USS Bowfin's Radio Call Signs/Letters

When using voice radio. An example:
"Jehovah" this is "Illustrate"
request permission to depart Task Force 77 and return to Pearl Harbor. Over.
"Illustrate" this is "Jehovah". Permission granted, out.

When using Morse Code Radio Phonetic Alphabet
World War 2

Nan William Sugar Love
below

N

W

S

L

Sunday 4 December 2016

Under overcast skies and light rainfall, we started off the day by having
lunch at the 604 Restaurant located close to or on the grounds of Pearl Harbor.

The USS Bowfin submarine museum is within the grounds of the
Pearl Harbor Visitor Center and control is in the hands of the National
Park Service (NPS). Except for the first and last pictures, these photos
pretty well speak for themselves.

Going up the gangplank and onto the deck are a few people with our tour
group. In the background of the first picture, is the bridge that goes across
Pearl Harbor to Ford Island.

Orientation of the final photo of the deck gun is towards a section of the
Pearl Harbor Visitors Center.

A whole lot of people were in the gift shop and Bill with our tour group, lucked
out and found a Harley Davidson t-shirt with a theme of Pearl Harbor 75th
Commemoration. Bill is in the photo with Peter and me and is quite possibly
wearing his t-shirt beneath the Aloha shirt.

During the Commemoration Ceremony on 7 Dec 2016, I was sitting next to a
US Navy Commander whose assignment is aboard a submarine. One of my
comments to him is that compared to the USS Bowfin, modern submarines
must have a lot more space.

His reply was that what extra space there is, has been taken up by equipment
and there is not a whole lot more room to maneuver around than in the WWII
submarines. Doug

The USS Bowfin's WW2 Battle Flag
Courtesy of Aryeh (Lee) Wetherhorn.
To learn the meaning of the Bowfin's Battle Flag symbols and much more,
please visit the Official USS Bowfin, Web Page.
Click
HERE!

Balao Class Submarine:

Laid down, 23 July 1942, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.;

Launched, 7 December 1942;

Commissioned USS Bowfin (SS-287), 1 May 1943;

Decommissioned, 12 February 1947, at the Naval Submarine Base, New London, CT.;

Laid up in the Reserve Fleet at New London; Recommissioned, 27 July 1951, at
New London, CT.;

Decommissioned, 22 April 1954, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.;

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet;

Re-designated Auxiliary Research Submarine (AGSS-287) in 1962;

Re-designated Miscellaneous Submarine (IXSS-287) in 1971;

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 December 1971;

Final Disposition, on permanent display as a memorial at the USS Bowfin Submarine
Museum & Park, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Bowfin received the Presidential Unit Citation
for her second war patrol, the Navy Unit Commendation for her sixth war patrol, and
eight battle stars during World War II.

Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t.,

Submerged: 2,414 t.;

Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3";

Draft 15' 3";

Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts;

Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts;

Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts;

Operating Depth Limit, 400 ft;

Complement 6 Officers 60 Enlisted;

Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck
gun, one 40mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns;

Patrol Endurance 75 days;

Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator
diesel engines, 5,400hp, Fuel Capacity 94,400 gal.,

Four General Electric main motors with 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries,
two propellers.

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