Allied Warships

Finback (SS-230)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Finback shortly after the war.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	230
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	12 Jun 1940
Laid down	5 Feb 1941
Launched	25 Aug 1941
Commissioned	31 Jan 1942
End service	21 Apr 1950
History	Decommissioned 21 April 1950. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Stricken 1 September 1958. Sold in 1959 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Finback (230)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Jesse Lyle Hull, USN	31 Jan 1942	6 Feb 1943
2	T/Lt.Cdr. John Augustine Tyree, Jr., USN	27 Feb 1943	16 May 1944
3	T/Lt.Cdr. James Langford Jordan, USN	16 May 1944	2 Aug 1944
4	T/Cdr. Robert Russell Williams, Jr., USN	2 Aug 1944	1 May 1945

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Notable events involving Finback include:

11 Apr 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN) departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire for Newport, Rhode Island for her torpedo trials.

12 Apr 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN) arrived at Newport, Rhode Island from Portsmouth, New Hampshire for her torpedo trials.

15 Apr 1942
With her torpedo trials completed, USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN), departed Newport, Rhode Island and arrived at New London, Connecticut.

3 May 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone.

10 May 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN) arrived at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone from New London, Connecticut.

13 May 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull, USN) transited the Panama Canal and arrived at Balboa.

29 May 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) arrived at Pearl Harbor from New London.

31 May 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) departed from Pearl Harbor to take part in the defence of Midway.

9 Jun 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) returns to Pearl Harbor.

25 Jun 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Aleutians.

12 Aug 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) ended her 1st war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

23 Aug 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) returns to Pearl Harbor to refit for her 2nd war patrol.

23 Sep 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Formosa.

14 Oct 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Teison Maru (7007 GRT) some 20 nautical miles off Tansui harbour, on the northwest tip of Formosa in position 25°20'N, 121°25'E.

20 Oct 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army passenger-cargo ship Africa Maru (9476 GRT) and cargo ship Yamafuji Maru (5359 GRT) west of Formosa in position 24°26'N, 120°25'E.

3 Nov 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire off the Ryukyu Islands in position 25°25'N, 126°31'E.

20 Nov 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

16 Dec 1942
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Kyusyu in Japanese home waters.

17 Jan 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) sank the Japanese coaster Yachiyo Maru (271 GRT) with gunfire off Tanega Shima in position 30°33'N, 132°25'E.

6 Feb 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Hull) ended her 3th war patrol at Midway.

27 Feb 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. John Augustine Tyree, Jr.) departed from Midway for her 4th war patrol, and was ordered to patrol in the Caroline Islands area.

21 Mar 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and damaged Japanese troop transport Sanuki Maru (7158 GRT, offsite link) south of the Caroline Islands in position 07°40'N, 139°48'E.

5 Apr 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and inflicts further damage upon the Japanese troopship Suwa Maru (10672 GRT)(previously damaged by USS Tunny on 28 March and beached) off Wake Island in position 19°20'N, 166°35'E.

13 Apr 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) ended her 4th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

7 May 1943
USS Sailfish (T/Cdr. J.R. Moore, USN) and USS Finback (T/Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr., USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Boggs (T/Cdr. F.P. Mitchell, Jr., USN). (1)

8 May 1943
During 8/9 May 1943, USS Sailfish (T/Cdr. J.R. Moore, USN) and USS Finback (T/Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr., USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Boggs (T/Cdr. F.P. Mitchell, Jr., USN) and USS Seagull (T/Lt. F.L. van Camp, USN).

On completion of the days exercises on the 8th, USS Sailfish and USS Seagull returned to harbour but they rejoined the following morning. (1)

12 May 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau.

27 May 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kochi Maru (2910 GRT, built 1920) some 75 nautical miles north-west of Palau in position 08°23'N, 134°06'E.

8 Jun 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary minelayer Kahoku Maru (3277 GRT) about 100 nautical miles north of Palau in position 08°14'N, 134°18'E.

26 Jun 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) ended her 5th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

14 Jul 1943
HrMs Tromp (Capt. J.B. de Meester, RNN) conducted A/S exercises off Fremantle together with the US submarine USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr., USN). (2)

15 Jul 1943
HrMs Tromp (Capt. J.B. de Meester, RNN) conducted A/S exercises off Fremantle together with the US submarine USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr., USN). (2)

18 Jul 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) departed from Fremantle for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Java Sea.

30 Jul 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Ryuzan Maru (4719 GRT) in the Java Sea, off the northern coast of Java, in position 06°30'S, 111°30'E.

1 Aug 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese transport ship Atlas Maru (7349 GRT) in the Java Sea, south of Borneo in position 04°10'S, 112°10'E.

3 Aug 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Kaisho Maru (6070 GRT) in the Java Sea, north of Java in position 05°18'S, 111°50'E.

11 Aug 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese auxiliary minelayer Tatsumiya Maru (6343 GRT, built 1938) (offsite link) off Salayar in position 05°30'S, 120°48'E.

19 Aug 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) sank the Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 109 (75 tons, former Dutch patrol vessel Kawi) with gunfire off the east coast of Celebes in position 03°01'S, 125°50'E.

12 Sep 1943
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She now underwent a major overhaul at that base.

15 Dec 1943
With her overhaul completed USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

2 Jan 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant tanker Isshin Maru (10044 GRT) in the East China Sea about 30 miles north-west of Takara Jima, Nansei Shoto in position 29°30'N, 128°50'E.

30 Jan 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire south of Sikoku in position 30°19'N, 134°00'E.

11 Feb 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

6 Mar 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Truk.

19 Apr 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire off Truk in position 08°22'N, 151°41'E.

1 May 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.A. Tyree, Jr.) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

30 May 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Jordan) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Palau and west of the Mariana Islands.

21 Jul 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Jordan) ended her 9th war patrol at Majuro.

16 Aug 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) departed from Majuro for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the Bonin Islands.

2 Sep 1944
While lifeguarding for an airstrike on Chichi Jima, USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) rescues Lieutenant (jg) George H.W. Bush, USNR, of VT-51. Bush will eventually become the 41st President of the United States.

11 Sep 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Hassho Maru (536 GRT) and the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hakuun Maru No.2 (866 GRT) north of Chichi Jima in position 27°45'N, 140°40'E.

4 Oct 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) ended her 10th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

1 Nov 1944
Around 1530VW/1, the submarines USS Finback (T/Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr., USN) and USS Dragonet (T/Cdr. J.H. Lewis, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor their 11th and 1st war patrols respectively. They were to proceed to Midway to top off with fuel and from their proceed to their patrol area which were off the Bonin Island and off the Kurile Islands respectively. On their departure from Pearl Harbour they were escorted until around 1900VW by the patrol vessel USS PC-483 (Lt. R.W. Anderson, USNR).

5 Nov 1944
Around 0930Y/5, the submarines USS Finback (T/Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr., USN) and USS Dragonet (T/Cdr. J.H. Lewis, USN) arrived at Midway from Pearl Harbour. They were then both taken in hand for some voyage repairs.

16 Dec 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Jusan Maru (2111 GRT) some 50 miles northwest of Chichi Jima in position 27°24'N, 141°04'E.

24 Dec 1944
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) ended her 11th war patrol at Midway.

20 Jan 1945
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) departed from Midway for her 12th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the East China Sea.

25 Mar 1945
USS Finback (Lt.Cdr. R.R. Williams, Jr.) ended her 12th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She now underwent a major overhaul at that base and was still in dockyard hands when the war ended.