View source for USS Blenny

{{Short description|Balao-class submarine}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Blenny (SS-324) 31 March 1964.tiff
|Ship caption=USS ''Blenny'' (SS-324) on 31&nbsp;March&nbsp;1964, possibly at [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1969}}
|Ship name=USS ''Blenny''
|Ship ordered=9 July 1942
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book
  | last = Friedman
  | first = Norman
  | title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
  | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
  | year = 1995
  | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
  | pages = 285–304
  | isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}</ref>
|Ship laid down=8 July 1943<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=9 April 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=27 June 1944<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=7 November 1969<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=15 August 1973<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Scuttled 7&nbsp;June&nbsp;1989<ref name="Register">{{cite book
  | last = Bauer
  | first = K. Jack
  |author2=Roberts, Stephen S.
   | title = Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants
  | publisher = Greenwood Press
  | year = 1991
  | location = [[Westport, Connecticut]]
  | pages = 275–280
  | isbn = 0-313-26202-0 }}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(As completed)
|Ship class={{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]]<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*1,526&nbsp;[[long ton|ton]]s (1,550&nbsp;[[tonne|t]]) surfaced<ref name="Register"/>
*2,424&nbsp;tons (2,463&nbsp;t) submerged<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship length={{convert|311|ft|9|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|10|in|abbr=on}} maximum<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship propulsion={{Fleet-boat-propulsion-late-GM-4-GE}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|20.25|kn|km/h|0|lk=in}} surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305-311</ref>
*{{convert|8.75|kn|km/h|0}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range={{convert|11000|nmi|km}} surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=*48 hours at {{convert|2|kn|km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*75 days on patrol
|Ship test depth={{convert|400|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=10 officers, 70–71 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament={{Fleet-boat-armament-5-inch}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(Guppy IA)
|Ship class=none
|Ship displacement=*1,830&nbsp;tons (1,859&nbsp;t) surfaced<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2">{{cite book
  | last = Friedman
  | first = Norman
  | title = U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History
  | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]]
  | year = 1994
  | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
  | pages = 11–43
  | isbn = 1-55750-260-9 }}</ref>
*2,440&nbsp;tons (2,479&nbsp;t) submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship length=307&nbsp;ft 7&nbsp;in (93.8&nbsp;m)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs">''U.S. Submarines Since 1945'' pp. 242</ref>
|Ship beam=27&nbsp;ft 4&nbsp;in (8.3&nbsp;m)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship draft=17&nbsp;ft (5.2&nbsp;m)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship propulsion=*[[Submarine snorkel|Snorkel]] added<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
*Batteries upgraded to ''Sargo'' II<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship speed=*Surfaced:
*{{convert|17.3|kn|km/h}} maximum
*{{convert|12.5|kn|km/h}} cruising
*Submerged:
*{{convert|15.0|kn|km/h}} for ½ hour
*{{convert|7.5|kn|km/h}} snorkeling
*{{convert|3.0|kn|km/h}} cruising<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship range=17,000&nbsp;nm (28,000&nbsp;km) surfaced at 11 knots (20 km/h)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship endurance=36 hours at {{convert|3|kn|km/h|0}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=*10 officers
*5 petty officers
*64–69 enlisted men
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*10 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*&nbsp;(six forward, four aft)<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-specs"/>
*all guns removed<ref name="FriedmanSubs2-chap2"/>
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Blenny'' (SS/AGSS-324)''', a {{sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} [[submarine]] in commission from 1944 to 1969, was a ship of the [[United States Navy]] named for the [[blenny]], a fish found along the rocky shores of the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. During [[World War II]], ''Blenny'' conducted four war patrols in the [[Java Sea]] and [[South China Sea]] between 10 November 1944 and 14 August 1945 . She sank eight [[Japan]]ese vessels totaling 18,262&nbsp;tons. In addition, she is credited with destroying more than 62 miscellaneous Japanese small craft by gunfire.

After World War II, ''Blenny'' served in the [[United States Pacific Fleet]] along the [[United States West Coast]]. She also visited [[Alaska]], [[Hawaii]], [[Canada]], [[Japan]] and [[China]] and conducted a war patrol during the [[Korean War]]. She later transferred to the [[United States Atlantic Fleet]] and served in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. She was [[Scuttling|scuttled]] as part of an [[artificial reef]] in 1989.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Blenny'' (SS-324) was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 8 July 1943 by the [[Electric Boat]] Company at [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]]. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 9 April 1944, [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Miss Florence King, daughter of the [[Chief of Naval Operations]], [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Ernest King|Ernest J. King]], and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 27 June 1944 with [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] William H. Hazzard in command.

==Service history==
===World War II===
[[File:USS Blenny (SS-324) 21 August 1944.PNG|thumb|left|USS ''Blenny'' (SS-324), photographed from an altitude of {{convert|250|ft|0}} by the U.S. Navy [[blimp]] ''ZP-12'' in [[Long Island Sound]] at {{coord|41|05|N|073|05|W}} on 21&nbsp;August&nbsp;1944.]]
====July–October 1944====
Following training at [[Naval Submarine Base New London]] in Groton and at [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], [[Rhode Island]], ''Blenny'' got underway for [[Key West, Florida|Key West]], [[Florida]], on 29 August 1944. She arrived at Key West on 5 September 1944 and trained at the Fleet Sound School there. She then headed for the [[Panama Canal]], transiting it on 19 September 1944, and departed [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]], [[Panama Canal Zone]], on 28 September 1944. She reached [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], on 15 October 1944.

====First war patrol====
On 10 November 1944, ''Blenny'' stood out of Pearl Harbor to begin her first war patrol. After fueling at [[Saipan]] in the [[Mariana Islands]] on 22 November 1944, she departed on 23 November bound for a patrol area off the coast of [[Luzon]] in the [[Philippine Islands]]. On 1 December 1944, she fired a single [[torpedo]] at a Japanese escort vessel but missed. The Japanese retaliated with a severe, but unsuccessful, [[Depth charge|depth-charge]] attack. On 6 December, she escaped unscathed from another close call when a low-flying Japanese plane dropped two [[Aerial bomb|bombs]] that near-missed ''Blenny''.

On 14 December 1944, ''Blenny'' claimed her first two successes. In the morning, she made a surface gun attack on a Japanese 300-[[gross register ton]] "sea truck" — the U.S. term for a type of small [[cargo ship]] — and sank it. Late that night, she sank the 800-[[displacement ton]] [[frigate]] ''Coast Defense Vessel No. 28'' with torpedoes in a surface attack. On 23 December, ''Blenny'' torpedoed and sank what she thought was a 10,000-ton [[Transport (ship)|transport]] which after the war was identified as the Japanese 4,156-gross register ton cargo ship ''Kenzui Maru''. Her parting shot of the patrol came on 27 December 1944 when she fired torpedoes at an unidentified cargo ship and claimed to have damaged her, although Japanese records did not substantiate the claim. ''Blenny'' set course for [[Fremantle]], [[Australia]] on 31 December 1944 and arrived there on 13 January 1945 to begin a refit, concluding her patrol.

====Second war patrol====
''Blenny'' departed Fremantle to embark upon her second war patrol on 5 February 1945. This time her patrol area was in the [[South China Sea]] off the coast of Japanese-occupied [[French Indochina]]. On 20 February, she made an unsuccessful submerged attack on a Japanese [[convoy]] escorted by two [[destroyer]]s. The attack did not succeed, and she suffered through a series of depth-charge attacks from the convoy's escorts which also proved unsuccessful. On the night of 26 February 1945, she encountered the Japanese 10,238-gross register ton [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] ''Amato Maru'' and sank her with a spread of torpedoes. Though ''Blenny'' also claimed to have damaged two similar ships, a postwar check of Japanese records failed to corroborate that claim.

On 28 February 1945, ''Blenny'' received orders to put into [[Subic Bay]] on Luzon to reload torpedoes, and she arrived there on 2 March. She returned to her patrol area on 4 March. Sixteen days later, she had her most successful day of the war on 20 March 1945 when she sank three Japanese ships in one 24-hour period: the 500-gross register ton cargo ship ''Yamakuni Maru'', the 834-gross register ton ''No. 21 Nanahin Maru'', and the 1,039-gross register ton cargo ship ''Hosen Maru''. After receiving two rescued aircrewmen from the submarine {{USS|Blueback|SS-326}} on 25 March 1945, she set a course for Subic Bay and a refit.

====Third war patrol====
On 16 April 1945, ''Blenny'' put to sea for her third war patrol, assigned a patrol area in the South China Sea off French Indochina in which she was to perform lifeguard duty to rescue [[Water landing|ditched]] [[United States Army Air Forces]] aircrews. She sighted no Japanese ships during her time in the South China Sea and returned to Subic Bay on 16 May 1945 to take on additional fuel. On 18 May she returned to sea to resume her patrol and shaped a course for a new patrol area in the [[Java Sea]].

On 25 May 1945, ''Blenny'' encountered a small Japanese [[submarine chaser]] close inshore. She had to make her approach to an attack position in relatively shallow water, so she flooded down and backed awash toward the shore and the submarine chaser while a sailor on her [[fantail]] took [[depth sounding]]s with a [[Sounding line|lead line]]. She fired torpedoes from her [[stern]] [[torpedo tube]]s and claimed to have sunk the submarine chaser, although she estimated the submarine chaser to be of only 170 tons displacement and the postwar survey counted only vessels of 500 tons or more, making her  claim impossible to verify.

On 30 May 1945, ''Blenny'' sank a small [[lugger]] with gunfire, then encountered the Japanese 520-gross register ton cargo ship ''Hokoku Maru'' and sank her in a daylight attack. On 5 June 1945, she departed the [[Java]] area and set a course for Fremantle, Australia. She arrived at Fremantle on 9&nbsp;June&nbsp;1945 and commenced a refit.

====Fourth war patrol====
''Blenny'' embarked upon her fourth war patrol on 5 July 1945. Departing Fremantle, she shaped a course for a patrol area in the Java Sea and north from there to the eastern coast of Japanese-occupied [[British Malaya]]. On 11 July 1945 she made her first kill of the patrol by sinking a "sea truck" by gunfire. On 16 July she torpedoed and sank the converted Japanese [[gunboat]] {{ship|Japanese gunboat|Nankai|1943|2}} in the Java Sea {{convert|150|nmi|0}} west of [[Surabaya]], [[Java]], at {{coord|05|26|S|110|33|E|display=inline, title}}.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Gengoro S. |last=Toda |title=南海の船歴 (Gunboat Nankai- Ship History)  |website=Imperial Japanese Navy -Tokusetsu Kansen|url= http://www.tokusetsukansen.jpn.org/J/110/110_085.htm|language=ja}}</ref> She then engaged a small vessel that had been in company with ''Nankai'', but her gunfire failed to inflict much damage on the vessel because of extreme range and ''Blenny''′s inability to close with the vessel.

For the remainder of the patrol, ''Blenny'' encountered only [[sampan]]s, [[Junk (ship)|junks]], and the like, sinking a large number of them after ascertaining their nationality and seeing to the safety of their crews. On 3 August 1945, she stopped a sampan and rescued from it a boarding party of U.S. sailors from the submarine {{USS|Cod|SS-224}} which ''Cod'' had been forced to abandon two days earlier when she [[Crash dive|crash-dived]] to avoid being [[Strafing|strafed]] by an approaching Japanese plane. On 7 August, a Japanese plane attacked ''Blenny'', dropping a small bomb which missed, and ''Blenny'' dove to evade.

On 11 August 1945, ''Blenny'' left her patrol area and shaped a course for Subic Bay, which she reached on 14 August 1945, concluding her patrol. On 15 August 1945, [[World War II]] came to an end with the [[Surrender of Japan|cessation of hostilities with Japan]].

===Post-World War II===
====1945–1954====
After completing a refit, ''Blenny'' departed Subic Bay on 31 August 1945. She arrived at [[Guam]] in the Mariana Islands on 5 September 1945 and began a series of training exercises. She remained in the Marianas until 12 January 1946, when she got underway for the [[United States]]. She made a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor before arriving in [[San Diego]], [[California]], on 30 January 1946. She stayed there for two months before shifting to [[San Francisco]], California, on 30 March 1946. During the summer of 1946, she operated along the [[United States West Coast]].

On 2 August 1946, ''Blenny'' departed San Diego and headed, via Pearl Harbor, for the [[Far East]]. She arrived at Subic Bay late in August 1946 and remained there until 2 September, at which time she got underway for [[Qingdao|Tsingtao]], [[China]]. She served in Chinese waters, at Tsingtao and [[Shanghai]], until late October 1946. After operations in Japanese waters which lasted until 3 November 1946, she set a course for San Diego, which she reached in late November 1946.

''Blenny'' remained at San Diego until 17 February 1947, when she got underway for Pearl Harbor. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 March 1947 and stayed until 18 March, when she headed back to San Diego. She arrived at San Diego on 8 April 1947 and then operated along the coast of California through the end of July. On 30 July 1947, she got underway from San Diego on a [[United States Naval Reserve]] training cruise to the [[Pacific Northwest]], during which she visited ports in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[British Columbia]] in [[Canada]]. She resumed operations along the coast of California late in August 1947. She made two winter cruises in [[Alaska]]n waters in 1947–1948 and 1948–1949 and made a [[midshipman]] cruise to Canada. In July 1950, she began a voyage to Pearl Harbor, then, after participating in fleet maneuvers off Hawaii, returned to San Diego early in August 1950. When not otherwise engaged, ''Blenny'' conducted operations along the U.S. West Coast during these years.

In 1951, ''Blenny'' underwent conversion under the  [[Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program|Greater Underwater Propulsion Power (GUPPY) Program]] to a [[Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program#GUPPY IA program|GUPPY IA]]. After its completion, she operated along the U.S. West Coast until 30 April 1952, when she got underway for Pearl Harbor, then continued across the Pacific for a cruise in the Far East, arriving in [[Yokosuka]], Japan, on 24 May 1952. While in the Far East, ''Blenny'' conducted routine [[United States Seventh Fleet]] operations and made a 35-day reconnaissance war patrol off the [[Korean Peninsula]] during the [[Korean War]]. She departed Yokosuka to return to the United States on 18 October 1952. After stops at [[Chichi Jima]] in the [[Volcano Islands]] and Pearl Harbor, she arrived at San Diego early in November 1952.

''Blenny'' resumed operations along the U.S. West Coast until she was reassigned to the [[United States Atlantic Fleet]] in the spring of 1954. On 11 May 1954 she stood out of San Diego and shaped a course for the Panama Canal. She transited the [[canal]] on 24 May 1954 and headed for [[Naval Submarine Base New London]] at Groton, Connecticut, which she reached on 9 June 1954.

====1954–1969====

Operating from Naval Submarine Base New London, ''Blenny'' participated from 1954 until the early 1960s in U.S. Atlantic Fleet, [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO), and [[antisubmarine warfare]] exercises, in addition to operating with a U.S. Navy submarine development group engaged in evaluating new equipment. Her primary mission was the development of [[attack submarine]] tactics and antisubmarine warfare tactics, but she also test-fired new types of torpedoes. During these years, her operations took her as far south as the [[British West Indies]] and as far north as the coast of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]].

In the early 1960s, ''Blenny'' began making periodic deployments to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] for duty with the [[United States Sixth Fleet]], alternating between tours of duty with the Sixth Fleet and extended assignments in the western [[Atlantic Ocean]], where she conducted test and evaluation operations and took part in antisubmarine warfare training. Sometime in 1969, she was reclassified as an [[Auxiliary ship|auxiliary]] submarine and given the [[hull classification symbol]] '''AGSS-324'''.

[[File:USS Blenny (SS-324), USS The Sullivans (DD-537) and USS Sanctuary (AH-17) mothballed at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, in August 1976 (K-117045).jpg|thumb|left|USS ''Blenny'' (AGSS-324), foreground, while out of commission in the Reserve Fleet Basin of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August&nbsp;1976.]]

==Decommissioning and disposal==
In September 1969, ''Blenny'' was placed in commission, in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]]. She was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 7 November 1969 and laid up in the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]], berthed initially at [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 August 1973.

''Blenny'' subsequently was moved to [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]], [[Virginia]]. She remained there until 3 July 1979, when she was moved to [[Naval Station Norfolk]] at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia. Plans made in 1984 to sink her as a target during an exercise were cancelled. Instead a decision was made in 1987 to donate her to the [[Government of Maryland|State of Maryland]] for use as an [[artificial reef]]. She was [[Scuttling|scuttled]] on 7 June 1989 to form part of an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean about {{convert|15|nmi}} off [[Ocean City, Maryland|Ocean City]], [[Maryland]].<ref name="Register"/>
{{clear}}
== Honors and awards ==
*{{ribbon devices|number=4|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with four [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[File:China Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[China Service Medal]]
*{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=Korean Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Korean Service Medal]] with one battle star for [[Korean War]] service

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/blenny-i.html|http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ss324.htm}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Blenny (SS-324)}}
*{{navsource|08/08324|Blenny}}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20041013024626/http://www.brazosport.cc.tx.us/~nstevens/blenindx.html
*https://web.archive.org/web/20041010111411/http://www.webenet.net/~ftoon/memory/f_memory.html
*[http://pigboats.com/ww2/blenny.html Kill record: USS ''Blenny'']

{{Balao class submarine}}
{{1989 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blenny (SS-324)}}
[[Category:Balao-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Maryland coast]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as artificial reefs]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1989]]