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USS Bumper SS-333

Named after a fish found in the West Indian Ocean, the USS Bumper SS-333 was built by the Electric Boat Company out of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on August 6, 1944 and commissioned into the Navy on December 9, 1944. She is the only Navy vessel to have borne the name.

Built as a Balao class submarine, the USS Bumper measured 311 feet, nine inches long and 27 feet, three inches wide. Floating on the surface, the sub displaced 1,526 tons of water and, when submerged, displaced 2,424 tons. Her two propellers could drive her at speed of up to 20.25 knots on the surface and 8.75 knots underwater. They were powered by four electric motors with reduction gears built by General Electric. Power could be gotten from two 126 cell Sargo batteries or directly from four engines. These engines were V16 diesel engines built by General Motors, which drove electrical generators. She could dive to depths of 400 feet when attacked by the enemy and had ten torpedo tubes available to return fire. She could carry up to 24 torpedoes that could be fired from either an array of six, ten inch tubes located in the front or four tubes in the rear. She also had a five inch 25 caliber gun and four machine guns on her deck for fighting on the surface. Her crew consisted of ten officers and 70 to 71 enlisted men.

After shakedown, she headed for Pearl Harbor and was quickly deployed to the Pacific for war activities. She was only able to perform two patrols between April of 1945 and the end of the war in August. Her first patrol was uneventful. During her second, though, she made contact with the enemy several times. During the middle and end of July, she came across and sank four different enemy vessels, a schooner, two tankers and a small ‘ex-picker' boat. Them on August 5, 1945 she sank an unidentified small craft, a tug boat and a ‘lugger'. In total, she sank or damaged seven boats for a total tonnage of 2,527. Four of the seven boats were sunk using her deck guns.

Once her last war patrol was complete, she returned to Fremantle, Australia, which is where she had been based. On the last day of August, she left Fremantle to report to Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands. Arriving on September 9, she joined a submarine unit operating in the seas around the islands and remained with them until February of 1946. She returned to California for minor repairs and then left for Pearl Harbor. She remained in the seas around the Hawaiian Islands, serving with Submarine Squadron 5, until the middle of December.

The USS Bumper left the Hawaiian Islands on December 16, 1946 to run a simulated war patrol. Her assignment took her to the Caroline Islands, back to Subic Bay, to Yokosuko, Japan and then to Midway. She also spent about a month and a half performing training missions with the Northern Training Group near China and in the Yellow Sea.

She returned to Pearl Harbor in March of 1947 and, we can assume, performed more training operations. She then returned to California in January of 1948 to undergo a six month yard overhaul. When she returned to Pearl Harbor in June, she was sent on another simulated patrol through the Western Pacific. She finally returned to Pearl Harbor in September of 1949. Once again, the USS Bumper operated out of Pearl Harbor on various missions until February of 1950.

She returned to the eastern coast of America, passing through the Panama Canal on February 22. She spent the next seven months running operations along that coast until she was decommissioned in September. On November 16, 1950, the Bumper was transferred to the Turkish Navy. She was renamed the TCG Canakkale S-333 and served Turkey until her final decommissioning in August of 1976. The sub had received one Battle Star for her service to America during World War II.

During her various operations, there was a danger to the men serving aboard her of which they were unaware. The ship was laden with asbestos. The sub, as with many of the vessels built during the first three quarters of the twentieth century, had asbestos placed inside her as an insulator and fireproofer. The main problem with asbestos is that it easily forms into a dust that contains millions of microscopic fibers. These fibers are very harmful to the people exposed to them. There are two primary asbestos-related diseases, both of which can take anywhere from twenty to fifty years to develop. These diseases are called asbestosis and mesothelioma, and both are deadly. Please contact us if you have questions about these diseases or about asbestos exposure in general.

Submarines Index

USS Albacore SS 218 USS Amberjack SS 219 USS Angler SS 240 USS Apogon SS 308 USS Archer-Fish SS 311 USS Argonaut-SM-1 USS Argonaut SS 475 USS Aspro SS 309 USS Atule SS 403 USS Balao SS 285 USS Bang SS 385 USS Barbel SS 316 USS Barbero SS 317 USS Barb SS 220 USS Barracuda SS 163 USS Bashaw SS 241 USS Bergall SS 320 USS Besugo SS 321 USS Billfish SS 286 USS Blackfin SS 322 USS Blackfish SS 221 USS Blenny SS 324 USS Blower SS 325 USS Blueback SS 326 USS Bluefish SS 222 USS Bluegill SS 242 USS Boarfish SS 327 USS Bonefish SS 223 USS Bonita SS 165 USS Bowfin SS 287 USS Bream SS 243 USS Brill SS 330 USS Bugara SS 331 USS Bullhead SS 332 USS Bumper SS 333 USS Burrfish SS 312 USS Cabezon SS 334 USS Carbonero SS 337 USS Hake SS 256 USS Hammerhead SS 364 USS Harder SS 257 USS Hardhead SS 365 USS Hawkbill SS 366

USS Herring SS 233 USS Hoe SS 258 USS Icefish SS 367 USS Jack SS 259 USS Jallao SS 368 USS Kete S 369 USS Kingfish SS 234 USS Kraken SS 370 USS Lagarto SS 371 USS Lizardfish SS 373 USS Loggerhead SS 374 USS Macabi SS 375 USS Mackerel 204 USS Manta SS 299 USS Mapiro SS 376 USS Marlin SS 205 USS Mingo SS 261 USS Moray SS 300 USS Muskallunge SS 262 USS Narwhal SS 263 USS Nautilus SS 168 USS Paddle SS 167 USS Pampanito SS 383 USS Parche SS 384 USS Pargo SS 264 USS Perch SS 176 USS Permit SS 178 USS Peto SS 265 USS Pickerel SS 177 USS Picuda SS 382 USS Pike SS 173 USS Pilotfish SS 386 USS Pintado SS 387 USS Pipefish SS 388 USS Piranha SS 389 USS Plaice SS 390 USS Plunger SS 179 USS Pogy SS 266 USS Pollack SS 180 USS Pomfret SS 391 USS Pompano SS 181 USS Pompon SS 267 USS Porpoise SS 172

USS Puffer SS 268 USS Queenfish SS 393 USS Quillback SS 424 USS Rasher SS 269 USS Raton SS 270 USS Ray SS 271 USS Razorback SS 394 USS Redfin SS 272 USS Redfish SS 395 USS Robalo SS 273 USS Rock SS 274 USS Ronquil SS 396 USS Runner SS 275 USS Runner SS 476 USS S-1 SS 105 USS S-20 SS 125 USS S-46 SS 157 USS Sailfish SS 192 USS Salmon SS 182 USS Sand Lance SS 381 USS Sargo SS 188 USS Saury SS 189 USS Sawfish SS 276 USS Scabbardfish SS 397 USS Scamp SS 277 USS Scorpion SS 278 USS Sculpin SS 191 USS Sea Cat SS 399 USS Sea Devil SS 400 USS Sea Dog SS 401 USS Seadragon SS 194 USS Sea Fox SS 402 USS Seahorse SS 304 USS Sealion SS 195 USS Seal SS 183 USS Sea Owl SS 405 USS Sea Poacher SS 406 USS Searaven SS 196 USS Sea Robin SS 407 USS Seawolf SS 197 USS Segundo SS 398 USS Sennet SS 408

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