The Legend of the Batfish Lives On at War Memorial Park
military, recreation, uss batfish, veterans, war memorial park,
Eighty men. A 300-foot long, 27-foot-wide submarine. Two months at sea. As hard as it is to imagine, that was home to the sailors who lived and worked on the USS Batfish during its many missions in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
One of only 16 WWII submarines still in existence in the U.S., the USS Batfish is a major attraction at Muskogee’s War Memorial Park.
Known as The Champion Submarine-Killing Submarine of WWII, it ran seven patrols during that war, mostly in the South Pacific. On one mission alone, it sank three Japanese submarines in a 76-hour period, a record that still stands today. It was part of the invasion of Iwo Jima. It was there at the liberation of the Philippines. It earned nine Battle Stars, one Navy Cross, four Silver Stars, ten Bronze Stars and one Presidential Unit Citation.
And of course the fact that it’s a submarine located in the middle of landlocked Oklahoma also accounts for part of the fascination with the Batfish.
“This is a national treasure. Most submarines are on a coast, but this is centrally located and accessible,” says Rick Dennis, manager for the Muskogee War Memorial Park.
After retiring as a training vessel based at the Port of New Orleans, six barges brought the Batfish up the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers in 1972 to its new home in Oklahoma.
“The local chapter of submarine veterans wanted a memorial here in Oklahoma to honor World War II veterans,” Dennis says. “But the Batfish has become a memorial to not only WWII vets, but to the vets of the other wars she served in.”
Today, visitors to the Batfish – about 10,000 a year and growing – can experience the submarine “just as if she just pulled into harbor after a mission and the crew just got off the boat,” Dennis says.
Former Batfish sailors meet at the park each May for a reunion.
“It’s like a family reunion,“ Dennis says. “Imagine 80 men thrown out to sea on a little tiny boat in a combat situation. They’ve built a special relationship.”
Story by Kimberly Daly
Photo by Staff
