USS Black Fin

DESCRIPTION

Accession NumberP483Title (extended title only)Plaque - USS Black FinDescriptionUSS Black Fin SS-322 – Small wooden plaque with raised metallic plate with USS Black Fin motif- inscription/presentation Plate has dropped off the plaque at some point-The rear of plaque has the name of Captain and the date the plaque was gifted to Fremantle
DateBetween 30th April 1967 and 5th May 1967ProvenanceUSS Black Fin SS-322 a Balao-class submarine in commission from 1944 to 1948 and from 1951 to 1972, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the blackfin cisco, a food fish of the Great Lakes.
During World War II, Blackfin completed five war patrols in the Philippine Islands, South China Sea, and Yellow Sea. She sank the Japanese destroyer Shigure. Blackfin also sank a Japanese cargo ship. After World War II, Blackfin served in the United States Pacific Fleet, and saw service in the Vietnam War. Blackfin was sunk as a torpedo target in the off San Diego on 13 May 1973. Relevance to the CityThe submarine visited Fremantle on a few occasions as it was its homeport during World War Two. The first visit was on 4th December 1944 when it finished its first war patrol. It left Fremantle to embark on its second patrol on 2nd January 1945. She visited Fremantle again at the end of her third war patrol on the 9th April 1945 and damage was repaired from a close Japanese depth charge attack which had recently occurred on patrol.
On 7th May 1945 Black Fin departed Fremantle on it’s fourth war patrol. The Black Fin’s next visit to Fremantle would be twenty two years later on the 30th April 1967. This was to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the submarine stayed for a few days before leaving port on the 5th May 1967. The following year the Blackfin took part in the Movie Ice Station Zebra. The ship was decommissioned by being sunk in 1973.
Captain Robert Brown of USS Black Fin gifted the plaque to the City of Fremantle on 1st May 1967.
In 1995 Blackfin was named on a plaque that went up on Monument Hill Fremantle to commemorate the submarines that operated out of Fremantle in WW2.

SubjectUnited States NavyWorld War, 1939-1945 - Naval operations - SubmarinesWorld War, 1939-1945 - SubmarinesCollectionCivic Collection

INTERNAL

LocationCivic Collection

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