Blenny
| Country | United States |
| Ship Class | Balao-class Submarine |
| Hull Number | SS-324 |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company |
| Laid Down | 8 Jul 1943 |
| Launched | 9 Apr 1944 |
| Commissioned | 27 Jun 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 7 Nov 1969 |
| Sunk | 7 Jun 1989 |
| Displacement | 1,526 tons standard; 2,424 tons submerged |
| Length | 312 feet |
| Beam | 27 feet |
| Draft | 17 feet |
| Machinery | Four General Motors Model 16-278A V16 diesel engines (5400shp), four high-speed General Electric motors with reduction gears (2740shp), two 126-cell Sargo batteries, two propellers |
| Speed | 20 knots |
| Range | 11,000nm at 10 knots surfaced, 48 hours at 2 knots submerged |
| Crew | 81 |
| Armament | 6x533mm forward torpedo tubes, 4x533mm aft torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, 1x127mm deck gun |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseOrdered in mid-1942, USS Blenny was commissioned into service in mid-1944 with Lieutenant Commander W. H. Hazzard in command. She conducted four war patrols in the Java Sea and the South China Sea between 10 Nov 1944 and 14 Aug 1945, destroying 8 ships (one destroyer escort, several transports, and others) totaling 18,262 tons, plus over 60 miscellaneous smaller vessels by her deck gun. After the war, she arrived at San Diego, California, United States on 5 Sep 1945. Between Aug and Nov 1946, she made a cruise to China. In 1947, she participated in a midshipman cruise to Canada. Twice between 1947 and 1949, she sailed to Alaskan waters. In 1951, she underwent the Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) modernization. Between May and Nov 1952, she served in the Far East, participating in the Korean War. She patrolled the west coast of the United States in 1953. On 24 May 1954, she was transferred from the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic Fleet, and her home port was switched to New London, Connecticut, United States. In 1964, she was reclassified an auxiliary submarine and received the new designation AGSS-324. She was decommissioned in Nov 1969. She was struck from the US Naval Register on 15 Aug 1973 and was sunk 15 miles off Ocean City, Maryland, United States in 1989 to form part of an artificial reef.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Revision: Dec 2010
Submarine Blenny (SS-324) Interactive Map
Photographs
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Blenny Operational Timeline
| 9 Jul 1942 | The submarine that would later be named USS Blenny was ordered. |
| 8 Jul 1943 | The keel of submarine Blenny was laid down. |
| 9 Apr 1944 | Submarine Blenny was launched at Groton, Connecticut, United States, sponsored Florence King, daughter of Admiral Ernest King. |
| 27 Jun 1944 | USS Blenny was commissioned into service Lieutenant Commander W. H. Hazzard in command. |
| 14 Dec 1944 | USS Blenny reported sinking a small Japanese craft with her deck gun in the morning; in the evening at about 2200 hours, she sank a destroyer escort with two torpedoes (three were fired). |
| 23 Dec 1944 | USS Blenny reported sinking a Japanese transport with torpedoes. |
| 26 Feb 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking a Japanese oiler with a torpedo. |
| 20 Mar 1945 | USS Blenny attacked a Japanese convoy and reported sinking three transports with torpedoes. |
| 25 May 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking a small Japanese craft with torpedoes. |
| 30 May 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking a small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the morning and a transport with torpedoes in the afternoon. |
| 16 Jul 1945 | Submarine USS Blenny (Commander W. H. Hazzard, USN) fired 12 torpedoes at the 2,400-ton Japanese gunboat Nankai (former Dutch minelayer Regulus), scoring 4 hits and sinking her in the Java Sea. Two hours later, she engaged and damaged 300-ton Japanese submarine chaser Ch-1 with her deck gun. The Japanese crew abandoned the damaged ship in a lifeboat, which was approached by USS Blenny; only one survivor allowed himself to be picked up, while all others jumped into the water. Blenny sank CH-1 with machine gun fire. |
| 23 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 24 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking a small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 25 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 27 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking three small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 30 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 31 Jul 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 1 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking three small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 3 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking two small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 4 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking a small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 5 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking 11 small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 6 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking four small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 7 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking four small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 8 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking 11 small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 9 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking three small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 10 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking six small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 11 Aug 1945 | USS Blenny reported sinking three small Japanese craft with the deck gun in the South China Sea off Malaya. |
| 5 Sep 1945 | USS Blenny arrived at San Diego, California, United States. |
| 24 May 1954 | USS Blenny joined the US Navy Atlantic Fleet. |
| 7 Nov 1969 | USS Blenny was decommissioned from service. |
| 15 Aug 1973 | Submarine Blenny was struck from the US Naval Register. |
| 7 Jun 1989 | Submarine Blenny was sunk 15 miles off Ocean City, Maryland, United States to form part of an artificial reef. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
David Stubblebine says:24 Dec 2019 02:11:05 PM
Steve Yerkes (above):
Personnel records were kept and most of those files became part of the serviceman’s service record held at the Navy’s Bureau of Personnel (BuPers). Those records still exist but now are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). A copy of your father’s service record can be requested from NARA and I strongly recommend making such a request; it will be full of fascinating stuff. See https://ww2db.com/faq/#3 for more.
27 Dec 2019 07:07:41 AM
where can I go to check out the crew member names on the Blenny,my dad served there in 1944-45 fought in the pacific, his name is john radachowsky jr. thanks for your help
16 Oct 2022 07:56:55 AM
looking to research crew members of the USS Blennycam someone let me know where I can do?
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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23 Dec 2019 05:06:07 PM
Were there every personnel records kept for these boats? My father served on the Blenny as a radar operator from 1947/8 to 1952. I t would be interesting to see more pictures other than the one I have of all nine subs taken around 1950.
Steve