USS Pomfret

History
United States
Name	USS Pomfret (SS-391)
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down	14 July 1943
Launched	27 October 1943
Sponsored by	Miss Marilyn Maloney
Commissioned	19 February 1944
Decommissioned	April 1952
Recommissioned	5 December 1952
Decommissioned	1 July 1971
Stricken	1 August 1973
Fate	Transferred to Turkey, 1 July 1971, sold to Turkey 1 August 1973
Turkey
Name	TCG Oruçreis (S 337)
Acquired	1 July 1971
Commissioned	3 May 1972
Decommissioned	1987
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced; 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 6 in (94.95 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators ; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries ; 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears ; two propellers ; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced; 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun ; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;
General characteristics (Guppy IIA)
Class and type	none
Displacement	1,848 tons (1,878 t) surfaced; 2,440 tons (2,479 t) submerged;
Length	307 ft (93.6 m)
Beam	27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion	Snorkel added; One diesel engine and generator removed; Batteries upgraded to Sargo II;
Speed	Surfaced:; 17.0 knots (19.6 mph; 31.5 km/h) maximum; 13.5 knots (15.5 mph; 25.0 km/h) cruising; Submerged:; 14.1 knots (16.2 mph; 26.1 km/h) for ½ hour; 8.0 knots (9.2 mph; 14.8 km/h) snorkeling; 3.0 knots (3.5 mph; 5.6 km/h) cruising;
Armament	10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes ; (six forward, four aft); all guns removed;

Last updated May 02, 2023

USS Pomfret (SS-391), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the pomfret, a fish of the seabream family which is a powerful and speedy swimmer, capable of operating at great depths.

Construction and commissioning

Pomfret was laid down 14 July 1943 and launched 27 October 1943 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, Maine, sponsored by Miss Marilyn Maloney, daughter of Senator Francis Maloney; and commissioned 19 February 1944.

World War II

After training, the new submarine arrived at Pearl Harbor 1 June 1944. She departed Pearl Harbor 23 June and proceeded via Midway to her first patrol area—the east coast of Kyūshū and Bungo Suido. On 6 July she made an emergency dive when attacked by a Japanese plane. On 12 July she allowed a Japanese hospital ship to proceed in peace. After attempting an attack on a battleship, she arrived at Midway 16 August.

On 10 September she departed Midway for the Luzon Straits-South China Sea area to conduct her second patrol. She sighted two enemy battleships on 26 September, but their speed and the presence of an enemy submarine prevented an attack.

On 2 October Pomfret sank Tsuyama Maru, a 6,962-ton passenger-cargo vessel. After the usual depth charging, she departed for Saipan and moored in Tanapag Harbor 12 October.

After refit and training, Pomfret reentered the same patrol area 1 November as part of a wolf pack, with Cdr. John B. Hess now commanding. Pomfret sank Atlas Maru, 7,347-tons and Hamburg Maru, 5,271-tons. On 25 November, she sank Japanese Patrol Boat No.38^[9] and cargo ship Shōhō Maru, 1,356-tons. Pomfret departed the area and proceeded via Midway to Pearl Harbor.

The submarine began her fourth patrol 25 January 1945 in another wolf pack. The mission was a picket boat sweep ahead of a carrier task force soon to strike the Tokyo-Nagoya area. After completing the sweep without encountering any picket boats, she moved south of Honshū for lifeguard work.

On 16 February she rescued a pilot from the aircraft carrier Hornet, Lieutenant (jg) Joe Farrel. The next day, she saved a pilot from Cabot, Ensign Robert L. Buchanan. The incident was described in "Silent Victory" by Clay Blair (Lippincott, 1975) as follows:

Pomfret, commanded by John Hess, made a spectacular rescue. A pilot from the carrier Cabot was forced to ditch in the outer waters of Tokyo Bay. Fighters circled over Pomfret, guiding Hess to the rubber life raft. Hess fearlessly took Pomfret into these restricted waters and rescued the pilot, Ensign R. L. Buchanan. During this same bold operation, Hess picked up another pilot, Lieutenant Joseph P. Farrell from Hornet, and a Japanese pilot. War correspondent Ernie Pyle devoted a column to the rescue entitled 'Even If You Was Shot Down in Tokyo Harbor, the Navy Would Be In to Get You'.

That day she also captured two prisoners. Unsuccessfully attacked by a Japanese destroyer on 10 March, she departed the area 23 March and arrived at Midway on 30 March. Departing Midway 26 April for the Kuril Islands-Okhotsk Sea area, she entered the area 5 May. On 26 May she fired torpedoes at an enemy anti-submarine hunter-killer group, but scored no hits. She returned to Midway 7 June.

On 2 July she departed for her sixth war patrol. After lifeguard duty south of Honshū, she began patrol in the East China Sea. On 19 July she sank the first of 44 floating mines. On 24 July, she shelled the Kuskaki Jima lighthouse and radio installations and, on 26 July, she destroyed a three-masted junk and a small schooner. On 8 August she rescued the entire five-man crew of a B-25 bomber. Pomfret continued to shell small craft and pick up Japanese and Korean survivors until the cessation of hostilities 15 August 1945. The following day she headed for Guam. On 9 September she arrived at San Francisco.

Post-war service

On 2 January 1946 Pomfret departed Mare Island Naval Shipyard for Guam, arriving 22 January 1946. She proceeded to Subic Bay, Philippine Islands 9 March, and from there steamed to Tsingtao, China where for six weeks she acted as target for U.S. antisubmarine warfare vessels based at Tsingtao. On 18 May she returned to Pearl Harbor, her new homeport. During the next three years, she made two tours of duty in Western Pacific: the first, April to August 1947, and the second, December 1948 to April 1949.

Jimmy Carter, future President of the United States (1977–1981), served aboard Pomfret from 17 December 1948 to 1 February 1951 as his first shipboard assignment.^[10] Carter is the only U.S. president to have qualified as a submariner. During this period Pomfret deployed to the Western Pacific Ocean and conducted operations in the waters off Japan and the coast of China.

In 1950 Pomfret arrived in San Diego. She operated along the United States West Coast until February 1951, participated in the Korean War until September and returned to San Diego to operate locally. Pomfret decommissioned in April 1952 for conversion at Mare Island to a Guppy IIA submarine. After conversion, she recommissioned 5 December and in the ensuing years alternated between coastal operations off San Diego and Western Pacific deployments.

She departed for Far Eastern waters 7 July 1967 on a cruise which included anti-submarine warfare exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. She returned to San Diego 23 January 1968 and spent most of that year in exercises off San Diego.

TCG Oruçreis (S 337)

In 1971, transfers to the Turkish Navy were resumed, starting with Pomfret. After three months of training, she was transferred on 1 July in San Diego, and renamed TCG Oruçreis (S 337), after the great Ottoman seaman Oruç Reis. Her new crew sailed to the Philadelphia Naval Yard for an overhaul, and then, before sailing to Turkey, she took part in ASW training in Key West, Florida between 27 February – 22 March 1972. Oruçreis was commissioned on 3 May 1972. Ex-Pomfret was purchased outright by Turkey and simultaneously struck from the US Naval Register, 1 August 1973.

She served in the Turkish Navy until 1987.

Commemoration

Pomfret′s ship's bell is located in the officer's club of Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
1 2 3 4 5 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
↑ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
1 2 3 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
1 2 3 4 5 6 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 11–43. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
1 2 3 4 U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242
↑ Cressman, Robert (2000). "Chapter VI: 1944". The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II . Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-149-3. OCLC 41977179 . Retrieved 2007-11-25.
↑ Jimmy Carter's Naval Service

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entries can be found here and here.

External links

Photo gallery of Pomfret at NavSource Naval History
History of Turkish Submarines

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[FriedmanSubs1-dates-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.

[Register-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.

[Register_275–280-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.

[FriedmanSubs1-engines_261–263-4] U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263

[FriedmanSubs1-specs_305–311-5] 1 2 3 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311

[FriedmanSubs1-specs-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311

[FriedmanSubs2-chap2-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 11–43. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.

[FriedmanSubs2-specs-8] 1 2 3 4 U.S. Submarines Since 1945 pp. 242

[USNChron-9] Cressman, Robert (2000). "Chapter VI: 1944". The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II . Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-149-3. OCLC 41977179 . Retrieved 2007-11-25.

[10] Jimmy Carter's Naval Service

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