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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Bugara (SS-331) (AGSS-331)

Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Bravo - Quebec

Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 21 October 1943, at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 2 July 1944; Commissioned, USS Bugara (SS 331), 15 November 1944; Reclassified Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-331) in 1969; Decommissioned, and Stuck from the Naval Register, 1 October 1970; Final Disposition, sunk while under tow near Cape Flattery, WA.,6-1-71. Bugara received three battle stars for her World War II service.
Partial data submitted by Ron Reeves, HTC, USNR (ret.)

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; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth, 400 ft; Complement 66; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, one 4"/50 or 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four main generator engines., GM diesel, HP 5400, fuel capacity, 118,000 gal., four main GE motors with 2,740 shp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
493k	Steel under giant rolls being shaped for submarine construction at Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn., circa August 1943, probably for one of the following boats: Chub (SS-329), Brill (SS-330), Bugara (SS-331), Bullhead (SS-332), Bumper (SS-333), Cabezon (SS-334), Dentuda (SS-335), Capitaine (SS-336), or Carbonero(SS-337).	NARA FILE #: 080-G-468488, photographed by Lt. Comdr. Charles Fenno Jacobs, USNR. Photo # HD-SN-99-02475, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. Photo added 05/09/06.
571k	Welders work on hull of new submarine at Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn., circa August 1943. This sub is probably one of the following: Chub (SS-329), Brill (SS-330), Bugara (SS-331), Bullhead (SS-332), Bumper (SS-333), Cabezon (SS-334), Dentuda (SS-335), Capitaine (SS-336), or Carbonero(SS-337).	NARA FILE #: 080-G-468489, photographed by Lt. Comdr. Charles Fenno Jacobs, USNR. Photo # HD-SN-99-02474, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. Photo added 05/09/06.
56k	The Bugara (SS-331) slides down the launching ways at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 2 July 1944.	US Navy photo courtesy of Electric Boat & ussubvetsofwwii.org.
19k	Commemorative postal cover marking the launching of the Bugara (SS-331) at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 2 July 1944.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
122k	This overhead view of the Bugara (SS-331) was taken during torpedo practice firings off Panama Bay in January 1945. The torpedo retriving davits are rigged, which are used for hauling the practice torpedo out of the water. The torpedos float to the surface after their run due to air in the nose of the "fish". Torpedos with warheads mounted sink if they fail to make contact with a target.	USN Archive photo # 19-N-76588. Photo and text courtesy of The Floating Drydock, "Fleet Subs of WW II" by Thomas F. Walkowiak.
164k	"Mopping up! Submarine gunners blaze away towards the end of the war, July 1945." This photo could very well be of the Bugara (SS-331) which sank 57 small boats and craft by gunfire as targets were becoming scarcer towards the last few months of the war.	Text & photo courtesy of Theodore Roscoe, from his book "U.S. Submarine Operations of WW II", published by USNI.
40k	Bugara's (SS-331) WW II battleflag.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
48k	Bugara (SS-331) late October 1947, either entering or leaving San Francisco.	Courtesy of Joe Radigan.
62k	Bugara (SS-331), Subic Bay, PI, 17 May 1966. Photo was taken from Fred T. Berry (DD-858). Visible in the photo are members of Berry's anchor watch.	© Richard Leonhardt.
108k	Bugara (AGSS-331) circa 1969, location unknown.	Courtesy of John Hummel.
46k	Bugara (SS-331) port side view underway, circa 1969, location unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of Electric Boat & ussubvetsofwwii.org.

View the Bugara (SS-331)
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
Full Fathom Five, U.S. Submarine War Against Japan

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