Hull Number: SS-250
Last Captain: CDR John Crowley
Date Lost: 13 August 1944
Location: Balabac Strait
Fatalities: Fatalities: 78. Eight men survived.
Cause: Mine
Construction
Flier was a Gato class submarine completed by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, CT in October of 1943.
Loss Narrative
For her second patrol Flier departed on 2 August 1944 for an area off Indo China. However, on 13 August, while crossing the Balabac Strait, Flier hit a mine and sank in 20 to 30 seconds. About 15 men had survived the sinking, but only eight reached Mantangula Island after swimming for 15 hours. There they made contact with friendly natives who led them to an Australian coast-watcher. The coast-watcher alerted U.S. forces in Australia and the eight survivors from the Flier were rescued by the submarine USS Redfin (SS-272) on the night of 30-31 August 1944.
Prior History
While Flier was en route to Pearl Harbor for her first patrol, she was fired upon, but not hit, by a friendly merchant ship. No doubt, the merchantman thought it was firing on a U-boat. However, that is just one more hazard that our submarines faced during the war.
Flier prepared for her first patrol in the area off Hawaii. She departed on 12 January 1944 for that patrol, with the usual stop at Midway for fuel. She arrived at Midway at the height of a big storm and ran aground on a reef when trying to enter the harbor. (Midway was notorious for being difficult to enter due to the coral reefs.) The damage forced Flier to be towed to the mainland for repairs at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
Flier did not actually begin her first war patrol until 21 May 1944. She was assigned to the area off Luzon in the Philippines. On 4 June, she found an enemy convoy and chased it on the surface. After diving, Flier was able to get between two columns of ships. She fired three torpedoes at each of two targets. As she was preparing to fire at a third from the stern tubes, the captain noticed that one of the enemy ships had turned to ram. The submarine went deep and lost contact with the convoy. However, she had sunk a large transport and damaged another ship. About two weeks later, she found another convoy and managed to damage three ships from that group although none were sunk. The patrol ended on 5 July.
Flier was lost on her second war patrol and JANAC credited her with one sinking for 10,380 tons.
Flier prepared for her first patrol in the area off Hawaii. She departed on 12 January 1944 for that patrol, with the usual stop at Midway for fuel. She arrived at Midway at the height of a big storm and ran aground on a reef when trying to enter the harbor. (Midway was notorious for being difficult to enter due to the coral reefs.) The damage forced Flier to be towed to the mainland for repairs at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
Flier did not actually begin her first war patrol until 21 May 1944. She was assigned to the area off Luzon in the Philippines. On 4 June, she found an enemy convoy and chased it on the surface. After diving, Flier was able to get between two columns of ships. She fired three torpedoes at each of two targets. As she was preparing to fire at a third from the stern tubes, the captain noticed that one of the enemy ships had turned to ram. The submarine went deep and lost contact with the convoy. However, she had sunk a large transport and damaged another ship. About two weeks later, she found another convoy and managed to damage three ships from that group although none were sunk. The patrol ended on 5 July.
Flier was lost on her second war patrol and JANAC credited her with one sinking for 10,380 tons.
Submarine Photo
