USS Balao, first of a large class of 1526-ton submarines, was built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. She was commissioned in early February 1943 and worked up at New London, Connecticut, before deploying to the Pacific to begin operations against the Japanese. Balao's first three war patrols, originating at Brisbane, Australia, in July-September 1943, October-November, and December 1943-January 1944, took her to the waters between the Caroline and Bismarck islands. No sinkings appear to have resulted, though an attack on an enemy convoy on 22 October resulted in a wartime credit for one ship that was not confirmed in a post-war review.
Balao left Brisbane for her 4th patrol in February 1944. This cruise, which ended in March at Pearl Harbor, cost the Japanese at least three merchantmen, despite troubles with torpedoes that undoubtedly saved other targets. The submarine made two more war patrols from Pearl Harbor during April-June and July-August, sinking an armed trawler and rescuing several downed U.S. aviators off Palau. She was then overhauled in California, returning to the combat in December 1944 as part of a three-submarine "wolf pack". Post-war records credited her with one Japanese ship during this, her seventh patrol.
Two more ships and another trawler were victims of Balao's eighth war patrol, made off China in February-April 1945. Two final combat cruises, during May-June and July-August, produced no major sinkings, but did result in the rescue of several aviators. Balao was sent back to the U.S. east coast at the end of August 1945, soon after Japan's capitulation. She was decommissioned a year later to become part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Recommissioned for Cold War service in March 1952, Balao was sent to Key West, Florida, for training support and experimental duty. During the next decade she served as a target for anti-submarine forces and regularly visited ports around the southern United States. She made a South American cruise in January-March 1957 to participate in exercises with local navies, and in 1959 played a "starring role" as the motion picture "Operation Petticoat"'s pink submarine. Reclassified AGSS-285 in April 1960, Balao continued her training and test missions for three more years. She deployed to the Mediterranean during mid-1962 and served at sea during the Cuban Missile crisis later in that year. USS Balao was decommissioned in August 1963 and sunk as a target early in the following month. However, her conning tower fairwater was preserved and has been on exhibit at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., since the mid-1960s.
This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Balao (SS-285, later AGSS-285).
For other images related to USS Balao, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Photo #: NH 98043 USS Balao (SS-285) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 25 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98042 USS Balao (SS-285) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 25 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98044 USS Balao (SS-285) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 25 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98045 USS Balao (SS-285) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 25 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 62KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98046 USS Balao (SS-285) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, following overhaul, 25 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 65KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-325538 USS Balao (SS-285) Returns to a Pacific base following a successful war patrol, circa early 1945. The location is probably Guam. Note USS LCT-1000 in the right distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 79767 USS Balao (SS-285) Photographed circa 1952. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98047 USS Balao (AGSS-285) Exercising with a Brazilian S2F anti-submarine airplane and H-34 (HSS-1) helicopter off Key West, Florida, 7 March 1961. The Brazilian helicopter is flying over the submarine in this view. Balao is a unit of Submarine Squadron Twelve, whose insignia is visible on her fairwater, directly over her hull number. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 57880-KN (color) USS Balao (SS-285) View of the submarine's "sail", with Submarine Squadron Twelve insignia, circa 1963. Removed shortly before Balao was expended as a target in 1963, this structure has been on exhibit at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., since about the middle 1960s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 68KB; 680 x 675 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 57881-KN (color) USS Balao (SS-285) After end of the submarine's "sail", circa 1963. Removed shortly before Balao was expended as a target in 1963, this structure has been on exhibit at the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., since about the middle 1960s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 123KB; 680 x 675 pixels |
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For other images related to USS Balao, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 7 September 2002
New images added 19 January 2002