Submarine USS Baya (SS-318) | World War II Database

USS Baya

Country	United States
Ship Class	Balao-class Submarine
Hull Number	SS-318
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut, United States
Laid Down	8 Apr 1943
Launched	2 Jan 1944
Commissioned	20 May 1944
Decommissioned	30 Oct 1972
Displacement	1526 tons standard; 2424 tons submerged
Length	312 feet
Beam	27 feet
Draft	17 feet
Machinery	Four General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines (5,400shp), four high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears (2,740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers
Speed	20 knots
Range	11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours submerged
Crew	81
Armament	6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x127mm deck gun
Submerged Speed	8.75 knots

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

USS Baya was commissioned into service in mid-1944. She arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States in Aug 1944 and embarked on her first war patrol before the end of the month. When the war ended, she had to her credit four sinkings while also sharing the sinking of another ship with USS Hawkbill. After the war, she departed Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands in Sep 1945 to return to the United States for decommissioning at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States. She was brought back to service in Feb 1948 for conversion into an electronics experimental submarine under the command of the Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego, California; in this role, she helped gather scientific data off western Canada, in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, and in the Hawaiian Islands. Between 1958 and 1959, she was converted at Mare Island Naval Shipyard to test the experimental long-range sonar LORAD. She would serve in this capacity until her decommissioning in 1972.

Source: Wikipedia

USS Baya Operational Timeline

8 Apr 1943	The keel of submarine Baya was laid down.
2 Jan 1944	Submarine Baya was launched, sponsored by the wife of US Navy Lieutenant Commander C. C. Kirkpatrick.
20 May 1944	USS Baya was commissioned into service with Commander A. H. Holtz in command.
25 Jun 1944	USS Baya departed New London, Connecticut, United States for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii.
23 Aug 1944	USS Baya departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her first war patrol. Initially ordered to patrol between the Philippine Islands and the Palau Islands, her patrol area was later shifted to the South China Sea.
7 Oct 1944	USS Baya sank a Japanese transport in the South China Sea, hitting her with 2 of 6 torpedoes fired.
22 Oct 1944	USS Baya arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her first war patrol.
19 Nov 1944	USS Baya departed Fremantle, Australia for her second war patrol in the South China Sea.
17 Dec 1944	USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all torpedoes missed.
12 Jan 1945	USS Baya arrived at Fremantle, Australia, ending her second war patrol.
4 Mar 1945	USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, hitting a transport and an oil with 2 torpedoes each and sinking both.
20 Mar 1945	USS Baya claimed sinking a Japanese destroyer in the South China Sea, hitting her with 1 of 3 torpedoes fired.
21 Mar 1945	USS Baya fired three torpedoes at a Japanese transport in the South China Sea; all torpedoes missed.
2 May 1945	USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese vessel in the Gulf of Siam; all torpedoes missed.
3 May 1945	USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese oiler in the Gulf of Siam; all torpedoes missed.
13 May 1945	USS Baya attacked a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, sinking three ships, hitting them with 7 of 10 torpedoes fired.
27 Jun 1945	USS Baya fired six torpedoes at a Japanese vessel in the South China Sea; all torpedoes missed.
30 Jun 1945	USS Baya attacked small coastal vessels with her deck gun off Borneo in the Sulu Sea.
16 Jul 1945	USS Baya sank a Japanese coastal patrol vessel off Borneo in the South China Sea, hitting her with 2 of 11 torpedoes fired.
20 Jul 1945	USS Baya attacked a Japanese patrol craft in the South China Sea with her deck gun.
24 Sep 1945	USS Baya arrived in San Francisco, California, United States.
14 May 1946	USS Baya was decommissioned from service at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States.
10 Feb 1948	USS Baya was recommissioned into service.
12 Aug 1949	USS Baya was redesignated AGSS-318.
30 Oct 1972	USS Baya was decommissioned from service and was struck from the US Naval Register.
12 Oct 1973	Submarine Baya was sold for scrap.