&sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_Bonita_(SSK-3).jpg) Bonita with the characteristic bulky sonar dome at her bow (Mare Island Naval Shipyard)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Bonita |
| Namesake | the bonito, a name applied to various types of fish |
| Builder | Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1] |
| Laid down | 19 May 1950[1] |
| Launched | 21 June 1951[1] |
| Commissioned | 11 January 1952[1] |
| Decommissioned | 7 November 1958 |
| Stricken | 1 April 1965[1] |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 17 November 1966[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Barracuda-class diesel-electric Hunter-killer submarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 196 ft 1 in (59.77 m) overall[1] |
| Beam | 24 ft 7 in (7.49 m)[1] |
| Draft | 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m) mean[1] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km)[3] |
| Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[1] |
| Complement | 37 officers and men[1] |
| Armament | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Bonita (SSK-3/SS-552), a Barracuda-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bonito, a name applied to several types of fish, including the skipjack tuna, (Katsuwonus pelamis), the Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda), the lesser amberjack (Seriola fasciata), or the cobia (Rachycentron canadum). She was originally named USS K-3 (SSK-3).
The original contract for construction of K-3 (SSK-3) was awarded to New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, but later transferred to Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California, where her keel was laid down on 19 May 1950. She was launched as K-3 on 21 June 1951, sponsored by Mrs. J.S. Clark, widow of Commander James S. Clark (who died while commanding USS Golet (SS-361)), and commissioned on 11 January 1952.
The three SSK boats, K-1 (SSK-1), K-2 (SSK-2), and K-3 (SSK-3), were equipped with the large BQR-4 bow-mounted sonar array as part of Project Kayo, which experimented with the use of passive acoustics with low-frequency, bow-mounted sonar arrays. When the boat was rigged for silent running, these arrays gave greatly improved convergence zone detection ranges against snorkeling submarines. The SSKs themselves were limited in their anti-submarine warfare (ASW) abilities by their low speed and their need to snorkel periodically to recharge their batteries, but the advances in sonar technology they pioneered were invaluable to the development of nuclear-powered submarines. The class was developed as mobilization prototypes should large numbers of Soviet submarines based on the Type XXI U-boat appear.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991), Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, p. 284, ISBN 0-313-26202-0
- ^ Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 75–82, 241–242. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
- ^ Friedman, p. 77