Allied Warships

Redfin (SS-272)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Redfin as modified as a Radar Picket Submarine after the war.

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	272
Built by	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	16 Feb 1942
Launched	4 Apr 1943
Commissioned	31 Aug 1943
End service	15 May 1967
History	Decommissioned 1 November 1946. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned as a Radar Picket Submarine 9 January 1953. Decommissioned 15 May 1967. Served as a Naval Reserve Training Vessel at Baltimore, Maryland until 1 July 1970. Sold 3 March 1971 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Redfin (272)

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	T/Cdr. Robert Donovan King, USN	31 Aug 1943	2 Mar 1944
2	T/Cdr. Marshall Harlan Austin, USN	2 Mar 1944	23 Feb 1945
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Charles Kilday Miller, USN	23 Feb 1945	5 Sep 1945

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Notable events involving Redfin include:

9 Oct 1943
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. R.D. King, USN) departed New Orleans, Louisiana for the Panama Canal Zone.

14 Oct 1943
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. R.D. King, USN) arrived at the Panama Canal Zone from New Orleans, Louisiana to begin a training period.

4 Jan 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. Robert D. King) departed from Fremantle, Australia for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

16 Jan 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. R.D. King) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze (offsite link) in the South China Sea about 250 nautical miles north of the Spratly Islands, in position 14°40'N, 113°50'E.

17 Feb 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. R.D. King) ended her 1st war patrol at Fremantle.

19 Mar 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. Marshall Harlan Austin) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Celebes Sea.

11 Apr 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Akigumo (offsite link) in the eastern entrance to Basilan Strait in position 06°43'N, 122°23'E.

15 Apr 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese army cargo ship Shinyu Maru (4621 GRT) south-west of Mindanao, Philippines in position 06°22'N, 123°42'E.

16 Apr 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Yamagata Maru (3807 GRT) in Moro Gulf, southwest Mindanao, Philippines in position 06°52'N, 123°47'E.

1 May 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) ended her 2nd war patrol at Fremantle.

26 May 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) departed from Fremantle for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the southern part of the Philippines.

26 May 1944
During 226/27 May 1944, HMAS Adelaide (A/Capt. J.C.D. Esdaile, OBE, RAN) conducted exercises off Fremantle with the submarines USS Hake (T/Cdr. J.C. Broach, USN) and USS Redfin (T/Cdr. M.H. Austin, USN). (1)

8 Jun 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) lands six Philippine guerrillas on a small island near Balabac Strait.

11 Jun 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese tanker Asanagi Maru (5141 GRT) west of Jolo in position 06°02'N, 120°50'E.

24 Jun 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Aso Maru (3028 GRT) southwest of Surigao Strait in position 09°51'N, 125°06'E.

1 Jul 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) ended her 3rd war patrol at Fremantle.

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). (2)

6 Aug 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) departed from Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Celebes Sea.

19 Aug 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) lays mines off Sarawak, Borneo.

30 Aug 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) picks up the 8 survivors from USS Flier at Palawan Island.

7 Oct 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle.

26 Oct 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

8 Nov 1944
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant tanker Nichinan Maru No.2 (5226 GRT) in the South China Sea in position 14°00'N, 116°48'E.

7 Jan 1945
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. M.H. Austin) ended her 5th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard for a major overhaul.

13 May 1945
During 13/14 May 1945, the following submarines conducted tactical exercises off Pearl Harbour; USS Dace (T/Cdr. O.R. Cole, Jr., USN), USS Lapon (T/Lt.Cdr. D.G. Baer, USN), USS Redfin (T/Lt.Cdr. C.K. Miller, USN), USS Devilfish (T/Lt.Cdr. S.S. Mann, Jr., USN), USS Manta (T/Lt.Cdr. E.P. Madley, USN) and USS Thornback (T/Cdr. E.P. Abrahamson, USN).

They were attacking a dummy convoy of 13 (other source says 16) transports which were escorted by the destroyer USS Chew (Lt.Cdr. J.J. Mannion, USNR), destroyer minelayer USS Pruitt (Lt. D.B. Harby, USNR), destroyer escorts USS Whitman (Lt. E.A. Sandor, USNR), USS Coolbaugh (Lt.Cdr. S.T. Hotchkiss, USNR), USS Darby (Lt.Cdr. M.W. Martin, USNR) and USS PC-782 (Lt.(jg) R.L. Essick, USNR).

30 May 1945
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. Charles K. Miller) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters off Honshu and Hokkaido.

10 Jul 1945
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. C.K. Miller) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

30 Jul 1945
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. C.K. Miller) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters off Kyushu.

5 Sep 1945
USS Redfin (Lt.Cdr. C.K. Miller) ended her 7th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.