Allied Warships

Lizardfish (SS-373)

Submarine of the Balao class

USS Lizardfish on sea trials in Lake Michigan in January 1945, note the ice in the water!

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Balao
Pennant	373
Built by	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S.A.)
Ordered	6 Jun 1942
Laid down	14 Mar 1944
Launched	27 Jul 1944
Commissioned	30 Dec 1944
End service	9 Jan 1960
History	Decommissioned 24 June 1946. Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 16 March 1959. Decommissioned and transferred to Italy 9 January 1960 being renamed Evangelista Torricelli (S-512). Decomissioned by the Italian Navy in 1976.

Commands listed for USS Lizardfish (373)

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and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Ovid McMaster Butler, USN	30 Dec 1944	3 Apr 1946

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Notable events involving Lizardfish include:

6 Feb 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) departed New Orleans, Louisiana for the Panama Canal Zone.

6 Mar 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) departed the Panama Canal Zone for Pearl Harbor.

23 Mar 1945
With her trials and initial training completed USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

9 Apr 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

21 Apr 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) topped up with fuel at Saipan.

2 Jun 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) ended her 1st war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

28 Jun 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Java Sea.

5 Jul 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) enters Chelukan Bawang Bay, Bali, Netherlands East Indies and destroyed five small Japanese vessels and the Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha-37 (130 tons) with gunfire in position 08°10'S, 114°50'E.

19 Jul 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) sank three small Japanese vessels with gunfire in the Sunda Strait in position 05°55'S, 105°48'E.

20 Jul 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire off the Sunda Strait in position 05°41'S, 106°37'E.

6 Aug 1945
USS Lizardfish (Cdr. O.M. Butler) ended her 2nd war patrol at Subic Bay, Philippines.

31 Aug 1945
The submarine tender USS USS Howard W. Gilmore (T/Cdr. C.A. Johnson, USN) and the submarines USS Puffer (T/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Dwyer, USN), USS Rasher (T/Lt.Cdr. C.D. Nace, USN), USS Raton (T/Lt.Cdr. G.F. Gugliotta, USN), USS Baya (T/Lt.Cdr. B.C. Jarvis, USN), USS Becuna (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Bush, USN), USS Caiman (T/Cdr. W.L. Fey, Jr., USN), USS Blenny (T/Lt.Cdr. C.H. Fuller, Jr., USN), USS Blueback (T/Cdr. M.K. Clementson, USN), USS Boarfish (T/Lt.Cdr. E.C. Blonts, Jr., USN), USS Capitaine (T/Lt.Cdr. E.S. Friedrick, USN), USS Carbonero (T/Cdr. C.L. Murphy, USN), USS Entemedor (T/Cdr. W.R. Smith, Jr., USN), USS Hardhead (T/Lt.Cdr. J.L. Haines, USN), USS Hawkbill (T/Cdr. W. Scanland, Jr., USN), USS Kraken (T/Cdr. T.H. Henry, USN), USS Lamprey (T/Lt.Cdr. L.B. McDonald, USN), USS Lizardfish (T/Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) and USS Loggerhead (Cdr. R.N. Metcalf, USN) departed Subic Bay. All were to proceed to Pearl Harbour except USS Blenny, USS Blueback and USS Boarfish which were to proceed to Guam.

14 Sep 1945
The submarine tender USS USS Howard W. Gilmore (T/Cdr. C.A. Johnson, USN) and the submarines USS Puffer (T/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Dwyer, USN), USS Rasher (T/Lt.Cdr. C.D. Nace, USN), USS Raton (T/Lt.Cdr. G.F. Gugliotta, USN), USS Baya (T/Lt.Cdr. B.C. Jarvis, USN), USS Becuna (T/Lt.Cdr. W.J. Bush, USN), USS Caiman (T/Cdr. W.L. Fey, Jr., USN), USS Capitaine (T/Lt.Cdr. E.S. Friedrick, USN), USS Carbonero (T/Cdr. C.L. Murphy, USN), USS Entemedor (T/Cdr. W.R. Smith, Jr., USN), USS Hardhead (T/Lt.Cdr. J.L. Haines, USN), USS Hawkbill (T/Cdr. W. Scanland, Jr., USN), USS Kraken (T/Cdr. T.H. Henry, USN), USS Lamprey (T/Lt.Cdr. L.B. McDonald, USN), USS Lizardfish (T/Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) and USS Loggerhead (Cdr. R.N. Metcalf, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbor from Subic Bay.

15 Sep 1945
USS Hardhead (T/Lt.Cdr. J.L. Haines, USN), USS Hawkbill (T/Cdr. W. Scanland, Jr., USN), USS Kraken (T/Cdr. T.H. Henry, USN), USS Lamprey (T/Lt.Cdr. L.B. McDonald, USN), USS Lizardfish (T/Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) and USS Loggerhead (Cdr. R.N. Metcalf, USN) departed Pearl Harbor for San Francisco.

22 Sep 1945
USS Hardhead (T/Lt.Cdr. J.L. Haines, USN), USS Hawkbill (T/Cdr. W. Scanland, Jr., USN), USS Kraken (T/Cdr. T.H. Henry, USN), USS Lamprey (T/Lt.Cdr. L.B. McDonald, USN), USS Lizardfish (T/Cdr. O.M. Butler, USN) and USS Loggerhead (Cdr. R.N. Metcalf, USN) arrived at San Francisco from Pearl Harbor.