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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Flier (SS-250)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Tango - Whiskey
Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 30 October 1942, at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 11 July 1943; Commissioned USS Flier (SS-250), 18 October 1943; Sunk, 13 August 1944 by a mine in Balabac Strait; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown). Flier received 1 battle star for World War II service.

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, 5,400HP, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gal., four General Electric main motors, 2,740HP, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin screws.
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For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
Flier 16k Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the keel laying of the Flier (SS-250) at Electric Boat, Groton, CT., 30 October 1942.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Flier 60k Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the launching of the Flier (SS-250), 11 July 1943.
Courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Flier 67k Flier (SS-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 April 1944.
Official US Navy photo # NH 98325, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Flier 47k Flier (SS-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 April 1944.
Mare Island photo # 2429-44.
Flier 76k Flier (SS-250) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 April 1944. Note the temporary propeller guards attached by chains to her after hull.
Official US Navy photo # NH 98326, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Flier 68k View of the Flier (SS-250) from directly ahead, taken off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 April 1944.
Official US Navy photo # NH 98327 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Flier 109k Plan view of the Flier (SS-250), amidships, looking aft, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 27 April 1944. Note the submarine's 4"/50 deck gun in lower left and mounting for a 20mm gun on the platform in center. Circles mark recent alterations. Barges in the right distance include YC-312 (with dark hull, outboard), and YF-509 (inboard and closer to the camera).
Official US Navy photo # NH 98328, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Flier 91k Plan view of the Flier (SS-250), amidships, looking forward, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 27 April 1944. Note the submarine's bell in the lower right center, with a mounting for a 20mm gun on the platform above and a pressure-tight ready service ammunition locker below. Circles mark recent alterations.
Official US Navy photo # NH 98329, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Palawan 48k Google Earth satellite photo of the surrounding islands off Palawan where both the Flier's (SS-250) & the Robalo's (SS-273) last approximate positions were based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of both boat's crew.
View courtesy of Google Earth.
Palawan 35k In memory of the Flier (SS-250). Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
Tolling the Boats 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.
Flier 91k A Painting of LeRoy, J. MOMM1 K.I.A. with the Flier (SS-250), by his sister, Margorie LeRoy Riikola .

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./"
Courtesy of csp.navy.mil/ww2boats/flier.htm
View the Flier (SS-250)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
On Eternal Patrol
Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS FLIER (SS 250) August 13 1944 - 78 Men Lost
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan
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