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| USS Flasher (SS-249) | |
|---|---|
| Ship name | USS Flasher (SS-249) |
| Ship class | Gato-class submarine |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company |
| Laid down | 5 March 1942 |
| Launched | 20 February 1943 |
| Commissioned | 10 June 1943 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1961 |
USS Flasher (SS-249) was a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy that operated during the Pacific War of World War II. Commissioned in 1943 under Commander Gordon W. Underwood, she conducted multiple war patrols from bases at Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, and Saipan, claiming numerous sinkings and earning high honors for her crew. Flasher's wartime record became part of postwar assessments involving the Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee and influenced submarine tactics employed by the United States Pacific Fleet.
Flasher was a Gato-class submarine, designed and built by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut, embodying design features developed from interwar United States Navy submarine programs and influenced by lessons from the London Naval Treaty era. Her pressure hull and diesel-electric propulsion combined General Motors diesel engines with Electric Boat electrical machinery, enabling ranges tested against operating requirements set by the Chief of Naval Operations and deployed by the Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Armament included torpedo tubes compatible with Mark 14 torpedo inventories and a deck battery of 3-inch/50 caliber guns used in conjunction with tactics derived from Admiral Ernest J. King's doctrine and submarine warfare treatises circulated at Naval War College.
Following her commissioning, Flasher completed shakedown and training evolutions out of New London, Connecticut and advanced submarine training at Submarine Base New London. She transited the Panama Canal to report to Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and was assigned to patrol and lifeguard duties in coordination with carrier operations from Task Force 58 and Task Force 38 during successive campaigns across the Central Pacific, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea theaters. Her operational control fell under commanders who coordinated with Task Force 17 escorts and relied on intelligence from Station HYPO and Fleet Radio Unit Pacific cryptanalysis.
Flasher conducted a series of war patrols between 1943 and 1945 that mirrored the island-hopping campaign and interdicted shipping lanes serving the Empire of Japan and its occupied territories. Early patrols focused on patrol sectors around Truk Lagoon and the Marianas Islands, while later missions extended to the South China Sea and approaches to the Philippine Islands. Patrol actions were coordinated with the Seventh Fleet, relied upon contact reports vetted by Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, and were influenced by evolving torpedo doctrine after investigations into Mark 14 torpedo performance and problems with the Mark 6 exploder.
During successive patrols Flasher claimed multiple sinkings of Japanese merchant and naval vessels, engaging convoys that included ships registered under entities such as the Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha shipping lines and escorted by destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her most notable claimed actions occurred in the South China Sea where she reported sinking several tankers and transports, which later became subjects of reconciliation with postwar assessments by the Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee and comparative analysis using captured Japanese shipping records and postwar surveys conducted by the Naval Historical Center. These claims contributed to debates involving commanders including Chester W. Nimitz and staff at Admiral Ernest J. King's offices about tonnage accounting and submarine effectiveness, influencing subsequent submarine doctrine and the disposition of surviving Gato-class units.
After V-J Day Flasher returned to the United States, transited to San Diego, California for inactivation, and was placed in reserve at New London as part of postwar force reductions directed by the Secretary of the Navy and shaped by policies emerging from the National Security Act of 1947. She was recommissioned briefly during the early Cold War era for training and reserve duties but ultimately was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register before being sold for scrap in 1961 in accordance with disposal procedures overseen by the Maritime Commission and Navy Ship Disposal Office.
Flasher and her crew received multiple awards recognizing wartime service, including Navy Unit Commendation and several Battle Stars for operations in the Pacific Theater. Her commanding officers and crew appear in records maintained by the Naval History and Heritage Command and are commemorated in veteran associations and submarine museums that preserve Gato-class submarine heritage and the legacy of American submarine warfare in the Pacific War.
Category:Gato-class submarines Category:World War II submarines of the United States Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut