The USS Sea Fox (SS-402) was a Balao-class submarine constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Laid down on November 2, 1943, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, she was launched on March 28, 1944, and commissioned on June 13, 1944. Named after the sea fox, a large shark known as the thresher shark, she was designed for combat and patrol duties in the Pacific theater. Sea Fox’s wartime service began shortly after her commissioning, with her first patrol starting in October 1944 near the Bonin Islands. During her initial patrol, she engaged enemy shipping and served as a lifeguard vessel for B-24 Liberator strikes against Iwo Jima. Her first attack damaged an enemy freighter, and she sank a cargo ship in the Ryukyu Islands after firing 11 torpedoes, one of which circled and passed over her conning tower. Her second patrol in December 1944-February 1945 saw her participating in coordinated attacks with other submarines, although her contact efforts were largely unsuccessful. She also survived a Japanese ambush during refit at Guam, which resulted in the deaths of five crew members. Her third patrol in the South China Sea included damaging a freighter and participating in the sinking of the Awa Maru, a "mercy" ship. During this period, she also recovered debris from the wreckage of the Awa Maru, gathering intelligence on its cargo. Her final war patrol in mid-1945 was primarily for lifeguard duties, rescuing several Allied airmen. Postwar, USS Sea Fox served in the Pacific, including deployments to the Philippines and the western Pacific, supporting U.S. operations during the Korean War, and later operating out of San Diego. She was modernized with a GUPPY IIA conversion in 1953, enhancing her underwater capabilities. Throughout the 1960s, she supported operations in Vietnam and conducted training exercises along the California coast. Decommissioned on November 1970, Sea Fox was sold to Turkey and renamed TCG Burakreis (S 335). She served in the Turkish Navy until 1996, earning four battle stars during WWII and four campaign stars during the Vietnam War, and was twice awarded the Battle Ready designation in the mid-1960s. Her service record reflects her significance as a resilient and versatile submarine through multiple conflicts and decades of naval operations.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.