BOWFIN IXSS 287

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Balao Class Submarine
Keel Laid July 23 1942 - Launched December 7 1942


1. USS BOWFIN SS-287
   Commissioned May 1 1943 - Decommissioned February 12 1947
   Recommissioned July 27 1951 - Decommissioned April 22 1954
   Redesignated Auxiliary Research Submarine (AGSS) 1962 While in reserve
   Redesignated Miscellaneous Submarine (IXSS) 1971 While in reserve
   
   Struck from Naval Register December 1 1971
   Museum Ship on permanent display as a memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1    (1981)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning May 1 1943 to February 12 1947

 

Locy Type 2z*

1946-05-22

Note:

 

USPS Pictorial "USS Bowfin Station" Honolulu HI

2006-12-07 to 2006-12-07

Remembering Pearl Harbor, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial "USS Bowfin Station" Honolulu HI

2006-12-07 to 2006-12-07

N/A

Remembering Pearl Harbor, Unknown cachetmaker.

 

Other Information

Earned 8 Battle Stars (WWII)
* 1st War Patrol August 16 1943 South China Sea
* 2nd War Patrol November 1 1943 South China Sea
* 3rd War Patrol January 8 1944 Makassar Strait
* 4th War Patrol February 28 1944 Celebes Sea
* 5th War Patrol April 25 1944 off Palau
* 6th War Patrol July 16 1944 off Ryukyu Islands
* 7th War Patrol January 25 1945 off Honshu, Japan
* 8th War Patrol April 23 1945 off Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan

Credited with sinking...
The 5959-ton Japanese Tanker KIRISHIMA MARU September 25 1943 South China Sea
The small Japanese Cargo Ship MITAKE MARU September 30 1943 Sulu Sea
An Un-named Japanese Sampan October 2 1943 Makassar Strait
Four Japanese Sailing Vessels November 9 1943 Makassar Strait
The 5069-ton Japanese Army Tanker OGURASAN MARU November 26 1943 off Indo-China
The 691-ton Vichey French Cargo Ship VAN VOLLENHOVEN November 27 1943 off Indo-China
The 5425-ton Japanese Army Cargo Ship SYDNEY MARU November 28 1943 off Indo-China
The 9839-ton Japanese Merchant Tanker TONAN MARU November 28 1943 off Indo-China
An Un-named Japanese Sailing Vessel December 2 1943 Makassar Strait
The 4408-ton Japanese Merchant Tanker SHOYU MARU January 18 1944 Netherlands East Indies
Two small Japanese Sailing Vessels January 30 1944 Java Sea
The 4673-ton Japanese Army Cargo Ship TSUKIKAWA MARU March 11 1944 Celebes Sea
The 2672-ton Japanese Troop Transport SHINKYO MARU March 24 1944 Philippines
The 5399-ton Japanese Army Cargo Ship BENGAL MARU March 24 1944 Celebes Sea
The 4667-ton Japanese Army Cargo Ship BISAN MARU May 14 1944 off Palau
The 197-ton Japanese Merchant Cargo Ship SEIYO MARU August 10 1944 Ryukyu Islands
The 6754-ton Japanese Army Cargo Ship TSUSHIMA MARU August 22 1944 Ryukyu Islands
An Un-named small Japanese Trawler August 28 1944 off Okinawa
The 245-ton Japanese Guardboat HINODE MARU No. 6 September 4 1944 Bonin Islands
The 740-ton Japanese Corvette KAIBOKAN No. 56 February 17 1945 off Honshu
The 81-ton Japanese Guardboat NANSHIN MARU No. 26 February 17 1945 off Honshu
The 135-ton Japanese Guardboat CHOKAI MARU March 2 1945 off Honshu
The 2719-ton Japanese Auxiliary Gunboat CHOWA MARU May 1 1945 off Hokkaido
The 880-ton Japanese Fishing Vessel DAITO MARU No. 3 May 8 1945 off Honshu
The 1898-ton Japanese Merchant Cargo Ship SHINYO MARU No. 3 June 11 1945 off Korea
The 887-ton Japanese Merchant Cargo Ship AKIURA MARU June 13 1945 off Korea

Earned the Presidential Unit Citation for her 2nd War Patrol

Earned The Navy Unit Commendation for her 6th War Patrol

NAMESAKE - A fresh water fish of the eastern United States.

 

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