The USS Bowfin (SS-287):
The USS Bowfin is a United States Balao-class fleet attack submarine that fought in the Pacific during World War 2 and helped make famous the term, 'Silent Service.'
Launched on December 7, 1942, exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor—Bowfin received the nickname 'Pearl Harbor Avenger.' To this day, the Navy's silent service is still shrouded in a cloak of stealth and secrecy, intended to keep enemies off guard and unaware of their true capabilities. In World War II, submarines represented only two percent of the U.S. fleet. Yet, they were responsible for the destruction of 30 percent of the Japanese Navy, including eight aircraft carriers, one battleship, and eleven cruisers. During the Pacific War, the U.S. Submarine Force sank nearly 1,400 Japanese Navy merchant ships, sending a totaling 5.5 million tons to the bottom of the ocean.
Throughout the war, USS Bowfin went out on nine war patrols between 1943 and 1945; each patrol lasted roughly two months; where she patrolled designated regions of the ocean for Japanese shipping. Bowfin served in the Pacific and spent most of her patrols in the South China Sea, the Celebes Sea, and into the Sea of Japan. Since 1981, she has been open to public tours at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park; the two-and-a-half-acre park sits on the beautiful shoreline of historic Pearl Harbor, located within the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum and Waterfront Memorial were created to illuminate the service, honor, and sacrifice of the men and women who served and continue to serve in the United States Submarine Force. Today, the submarine is owned and operated by the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association.
