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Career
Ordered:
Laid down:
Launched:	27 December 1924
Commissioned:	26 September 1925
Decommissioned:	3 March 1945
Fate:
Stricken:
General characteristics
Displacement:	2000 tons (surfaced), 2620 tons (submerged(
Length:	326 feet (99.4m) waterline, 341 feet 6 inches (104m) overall
Beam:	27 feet 7 inches
Draft:	16 feet 11 inches
Speed:	18.7 knots
Propulsion:	four Busch-Sulzer 6-cyl diesels, two Elliott electric motors (120-cell Exide batteries)
Complement:	66 officers and men
Armament:	six 21-inch (53cm) torpedo tubes (four forward, two aft; twelve torpedoes); one three-inch (76.2mm)/50 cal gun; two machineguns

USS Bass (SF-5/SS-164), a Barracuda-class submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bass, an edible, spiny-finned fish. Her keel was laid at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched as V-2 (SF-5) on 27 December 1924 sponsored by Mrs. Douglas E. Dismukes, wife of Captain Dismukes, and commissioned on 26 September 1925 with Lieutenant Commander G.A. Rood in command.

V-2 was assigned to Submarine Division 20 and cruised along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean Sea through November 1927 when the Division sailed for San Diego, California, arriving 3 December 1927. V-2 operated with the fleet on the West Coast, in the Hawaiian Islands, and in the Caribbean Sea until December 1932.

V-2 was renamed Bass 9 March 1931 and in April was assigned to Division 12. On 1 July 1931 her hull classification symbol was changed from SF-5 to SS-164. On 2 January 1933 she was assigned to Rotating Reserve Submarine Division 15, San Diego. Bass rejoined the fleet again in July 1933 and cruised along the West Coast, in the Canal Zone, and in the Hawaiian Islands until January 1937. She then departed the West Coast and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 18 February 1937 where she went out of commission in reserve 9 June.

Bass was recommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 5 September 1940 and assigned to Submarine Division 9 Atlantic Fleet. Between February and November 1941 she operated along the New England coast and made two trips to St. George, Bermuda. She arrived at Coco Solo on 24 November and was on duty there when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor.

During 1942 Bass was attached to Submarine Division 31, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet. Between March and August, while based at Coco Solo, she made four war patrols in the Pacific, off Balboa. On 17 August 1942, while at sea, a fire broke out in the after battery room and quickly spread to the after torpedo room and starboard main motor, resulting in the death of 25 enlisted men by asphyxiation. The following day Antaeus (AS-21) arrived to assist the submarine and escorted her into the Gulf of Dulce, Costa Rica. Both proceeded to Balboa.

Bass remained in the Canal Zone until October 1942 when she departed for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving on 19 October. After undergoing repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard Bass proceeded to New London, Connecticut, where she conducted secret experiments off Block Island in December 1943. She was again in Philadelphia Yard for repairs from January to March 1944. During the remainder of the year she was attached to Submarine Squadron 1, Atlantic Fleet, and operated out of New London in the area between Long Island and Block Island. Bass was decommissioned at the Naval Submarine Base New London 3 March 1945 and expended as a target 18 March 1945.

See USS Bass for other ships of the same name.

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
• A very interesting documentary DVD has been made about diving to this historical submarine wreck. The WRECK HUNTERS[1] DVD depicts a group of wreck divers and their adventures while visiting the wreck of this very large boat.

• On Eternal Patrol: USS Bass