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USS Bergall (SS-320)
Encyclopedia
USS Bergall (SS-320), a Balao-class submarine
Balao class submarine
The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...
, was the first ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for the bergall
Bergall
A bergall or cunner or conner, Tautogolabrus adspersus, is a saltwater fish found in the western Atlantic. It is edible and its musky taste is considered a delicacy by some. Specimens may grow to 12 inches though most range from 4-10. Often bergalls are found mixed in with black fish , living...
, a small fish of the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
coast. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat
Electric boat
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...
Company in Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
. She was later sold to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and operated as TCG Turgutreis (S 342) until scrapped some time in 1977.
The Bergall is the subject of an episode of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
anthology series, The Silent Service
The Silent Service (TV series)
The Silent Service was a 1957–1958 syndicated anthology television series based on actual events in the submarine section of the United States Navy. The Silent Service was narrated by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in 1949 after twenty-two years of service...
, which aired during the 1957-1958 season.
USS Bergall
Bergall was launchedShip naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 16 February 1944 sponsored by Mrs. J. A. Elkins, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 12 June 1944 with Lieutenant Commander J. M. Hyde in command.
Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, Bergall arrived at Pearl Harbor 13 August 1944. Operating out of Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the submarine made five war patrols between 8 September 1944 and 17 June 1945 in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
, Lombok Strait
Lombok Strait
The Lombok Strait is a strait connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili Islands are on the Lombok side....
, and north of the Malay Barrier. During these patrols Bergall sank two merchantmen totaling 14,710 tons and one 740-ton frigate.
On 13 December 1944, Bergall engaged Japanese heavy cruiser Myōkō
Japanese cruiser Myoko
was the name-ship of the four-member of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy — the other ships of the class being the Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro....
and both ships were damaged. Bergall had to end her patrol after being hit by a dud 8-inch shell; Myōkō sailed to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and was never repaired.
While patrolling off the Malay
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
coast, 13 June 1945, she was damaged aft by a naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
explosion and forced to retire to Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, for emergency repairs, arriving 17 June. Proceeding home for permanent repairs, she arrived at Portsmouth Navy Yard on 4 August 1945.
Following repairs Bergall rejoined the Pacific Fleet in December 1945. She remained on active duty with the Pacific Fleet until departing Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
for the Atlantic 10 June 1950. During this time she made one cruise to the Far East from 4 December 1948 to 28 February 1949. On 11 July 1950 she transferred to New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
, beginning her operations with the Atlantic Fleet with a Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
cruise.
During a fleet exercise on 1 November 1954, she collided with USS Norris (DD-859)
USS Norris (DD-859)
USS Norris was one of 98 s in the United States Navy during the end of World War II. Norris was active from 9 June 1945 to 4 December 1970. Although built too late to see action during the war, the ship served in the Pacific, Atlantic, Asiatic, and Mediterranean areas...
while attempting to fire torpedoes at a surface attack force.
On 26 September 1958, Bergall left the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, entered the Mediterranean on 9 October, and arrived in İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, on 15 October, where she was decommissioned on 17 October.
Bergall received four battle stars during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
TCG Turgutreis
Ex-Bergall was transferred, on loan, to TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
on 17 October 1958, where she served as TCG Turgutreis (S 342). Her name was struck from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 February 1973, and she was sold to the Turkish government on 15 February 1973. Turgutreis served in the Turkish Navy
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
until decommissioned on 5 April 1983. She was renamed Ceryan Botu - 6 and served as a yard craft at Gölcük Navy Yard until she was scrapped in April 2000.
See for other ships of the same name.