USS Bluegill

	USS Bluegill (SSK-242) underway during the 1950s.
History
United States
Name	USS Bluegill (SS-242)
Ordered	Bluegill
Builder	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	7 December 1942
Launched	8 August 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. W. Sterling Cole
Commissioned	11 November 1943
Decommissioned	1 March 1946
Recommissioned	3 May 1951
Decommissioned	7 July 1952
Reclassified	Hunter-killer submarine (SSK-242) 7 July 1952
Recommissioned	2 May 1953
Reclassified	Attack submarine (SS-242) 10 August 1959
Reclassified	Auxiliary submarine (AGSS-242) 1 April 1966
Decommissioned	28 June 1969
Stricken	28 June 1969
Fate	Scuttled 3 December 1970; Refloated November 1983; Scuttled November 1983;
General characteristics
Class and type	Gato-class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced; 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 Diesel engines driving electric generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; two propellers ; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced; 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (4 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;

USS Bluegill (SS-242/SSK-242) was a Gato-class submarine in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946, from 1951 to 1952, and from 1953 to 1969. She was named for the bluegill, a sunfish of the Mississippi Valley.

During World War II, Bluegill completed six war patrols between 1 April 1944 and 21 June 1945, operating in an area extending from New Guinea to Formosa and in the South China Sea and Java Sea. She sank ten Japanese vessels, totaling 46,212 tons, including the light cruiser Yubari and a submarine chaser. She was placed in reserve in 1946.

Recommissioned in 1951, Bluegill operated as a training submarine until 1952. She then underwent conversion into a "hunter-killer submarine" specialized for antisubmarine warfare, and was recommissioned as such in 1953. After service in the Vietnam War, she was decommissioned in 1969 and sunk in 1971 for use as a salvage trainer. She was refloated and scuttled in 1983.

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