Allied Warships

Bashaw (SS-241)

Submarine of the Gato class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	241
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	4 Dec 1942
Launched	25 Jul 1943
Commissioned	25 Oct 1943
End service	13 Sep 1969
History	Decommissioned 20 June 1949. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 3 April 1951. Decommissioned 10 May 1952 for conversion to an Hunter-Killer Submarine at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California. Redesignated SSK-241 on 18 February 1953. Recommissioned 28 March 1953. Redesignated SS-241 in August 1959. Redesignated Auxiliary Submarine AGSS-241 in September 1962. Decommissioned and stricken 13 September 1969. Sunk as a target in July 1972.

Commands listed for USS Bashaw (241)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Lt.Cdr. Richard Eugene Nichols, USN	25 Oct 1943	15 Jan 1945
2	Hoke Smith Simpson, USNR	15 Jan 1945	1 May 1945

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Notable events involving Bashaw include:

8 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for Key West, Florida.

15 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols, USN) arrived at Key West, Florida for duty with the Fleet Sound School.

16 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

17 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

18 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

20 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

21 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

22 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

23 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

24 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

27 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

28 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

29 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

30 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

31 Dec 1943
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

1 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

3 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

4 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

5 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

6 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

7 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

8 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw conducted exercises off Key West.

9 Jan 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. Richard E. Nichols) departed from Key West bound for the Panama Canal Zone.

3 Mar 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) arrived at Milne Bay, New Guinea.

10 Mar 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) departed from Milne Bay for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau.

21 Mar 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) torpedoed the Japanese salvage/repair ship Uragami maru (4317 GRT) south-east of Palau in position 06°58'N, 136°29'E. The Uragami Maru sustains moderate damage and makes port.

27 Apr 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) sank a Japanese trawler and damaged three others with gunfire east-north-east of Halmahera in position 03°20'N, 131°35'E.

10 May 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) ended her 1st war patrol at Brisbane, Australia.

27 May 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) departed from Brisbane for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of the Philippines.

25 Jun 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Yamamiya Maru (6440 GRT) between Talaud Island and Halmahera in position 03°28'N, 127°06'E. The damaging of a second ship, claimed to have been of 4400 tgr, is unconfirmed.

16 Jul 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) ended her 2nd war patrol at Manus.

7 Aug 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) departed from Manus for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Mindanao, Philippines.

8 Sep 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Yanagigawa Maru (2813 GRT) in the Sulu Sea west of Mindanao, Philippines in position 08°10'N, 121°48'E.
The freighter Ryuka Maru (size unknown) was also damaged at this time. There is no claim on Bashaw's part for this vessel, but she was in the same convoy and there was no other sub attack at this time.

9 Sep 1944
Still operating in the same area as above, USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. Richard E. Nichols) claims the sinking of a 200-ton coaster by gunfire. This target remains unidentified.

4 Oct 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) ended her 3rd war patrol at Brisbane.

27 Oct 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) departed from Brisbane for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

21 Nov 1944
While on patrol in the South China Sea with a submarine group, USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) attacked a convoy at 1700 hrs. She hit the Japanese cargo ship Gyosan maru (5698 GRT), with a single at position 10°30'N, 115°08'E. The ship remained afloat but was derelict. She was further hit by USS Flounder at 1800 hrs and lost her stern. She was run ashore on the NE corner of NanShan island and was abandoned, later she was completely destroyed by a torpedo from USS Guavina on 23 November.

14 Dec 1944
While on patrol off Camranh Bay, French Indochina, USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) sighted the Japanese hybrid battleship/carriers Ise and Hyuga (both offsite links) but was unable to reach a firing position.

31 Dec 1944
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Nichols) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

26 Jan 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. Hoke S. Simpson) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Hainan Island and along the Indo-China coastline.

13 Feb 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) was one of the submarines stationed along the route of an important Japanese naval convoy heading north. At 1530 hrs, attempting to close the range by running surfaced, she was spotted and taken under main battery fire by one of the escorting battleships, either the Ise or Hyuga (both offsite links). As a 356 mm (14") salvo fell less than a mile away, Lt.Cdr Simpson opted for a safer course of action and dived, losing any chance to gain a firing position.

21 Feb 1945
Off the north-east corner of Hainan island, USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) claimed the sinking of a 200-ton coaster by torpedo (3 fired, 1 hit). Shortly afterwards, in company of USS Flasher she attacked another coaster by gunfire, both subs scoring hits and sharing the sinking.

27 Feb 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) sank a pair of sampans with USS Flasher then goes off on her own, shooting up 2 more, east of Hainan in position 19°25'N, 111°21'E.

5 Mar 1945
At 1000 hrs USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese oiler Ryoei Maru (10016 GRT) off Tourane, Vietnam. The oiler remains afloat and Bashaw has to dodge the escort for the next 9 hours, at the end of which time she finally reaches firing position and finishes off the damaged ship in position 16°47'N, 108°41'E.

6 Mar 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire of the coast of French Indochina.

12 Mar 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) ended her 5th war patrol at Subic Bay, Philippines.

27 Mar 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) departed from Subic Bay for her 6th war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol off Hainan Island and along the Indo-China coastline.

29 Apr 1945
USS Bashaw (Lt.Cdr. H.S. Simpson) ended her 6th war patrol at Subic Bay. She was now sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard for a major overhaul.

13 Aug 1945
With her refit completed USS Bashaw departed from the Mare Island Navy Yard bound for Pearl Harbor.

22 Aug 1945
USS Bashaw arrived Pearl Harbor.