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N7KTP > NAVNET 15.07.05 22:31l 55 Lines 2786 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 43183_N7FSP
Read: GUEST
Subj: USS FLIER (SS-250)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0ACC<DB0MKA<DB0ACH<ON0DXC<IW2OAZ<
IK5CKL<VE2PKT<HG8LXL<7M3TJZ<ON0AR<N7FSP
Sent: 050715/1315z @:N7FSP.#SEA.#WWA.WA.USA.NOAM West Seattle, WA. on 145.010
Flier sank 10,380 tons of enemy shipping on her only patrol
By FRED MILES WATSON - Managing Editor - Northwest Navigator
The submarine USS Flier (SS-250) was built at Electric Boat Co.,
Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. A. S. Pierce; and commissioned Oct.
18, 1943, Lt. Cmdr. J. W. Crowley was her first commanding officer.
The boat displaced 2,424 tons when submerged and was 311' 9" in
length. Flier had a draft of 15 feet, 3-inches. On the surface her top
speed was 20 knots. There were six officers and 54 enlisted Sailors in
Flier.
The Gato class boat was outfitted with 10, 21-inch torpedo tubes,
one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, and two .30 ca1. machine
guns.
Propulsion was via a diesel electric reduction gear with four
General Motors main generator engines.
Flier sailed for Pearl Harbor from New London, Conn. on Dec. 20,
1943, and prepared for her first war patrol, sailing Jan. 12, 1944. But
damage suffered in a grounding near Midway Island necessitated her
return to the West Coast for repairs, and on May 21 she sailed again
for action, heading for a patrol area west of Luzon. She made her first
contact on June 4, attacking a well-escorted convoy of five merchantmen.
Firing three torpedoes at each of two ships, she sent a large transport
to the bottom and scored a hit on another ship, before clearing the area
to evade enemy countermeasures.
On June 13, 1944, Flier attacked a convoy of 11 ships, cargo
carriers and tankers, guarded by at least six escorts. The alert
behavior of the escorts resulted in a severe attack on Flier before she
could observe what damage she had done to the convoy. On June 22, she
began a long chase after another large convoy, scoring four hits for
six torpedoes fired at two cargo ships that day, and three hits for
four torpedoes launched against another cargo ship of the same convoy
the next day. Flier put in to Fremantle, Australia, to refit between
July 5, 1944 and Aug. 2, then sailed on her second war patrol, bound
for the coast of Indochina. On the evening of Aug. 13, as she transited
the Balabac Strait on the surface, she was rocked by a great explosion,
presumably from a mine. She sank one minute after striking the mine,
but 13 officers and men got out of her. Eight of them reached the beach
of Mantangula Island after 15 hours in the water. Friendly natives
guided them to a coastwatcher, who arranged for them to be picked up by
submarine, and on the night of Aug. 30-31, they were taken on board by
USS Redfin (SS-272).
USS Flier (SS-250) was awarded one battle star for her World War II
service. On her single war patrol, designated as "successful" Flier
was credited with having sunk 10,380 tons of Japanese shipping.
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