The World War II submarine USS Lionfish was part of America’s “Silent Service.”
Despite comprising less than 2% of all US Navy vessels during World War II, submarines like the USS Lionfish sank 55% of Japanese vessels in battle.
This once-fearsome vessel is now a 311-foot-long museum exhibit, allowing the public to learn about its top-secret wartime operations.
Take a look inside the USS Lionfish.
Commissioned in 1944, the USS Lionfish earned one battle star for service during World War II.
Over the Balao-class submarine’s two war patrols, she sank a Japanese submarine, destroyed a schooner, and rescued the crew of a downed American B-29 bomber.
The USS Lionfish was recommissioned for the Korean War, serving from 1951 to 1953.
From 1960 to 1971, the USS Lionfish served as a reserve training submarine, teaching crew members to operate similar vessels.
Since 1973, the USS Lionfish has been on display at Battleship Cove, a maritime museum in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Tickets to Battleship Cove cost $25 per adult. I visited the museum in January to take a closer look at the retired submarine.
The first stop on my self-guided tour was the forward torpedo room, where 16 torpedomen slept and worked.
The forward torpedo room featured six torpedo tubes, each storing a torpedo, and 10 reloads. The 16 crew members slept alongside the torpedoes on pull-out bunks, remaining ready to fire at all times.
Behind the torpedo room was officers’ country, which included the officers’ pantry.
In the officers’ pantry, meals for the higher-ranking crew members were reheated and plated on Navy china. They ate the same food as the rest of the sailors, but in a fancier setting.
Officers used the wardroom for dining, working, and relaxing.
It could also serve as an operating room in medical emergencies.
Junior officers slept in a room with four bunks.
Officers enjoyed more privacy on board than enlisted men.
Senior officers had even more privacy in a room with a triple bunk.
The submarine’s second-in-command, known as the executive officer, slept in this room.
The commanding officer slept in the only private room on board the submarine.
The commanding officer’s stateroom featured a small desk that functioned as a private workspace.
Chief petty officers slept five to a room in their quarters.
Chief petty officers served as liaisons between the officers and the crew. This room was also colloquially known as the “goat locker” since the more experienced officers were affectionately nicknamed “old goats.”
In the ship’s office, an administrator known as the yeoman handled all of the ship’s paperwork.
Personnel files, orders of supplies, and other administrative tasks were the yeoman’s domain.
Equipment in the control room managed the submarine’s depth, speed, steering, and navigation.
The commanding officer issued orders from the control center or the conning tower located directly above. The USS Lionfish’s conning tower wasn’t open to the public, but I did get to look inside one while touring another Balao-class submarine, the USS Becuna.
Communications and covert operations were handled in the radio room.
The USS Lionfish was equipped with sonar, or “sound navigation and ranging,” to listen for enemy ships in the surrounding waters.
Chefs prepared meals for the submarine’s 80 crew members in the main galley.
The galley prepared four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight rations known as “mid-rats.”
The crew’s mess was an all-purpose room where sailors ate, lounged, and played games.
Frozen and refrigerated food was stored in compartments underneath the floor.
The bunks have been removed from the crew’s berthing during ongoing restoration work.
Other Balao-class submarines held 35 or 36 bunks in this space.
The USS Lionfish featured two engine rooms, each containing two diesel engines.
Each engine room was responsible for half of the ship’s electric and propulsion power.
In the maneuvering room, switches controlled the flow of electricity to the submarine’s generators.
While surfaced, the submarine’s four diesel engines powered its generators, which in turn powered the ship’s motors. While submerged, storage batteries powered the motors.
My tour ended with the after torpedo room at the back of the submarine.
Around 13 enlisted men worked and slept in the after torpedo room, which featured four torpedo tubes.
The USS Lionfish remains unique among World War II submarines.
Over 50 submarines underwent a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power 1-A, or “GUPPY,” modernization after World War II. However, the USS Lionfish remained as it was.
Museum staff and volunteers are working to restore the USS Lionfish and preserve its original configuration. Even in frigid temperatures, I saw volunteers holding tools and walking carefully around the deck’s open panels, revealing the complex mechanics beneath.
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