[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2315-E2316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A TRIBUTE TO THE CREW OF THE U.S.S. BULLHEAD (SS-332)

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, November 9, 1997

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, although the end of the Second World War 
occurred over a half-century ago, Americans still honor and continue to 
remember the hundreds of thousands of men and women who paid the 
ultimate sacrifice in this, the greatest conflict of all human history.
  I would like to take this time to honor the brave men who served on 
the U.S.S. Bullhead (SS-332). The U.S.S. Bullhead was the last major 
vessel lost by the United States in World War II, and with it went the 
lives of 84 American sailors.
  On August 6, 1945, the U.S.S. Bullhead was plying the waters of the 
Java Sea when it was suddenly attacked by Japanese aircraft, which 
proceeded to drop 500-pound bombs on the American submarine. Although 
presumed to have been sunk, the actual fate of the U.S.S. Bullhead 
could not be determined.
  On August 23, 1945, the U.S. Navy announced that ``The U.S.S. 
Bullhead is overdue and presumed lost.'' The U.S.S. Bullhead was the 
52d U.S. submarine lost during World War II. It wasn't until long after 
the end of the war that the fate of the U.S.S. Bullhead and its crew 
was learned following the release of Japanese records.
  Mr. Speaker, in honoring the crew of the U.S.S. Bullhead, I wish to 
extend special appreciation to Mr. Richard L. Henshaw of Toledo, OH, 
who has strived to maintain the memory and honor of this submarine and 
its gallant crew.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to include for the Record the following official 
history of the U.S.S. Bullhead:

       Bullhead (SS-332) was laid down on 21 October 1943 at 
     Groton, Conn., by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on 16 July 
     1944; sponsored by Mrs. Howard Doyle; and commissioned on 4 
     December 1944, Comdr. Walter T. Griffith in command.
       Following a month's shakedown cruise in Narragansett Bay, 
     the submarine sailed on 9 January 1945 for Key West, Fla., 
     where she received two weeks of additional training before 
     pushing on to Panama. She emerged from the canal on 11 
     February and headed for Hawaii. On the first day out, a near 
     disaster occurred. During a practice dive, the main induction 
     failed to close rapidly enough because of low hydraulic 
     pressure, and tons of water flooded in before it could be 
     shut. The ship was saved by shifting ballast, pumping out 
     water, and continuing the dive. She proceeded on without 
     incident and reached Pearl Harbor on 26 February.
       At the end of her voyage repairs, Bullhead left Pearl 
     Harbor on 9 March. Ten days later, she paused at Guam to 
     refuel and then got underway on the 21st for the northern 
     port of the South China Sea and her first war patrol. The 
     submarine hunted off Formosa through 30 March without 
     encountering any enemy ships before shaping a course for Hong 
     Kong. En route, she shelled targets on enemy-occupied Pratas 
     Island. While off Hong Kong, she also provided lifeguard 
     services for Allied aviators. On 8 April, an American 
     ``Liberator'' mistakenly bombed Bullhead. All the bombs 
     missed her, fortunately, by at least 75 yards and, while 
     severely shaken, she sustained no damage.
       On 16 April, four miles off the China coast, the submarine 
     recovered the crew of a downed Army aircraft, taking on board 
     three survivors and the bodies of three casualties. The 
     submarine terminated the patrol on 28 April in the 
     Philippines when the safely arrived at the newly constructed 
     base at Subic Bay, Luzon.
       Upon completion of her refit there, Bullhead spent eight 
     days in training exercises off the coast of Luzon before 
     getting underway again on 21 May for her second war patrol. 
     This time, the submarine operated in a wolf pack with Bergall 
     (SS-320) and Kraken

[[Page E2316]]

     (SS-370) in a coordinated sweep of the Gulf of Siam and the 
     Java Sea.
       Bullhead entered the patrol area on 25 May but encountered 
     no suitable targets until 30 May, when she made a machinegun 
     attack on a 150-ton schooner and claimed to have sunk the 
     Japanese vessel. On 4 June, the submarine moved to a new 
     station south of Anabas Island, but this area proved to be 
     barren.
       On the 16th, she entered the western end of the Java Sea, 
     Bullhead discovered her next victim on the 18th. Once again, 
     she trained her machine guns on a maru, a 700-ton vessel 
     which sank soon after suffering a hit at the waterline. Later 
     that day, the submarine sighted a small convoy of two 
     merchantmen and two escort vessels but was unable to attack 
     because the ships took shelter along the Java coast.
       On the morning of the 19th, Bullhead engaged in a surface 
     battle with two subchasers and two picket boats and took 
     credit for sinking one 700-ton subchaser and damaging a 
     smaller one of some 500 tons. The remaining Japanese vessels 
     tried to take cover behind a point of land, but Bullhead 
     closed the shore and continued firing on the boats. The 
     encounter did not end until the submarine exhausted her 
     supply of 5-inch ammunition.
       On 25 June, Bullhead opened fire with her 40-millimeter gun 
     on a small Japanese vessel, set the boat ablaze, and believed 
     that the Japanese boat had been sunk. She completed this 
     patrol on 2 July when she moored at Fremantle, Australia.
       Despite claiming to have sunk several vessels, Bullhead was 
     not officially credited with destroying any Japanese shipping 
     during this patrol. During a brief refit period, the 
     submarine received another 5-inch gun. The submarine left 
     Fremantle on 31 July to begin her third patrol. She was to 
     transit Lombok Strait and patrol in the Java Sea with several 
     other American and British submarines.
       Bullhead rendezvoused with a Dutch submarine, O-21, on 2 
     August and transferred mail to her. Four days later, the 
     submarine reported that she had safely passed through the 
     strait and was in her patrol area. No further word was ever 
     received from her; and, on 24 August, she was reported 
     overdue and presumed lost.
       Postwar analysis of Japanese records revealed that a 
     Japanese army plane depthcharged a submarine off the Bali 
     coast near the northern mouth of Lombok Strait on 6 August. 
     The pilot claimed two direct hits and reported a gush of oil 
     and air bubbles at the spot where the target went down. It 
     was presumed that the proximity of mountains shortened her 
     radar's range and prevented Bullhead from receiving warning 
     of the plane's approach. The submarine went down with the 
     loss of all hands. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 
     17 September 1945.
       Bullhead won two battle stars for her World War II service.

       

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