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189-728: USS Blackfish (SS-221) , a Gato -class submarine in commission from 1942 to 1946, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the blackfish . During World War II , she completed five war patrols in the Atlantic Ocean between October 1942 and July 1943 in waters extending from Dakar , Senegal , to the north of Iceland . She supported the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch in November 1942, and

378-409: A 5-inch (127 mm)/25 caliber Mk. 17 gun , and some ships had two of these weapons. Additional antiaircraft guns included single 40 mm Bofors and twin 20 mm Oerlikon mounts, usually one of each. At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy found itself in an awkward position. The 56 remaining Gato -class submarines, designed to fight an enemy that no longer existed, were largely obsolete, despite

567-535: A constructive total loss and not repaired. Occasionally, some confusion arises as to the number of Gato -class submarines built, with some sources listing the total as 73, due to the transitional nature of the first four ships (SS-361 through SS-364) constructed under the second contract by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin . These were originally intended to be Balao -class subs and were assigned hull numbers that fall in

756-426: A destroyer . Once in range, she fired two torpedoes at each cargo ship and then prepared for a potential counterattack by the destroyer. Her torpedoes missed the first cargo ship, which Blackfish attributed to her torpedoes suffering a "loss of depth control." However, her second torpedo struck the second cargo ship, a 7,110- gross register ton vessel, abaft her stack and Blackfish ′s sound operator reported that

945-709: A punitive expedition , the August 1816 bombardment of Algiers . The Dey was forced to sign the Barbary treaties , because the technological advantage of U.S., British, and French forces overwhelmed the Algerians' expertise at naval warfare . Following the conquest under the July monarchy , France referred to the Algerian territories as "French possessions in North Africa". This was disputed by

1134-468: A 5-inch (127 mm) gun installed forward and her noisy rudder was fixed. Meanwhile, her crew spent two weeks at a military recreation camp on the beach for rest and relaxation, which included, among other things, horseshoes , volleyball , and swimming . During Blackfish ′s third week at Milne Bay, her crew′s retreat ended, and she began an intensive training program under the supervision of Submarine Division 82. Esorted by Coucal and in company with

1323-552: A British S-class submarine. On 3 June 1943, Blackfish returned to Rosneath. Blackfish ′s fifth war patrol began on 8 June 1943 with her departure from Rosneath in company with Barb and the British patrol vessel HMS Cutty Sark . During the patrol, Blackfish spent long hours submerged with no exercise and limited food selection for her crew, which contributed to some illness among the crewmen. She sighted some merchant ships on 4 July 1943. On 5 July she received orders to return to

1512-515: A Japanese convoy of two merchant ships, which her crew estimated at approximately 4,000 to 6,500 gross register tons, escorted by one patrol boat. Because Blackfish was patrolling along a scouting line, there was some question as to whether or not she should attack and give away the scouting line′s position to the Japanese. Davidson noted that "after reading and re-reading my orders, I decided I had no choice but to let them go by in order not to disclose

1701-399: A Japanese convoy on 22 November 1943. She trailed the column of ships and patiently waited to assume a proper attack position. At 11:21, she dove in preparation for an attack. Twenty minutes passed before she suddenly heard several explosions, which her crew believed to be depth charges, and the Japanese convoy changed course and disappeared. The convoy’s escorts had been attacking Drum , which

1890-436: A Japanese convoy on 26 November 1943 and then shortly thereafter lost track of it in a rain squall. She reacquired the convoy a few hours later, but as she assumed an attack position on the surface, one of the convoy’s submarine chasers attempted to engage her, forcing her to dive. Over the course of several hours Blackfish endured a sonar -guided attack by more than 20 depth charges. Davidson observed that Blackfish ′s rudder

2079-541: A base for conflict and piracy in the Mediterranean basin. In 1681, Louis XIV asked Admiral Abraham Duquesne to fight the Berber pirates . He also ordered a large-scale attack on Algiers between 1682 and 1683 on the pretext of assisting and rescuing enslaved Christians, usually Europeans taken as captives in raids. Again, Jean II d'Estrées bombarded Tripoli and Algiers from 1685 to 1688. An ambassador from Algiers visited

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2268-406: A certain mark after the ship was submerged to restore neutral buoyancy. At the start of the war, these ships could go from fully surfaced to periscope depth in about 45–50 seconds. The superstructure that sat atop the pressure hull provided the main walking deck when the ship was surfaced and was free-flooding and full of water when the ship was submerged. When the dive began, the ship would "hang" for

2457-424: A course for Tulagi, where she arrived at around 05:45 on 28 January, moored, and fueled. That same day, Davidson proceeded to nearby Guadalcanal for a special duty assignment with Commander, Task Force 31 . After he returned, a party of six officers and two enlisted men and their equipment embarked and Blackfish got underway to Point White. On 30 January, the radar went out again, and the persistent problems with

2646-487: A crew of 60–80 men were to be expected to conduct 75-day patrols in the warm waters of the Pacific, these types of features were vital to the health and efficiency of the crew. They could be added without impact to the ship's war fighting abilities due to the extra room of the big fleet ship. The air conditioning in particular had a very practical application, too, besides comfort. Should a submarine submerge for any length of time,

2835-456: A favorable peace treaty the next year. The treaty of Tafna gained conditional recognition for Abd al Qadir's regime by defining the territory under its control and salvaged his prestige among the tribes just as the shaykhs were about to desert him. To provoke new hostilities, the French deliberately broke the treaty in 1839 by occupying Constantine . Abd al Qadir took up the holy war again, destroyed

3024-549: A few extra seconds while this superstructure filled with water. In an attempt to speed this process, additional limber, or free-flooding, holes were drilled and cut into the superstructure to allow it to flood faster. By midwar, these measures combined with improved crew training got dive times down to 30–35 seconds, very fast for such a large ship and acceptable to the ship's crew. The large size of these ships did negatively affect both surfaced and underwater maneuverability when compared to smaller submarines. No practical fix for this

3213-586: A key factor in the success of these ships during World War II. Like the previous Tambor/Gar classes, the Gato class could substitute mines in place of torpedoes. For the Mk 10 and Mk 12 type mines used in World War II, each torpedo could be replaced by as many as two mines, giving the submarine a true maximum capacity of 48 mines. However, doctrine was to retain at least four torpedoes on mine laying missions, which further limits

3402-481: A large Japanese convoy had been moving through the area at the time. On 11 November 1943, Blackfish stalked a Japanese destroyer, but the submarine USS  Drum  (SS-228) attacked first. Each missed opportunity to strike the enemy hit hard at the heart of the crew. After another frustrated attack opportunity on 14 November 1943, Davidson lamented that "a submariner’s dream almost came true. I guess I don’t live right." Blackfish ′s luck turned when she sighted

3591-409: A larger ship, which would take longer to submerge than a smaller one. Acknowledging this limitation, the bureau designers incorporated a negative (sometimes called a "down express") tank into the design, which was flooded to provide a large amount of negative buoyancy at the start of the dive. Based on later wartime experience, the tank was normally kept full or nearly full at the surface, then emptied to

3780-413: A learning experience for both her commanding officer and her crew. Although Blackfish had attempted both of her primary attacks on Japanese convoys at excessive range, her commanding officer and crew "benefited greatly from the experience and will undoubtedly inflict greater damage to the enemy on the next patrol," according to a post-patrol assessment of her performance. During her refit, Blackfish had

3969-420: A minor episode of laryngitis among her crew, a few photographs, and some intelligence on merchant ships and fishing vessels . Blackfish remained at Rosneath in upkeep status for the rest of January 1943. She underwent minor repairs and established two shore leave periods, which afforded her crew at least five days of leave. On 1 February 1943, Blackfish got underway for her third war patrol, bound for

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4158-568: A mixed system of "total domination and total colonization" whereby French military would wage total war against civilian populations while a colonial administration would provide rule of law and property rights to settlers within French occupied cities. Some governments and scholars have called France's conquest of Algeria a genocide . For example, Ben Kiernan , an Australian expert on Cambodian genocide wrote in Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur on

4347-571: A mysterious man arrived in Kabiliya. He presented himself as Mohamed ben Abdallah (the name of the Prophet ), but is more commonly known as Sherif Boubaghla . He was probably a former lieutenant in the army of Emir Abdelkader , defeated for the last time by the French in 1847. Boubaghla refused to surrender at that battle, and retreated to Kabylia. From there he began a war against the French armies and their allies, often employing guerrilla tactics. Boubaghla

4536-539: A new patrol line north of Mussau Island in the St Matthias Islands . On 7 November at 11:05, an Imperial Japanese Navy floatplane attacked her and forced her to dive, Blackfish ′s log noting that the floatplane apparently was "trying to get in a rain squall to work on us at his leisure." She remained submerged for several hours, over the course of which she heard 14 aircraft bombs and depth charges explode overhead. Davidson later received information that

4725-1001: A non-commissioned training ship for United States Naval Reserve personnel from 1949 to 1955. She was sold for scrapping in 1959. Blackfish was laid down on 1 July 1941 at Groton , Connecticut , by the Electric Boat Company. She was launched on 18 April 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Ida H. Mel, wife of Captain Henry F. Mel, head of the Navy Purchasing Office in New York City . She was commissioned on 22 July 1942 with Commander Raymond W. Johnson in command. Following her commissioning Blackfish spent three months outfitting and training. She completed it in October 1942. Assigned to Submarine Squadron 50 for operations under Commander, Naval Forces, Europe , Blackfish — now under

4914-584: A patrol area in the Bay of Biscay near Bilbao , Spain. She departed Rosneath in company with the Royal Navy destroyer HMS  Shikari and the U.S. submarine USS  Barb  (SS-220) . Shikari and Barb parted company with Blackfish on the morning of the 2 February. Over the course of the next several weeks while patrolling in her assigned area, she encountered a daily flurry of Spanish fishing and cargo vessels. On several occasions, she received notification of

5103-496: A piece of this may have been mistaken for a periscope." The crew also spotted some mines and observed a few airplanes, most of which were friendly, but ultimately, encountered no enemy ships. Due to Blackfish ′s position so far to the north and given the season, the consequent continual daylight made it possible Blackfish to conduct much of the patrol on the surface, and her crew believed that access to fresh air while surfaced made for better living conditions. In his reflections on

5292-509: A plane caught Blackfish somewhat off guard and dropped a small bomb on her, but she emerged unscathed. On 26 April 1944, Blackfish received orders to perform lifeguard duty for Allied airstrikes, then report to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , for lifeguard duty. Accordingly, she departed her patrol area. While en route to her lifeguard station on 27 April 1944, Blackfish encountered a Japanese convoy. The ensuing pursuit resulted in several hours of constant maneuvering. Sellars marveled that although

5481-558: A policy of penetration." —Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil When France recognized the Armenian genocide , Turkey accused France of having committed genocide against 15% of Algeria's population. On 1 December 1830, King Louis-Philippe named the Duc de Rovigo as head of military staff in Algeria. De Rovigo took control of Bône and initiated colonisation of the land. He was recalled in 1833 due to

5670-475: A previously undetected ship, which ultimately she did not identify. She dove prior to making contact and narrowly avoided a collision. On 14 November 1942, Blackfish received word that her duty with Task Force 34 had concluded, and she headed for her primary patrol sector in the vicinity of Dakar. She continued her patrol with nothing of import occurring for the remainder of her time there. She eventually headed north, and on 26 November 1942 she rendezvoused with

5859-628: A resourceful warrior. From his capital in Tlemcen , Abd al Qadir set about building a territorial Muslim state based on the communities of the interior but drawing its strength from the tribes and religious brotherhoods. By 1839, he controlled more than two-thirds of Algeria. His government maintained an army and a bureaucracy, collected taxes, supported education, undertook public works, and established agricultural and manufacturing cooperatives to stimulate economic activity. The French in Algiers viewed with concern

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6048-488: A spread of six torpedoes at a distance of 1,600 yards (1,500 m) and immediately "went deep." Two of the Japanese escorts began using sonar and dropped some 14 depth charges. Following the attack, Blackfish remained submerged throughout the night of 3–4 February 1944, due primarily to the proximity of nearby Japanese air bases. Patrolling continued without any excitement through 7 February 1944. On 8 February, Blackfish arrived at Tulagi. She set out again on 9 February on

6237-462: A task she completed without incident. While conducting regular patrols in her area of the Solomon Islands from 3 to 5 January 1944, Blackfish experienced a bout of extremely foul weather which made a noticeable impact on her operations, prompting Davidson to remark that the " swells were the biggest I have seen in this area." On 5 January, Blackfish sighted two Japanese cargo ships, but due to

6426-420: A training platform during the reservists' weekend drills. Twenty-eight Gato -class ships served in this capacity, some as late as 1971. In this role, the ships were rendered incapable of diving and had their propellers removed. They were used strictly as pierside trainers. These were in commission, but classed as "in commission in reserve", thus some were decommissioned and recommissioned on the same day to reflect

6615-466: Is a complete list of Gato -class museum ships: French Algeria The French conquest of Algeria began in 1830 with the invasion of Algiers which toppled the Regency of Algiers , though Algeria was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. It is estimated that by 1875, approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians were killed. Various scholars describe the French conquest as genocide . Algeria

6804-1006: Is credited with sinking the German vorpostenboot V 408 Haltenbank off the north coast of Spain in February 1943. Later in 1943, Blackfish proceeded to the Southwest Pacific . Between 19 October 1943 and 14 August 1945, she completed seven war patrols in an area including the Solomon Islands , New Guinea , the South China Sea , the East China Sea , and the Yellow Sea . She sank one Japanese cargo ship of 2,087 gross register tons during her Pacific patrols. She completed her twelfth and final war patrol on 14 August 1945. Decommissioned in 1946, Blackfish later served as

6993-573: Is for their part that civilization is situated." French forces deported and banished entire Algerian tribes. The Moorish families of Tlemcen were exiled to the Orient, and others were emigrated elsewhere. The tribes that were considered too troublesome were banned, and some took refuge in Tunisia, Morocco and Syria or were deported to New Caledonia or Guyana. Also, French forces also engaged in wholesale massacres of entire tribes. All 500 men, women and children of

7182-579: Is the only Spanish port. Although the ships are covered with Spanish flags and cruise very close inshore, it is almost certain that some are enemy ships, and that all of them are not going to Pasajes but are bound for some French port.” Shortly after her return to England, Blackfish proceeded to the Royal Naval Dockyard at Devonport , England. She underwent repairs and testing there from 5 March to 4 April 1943. At 09:00 on 5 April 1943, Blackfish got underway for her fourth war patrol and headed for

7371-432: The kamikaze demonstrated the need for a long-range radar umbrella around the fleet. Surface ships refitted with powerful radar suites were put into service, but they proved vulnerable in this role, as they could be attacked as well, leaving the fleet blind. A submarine, though, could dive and escape aerial attack. Two Gato -class ships ( Grouper and Finback ) received rudimentary conversions to radar pickets before

7560-469: The Algerian War (1954-1962), the French used deliberate illegal methods against the Algerians, including (as described by Henri Alleg , who himself had been tortured, and historians such as Raphaëlle Branche) beatings, torture by electroshock, waterboarding , burns, and rape. Prisoners were also locked up without food in small cells, buried alive , and thrown from helicopters to their death or into

7749-729: The Count of Villèle , an ultra-royalist , President of the council and the monarch's heir, opposed any military action. The Bourbon Restoration government finally decided to blockade Algiers for three years. Meanwhile, the Berber pirates were able to exploit the geography of the coast with ease. Before the failure of the blockade, the Restoration decided on 31 January 1830 to engage a military expedition against Algiers. Admiral Duperré commanded an armada of 600 ships that originated from Toulon , leading it to Algiers. Using Napoleon 's 1808 contingency plan for

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7938-555: The French army . One by one, the amir's strongholds fell to the French, and many of his ablest commanders were killed or captured so that by 1843 the Muslim state had collapsed. Abd al Qadir took refuge in 1841 with his ally, the sultan of Morocco , Abd ar Rahman II , and launched raids into Algeria. This alliance led the French Navy to bombard and briefly occupy Essaouira ( Mogador ) under

8127-599: The Gato class. By 1940, a much better developed industrial base and experience gained from the Porpoise -, Salmon -, and Sargo -class ships resulted in the Tambor and Gar classes . Finally, the U.S. Navy had hit the right combination of factors and now had the long-desired fleet submarine. Timing, however, conspired against the actual use of these ships in their assigned role. The attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 destroyed

8316-447: The Gato -class ships would be fully capable of routinely operating at 300 feet, a 50-foot (15 m) increase in test depth over the preceding classes. The Gato s were slow divers when compared to some German and British designs, but that was mostly because the Gato s were significantly larger ships. Sufficient fuel bunkerage to provide the range necessary for 75-day patrols from Hawaii to Japan and back could be obtained only with

8505-641: The Gato s a mass-produced class of submarines. Six units were planned in FY41. In the immediate aftermath of the Two-Ocean Navy Act 48 additional units were ordered. By the end of 1941, 33 Gato keels had been laid. The Gato -class design, with a top range of 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km), was a near-duplicate of the preceding Tambor - and Gar -class ships. The only significant differences were an increase in diving depth from 250 feet (76 m) to 300 feet (91 m), and an extra five feet in length to allow

8694-399: The Gato s and other submarines to sink an enormous amount of Japanese shipping by the end of the war. The Gato s were subjected to numerous exterior configuration changes during their careers, with most of these changes centered on the conning tower fairwater. The large, bulky original configuration proved to be too easy to spot when the boat was surfaced; it needed to be smaller. Secondly,

8883-459: The Marquesas Islands or elsewhere. In one word, annihilate everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs. Whatever initial misgivings Louis Philippe's government may have had about occupying Algeria, the geopolitical realities of the situation created by the 1830 intervention argued strongly for reinforcing French presence there. France had reason for concern that Britain , which

9072-455: The Mitidja Plain and envisioned the large-scale production there of cotton . As governor-general (1835–36), he used his office to make private investments in land and encouraged army officers and bureaucrats in his administration to do the same. This development created a vested interest among government officials in greater French involvement in Algeria. Commercial interests with influence in

9261-584: The Ottoman Empire , then led by Mahmud II but enjoyed relative independence. The Barbary Coast was the stronghold of Berber pirates, who carried out raids against European and American ships. Conflicts between the Barbary States and the newly independent United States of America culminated in the First (1801–05) and Second (1815) Barbary Wars. An Anglo-Dutch force, led by Admiral Lord Exmouth , carried out

9450-497: The Pacific Theater of Operations . However, in the summer of 1942, six new Gato s were assigned to Submarine Squadron 50 and sent to Rosneath, Scotland , to patrol the Bay of Biscay and to assist in the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. All in all, they conducted 27 war patrols, but could not claim any verified sinkings. Considered a waste of valuable resources, in mid-1943, all six ships were recalled and transferred to

9639-563: The Pacific War were sampans or otherwise not worth a torpedo, so the deck gun was an important weapon. Most ships began the war with a 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber Mk. 17 gun (although some ships received older Mk. 6 mounts due to shortages). The 3-inch gun was the model originally specified for the Gato class, but war experience led to the removal of 4-inch (102 mm)/50 caliber Mk. 9 guns from old S-class submarines to equip front-line ships. Beginning in late 1943, almost all were refitted with

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9828-810: The Panama Canal Zone , she transited the Panama Canal and briefly conducted training in Panama Bay before continuing her journey. She arrived at Brisbane in September 1943 and spent three weeks undergoing a refit there. On 19 October 1943, Blackfish set out on her first war patrol in the Pacific and sixth overall, headed for the waters around New Guinea , the Solomon Islands , and the Bismarck Islands . En route to her patrol area, she conducted multiple night radar training exercises on 20 October with her escort,

10017-505: The Prince de Joinville on August 16, 1844. A French force was destroyed at the Battle of Sidi-Brahim in 1845. However, Abd al Qadir was obliged to surrender to the commander of Oran Province, General Louis de Lamoricière , at the end of 1847. Abd al Qadir was promised safe conduct to Egypt or Palestine if his followers laid down their arms and kept the peace. He accepted these conditions, but

10206-565: The Royal Navy Hunt -class destroyer HMS  Lauderdale off The Lizard on the southwest coast of England and then steered toward Scotland . She moored to the dock at Rosneath , Scotland, on 27 November 1942 and began a refit. During her first war patrol, she traveled 7,673 nautical miles (14,210 km; 8,830 mi) and expended 74,258 US gallons (61,833 imp gal; 281,097 L) of fuel oil . Following her refit, Blackfish put back to sea, arriving in her patrol area in

10395-482: The Shetland Islands . On 7 April 1943 she parted company with La Capricieuse and made for the waters of Norway and Iceland . Overall, the patrol was uneventful with the exception of some environmental challenges. With air temperatures remaining between 18 and 28 °F (−8 and −2 °C), a buildup of ice on Blackfish ′s hull presented one of the more significant challenges of the voyage. In one instance

10584-704: The Soviet Navy building hundreds of Type XXI -derived submarines (eventually the 215-strong Whiskey class and dozens of others) in the Atlantic led the U.S. Navy to adapt submarines to specifically hunt other submarines, a radically new role for the 1950s. Concluding that this role did not require a fast or deep-diving submarine (this line of thought would quickly change with the advent of nuclear power), seven Gato s were converted to SSKs ( hunter-killer submarines ) between 1951 and 1953, joining three purpose-built K-1 -class SSKs entering service at that time. The Gato class

10773-597: The Three Glorious Days of July 1830, and his cousin Louis-Philippe , the "citizen king ," was named to preside over a constitutional monarchy . The new government, composed of liberal opponents of the Algiers expedition, was reluctant to pursue the conquest begun by the old regime, but withdrawing from Algeria proved more difficult than conquering it. Alexis de Tocqueville 's views on Algeria were instrumental in its brutal and formal colonization. He advocated for

10962-597: The United States . She moored to Pier 15 at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, on 26 July 1943, concluding her fifth war patrol. Upon her arrival at Groton, Blackfish underwent repairs, during which she replenished her supplies and her crew conducted training for their upcoming deployment to the Pacific for the war with Japan . With her repaits concluded, she set out for Brisbane , Australia . Upon reaching

11151-528: The locust plagues of 1866 and 1868, as well as by a rigorous winter in 1867–68, which caused a famine followed by an epidemic of cholera . The French began their occupation of Algiers in 1830, starting with a landing in Algiers . As occupation turned into colonization, Kabylia remained the only region independent of the French government. Pressure on the region increased, and the will of her people to resist and defend Kabylia increased as well. In about 1849,

11340-470: The stern of an unidentified cargo ship in the Japanese column located at 00°56′N 144°52′E  /  0.933°N 144.867°E  / 0.933; 144.867 . Blackfish ′s crew heard five explosions between three and four minutes after firing, but could make no observation of the resulting damage because the convoy’s escorts quickly closed in. They pursued Blackfish for a full 30 minutes, but at length she escaped unharmed. Blackfish sighted

11529-406: The submarine rescue vessel USS  Coucal  (ASR-8) . The two parted company on 24 October. At 05:13 on 26 October Blackfish arrived at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands and moored to an oil barge for fueling. On 27 October 1943, she rejoined her escort and got underway again at 06:00. While assigned to a scouting line on 3 November 1943, Blackfish was on the surface when she encountered

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11718-435: The 1950s provided the U.S. Navy with its first strategic missile capability. Tunny was converted under SCB 28 in 1953 to house and fire this large surface-launched missile and was designated SSG ( guided-missile submarine ). She could carry two of the missiles in a cylindrical hangar on the aft deck. She made strategic deterrent patrols with Regulus until 1964, when the program was discontinued in favor of Polaris . With

11907-418: The 2,087-gross register ton Kaika Maru rolling over on her starboard side; 27 of the 102 passengers aboard Kaika Maru perished in the sea. Davidson believed he sank the other merchant ship as well, but it was in fact only damaged. Blackfish weathered a barrage of depth charges that lasted from 16:56 until 20:13. In contemplating the lengthy Japanese counterattack, Davidson observed "I don′t know whether it

12096-403: The Algerian population. Colonel Lucien de Montagnac stated that the purpose of the pacification was to "destroy everything that will not crawl beneath our feet like dogs" The scorched earth policy, decided by Governor General Thomas Robert Bugeaud , had devastating effects on the socio-economic and food balances of the country: "we fire little gunshot, we burn all douars, all villages, all huts;

12285-550: The Atlantic Ocean north of Spain off Punta de Estaca de Bares for her second war patrol on 27 December 1942. Over the course of about three weeks, she scoured the area in search of enemy activity. She encountered British forces, numerous fishing trawlers , and an occasional Spanish merchant ship, but no enemy forces in the course of her patrol. She returned to Rosneath, mooring there on 18 January 1943, thus ending her second war patrol with little to show for it other an account of

12474-762: The Court in Versailles, and a treaty was signed in 1690 that provided peace throughout the 18th century. During the Directory regime of the First French Republic (1795–99), the Bacri and the Busnach, Jewish merchants of Algiers, provided large quantities of grain for Napoleon's soldiers who participated in the Italian campaign of 1796. But Bonaparte refused to pay the bill, claiming it

12663-596: The Depression-era 1930s, and in great part due to the arrogance and stubbornness of its designer, the Naval Torpedo Station Newport under the Bureau of Ordnance , the "wonder weapon" Mark 14 proved to be full of bugs and very unreliable. They tended to run too deep, explode prematurely, run erratically, or fail to detonate. Bowing to pressure from the submariners in the Pacific, the bureau eventually acknowledged

12852-526: The El Oufia tribe were killed in one night, while all 500 to 700 members of the Ouled Rhia tribe were killed by suffocation in a cave. The Siege of Laghouat is referred by Algerians as the year of the "Khalya ," Arabic for emptiness, which is commonly known to the inhabitants of Laghouat as the year that the city was emptied of its population. It is also commonly known as the year of Hessian sacks, referring to

13041-571: The French Christian troops and to belligerent calls for jihad from the marabouts . Despite the diplomatic rupture between Morocco and the Two Sicilies in 1830, and the naval warfare engaged against the Austrian Empire as well as with Spain , then headed by Ferdinand VII , Sultan Abderrahmane lent his support to the Algerian insurgency of Abd El-Kader . The latter fought for years against

13230-400: The French and their makhzen allies at Oran in 1832. In the same year, jihad was declared and to lead it tribal elders chose Muhyi ad Din's son, twenty-five-year-old Abd al Qadir . Abd al Qadir, who was recognized as Amir al-Muminin (commander of the faithful), quickly gained the support of tribes throughout Algeria. A devout and austere marabout, he was also a cunning political leader and

13419-452: The French army has set foot. Who wants the end wants the means, whatever may say our philanthropists. I personally warn all good soldiers whom I have the honour to lead that if they happen to bring me a living Arab, they will receive a beating with the flat of the saber.... This is how, my dear friend, we must make war against Arabs: kill all men over the age of fifteen, take all their women and children, load them onto naval vessels, send them to

13608-536: The French captured Constantine under Sylvain Charles Valée the following year, on 13 October 1837. Historians generally set the indigenous population of Algeria at 3 million in 1830. Although the Algerian population decreased at some point under French rule, most certainly between 1866 and 1872, the French military was not fully responsible for the extent of this decrease, as some of these deaths could be explained by

13797-409: The French colonists. As a recognized jurisdiction of France, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. They were first known as colons , and later as pieds-noirs , a term applied primarily to ethnic Europeans born in Algeria. The indigenous Muslim population comprised the majority of the territory throughout its history. Gradually, dissatisfaction among

13986-457: The French conquest of Algeria : By 1875, the French conquest was complete. The war had killed approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians since 1830. A long shadow of genocidal hatred persisted, provoking a French author to protest in 1882 that in Algeria, "we hear it repeated every day that we must expel the native and, if necessary, destroy him." As a French statistical journal urged five years later, "the system of extermination must give way to

14175-470: The French during the Algerian War during the 1950s against Algerians include deliberate bombing and killing of unarmed civilians, rape, torture , executions through " death flights " or burial alive , thefts and pillaging. Up to 2 million Algerian civilians were also deported in internment camps. During the Pacification of Algeria (1835-1903) French forces engaged in a scorched earth policy against

14364-463: The French general Jacques Louis César Randon was caught but managed to escape later. On 26 December 1854, Boubaghla was killed; some sources claim it was due to treason of some of his allies. The resistance was left without a charismatic leader and a commander able to guide it efficiently. For this reason, during the first months of 1855, on a sanctuary built on top of the Azru Nethor peak, not far from

14553-556: The French settlements on the Mitidja Plain, and at one point advanced to the outskirts of Algiers itself. He struck where the French were weakest and retreated when they advanced against him in greater strength. The government moved from camp to camp with the amir and his army. Gradually, however, superior French resources and manpower and the defection of tribal chieftains took their toll. Reinforcements poured into Algeria after 1840 until Bugeaud had at his disposal 108,000 men, one-third of

14742-526: The French. Directing an army of 12,000 men, Abd El-Kader first organized the blockade of Oran. Algerian refugees were welcomed by the Moroccan population, while the Sultan recommended that the authorities of Tetuan assist them, by providing jobs in the administration or the military forces. The inhabitants of Tlemcen , near the Moroccan border, asked that they be placed under the Sultan's authority in order to escape

14931-770: The French. The war ended in 1962, with Algeria gaining independence following the Évian Accords in March 1962 and a self-determination referendum in July 1962. During its last years as part of France, Algeria was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community . Since the capture of Algiers in 1516 by the Ottoman admirals, brothers Ours and Hayreddin Barbarossa , Algeria had been

15120-400: The Japanese ships "can see fairly plainly through the mist," they did not take notice of Blackfish ′s presence during the chase. He concluded that they did not have radar, and having gained an advantageous position he gave the order to fire four torpedoes at one of the ships ay an approximate distance of 3,170 yards (2,900 m). Following the launch, a large cloud of black smoke appeared over

15309-487: The Muslim population, due to their lack of political and economic freedom, fueled calls for greater political autonomy , and eventually independence from France. The Sétif and Guelma massacre , in 1945, marked a point of no return in Franco-Algerian relations and led to the outbreak of the Algerian War which was characterised by the use guerrilla warfare by National Liberation Front , and crimes against humanity by

15498-583: The Navy and they were all removed at the first opportunity and replaced by General Motors Cleveland Model 16-278A V-type diesels. The other Gato -class ships received either the Fairbanks-Morse 38D 8-1/8 nine-cylinder opposed-piston engine or the General Motors Cleveland Model 16-248 V-type as original installations. These engines were hardy, rugged, and well liked by the crews and served

15687-541: The Ottoman Empire, which had not given up its claim. In 1839 Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult , Duke of Dalmatia, first named these territories as "Algeria". The invasion of Algeria against the Regency of Algiers (Ottoman Algeria) was initiated in the last days of the Bourbon Restoration by Charles X , as an attempt to increase his popularity amongst the French people. He particularly hoped to appeal to

15876-565: The Pacific Fleet battle line and along with it the concept of the battleship-led gun battle, as well as 20 years of submarine strategic concept development. It left the fleet submarine without a mission. Fortunately, the same capabilities that would have enabled these submarines to operate with the fleet made them superbly qualified for their new mission of commerce raiding against the Japanese Empire . Timing, however, also conspired to make

16065-403: The Pacific. Once they began to arrive in theater in large numbers in mid-to-late 1942, the Gato s were in the thick of the fight against the Japanese. Many of these ships racked up impressive war records: Flasher , Rasher , and Barb were second, third, and fourth based on tonnage sunk by U.S. submarines. Silversides , Flasher , and Wahoo were third, fourth, and seventh place on

16254-440: The addition of a watertight bulkhead dividing the one large engine room in two, with two diesel generators in each room. The Gato s, along with nearly all of the U.S. Navy fleet-type submarines of World War II, were of partial double-hulled construction. The inner pressure-resisting hull was wrapped by an outer, hydrodynamic hull. The voids between the two hulls provided space for fuel and ballast tanks. The outer hull merged with

16443-457: The advantage on 19 June during the battle of Staouéli , and entered Algiers on 5 July after a three-week campaign. The dey agreed to surrender in exchange for his freedom and the offer to retain possession of his personal wealth. Five days later, he exiled himself with his family, departing on a French ship for the Italian peninsula . 2,500 janissaries also quit the Algerian territories, heading for Asia, on 11 July. The French army then recruited

16632-454: The after torpedo room converted into an electronics space with torpedoes and tubes removed. They also received a streamlined "sail" in place of the traditional conning tower fairwater. Redesignated as SSRs, these ships were only moderately successful in this role, as the radars themselves proved troublesome and somewhat unreliable. The radars were removed and the ships temporarily reverted to general-purpose submarines after 1959. The threat of

16821-563: The area. On 8 November 1942, Operation Torch began in earnest with Allied amphibious landings in French Morocco and Algeria . Blackfish continued her patrol of the Senegalese coast, on the lookout for Vichy French forces heading for French Morocco. Surface traffic in the area was light and Blackfish ′s log reported some "doubt" as to whether it was “the best patrol area,” given that “A position south to southwest of Point Manuel offers

17010-445: The beginning of the war, Gato -class ships, as well as the Gar and Tambor classes, had fully shrouded fairwaters visually similar to modern nuclear submarines. Experience during the war led to the progressive reduction of this structure to reduce visibility and radar profile at the expense of underwater performance and foul-weather operating comfort. Most of the subs in postwar movies show

17199-453: The best opportunities for observing the harbor but very little chance of successful attack in case ships hug the coast.” The day concluded without Blackfish making contact with enemy forces. Blackfish ′s patrol proved significantly more eventful on 9 November 1942. While patrolling submerged 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) north of Pointe des Almadies , Blackfish sighted a Vichy French convoy of three cargo ships escorted by

17388-747: The boats appeared to have sighted her. It may have very well been that sighting which prompted the events of the next day. At 17:40 on 19 February 1943, Blackfish observed two small vessels that appeared to be large fishing trawlers traveling in a column which did not display any Spanish colors. Blackfish ′s commanding officer called the crew to general quarters and initiated an attack approach. The first ship’s small bow made her difficult to make out, and several suspenseful minutes passed. At last, at 17:49, Blackfish clearly observed German colors and identified both ships as converted trawler-type submarine tender vessels with guns mounted fore and aft. Blackfish fired two torpedoes from her bow torpedo tubes at

17577-495: The capacity to 40 mines, and this is often stated as the maximum in various publications. In practice during the war, submarines went out with at least 8 torpedoes, and the largest minefields laid were 32 mines. Post-war, the Mk 49 mine replaced the Mk 12, while the larger Mk 27 mine (in actuality an acoustic-homing torpedo) was also carried which only allowed one mine replacing one torpedo. Twelve submarines of this class built by Electric Boat (SS-253 to SS-264) received what would be

17766-710: The change in status. The large numbers of relatively modern, but surplus U.S. fleet submarines proved to be popular in sales, loans, or leases to allied foreign navies. While most of these ships were of the more capable Balao and Tench classes, some Gato s went overseas, as well. Italy received two ( Barb and Dace ), which received the only GUPPY conversions given to Gato -class ships (Guppy IB). Japan received one ( Mingo ), Brazil two ( Muskallunge and Paddle ), Greece two ( Lapon and Jack ), and Turkey two ( Guitarro and Hammerhead ). The ships transferred to Japan and Brazil did not receive any modernizations (streamlining and snorkels) prior to transfer, but

17955-547: The closely related Balao and Tench classes that followed, accounted for most of the Navy's World War II submarines; they destroyed much of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy . In some references, the Gato s are combined with their successors, especially the Balao class. Gato ' s name comes from a species of small catshark . Like most other U.S. Navy submarines of

18144-576: The coast in the Gulf of Bougie, shelled Kherrata. Vigilantes lynched prisoners taken from local jails or randomly shot Muslims not wearing white arm bands (as instructed by the army) out of hand. It is certain that the great majority of the Muslim victims had not been implicated in the original outbreak. The dead bodies in Guelma were buried in mass graves, but they were later dug up and burned in Héliopolis . During

18333-608: The command of Lieutenant Commander J. F. Davidson — departed New England on 19 October 1942 to begin her first war patrol, shaping a course for French West Africa , where she was to conduct reconnaissance patrols off Dakar , Senegal , in support of Operation Torch , the Allied invasion of French North Africa . During her voyage across the Atlantic Ocean , she mostly ran submerged during daylight hours. On 5 November 1942, after 17 days in transit, she arrived at her assigned patrol station off Dakar. Blackfish conducted her first full day of reconnaissance on 6 November 1942. During

18522-416: The convoy, which led him to believe that Blackfish had in fact sunk one of the cargo ships in the previous attack. Blackfish began an attack approach but the escorts detected her some 4,000 yards (3,700 m) off and forced her to withdraw. Blackfish continued to track the convoy well into 24 November 1943. She reached an attack position at 23:08 on 24 November and launched a spread of six torpedoes at

18711-402: The convoy. Blackfish continued to track the convoy through the night, hoping to get a clear shot by daylight. With the convoy′s smoke in sight, Blackfish dove at 08:40 on 7 January 1944 and prepared to attack. Unfortunately for Blackfish , the convoy′s low speed and zigzagging thwarted her attempts at getting a clear shot. As the opportunity faded, Davidson remarked "our last hope was one of

18900-422: The convoy’s low speed and zigzag forced Davidson to “fire down the throat" of the cargo ship and then fire "an angle shot from the stern." Blackfish fired all six of her bow tubes, and her second torpedo hit its target; her cfrew heard several explosions. Meanwhile, the Japanese destroyer approached Blackfish at high speed. Blackfish dove rapidly to escape from the area, but before she departed her crew observed

19089-428: The desire to incorporate new masts for surface- and air-search radars drove changes to the fairwater and periscope shears. Third, additional gun armament was needed, and cutting down the fairwater provided excellent mounting locations for machine guns and antiaircraft cannon. The modifications (or mods) to the Gato -class conning tower fairwaters were fairly uniform in nature and they can be grouped together based on what

19278-452: The dey and claimed they could not pay it until France paid its debts to them. The dey had unsuccessfully negotiated with Pierre Deval , the French consul, to rectify this situation, and he suspected Deval of collaborating with the merchants against him, especially when the French government made no provisions in 1820 to pay the merchants. Deval's nephew Alexandre, the consul in Bône , further angered

19467-447: The dey by fortifying French storehouses in Bône and La Calle , contrary to the terms of prior agreements. After a contentious meeting in which Deval refused to provide satisfactory answers on 29 April 1827, the dey struck Deval with his fly whisk . Charles X used this slight against his diplomatic representative to first demand an apology from the dey, and then to initiate a blockade against

19656-552: The eastern tip of New Guinea, where she completed her sixth war patrol after 46 days at sea, 32 of them in Japanese-controlled waters. With her crew in high spirits, she underwent a standard two-week refit at Milne Bay. Blackfish ′s patrol was deemed "successful" and her crew was authorized to wear the Submarine Combat Patrol Insignia . As Blackfish ′s first war patrol in the Pacific Theater , it served as

19845-583: The end of World War II, but were not used in this role. After further experimenting with the concept on four Balao and Tench -class boats under Projects Migraine I and II, and realizing that a deep diving depth was not overly important in this role, six Gato s were taken in hand ( Pompon , Rasher , Raton , Ray , Redfin , and Rock ) for conversion under Project Migraine III (aka SCB 12A). They were lengthened by 24 feet (7.3 m) to provide additional space for an air control center and had powerful air-search and height-finding radars installed, with

20034-453: The enemy flees across taking his flock." According to Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison , the colonization of Algeria led to the extermination of a third of the population from multiple causes (massacres, deportations, famines or epidemics) that were all interrelated. Returning from an investigation trip to Algeria, Tocqueville wrote that "we make war much more barbaric than the Arabs themselves [...] it

20223-553: The enemy in preparation for the main fleet action, a titanic gun battle between battleships and cruisers . This was an operational concept born from experience in World War I. To operate effectively in this role, a submarine had to have high surface speed, long range and endurance, and heavy armament. Limitations in submarine design and construction in the 1920s and 1930s made this combination of qualities very difficult to achieve. The U.S. Navy experimented constantly with this concept in

20412-465: The evening of 15 January she began tracking a Japanese convoy. Unfortunately for Blackfish , her radar went out and the ships disappeared. Nonetheless, Davidson moved to head them off the next day. At midday on 16 January, Blackfish sighted smoke and closed in. The convoy appeared to consist of a cargo ship of about 6,000 gross register tons, one small tanker of about 4,500 gross register tons, and an escorting destroyer. Blackfish launched an attack, but

20601-457: The fact they were only two to four years old. Such was the pace of technological development during the war that a submarine with only a 300-foot test depth was going to be of little use, despite being modern in most other aspects. Enough of the Balao and Tench ships, with their greater diving depth, remained that the Gato s were superfluous for front-line missions. The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) modernization program of

20790-679: The final installations of the Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (H.O.R.) double-acting diesel engine . The Navy had been tinkering with this engine off and on since 1937 because its unique design promised nearly twice the horsepower in a package the same size as other diesel engine types. Unfortunately, the Hooven-Owens-Rentschler company ran into severe design and manufacturing problems, and these engines proved to be operational and maintenance nightmares. Frequent breakdowns and utter unreliability had destroyed these engines' reputation with

20979-409: The final result of these modifications. A side benefit of these modifications was the creation of convenient locations for antiaircraft guns. Seventy-seven of these ships were commissioned from November 1941 ( Drum ) through April 1944 ( Croaker ). Twenty of the 52 U.S. submarines lost in World War II were of this class, plus Halibut , a damaged ship that returned to the U.S., but was considered

21168-551: The first zouaves (a title given to certain light infantry regiments) in October, followed by the spahis regiments, while France expropriated all the land properties belonging to the Turkish settlers , known as Beliks . In the western region of Oran , Sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco , the Commander of the Faithful , could not remain indifferent to the massacres committed by

21357-426: The four ships sent to Greece and Turkey did receive snorkels and partial streamlining to the fairwater. Six Gato -class submarines are open to public viewing. They primarily depend on revenue generated by visitors to keep them operational and up to U.S. Navy standards; each ship gets a yearly inspection and a "report card". Some ships, such as Cod and Silversides , have been used in film production. The following

21546-515: The government also began to recognize the prospects for profitable land speculation in expanding the French zone of occupation. They created large agricultural tracts, built factories and businesses, and hired local labor. Among others testimonies, Lieutenant-colonel Lucien de Montagnac wrote on 15 March 1843, in a letter to a friend: All populations who do not accept our conditions must be despoiled. Everything must be seized, devastated, without age or sex distinction: grass must not grow any more where

21735-474: The government purchased an old foundry downstream from the main yard, constructed 10 slipways, and turned the yard over to Electric Boat. Called the Victory Yard , it became an integral part of Electric Boat operations. A total of 77 Gato s were built at four different locations (Electric Boat, Manitowoc, Portsmouth, and Mare Island). All of the Gato s (with one exception, Dorado ) would eventually fight in

21924-472: The heat generated by the recently shut-down engines, electronic gear, and 70 warm bodies will quickly raise internal temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C). High humidity generated by tropical waters will quickly condense and begin dripping into equipment, eventually causing electrical shorts and fires. Air conditioning, acting mostly as a dehumidifier, virtually eliminates this problem and greatly increases mechanical and electrical reliability. It proved to be

22113-440: The ice slowed her diving time by approximately two minutes while she tried to avoid an unidentified airplane. On 14 April 1943, Blackfish believed she sighted a periscope roughly 1,500 yards (1,400 m) off her port bow, but a subsequent search revealed nothing. It was the first of several sightings that likely were false as, according to Blackfish ′s log, "a certain amount of wreckage has been sighted from time to time and

22302-404: The invaders. Abderrahmane named his nephew Prince Moulay Ali Caliph of Tlemcen, charged with the protection of the city. In retaliation France executed two Moroccans: Mohamed Beliano and Benkirane, as spies, while their goods were seized by the military governor of Oran, Pierre François Xavier Boyer . Hardly had the news of the capture of Algiers reached Paris than Charles X was deposed during

22491-499: The invasion of Algeria, General de Bourmont then landed 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch on 14 June 1830, with 34,000 soldiers. In response to the French, the Algerian dey ordered an opposition consisting of 7,000 janissaries , 19,000 troops from the beys of Constantine and Oran , and about 17,000 Kabyles . The French established a strong beachhead and pushed toward Algiers, thanks in part to superior artillery and better organization. The French troops took

22680-460: The last leg of her patrol. On 13 February she sighted Cape Moreton Light , and shortly thereafter on the same day arrived at New Farm Wharf in Brisbane, Australia, ending her 49-day patrol, 31 days of which were spent in a combat area. Despite poor weather, a "groaning" rudder, and numerous leaks, Blackfish had managed to attack three Japanese convoys, as well as perform a special mission. The patrol

22869-558: The late 1940s largely passed these ships by. Only Barb and Dace received GUPPY conversions; these were austere GUPPY IB modernizations under project SCB 47A prior to their transfer to the Italian Navy . However, the U.S. Navy found itself new missions to perform, and for some of these the Gato s were well suited. The last two Gato -class ships active in the U.S. Navy were Rock and Bashaw , which were both decommissioned on 13 September 1969 and sold for scrap. The advent of

23058-430: The lead ship, and another two at the second. The second of the vessels, the disguised Vorpostenboot ( patrol boat ) V 408 Haltenbank , suffered a fatal hit by one of Blackfish ′s torpedoes. Blackfish immediately was subjected to a depth-charge attack, as well as, according to her log, “something, which sounded like a bomb, but that did not produce much shock.” As she dove, five bombs and four depth charges exploded,

23247-517: The leader of the column in sight and having finally gained a good position as the convoy emerged from the rain, Blackfish fired six torpedoes. Anticipating a quick reprisal, she dove to 300 feet (91 m). The Japanese began a depth-charge attack. Blackfish survived, but ultimately could not determine if she had made any successful hits against the convoy. After evading the escorts, Blackfish resumed her patroll. Between 9 and 14 January 1944, Blackfish ′s patrols proved relatively uneventful, but on

23436-445: The line" to get into an attack position. A rain squall intervened and obscured the destroyer, however, and no attack developed. As the rain passed, the convoy — consisting of a small tanker of approximately 4,500 gross register tons, two cargo ships of about 4,500 gross register tons, and two destroyers — came into clearer view. Persistent rain caused further sight and sound issues which delayed any chances of an attack. Believing she had

23625-459: The list for the number of ships sunk. Gato -class ships sank four Japanese submarines: I-29 , I-168 , I-351 , and I-42 ; while only losing one in exchange, Corvina to I-176 . Their principal weapon was the steam-powered Mark 14 torpedo in the early war years, with the electric Mark 18 torpedo supplementing the Mark 14 in late 1943. Due to a stunted research-and-development phase in

23814-516: The many veterans of the Napoleonic Wars who lived in Paris. His intention was to bolster patriotic sentiment, and distract attention from ineptly handled domestic policies by "skirmishing against the dey." In the 1790s, France had contracted to purchase wheat for the French army from two merchants in Algiers, Messrs. Bacri and Boushnak, and was in arrears paying them. Bacri and Boushnak owed money to

24003-436: The marchers and the local French gendarmerie, when the latter tried to seize banners attacking colonial rule. After five days, the French colonial military and police suppressed the rebellion, and then carried out a series of reprisals against Muslim civilians. The army carried out summary executions of Muslim rural communities. Less accessible villages were bombed by French aircraft, and cruiser Duguay-Trouin , standing off

24192-416: The middle of the range of numbers for the Balao class (SS-285 to SS-416, SS-425, and SS-426). Manitowoc was a designated follow-on yard to Electric Boat; they used construction blueprints and plans supplied by Electric Boat and used many of the same suppliers. The government-owned shipyards ( Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Mare Island Naval Shipyard ) began to make the transition to the new Balao design in

24381-559: The minister of war — who years earlier as general in Algeria had been badly defeated by Abd al Qadir — had him consigned in France in the Château d'Amboise . According to Ben Kiernan , colonization and genocidal massacres proceeded in tandem. Within the first three decades (1830–1860) of French conquest, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Algerians, out of a total of 3 million, were killed due to war, massacres, disease and famine. Atrocities committed by

24570-401: The morning hours, a heavy mist prevented her crew from making any good observations, but by the early afternoon, as visibility improved, the crew managed to take some photographs of the area. On 7 November 1942, Blackfish reconnoitered Dakar Point and Gorée Island , noting that at Point Manuel several buildings believed to be part of a naval base were under construction on reclaimed land in

24759-509: The morning of 20 February 1943, Blackfish received orders to return from patrol. She sped back to port and arrived safely in Falmouth , England, on 22 February 1943. In addition to the action that took place on 19 February, the patrol resulted in Blackfish ′s keen observation that, according to her patrol report, “the traffic of Spanish ships east of Bilbao appears excessive considering that Pasajes

24948-662: The new nuclear subs: Tullibee , commissioned in 1960, introduced the bow-mounted sonar sphere. Tullibee was an attempt to develop a slow but ultra-quiet nuclear-powered SSK equivalent; no others were built due to her unexpectedly high cost relative to the more capable Thresher , and the SSK mission was folded into the regular attack submarine role. The slow and less capable diesel SSKs were decommissioned or reassigned to other roles in 1959, and all except Croaker and Cavalla (eventually preserved as memorials) were scrapped in 1968 and 1969. The Regulus nuclear cruise missile program of

25137-424: The night of 12 November, she observed a peculiar flashing searchlight on Cape Verde Point that appeared to be making some type of signal. Nothing developed that evening, but on 13 November 1942, Blackfish patrolled the area again in case the light was signalling incoming convoys. Unfortunately for Blackfish , bad weather developed and visibility became severely limited, and in consequence she nearly collided with

25326-464: The overtly violent nature of the repression. Wishing to avoid a conflict with Morocco, Louis-Philippe sent an extraordinary mission to the sultan, mixed with displays of military might, sending war ships to the Bay of Tangier . An ambassador was sent to Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane in February 1832, headed by the Count Charles-Edgar de Mornay and including the painter Eugène Delacroix . However

25515-480: The passage of the Vichy French ships Winnetou , Livadia , and Nordfels steaming from Bilbao to Bordeaux , France . She was unable to engage any of them owing to an apparent effort by those ships to travel on days of low visibility and exceptionally bad weather conditions. At 10:50 on 18 February 1943, Blackfish happened upon approximately 30 small fishing boats headed for Bermeo , Spain, and her log noted that

25704-770: The patrol Lieutenant Commander Davidson observed that "the excessive smoking and steaming of the main engines in cold weather is a very serious military hazard and an immediate remedy is considered vital." On 11 May 1943, Blackfish anchored at Lerwick , Scotland, and at 10:00 on 12 May again got underway. In short order she joined Barb and La Capricieuse , and the three vessels headed for Rosneath in company. Blackfish anchored at Rosneath on 14 May 1943, concluding her fourth war patrol. From 14 May to 8 June 1943, Blackfish remained at Rosneath undergoing upkeep. During that time her crew received nine days of shore leave. On 2 June, she carried out local training, during which she conducted gunnery exercises and approaches with

25893-485: The patrol, with little excitement. On 15 April 1944, Blackfish conducted a reconnaissance of Merir in the Palau Islands . A brief investigation observed a Japanese transport plane making signals to the inhabitants of the island but nothing else came of it. Continued patrolling over the course of the next week revealed consistent plane activity but almost no ships in the area. In one briefly exciting moment on 21 April,

26082-418: The patrolling destroyers, which we managed to close to 3,000 yards (2,700 m) but without a very good set[-]up because of the constant changes of course and speed.” Given the circumstances, Blackfish pulled back. During the early morning hours of 8 January, one of the destroyers in the convoy came within sight again and Blackfish turned toward her on the surface and put all four of her diesel engines "on

26271-410: The period, ships of the Gato class were given the names of marine creatures. The Gato -class ships were considered to be fleet submarines , designed to operate as adjuncts to the main battle fleet, based on standard-type battleships since World War I . They were to scout out ahead of the fleet and report on the enemy fleet's composition, speed, and course, then they were to attack and whittle down

26460-464: The port of Algiers. France demanded that the dey send an ambassador to France to resolve the incident. When the dey responded with cannon fire directed toward one of the blockading ships, the French determined that more forceful action was required. Pierre Deval and other French residents of Algiers left for France, while the Minister of War , Clermont-Tonnerre , proposed a military expedition. However,

26649-424: The position of the scouting line." Blackfish dove and the convoy passed unharmed. In Davidson′s words, the incident was "pretty hard to take, after five patrols without a legitimate target." On 4 November 1943, Blackfish suddenly sighted a large Japanese convoy escorted by several planes. Upon sighting the aircraft, she dove and a depth charge exploded nearby, but she escaped unscathed. On 6 November, she moved to

26838-508: The post-World War I years, producing a series of submarines with less than stellar qualities and reliability, the AA-1 class (also known as the T class) and the V-boats , of which V-1 through V-3 were an unsuccessful attempt to produce a fleet submarine. By 1931, the experimental phase of fleet submarine development was over and the Navy began to make solid progress towards what would eventually be

27027-419: The pressure hull at both ends in the area of the torpedo room bulkheads, hence the "partial" double hull. Operational experience with earlier ships led the naval architects and engineers at the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair to believe that they had been unduly conservative in their estimates of hull strength. Without changing the construction or thickness of the pressure hull steel, they decided that

27216-452: The problems in the Mark 14 and largely corrected them by late 1943. The Mark 18 electric torpedo was a hastily copied version of captured German G7e torpedoes and was rushed into service in the fall of 1943. Unfortunately, it also was full of faults, the most dangerous being a tendency to run in a circular pattern and come back at the sub that fired it. Once perfected, both types of torpedoes proved to be reliable and effective weapons, allowing

27405-424: The radar notably shook Davidson’s confidence in the equipment. While in her patrol zone in the early morning of 3 February 1944, Blackfish sighted smoke and subsequently discovered a Japanese convoy consisting of two medium-sized merchant ships, two Fubuki -class destroyers , and one other unidentified escort of approximately 1,000 displacement tons . Having assumed a good position around 09:49, Blackfish fired

27594-531: The retirement of the Regulus missile system in 1965, Tunny was converted into a troop transport in 1966. She was redesignated as an APSS (transport submarine), replacing Perch in this role. Her Regulus hangar became a lockout chamber for UDT , SEAL , and Marine Force Recon teams in the Vietnam War . On 1 January 1969, Tunny ' s designation was changed to LPSS (amphibious transport submarine); however, she

27783-408: The same day. Once back in her patrol area she spotted numerous planes but few ships. Blackfish had a close call with her eponym on 12 April, when, according to her log, some “suspicious-looking objects were spotted 7,000 yards [6,400 meters] from the ship,” and a subsequent, investigation revealed that the objects in question were in fact “several large blackfish .” As April 1944 continued, so did

27972-718: The sea with concrete on their feet. Claude Bourdet had denounced these acts on 6 December 1951, in the magazine L'Observateur , rhetorically asking, "Is there a Gestapo in Algeria? ." D. Huf, in his seminal work on the subject, argued that the use of torture was one of the major factors in developing French opposition to the war. Huf argued, "Such tactics sat uncomfortably with France's revolutionary history, and brought unbearable comparisons with Nazi Germany . The French national psyche would not tolerate any parallels between their experiences of occupation and their colonial mastery of Algeria." General Paul Aussaresses admitted in 2000 that systematic torture techniques were used during

28161-407: The ship's screw stopped. Meanwhile, the destroyer sped up and dropped a series of eight depth charges . Blackfish dove to 300 feet (91 m) and cleared the area to the northwest, running silently . Following the action on 9 November 1942, Blackfish encountered few other particularly exciting events. On 12 November, her crew sighted a small trawler deemed too small for a torpedo attack. On

28350-474: The ships quite well. Both the Fairbanks-Morse and General Motors engines were two-stroke cycle types. Two manufacturers supplied electric motors for the Gato class. Elliott Company motors were fitted primarily to boats with Fairbanks-Morse engines. General Electric motors were fitted primarily to boats with General Motors engines, but some Fairbanks-Morse boats received General Electric motors. At

28539-454: The space was used as berthing for technicians and as a sonar lab. Flying Fish was decommissioned in 1954, but Grouper continued in the test role until 1968. Interested in maintaining a ready pool of trained reservists , the Navy assigned numerous fleet ships to various coastal and inland ports (even in Great Lakes ports such as Chicago , Cleveland , and Detroit ) where they served as

28728-424: The submarine USS  Bashaw  (SS-241) . She arrived in her patrol area on 17 March 1944. On 30 March 1944, Blackfish encountered a Japanese convoy and her crew manned their battle stations in preparation for an attack. At 1,800 yards (1,600 m), she fired a salvo of torpedoes from her port track, intending to sink the 6,700-gross register ton merchant ship Ryuyo Maru . Unfortunately for Blackfish ,

28917-603: The submarine USS  Redfin  (SS-272) , Blackfish set out from Milne Bay on her seventh war patrol on the morning of 25 December 1943. Shortly after conducting some drills on 25 December, it became apparent that her radar needed repairs, which forced Blackfish to return to Milne Bay on 26 December. With repairs completed by 19:15 on 26 December, Blackfish put back to sea and hurried to rejoin Redfin and Coucal at Point Mast . On 27 December, Blackfish participated in training and drills with Coucal and Redfin , then at 13:59

29106-459: The success of a Muslim government and the rapid growth of a viable territorial state that barred the extension of European settlement. Abd al Qadir fought running battles across Algeria with French forces, which included units of the Foreign Legion, organized in 1831 for Algerian service. Although his forces were defeated by the French under General Thomas Bugeaud in 1836, Abd al Qadir negotiated

29295-426: The sultan refused French demands that he evacuate Tlemcen . In 1834, France annexed as a colony the occupied areas of Algeria, which had an estimated Muslim population of about two million. Colonial administration in the occupied areas — the so-called régime du sabre (government of the sword) — was placed under a governor-general , a high-ranking army officer invested with civil and military jurisdiction, who

29484-581: The summer of 1942. Electric Boat, due to the huge backlog of Gato -class construction, was not ready to make the transition to the new design until January 1943. Manitowoc had already completed their allotted production run of Gato s and could not switch over to the Balao design until Electric Boat supplied them with the plans. Faced with a work stoppage while they waited for Electric Boat to catch up, managers at Manitowoc got permission to complete four additional boats (SS-361 through SS-364) to Electric Boat's Gato -class plans. Manitowoc's first Balao -class ship

29673-479: The target. The convoy’s escort and the ship Blackfish had targeted then faded out of view. Blackfish scoured the waters for nearly an hour but did not locate any of the ships. Gato class submarine The Gato class of submarines were built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943. Named after the lead ship of the class, USS  Gato , they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II . The Gatos , along with

29862-466: The test role for a few years under the designation AGSS. In 1957, she converted back to the oiler/tanker role and carried the designation AOSS. This time, she experimented with refueling seaplanes at sea, which was potentially important, as refueling the nuclear-capable Martin P6M Seamaster at sea could improve the Navy's strategic strike capabilities. However, this mission, too, was dropped and Guavina

30051-554: The third of which reportedly detonated very close aboard and “jarred the ship considerably.” The blast had in fact cracked the conning tower door frame, which caused some minor flooding. Blackfish bottomed out in 368 feet (112 m) of water, then maintained total silence for a full hour. At 19:18, she cleared the area. Blackfish surfaced at 22:20, and her crew made some minor repairs while inspecting her for additional damage. Having taken an account of herself, Blackfish sent word of her damage and then continued her patrol. Early on

30240-442: The three vessels charted a course for Tulagi. They arrived at Tulagi on 28 December and awaited further orders. For the next several days Blackfish patrolled in the local area, occasionally docking at Tulagi. On two separate occasions several U.S. Navy officers came aboard to witness a series of what were called "special radio tests." On 31 December 1943, Blackfish escorted the submarine chaser USS  SC-728 to Point White ,

30429-411: The torpedoes hit their mark. The attack instantly alerted the escorting submarine chasers , which converged on Blackfish . She quickly dove. The convoy’s escorts pursued Blackfish for nearly 40 minutes, but in the end she outran them. Blackfish resumed her pursuit of the convoy and sighted its smoke at approximately 11:11 on 23 November 1943. Davidson observed that there was one less ship present in

30618-574: The torpedoes passed under Ryuyo Maru ′s keel . Blackfish dove, expecting a depth-charge attack, but the convoy′s escorts did not give chase. Due to a lack of fuel, Sellars decided to break off the attack. Blackfish received orders on 6 April 1944 to proceed to Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands . She arrived there on the 8 April, moored to the port side of the tanker USS  Mink  (IX-123) and fueled. The turnaround proved quick, and she put back out to sea at 21:25

30807-416: The traditional submission as a slave to a husband. In fact, at that time Boubaghla left his first wife (Fatima Bent Sidi Aissa) and sent back to her owner a slave he had as a concubine (Halima Bent Messaoud). But on her side, Lalla Fadhma wasn't free: even if she was recognized as tamnafeqt ("woman who left her husband to get back to his family ," a Kabylia institution), the matrimonial tie with her husband

30996-412: The two forward diesel engines, and they received a snorkel . Grouper was converted under project SCB 58 as the test ship for the concept, having her sonar array at the forward end of the sail instead of the better position at the bow. The other ships in the program included Angler , Bashaw , Bluegill , Bream , Cavalla , and Croaker . Eventually more advanced sonars were installed on

31185-518: The use of torture during the war. In June 2000, Bigeard declared that he was based in Sidi Ferruch , a torture center where Algerians were murdered. Bigeard qualified Louisette Ighilahriz 's revelations, published in the Le Monde newspaper on June 20, 2000, as "lies." An ALN activist, Louisette Ighilahriz had been tortured by General Massu. However, since General Massu's revelations, Bigeard has admitted

31374-514: The village where Fadhma was born, there was a great council among combatants and important figures of the tribes in Kabylie. They decided to grant Lalla Fadhma, assisted by her brothers, the command of combat. The French faced other opposition as well in the area. The superior of a religious brotherhood, Muhyi ad Din , who had spent time in Ottoman jails for opposing the bey's rule, launched attacks against

31563-419: The war against the French. With her inspiring speeches, she convinced many men to fight as imseblen (volunteers ready to die as martyrs) and she herself, together with other women, participated in combat by providing cooking, medicines, and comfort to the fighting forces. Traditional sources tell that a strong bond was formed between Lalla Fadhma and Boubaghla. She saw this as a wedding of peers, rather than

31752-492: The war and justified it. He also recognized the assassination of lawyer Ali Boumendjel and the head of the FLN in Algiers, Larbi Ben M'Hidi , which had been disguised as suicides. Bigeard , who called FLN activists "savages ," claimed torture was a "necessary evil ." To the contrary, General Jacques Massu denounced it, following Aussaresses's revelations and, before his death, pronounced himself in favor of an official condemnation of

31941-473: The war started. Gato herself was laid down on 5 October 1940 by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut , and commissioned 31 December 1941. Due to their large construction capacity, more than half (41) of the class was built at Electric Boat facilities; three new slipways were added to the north yard and four slipways were added to the south yard to accommodate their production. In addition,

32130-539: The waters of Inchmarnock at the northern end of the Sound of Bute in the Firth of Clyde on the coast of Scotland to perform practice approaches with the British patrol yacht HMS  Breda . Gale-force winds, rain, and poor visibility hindered all training efforts, and by 15:00 Blackfish had shaped a new course, proceeding in company with the former French Navy minesweeper HMS  La Capricieuse to Muckle Flugga in

32319-569: The way the captured surviving men and boys were put alive in the hessian sacks and thrown into dug-up trenches. From 8 May to June 26, 1945, the French carried out the Sétif and Guelma massacre , in which between 6,000 and 80,000 Algerian Muslims were killed. Its initial outbreak occurred during a parade of about 5,000 people of the Muslim Algerian population of Sétif to celebrate the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II; it ended in clashes between

32508-401: The weather she shortly thereafter lost contact with them. At 12:00 on 6 January, with the weather slightly improving, she detected a Japanese convoy and began tracking it. Approximately an hour later she received a radio call to help the submarine USS  Balao  (SS-285) , but Balao was roughly 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) away, so Davidson opted to maintain contact with

32697-454: Was Hardhead . The Gato boats were authorized in appropriations for Fiscal Year 1941, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt 's proclamation of "limited emergency" in September 1939. The first boat laid down was actually USS  Drum at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on 11 September 1940. She was commissioned on 1 November 1941, and was the only Gato -class ship in commission when

32886-428: Was a coincidence or not, but every time we made any noise at all the destroyer would drop one or two more on us.” Blackfish and her crew endured 43 depth charges in total, but eventually she shook off the pursuing destroyer by heading into a heavy rain squall. Blackfish patrolled from 17 to 23 January 1944 with little to report other than some bad weather. Late on the evening of 24 January she received orders to shape

33075-467: Was a relentless fighter, and very eloquent in Arabic. He was very religious, and some legends tell of his thaumaturgic skills. Boubaghla went often to Soumer to talk with high-ranking members of the religious community, and Lalla Fadhma was soon attracted by his strong personality. At the same time, the relentless combatant was attracted by a woman so resolutely willing to contribute, by any means possible, to

33264-570: Was available due to the limitations of the installed hydraulic systems used to move the rudder. Although a point of concern, the turning radius was still acceptable. After the war, a few fleet ships were fitted with an additional rudder topside at the very stern. The class of ships had numerous crew comforts including showers, air conditioning, refrigerated storage for food, generous freshwater distilling units , clothes washers, and bunks for nearly every crew member; these were luxuries virtually unheard of in other navies. The bureau designers felt that if

33453-401: Was chosen because large numbers were available in the reserve fleet should rapid mobilization become necessary, and the deeper-diving classes were more suitable for GUPPY rather than SSK conversions. A streamlined GUPPY-style sail was installed, a large sonar array was wrapped around the bow (losing two torpedo tubes in the process), the ships were extensively silenced including the removal of

33642-491: Was decommissioned. The development of advanced sonar systems took on a great deal of importance in the 1950s, and several fleet ships were outfitted with various strange-looking sonar transducer arrays and performed extensive tests. Two Gato s, Flying Fish and Grouper (previously the prototype hunter-killer ship) were assigned to these duties and proved to be key players in the development of new sonar capabilities. Grouper had all her forward torpedo tubes removed and

33831-587: Was deemed "successful" and worthy of the Submarine Combat Patrol Insignia. At Brisbane, Blackfish underwent a two-week refit, during which she had a new SJ radar installed. On 22 February, Lieutenant Commander Robert F. Sellars assumed command of Blackfish , and on 1 March 1944 she put to sea, commencing her eighth war patrol. She stopped first at Milne Bay from 6 to 9 March, where she conducted training and took on fuel and provisions. Then on 10 March she headed for her patrol area in company with

34020-457: Was done when: Variations on the above mods included the 1A (shortened navigation bridge), 2A (plating removed from periscope shears), and the 3A and 4A (which moved the SJ radar mast aft of the periscopes). The conning tower fairwater of Flasher is preserved in Groton, Connecticut, in the mod 4A configuration, with two single 40 mm Bofors mounts. Deck guns varied during the war. Many targets in

34209-448: Was exceedingly loud, and he believed that the Japanese ability to locate Blackfish was directly related to her inability to keep quiet. Following a prolonged siege, the Japanese broke off their attack and Blackfish resumed her patrol. Blackfish left her patrol area on 28 November 1943. She stopped off at Tulagi for fuel on 1 December 1943, and on 4 December she made contact with her escort aircraft. She then proceeded to Milne Bay on

34398-573: Was excessive. In 1820, Louis XVIII paid back half of the Directory's debts. The Dey , who had loaned the Bacri 250,000 francs , requested the rest of the money from France. French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) Algerian War (1954–1962) 1990s– 2000s 2010s to present The Dey of Algiers was weak politically, economically, and militarily. Algeria was then part of the Barbary States , along with today's Tunisia; these depended on

34587-546: Was led by Ahmad ibn Muhammad , bey of Constantine . He initiated a radical overhaul of the Ottoman administration in his beylik by replacing Turkish officials with local leaders, making Arabic the official language, and attempting to reform finances according to the precepts of Islam . After the French failed in several attempts to gain some of the bey 's territories through negotiation, an ill-fated invasion force, led by Bertrand Clauzel , had to retreat from Constantine in 1836 in humiliation and defeat. However,

34776-420: Was nearby. Blackfish regained contact with the convoy and continued following it into the evening of 22 November 1943. While on the surface at 00:06 on 23 November 1943, she fired a spread of six torpedoes at the 4,500-gross register ton cargo ship No. 2 Yamato Maru at 02°27′N 140°06′E  /  2.450°N 140.100°E  / 2.450; 140.100 . Davidson felt certain that at least three of

34965-415: Was pledged to maintain the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, would move to fill the vacuum left by a French withdrawal. The French devised elaborate plans for settling the hinterland left by Ottoman provincial authorities in 1830, but their efforts at state-building were unsuccessful on account of lengthy armed resistance. The most successful local opposition immediately after the fall of Algiers

35154-447: Was replaced by Grayback and decommissioned in June of that year. Guavina was converted under SCB 39 to a SSO in 1950 to carry fuel oil, gasoline, and cargo to amphibious beachheads. She received additional "saddle" tanks wrapped around her outer hull to carry these fuels and a streamlined sail. After a few tests, the concept was dropped in 1951 as impractical, and Guavina served in

35343-412: Was responsible to the minister of war. Marshal Bugeaud , who became the first governor-general, headed the conquest. Soon after the conquest of Algiers, the soldier-politician Bertrand Clauzel and others formed a company to acquire agricultural land and, despite official discouragement, to subsidize its settlement by European farmers, triggering a land rush . Clauzel recognized the farming potential of

35532-479: Was ruled as a colony from 1830 to 1848, and then as multiple departments, an integral part of France , with the implementing of the Constitution of French Second Republic on 4 November 1848, until Algerian independence in 1962. For a period between 1860 and 1870, the then-French emperor Napoleon III transformed Algeria into a client state , expanding freedoms, and limiting colonisation, a move deeply unpopular by

35721-414: Was still in place, and only her husband's will could free her. However he did not agree to this, even when offered large bribes. The love between Fadhma and Bou remained platonic, but there were public expressions of this feeling between the two. Fadhma was personally present at many fights in which Boubaghla was involved, particularly the battle of Tachekkirt won by Boubaghla forces (18–19 July 1854), where

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