| Navy | The US Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | Balao |
| Pennant | 310 |
| Built by | Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | 21 Apr 1942 |
| Laid down | 27 Dec 1942 |
| Launched | 6 May 1943 |
| Commissioned | 21 Aug 1943 |
| End service | 1 Nov 1969 |
| History | USS Batfish earned nine battle stars for her World War II service in the Pacific. She sank 14 ships and damaged three others during her seven war patrols. Over a period of four days in February 1945, she sank three Japanese submarines. For this feat, the "sub killer" was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Her other WW II exploits included blasting a grounded destroyer, bombarding a Japanese village, and rescuing downed aviators. Decommissioned 6 April 1946 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California. |
Commands listed for USS Batfish (310)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Wayne Rucker Merrill, USN | 21 Aug 1943 | 15 May 1944 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe, USN | 15 May 1944 | 17 Mar 1945 |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Walter Lowry Small, USN | 17 Mar 1945 |
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Noteable events involving Batfish include:
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe) torpedoed and causes further damage to the grounded Japanese destroyer Samidare (offsite link) on Velasco Reef, Palau in position 08?30'N, 134?37'E. The wreck of Samidare is later blown up by the Japanese. (see map)
14 Oct 1943
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. Wayne R. Merrill) departed from New London bound for Pearl Harbor.
19 Nov 1943
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) arrived at Pearl Harbor.
11 Dec 1943
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of Honshu, Japan.
15 Dec 1943
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. Wayne R. Merrill) refuels at Midway and make some minor repairs, and resumes her patrol the next day.
20 Jan 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Hidaka Maru (5486 GRT) south of Shiono Misaki in position 31°28'N, 134°52'E. (see map)
31 Jan 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway.
22 Feb 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) departed from Midway for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Sikoku in Japanese home waters.
15 Apr 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
10 May 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Midway.
14 May 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Merrill) arrived at Midway.
15 May 1944
Lt.Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe takes over command from Lt.Cdr. Wayne R. Merrill.
26 May 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Midway for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Honshu and Kyushu in Japanese home waters.
22 Jun 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Nagaragawa Maru (887 GRT) off Honshu, Japan in position 34?36'N, 137?56'E. (see map)
1 Jul 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) sank the Japanese guard boats Kamoi Maru (138 GRT) and Isuzugawa Maru No.5 (226 GRT) with gunfire northwest of the Mariana Islands in position 31°26'N, 141°11'E. (see map)
7 Jul 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) ended her 3rd war patrol at Midway.
1 Aug 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Midway for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Palau's.
23 Aug 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) claims to have sunk a Japanese warship off Palau in position 08°09'N, 134°38'E. This claim is often credited with the sinking of the Japanese minesweeper W 22 (648 tons, offsite link), this is however incorrect. (see map)
12 Sep 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.
8 Oct 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China and Sulu Seas.
11 Oct 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe) refuels at Exmouth Gulf.
15 Oct 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) enters Darwin, Australia to make repairs to one of her periscopes.
17 Oct 1944
With the repairs completed USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Darwin to resume her patrol.
1 Dec 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
30 Dec 1944
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Guam.
9 Jan 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) arrived at Guam.
10 Jan 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Guam for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Luzon Strait and the South China Sea.
11 Feb 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) torpedoed and sank a Japanese submarine, most likely the RO 112 (525 tons, offsite link) off Camiguin, Philippines in position 18°53'N, 121°50'E. (see map)
13 Feb 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) torpedoed and sank the Japanese submarine RO 113 (525 tons, offsite link) (525 tons) off Babuyan Islands, Philippines in position 19°10'N, 121°23'E. (see map)
21 Feb 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe) arrived at Guam.
3 Mar 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
6 Mar 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) departed from Pearl Harbor bound for the Bethlehem Steel Ship Building Company, San Francisco to undergo a major overhaul.
14 Mar 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Fyfe) arrived at the Bethlehem Steel Ship Building Company, San Francisco.
17 Mar 1945
Lt.Cdr. Walter Lowry Small takes over command from Cdr. John Kerr Fyfe.
31 May 1945
With her overhaul completed USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) departed from San Francisco bound for Pearl Harbor.
8 Jun 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) arrived at Pearl Harbor.
26 Jun 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. Batfish was ordered to call at Saipan before proceeding towards her patrol area off the south-east coast of Kyushu, Japan.
8 Jul 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) arrived at Saipan.
10 Jul 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) departed from Saipan to resume her 7th war patrol.
22 Aug 1945
USS Batfish (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Small) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
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