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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Bonefish (SS-223)

Radio Call Sign: November - Bravo - Kilo - Foxtrot

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 25 June 1942, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 7 March 1943; Commissioned USS Bonefish (SS-223), 31 May 1943; Final Disposition, sunk on 8th patrol by Japanese warship in Toyama Wan, west coast of Honshu, 18 June 1945, all hands lost.; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown). Bonefish received five Navy Unit Commendations and seven battle stars during World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By/ Source
288k	Topside looking forward of the Bonefish (SS-223), on the building ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943. Also under construction from right to left are the Cod (SS-224), Cero (SS-225), & at extreme right Corvina (SS-226). Directly under the photographer would have been the #1 way at the Old North Yard, which on 7 March would have been occupied by the keel of Sealion (SS-315).	Electric Boat Co / US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org. Text i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston.
244k	Stern view of the Bonefish (SS-223) showing her starboard torpedo tubes, on the building ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943.	Electric Boat Co/ US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
244k	Flag drapped bow view of the Bonefish (SS-223) just prior to her launching on the building ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943.	Electric Boat Co/ US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
178k	Bonefish (SS-223), slides down the ways at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943.	Electric Boat Co / US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
25k	Commemorative post mark from Bonefish's (SS-223) launching at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
27k	Commemorative post mark from Bonefish's (SS-223) launching at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 7 March 1943.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
43k	Commemorative post mark from Bonefish's (SS-223) commissioning ceremony, 31 May 1943.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
51k	Bonefish (SS-223), commissioning ceremony at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 31 May 1943.	Courtesy of submarinesailor.comBoatsSS223Bonefish
22k	Bonefish (SS-223), underway, 1943.	Courtesy of submarinesailor.comBoatsSS223Bonefish
128k	Bonefish (SS-223), arriving at Pearl Harbor, before reporting to Austraila, July 1943.	US Navy photo.
53k	Bonefish (SS-223), ship's legend.	US Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
167k	Bonefish (SS-223), returning to the submarine base in Fremantle, Austraila, circa 1943 - 45.	Courtesy of "Silent Victory", by Clay Blair Jr.
101k	Busy pier scene at Fremantle Austraila, circa late 1944 and before June 1945. From left to right, stern view to the camera are the Bonefish (SS-223), Rasher (SS-269), Bowfin (SS-287), Bluefish (SS-222), Narwhal (SS-167) and the sub tender Pelias (AS-14). Second row, bow view are the Cod (SS-224), Tinosa (SS-283) and Crevalle (SS-291).	US Navy photo courtesy of Ric Hedmen.
18k	Lawrence Lott Edge, Commander (Commanding Officer) of the Bonefish (SS-223), at the time of her loss.	US Navy photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
213k	*Coast Defense Vessel No. 17, at Yokohama, 13 April, 1944, representative of three of the class of ships which sank the Bonefish* (SS-223); *Coast Defense Vessel No. 63, Coast Defense Vessel No. 75, & Coast Defense Vessel No. 207*.	Photo from A. J. Watts, "Japanese Warships of World War II", courtesy of Aryeh Weterhorn.
4k	Map area showing Toyoma Wan, in the Sea of Japan in position 37.18N, 137.55E where the Bonefish (SS-223) was sunk.	Photo & text courtesy of Great Circle Mapper - © Karl L Swartz / uboat.net.
66k	Google Earth satellite photo of the Toyoma Wan, Bonefish's (SS-223) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the *Bonefish* and her crew.	View courtesy of Google Earth.
81k	In memory of the Bonefish (SS-223).	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo # N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
19k	Memorial wreath being laid over the site of the Bonefish (SS-223), on the west coast of Honshu by the crew of the Yorktown (CVA-10), 29 September 1961. In Memorium: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay / He brought me forth also into a large place: / he delivered me because he delighted in me./"	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org