| Navy | The US Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | Balao |
| Pennant | 286 |
| Built by | Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | 15 Dec 1941 |
| Laid down | 23 Jul 1942 |
| Launched | 12 Nov 1942 |
| Commissioned | 20 Mar 1943 |
| End service | 1 Apr 1968 |
| History | Decommissioned 20 July 1946. |
Commands listed for USS Billfish (286)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Frederick Colby Lucas, Jr., USN | 20 Mar 1943 | 8 Jan 1944 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Vernon Clark Turner, USN | 8 Jan 1944 | 14 Feb 1945 |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Louis Calott Farley, Jr., USNR | 14 Feb 1945 | Oct 1945 |
| 4 | Philip Arthur Beshany, USN | Oct 1945 | Sep 1946 |
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Noteable events involving Billfish include:
1 Aug 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. Frederick Colby Lucas, Jr.) arrived at Brisbane, Australia.
12 Aug 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr) departed from Brisbane for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.
8 Sep 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr), while on patrol off the Vietnamese coast, claimed the torpedoing and damaging of a 5900-ton freighter. This is unconfirmed.
25 Sep 1943
While on patrol north of the Spratly islands, South China Sea, USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr) attacked a convoy on surfaced radar bearings, claiming one hit out of 5 torpedoes fired and damage to one vessel. This is unconfirmed.
10 Oct 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr) ended her 1st war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.
1 Nov 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.
28 Nov 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Lucas, Jr) attacked a freighter in the South China Sea, southeast of Qui Nhon, Vietnam, firing 5 torpedoes and claiming one hit for damage. This is unconfirmed.
23 Dec 1943
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. Frederick Colby Lucas, Jr.) ended her 2nd war patrol at Fremantle.
19 Jan 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. Vernon Clark Turner) departed from Fremantle for her 3rd war patrol, and was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.
1 Feb 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) attacked 2 small freighters with her deck gun, off the northeast point of Borneo, claiming one sunk (estimated at 1000 GRT) and the other damaged (estimated at 900 GRT). There is no confirmation of the claim from Japanese sources.
24 Mar 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) ended her 3rd war patrol at Fremantle.
18 Apr 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) departed from Fremantle for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Marianas.
21 May 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) attacked a convoy west-southwest of the Marianas, 13?42'N, 140?41'E, torpedoed and damaged the Japanese naval cargo ship Bokuyo Maru (2726 GRT). The claimed sinking of a second vessel, estimated at 8500 tgr is unconfirmed, but note that Bokuyo maru was estimated at 8600 GRT! (see map)
13 Jun 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) ended her 4th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
9 Jul 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Luzon Strait.
13 Sep 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) ended her 5th war patrol at Majuro.
6 Oct 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) departed from Majuro for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Ryukyu Islands.
7 Nov 1944
While on patrol in the East China Sea, USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) attacked a convoy on radar, firing 7 torpedoes and claiming two hits for damage on a 4000-ton freighter, one more hit on a second 4000-tonner and another on a third 4000-ton ship. None of these is unconfirmed.
13 Nov 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) sank a Japanese sampan with gunfire off the Ryukyu Islands in position 29°30'N, 130°02'E. (see map)
27 Nov 1944
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. V.C. Turner) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now sent to San Francisco for a major overhaul.
24 Apr 1945
With her overhaul completed USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to proceed to Saipan to be topped off with full and then to patrol in the East China Sea.
26 May 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Kotobuki Maru No.7 (991 GRT) off Nagasaki, Japan in position 33.19N, 129.31E. (see map)
4 Jun 1945
Patrol 7, Gun attack No. 1, at 1635 hours Billfish (SS-286) opened fire on the 3rd of the 3 4-masted schooners they were successful in destroying, however, at 1638, Oliver Robert Vidal, QM1c, USNR, from Gloucester, MA paid the ultimate price in serving our country. He was shot by rifle fire, succumbed to his wounds on 5 June and was buried at sea. Also injured was Ralph Boese, EM2c.
5 Jun 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Taiu Maru (2220 GRT) off Chinnampo, Korea in position 38?32'N, 124?45'E.
Billfish also sank three Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Korea in position 38?30'N, 124?44'E. (see map)
17 Jun 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) ended her 7th war patrol at Midway.
12 Jul 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) departed from Midway for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Yellow Sea.
5 Aug 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) torpedoed and sank Japanese merchant cargo ship Kori Maru (1091 GRT) in the Yellow Sea off the Kwantung Peninsula in position 38°51'N, 121°59'E. (see map)
27 Aug 1945
USS Billfish (Lt.Cdr. L.C. Farley) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.
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