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USS Bonita (SS-165)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Bonita (SS-165).

V-3 (SF-6) was laid down on 16 November 1921 by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard; launched on 9 June 1925; sponsored by Mrs. R. L. De Steiguer; and commissioned on 22 May 1926, Lt. Comdr. Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., in command.

Assigned to Submarine Division 20, she operated along the coast of New England and in the West Indies until early November 1927. The submarine was renamed USS Bonita on 9 March 1931, and she was reclassified SS-165 on 1 July 1931. On 1 June 1932, USS Bonita (SS-165) was placed in rotating reserve at Mare Island, Calif. However, in September 1933, the warship returned to active service and cruised the west coast until the beginning of 1937. On 20 January 1937, she put to sea from San Diego for the east coast of the United States. USS Bonita (SS-165) arrived at Philadelphia on 18 February and was decommissioned there on 4 June 1937.

Recommissioned on 5 September 1940, she departed New London, Conn., on 17 November 1940, bound for Coco Solo in the Canal Zone. USS Bonita (SS-165) patrolled in the Pacific off Panama until after the United States entered World War II. She returned to Philadelphia in October 1942 for an overhaul. Patrolling off the Maine coast until mid 1943, she then joined Submarine Division (SubDiv) 13, Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 1, on training duty out of New London. She remained on that duty until February 1945. Arriving at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 February 1945, USS Bonita (SS-165) was decommissioned there on 3 March 1945 and sold on 28 October 1945.

For a complete history of USS Bonita (SS-165) please see its DANFS page.