Allied Warships

Flier (SS-250)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Flier after a refit at the Mare Island Navy Yard 20 April 1944.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	250
Built by	Electric Boat Co. (Groton, Connecticut, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	30 Oct 1942
Launched	11 Jul 1943
Commissioned	18 Oct 1943
Lost	13 Aug 1944
Loss position	9° 00'N, 117° 15'E

History	While running on the surface USS Flier (Cdr. John Daniel Crowley, USN) hit a mine in the Balabac Strait in position 09º00'N, 117º15'E. 13 Men escaped the boat, that sank in less then a minute, but only 8, including the Commanding Officer, managed to reach shore at Mantangula Island after 15 hours in the water. They were rescued by USS Redfin with the assistance of friendly locals on 30 August 1944.

Commands listed for USS Flier (250)

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and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. John Daniel Crowley, USN	18 Oct 1943	13 Aug 1944

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Notable events involving Flier include:

5 Dec 1943
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley, USN) transited the Panama Canal.

20 Dec 1943
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) arrived at Pearl Harbor from New London.

12 Jan 1944
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol.

16 Jan 1944
During a storm USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) is grounded at Midway. Flier is heavily damaged and towed back to Pearl Harbor. She is sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard to make full repairs.

21 May 1944
After the fiasco of what had to be her 1st war patrol, USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 'real' 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea, west of Luzon, Philippines.

4 Jun 1944
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Hakusan Maru (10380 GRT) about 375 nautical miles south-west of Chichi Jima, Bonin Island in position 22°45'N, 136°50'E.

13 Jun 1944
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese merchant tanker Marifu Maru (5135 GRT) in the South China Sea west of Luzon, Philippines in position 15°57'N, 119°42'E.

22 Jun 1944
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese army cargo ship Belgium Maru (5838 GRT) west of Mindoro, Philippines in position 13°11'N, 120°27'E.

5 Jul 1944
USS Flier (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Crowley) ended her 1st war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

2 Aug 1944
USS Flier (Cdr. J.D. Crowley) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea off the coast of French Indo-China

2 Aug 1944
HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. L.E. Tozer, RAN), HMAS Dubbo (Lt.Cdr. W.J.C. Webb, RANR) and HMAS Horsham (T/A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Newby, RANR(S)), USS Corpus Christie (Cdr. W.W. Childress, USCG) and USS Isabel (Lt. E.G. Zacher, USNR) conducted exercises off Fremantle with the submarines USS Hake (T/Lt.Cdr. F.E. Hayler, USN), USS Harder (T/Cdr. S.D. Dealey, USN), USS Jack (T/Cdr. A.E. Krapf, USN), USS Flier (T/Cdr. J.D. Crowley, USN) and USS Redfin (T/Cdr. M.H. Austin, USN). (1)