she returned to the Hawaiian Islands to resume local operations and to prepare for a GUPPY IIA conversion.
1953–1970
Decommissioned on 15 October 1952 at Mare Island Naval ShipyardMare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
, Sea Fox completed conversion the following spring and was recommissioned on 5 June 1953. In August, she returned to Pearl Harbor and resumed operations—training exercises, special operations, and western Pacific deployments—as a unit of SubDiv 71.
Reassigned to SubDiv 33 at San Diego on 1 July 1955, she became flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the division on 1 August and commenced local operations off the southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
coast. A year later, she sailed west for another six-month tour with the 7th Fleet; and, from then until 1969, she continued to rotate between training operations out of San Diego and duty with the 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. From 1964, her tours in WestPac included support of the Allied effort in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
On 21 December 1968, Sea Fox returned to San Diego from her last WestPac deployment. Local operations, overhaul, and training exercises followed; and, in November 1970, she was declared unfit for further service. She was decommissioned, her name was struck from the Navy List
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 14 December 1970.
Honors and awards
Sea Fox earned four battle stars during World War II and four campaign stars for service during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
TCG Burakreis (S 335)
Sea Fox was sold to TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
on 14 December 1970 at Hunters Point Navy Yard
San Francisco Naval Shipyard
The San Francisco Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city...
in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. The Turkish Navy
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
renamed her TCG Burakreis (S 335), after the great Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
admiral Burak Reis. She sailed for her new home on 9 April 1971 from San Diego after conducting ASW training. She was commissioned on 8 August 1971.
In 1996, Burakreis was struck from the Turkish Naval rolls.