Patrol Report July 00 II
SS-287 Bowfin
First War Patrol - covering the period from 9/2/43 to 9/20/43
To:� ComSubPac, Commander SUBRON 4 - Manual TDC
PROLOGUE TO
Assumed command of the boat on August 25, 1943. Underway for sea trials and training until August 31. Crew is Green but well drilled and boat is in fine shape.
NARRATIVE
9/2/43 Departed Fremantle for Indochina. Arrived on station 9/10/43. Started patrolling outside the 100 fathom curve SW of Saigon.
Rmks 1.� 9/10/43 0533. SJ contact 14000 yards as the sky is just lightening. Come to full speed to close and see what we have before full daylight. Found two CA's one CL and four escorting DD's. Fired three torpedo's at farthest CA a Mogami class at 2800 yards then three at a Myoko class CA in the middle of the formation at 2000 yards. One of the first three premature's alerting task force. All of the cruisers evaded but a Kagero class DD 2033 tons ran into the spread and took two hits and was sunk. At 0700 surfaced with three DD's circling at 9500 yards behind and vacated the area. Sighted all three DD's as they headed into Saigon.
Rmks 2.� 9/10/43 2319. SJ contact 13000 yards. Close at high speed to investigate. Spot a Nagara class CL, radar indicates another large target but only spot 7 destroyers. Fire a spread of three aimed at bow, stern and MOT range < 1500 speed slow. Three solid hits cruiser breaks in two, third fish must have hit his magazine. Dive deep to evade escorts. First DCs hit when passing 350 feet. 0000 lose the thermal protection so have to run and circle in order to evade. 0100 back on the surface spot the DD's again heading into Saigon.
Rmks 3.� 9/11/32 0928. SJ Contact 14500 yards. Close to find two escorts moving at 23 knots heading 120 out of Saigon with aircraft escorting as well. Remain at radar depth to see what they are escorting. 0940 more contacts at least four escort size and a couple of larger blips sound indicates two sets of heavy screws. 1000 finally site main body one armed cruiser and one standard merchant with at least four escorts and an aircraft. Run on the surface at flank speed to gain position. 1300 in position for a stern shot. Fire two torpedo's at ship 2 and one at ship 3 range 2000 yards speed slow. The third torpedo premature's alerting convoy and escorts. Ship two avoids the first torpedo but is hit by the second which is slowing him down, dive to evade. 1340 escorts behind and convoy passed ahead. Come to periscope depth. The cripple is behind me so attempt to finish him off. First fish premature's. Next fish hits but target is still underway and turns to ram. Third fish destroys target 7320 ton converted factory ship. Unable to catch main body due their speed and battery condition.
Rmks 4.� 9/11/43 2305. SJ Contact 14000 yards. Close to find two CA's, two CL's and four escorts. Shadow on the surface until they zig towards then dive for the attack. Fire four fish speed high depth 6 feet at the middle CA range 2600 yards. Shooting across formation so range to nearest cruiser is about 2000 and furthest is about 3400. About midway through the run one premature's. This alerts escorts so dive to evade. Sound indicates one hit most likely on the nearest CA. Sound does not show a slowing of the four heavy screws. Back on the surface at 0000 SJ shows only the four escorts searching.
Rmks 5.� 9/12/43 0100. While leaving the area the escorts come right in our direction. The third one spots us and comes to investigate. Dive and line up for a bow shot as he passes. Fire two torpedo's he avoids the first and turns right into the second which is a dud. Fire a third torpedo at 850 yards hit amidships sinks a Fubuki Destroyer. Two of the other escorts come to investigate. Fire one torpedo at a Kagero range 1000 yards hit but not destroyed. Fire the last torpedo at the Kagero hit and sinks. Evade the remaining escort and return to base all torpedo's expended.
Arrived Fremantle 9/20/43.
Jap ASW
Escorts seemed to be a little lighter and less aggressive than in previous patrols.
Torpedo performance summary
Attack one. All fired at depth 6 feet high speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 2 1 0 3 Result one Kagero class DD 2033 tons sunk.
Attack two. All fired at depth 6 feet low speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 3 0 0 0 Result one Nagara class CL 5570 tons sunk.
Attack three. All fired at depth 6 feet low speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 3 2 0 1 Result one Converted Factory ship 7320 tons sunk.
Attack four. All fired at depth 6 feet high speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 1 1 0 2 Result probable hit on unknown cruiser.
Attack five. All fired at depth 6 feet high speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 1 0 1 1 Result sunk Fubuki DD 2090 tons.
Attack Six. Both fired at depth 6 feet high speed.
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 2 0 0 0 Result sunk one Kagero class DD 2033 tons.
Totals
Hit Prem Dud Miss ����������������������� 12 4 1 7
Torpedo performance
Hit and explode versus duds was much improved. The premature's are still a problem and caused a number of the misses.
Deck Gun
Was not used on this patrol.
SJ Radar
Performance varied but generally made contact at about 13000 to 14500 yards.
SD radar
Aircraft were detected at around 17000 yds during the patrol.
Damage
Hull damage none, system damage none.
Weather Conditions
Fair with Moderate seas while in PZ.
Ships sunk
Kagero DD 2033 tons Nagara CL 5570 tons Factory Ship 7320 tons Fubuki DD 2090 tons Kagero DD 2033 tons ������������������������������ TOTAL 19046 tons
Respectfully,
LTCMD Ray McNeice
Commander SS-287 Bowfin