U.S.S. TINOSA (SS - 283)

A summary,

by Al Watrous and Paul Wittmer

From the book Encounter

 

TINOSA was a Gato boat built at the Mare Island Navy Yard and was one of 72 of this class built. This developed into the Balao class, which was nearly identical. She was commissioned on January 15, 1943. Gato class boats were 311 feet long and had a displacement of 1825 tons. They had an operating range of 11,800 miles and a top surface speed of 20 knots. They had six torpedo tubes forward and four tubes aft and carried a crew of seventy.

 

TINOSA'S WARTIME PATROLS

 

The first four war patrols were under the command of L.R. Daspit.

The first patrol, 5/6/43, out of Pearl, lasted 47 days and was in the Empire area. No claims were made.

The second patrol, 7/8/43, out of Midway, lasted 27 days and was in the Truk area. No claims were made.

The third patrol, 9/10/43, out of Pearl, lasted 23 days and was in the Marianas area. One 10,500 ton vessel was claimed; this was confirmed as partial credit of 8,000 tons.

The fourth patrol, 10/12/43, out of Midway, lasted 49 days and was in the Palau area. Four vessels were claimed for 18,500 tons and four vessels were confirmed at 18,000 tons.

 

The fifth, sixth and seventh war patrols were under the command of D.F. Weiss.

The fifth patrol, 1/3/44, out of Fremantle, lasted 55 days and was in the Mindanao area. Three vessels were claimed for 16,900 tons and four vessels for 15,600 tons were confirmed.

The sixth patrol, 3/5/44, out of Majuro, lasted 46 days and was in the Luzon Strait area. Four vessels were claimed for 31,200 tons and two vessels were confirmed for 12,900 tons.

The seventh patrol, 6/7/44, out of Pearl, lasted 54 days and was in the E. China Sea. Two vessels were claimed for 19,000 tons and two vessels were confirmed for 10,700 tons.

 

The eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh war patrols were under the command of R. C. Latham. Note: the 12th war patrol was started, also under the command of R.C. Latham, however the end of hostilities caused an early termination of that patrol.

The eighth patrol, 12/1/45, out of Pearl, lasted 56 days and was in the Formosa area. This was a mine detection patrol. No claims for sinking enemy vessels were made.

The ninth patrol, 3/4/45, out of Pearl, lasted 30 days and was in the E. China Sea area. This was a mine detection patrol. No claims for sinking enemy vessels were made.

The tenth patrol, 4/5/45, out of Guam, lasted 19 days and was in the Truk area. This was a lifeguard patrol. No claims, other than a shore bombardment were made.

The eleventh patrol, 5/7/45, out of Guam, lasted 37 days and was in the Sea of Japan. Four vessels were claimed for 12,100 tons and four were confirmed for 6,701 tons. This was also a mine detection patrol.

TINOSA SINKINGS

Vessels sunk by L.R. Daspit:

10/06/43, KAZAHAYA, 8,000, Tanker in the Carolines area.

(Shared credit with Steelhead)

11/22/43, KISO MARU, 4,071, Freighter in the Palau area.

11/22/43, YAMATO MARU, 4,370, Freighter in the Palau area.

11/26/43, SHINI MARU, 3,811, Freighter in the Palau area.

12/03/43, AZUMA MARU, 6,646, Pass-Cargo in the Palau area.

 

Vessels sunk by D.F. Weiss:

01/22/44, KODHIN MARU, 5,485, Pass-Cargo; Brunei area.

01/22/44, SEINAN MARU, 5,401, Freighter in the Brunei area.

02/15/44, ODATSUKI MARU, 1,988 Freighter in the Sulu Sea.

02/16/44, CHOJO MARU, 2,610, Transport in the Sulu Sea.

05/04/44, TAIBU MARU, 6,440, Freighter in the S. China Sea.

05/04/44, TOYOHI MARU, 6,436, Freighter in the S. China Sea.

07/03/44, KONSAN MARU, 2733, Pass-Cargo; E. China Sea.

07/03/44, KAMA MARU, 7,954, Pass-Cargo in the E. China Sea.

 

Vessels sunk by R.C. Latham:

06/09/45, WAKATAMA MARU, 2,211, Freighter; Honshu area.

06/12/45, KEITO MARU, 880, Freighter in the Honshu area.

06/20/45, KAISEI MARU, 884, Freighter; Tsushima Strait area.

06/20/45, TAITO MARU, 2,726, Freighter; Tsushima Strait area.

 

TINOSA Received a Presidential Unit Citation for patrols No. 4, 5 and 6. She tied for thirteenth place in the number of vessels sunk and stood seventeenth in total tonnage destroyed. She also sank four Sampans, plotted mine fields, took two prisoners, rescued six downed airmen, conducted a burial at sea for a dead airman, executed a shore bombardment of a radio station on ULUL Island. She sunk or exploded a number of floating mines. She was awarded the Submarine Combat Device for 10 of her 11 war patrols.

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