 Bream (SS-243) is seen here on 1 January 1962 off the coast of Hawaii. The fairwater has been streamlined and all guns removed. Also, she has been fitted with an enlarged sonar dome on her bow. |
| Career
| 
|
| Ordered:
|
|
| Laid down:
|
|
| Launched:
| 17 October 1943
|
| Commissioned:
| 24 January 1944
|
| Decommissioned (last):
| 28 June 1969
|
| Fate:
| sunk as a target
|
| Struck:
| 7 November 1969
|
| General Characteristics
|
Displacement,
Surfaced:
Submerged:
|
1,526 tons (1550 t),
2,424 tons (2460 t)
|
| Length:
| 311.8 feet (95.0 m)
|
| Beam:
| 27.3 feet (8.3 m)
|
| Draft:
| 15.3 feet (4.6 m)
|
| Depth Limit:
| 300 feet (90 m)
|
Speed,
Surfaced:
Submerged:
|
20.25 knots (37 km/h)
8.75 knots (16 km/h)
|
| Propulsion:
| four 6500-hp Diesel engines,
four 2740-hp (2.0 MW) electric motors,
two propellers
|
| Submerged Endurance:
| 48 hours at 2 knots
|
| Patrol Endurance:
| 75 days
|
| Range:
| 11,000 nmi. (20,000 km)
surfaced at 10 knots
|
| Complement:
| 6 Officers, 54 Enlisted
|
| Armament:
| ten 21" torpedo tubes,
(six forward, four aft),
24 torpedoes,
one 3"/50 deck gun,
four machine guns
|
| Motto:
|
|
USS Bream (SS/SSK/AGSS-243), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bream, a European fresh-water fish of the carp family.
Bream (SS-243) was launched 17 October 1943 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; sponsored by Mrs. Wreford G. Chapple, wife of the prospective commanding officer; and commissioned 24 January 1944, Commander Chapple in command.
Bream's war operations extended from 1 June 1944 to 15 June 1945. During this period she completed six war patrols operating in the Java, Celebes, Sulu, and South China Seas and the Gulf of Siam. She sank two Japanese vessels totaling 6934 tons.
In addition, Bream shared with Ray and Guitarro the destruction of a 6806-ton passenger-cargo vessel. On 23 October 1944, while patrolling off western Luzon, Bream made a daring surface attack on a Japanese formation, damaging the heavy cruiser Aoba.
Bream got underway from Saipan for Pearl Harbor 6 June 1945 enroute to the United States for navy yard overhaul. She arrived at San Francisco 24 June 1945 and underwent overhaul and was placed out of commission in reserve 31 January 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Bream was recommissioned 5 June 1951 and reported to Submarine Squadron 3, Pacific Fleet. From June 1951 to August 1952 Bream engaged in type training and services to the Fleet Sonar School, San Diego. On 10 September 1952 she went out of commission in reserve at San Francisco. Bream was converted to a anti-submarine "hunter-killer" submarine and reclassified SSK-243, 18 February 1953.
Following recommissioning 20 June 1953, Bream participated in all phases of peacetime submarine operations in the Pacific Ocean. She conducted an Alaskan training cruise in September 1954, returning to San Diego 5 November 1954 via Pearl Harbor. Bream carried out operations off California until she made another trip to Pearl Harbor during 7–24 May 1955. Her next departure from the west coast was on 6 March 1956 for a cruise in the Western Pacific, which terminated at San Francisco in early 1957.
Bream was reclassified Auxiliary Submarine AGSS-243, 1 February 1964.
Decommissioned on 28 June 1969, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register and sunk as a target, 7 November 1969 by USS Sculpin (SSN-590).
Bream was awarded four battle stars for her World War II service.
 Bream (SS-243) returning to base with periscopes raised and battle flags flying, June 1945. (from "U.S. Warships of World War Two").
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
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