AH-WR-0785

USS Bass

Submarine · United States · Lost 1945 · Cape Cod & Nantucket Shoals

Once the largest U.S. Navy submarine, USS Bass ended her days as a sonar target off Block Island in 1945.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Commissioned in 1925 as the largest submarine yet built for the U.S. Navy, Bass underperformed operationally and was decommissioned before World War II. Recommissioned in 1940, she suffered a devastating battery-room fire in 1942 that killed 26 crew, after which she was converted to a cargo submarine. She was scuttled as a sonar target off Block Island on March 12, 1945, and today lies broken in two, a popular advanced dive.

Vessel

Built: 1924
Registry: SS-164
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Yard: Kittery, Maine
Material: Steel
Length: 341.5 ft
Beam: 27.5 ft
Tonnage: 2119
Propulsion: Diesel-electric, twin screw
Owners: United States Navy

Loss

Date: March 12, 1945
Cause: Intentional sinking
Location: Off Block Island, Rhode Island
Water: Rhode Island Sound, Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 0
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 120-155
Condition: Broken into two main sections; forward hull separated from the remainder.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Protected as U.S. government property under the Sunken Military Craft Act.

Position

Coordinates: 41.02° N 71.55° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Block Island, Rhode Island
Region: Cape Cod & Nantucket Shoals

Position about 7.5 miles south of Southeast Light, Block Island, given as 41-01-09N/71-32-50W (with an alternate reading of 41-01-12N/71-33-00W noted) by an independent historical-society account and a wreck-diving reference; treated as an approximate historically-described position rather than a precise modern survey.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)

A precise published resting position was not identified in the sources reviewed.

NOAA Ocean Exploration
Service history, fire casualties, and scuttling narrative.
njscuba.net (New Jersey Scuba Diving)
Dive depths and wreck condition.
Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association / J.F. Jenney wreck files
wreck position
Hunting New England Shipwrecks (wreckhunter.net)
wreck position