Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

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.
Click On Image
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 63k 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.
Signs of the times 315k Signs of the times: Logo's for the following boats are emblazened on the building wall to the right: Dace (SS-247), Dorado (SS-248), Flasher (SS-249), Flier (SS-250), Flounder (SS-251) & Gabilan (SS-252). Photo from the Photo Essay How To Build A Submarine at Electric Boat Co. New London, Conn.
Photographer: Bernard Hoffman, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life.
Flier 97k Steel meets water as the Flier (SS-250) slides down the ways on 11 July 1943.
Courtesy of Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach,
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol.
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) reached Pearl Harbor from New London 20 December 1943, and prepared for her first war patrol, sailing 12 January 1944. Damage suffered in a grounding near Midway necessitated her return to the west coast for repairs.
She is pictured here off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 April 1944. 		Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
Official US Navy photo # NH 98325, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
PDF courtesy of Darryl Baker.
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.
Robalo441kOn 26 Jul '44, Lt.Cdr. Manning M. Kimmel's Robalo (SS-273) is sunk W of Palawan Island in the Balabac Strait. Robalo may have hit a mine laid by Tsugaru in Mar '44. On 13 Aug '44, Lt.Cdr. John D. Crowley's Flier (SS-250) also hit a mine S of Palawan in the Balabac Strait that may have been laid by Tsugaru; however, some mines were also laid in the Balabac Strait in 1943. Photo & text courtesy of combinedfleet.com. Photo by Takeshi Yuki scanned from "Color Paintings of Japanese Warships".
Flier 105k Survivors of the sinking of the Flier (SS-250) gather on the deck of the Redfin (SS-272) shortly after their rescue in 1944. From left in the first row are James Russo, Wesley Miller, Earl Baumgart and Arthur G. Howell. From left in the back row are Lt. Jim Liddell, Capt. John Crowley and Ensign Alvin Jacobson. Don Tremaine was in sickbay at the time the picture was taken. Photo courtesy of Nelson and Lana Jacobson via mlive.com & thesubreport.com. Photo added 02/12/10.
Flier 91k A Painting of LeRoy, J. MOMM1 K.I.A. with the Flier (SS-250), by his sister, Margorie LeRoy Riikola.
 		Courtesy of csp.navy.mil/ww2boats/flier.htm.
Palawan 92k Google Earth satellite photo of the surrounding islands in Balabac Strait near Mantangule Island where the Flier's (SS-250) last approximate position was based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the boat's crew.
View courtesy of Google Earth.
Palawan 35k Commemorative photo in honor of the memory of the crew of the Flier (SS-250).Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen. Dante's Prayer courtesy of Loreena McKennitt via quinlanroad.com.
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 112k Kit Joseph Pourciau, Seaman, First Class, K.I.A. with the Flier (SS-250), was born on 2 December 1925, in or near New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was Mr. Hermell Joseph Pourciau, who resided at 600 Camp St., New Orleans. The attached short article is from the Dominican Torch, March-April, 1945.

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 Charles R. Hinman, Director of Education & Outreach,
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, & On Eternal Patrol.
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
ussflier.com
ComSubPac Report of loss of USS FLIER (SS 250) August 13 1944 - 78 Men Lost
The USS Flier By Michael Sturma
Victory at Sea: Full Fathom Five 2 of 3
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Submarine Index

Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster
This page is created and maintained by Michael Mohl
© 2010, Michael Mohl © 2010 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.