Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is an incredible piece of WWII Submarine Warfare history! This is a framed example of a “Battle Flag” for the US Navy’s Gato-Class Submarine USS Bream (SS/SSK/AGSS-243).

The tradition of submarine battle flags began during WWII when subs returning from
patrol would fly flags representing ships sunk, total tonnage, or a broom indicating a “clean sweep” (meaning that every target engaged was destroyed). Toward the end of the war the crews started making flags specific to their boat with a logo and sewn patches indicating ships sunk, the number of patrols, pilots rescued, citations received, etc.

Battle flags in World War II kept an unofficial record of the number of ships a submarine sank. Warships were represented by the rising sun version of the Japanese flag, while the merchant vessels were represented by the "meatball" flags. The submarine's logo was also featured on the flag. The difficulties in assessing actual damage from attacks on the enemy led many submarines to overestimate their successes. After the war, an Allied naval review board discovered inaccuracies as great as thirty percent during an examination of Japanese losses credited to American submarines.

The flag is in fantastic condition and has a beautiful array of target flags as well as the lifeguard flag for the five Army aviators she pulled from the Japanese minefields off Takao. The colors are retained very well and the overall condition and construction is excellent.

This is an extremely rare battle flag and we will not see another like it for a long time! Comes more than ready for further research and display.

USS Bream
USS Bream (SS/SSK/AGSS-243), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bream. She served during World War II, and her war operations extended from 1 June 1944 to 15 June 1945. During this period she completed six war patrols operating in the Java Sea, Celebes Sea, Sulu Sea, South China Sea, and Gulf of Siam. She sank two Japanese merchant ships totaling 6,934 gross register tons. In addition, Bream shared with the submarines USS Ray (SS-271) and USS Guitarro (SS-363) the destruction of a 6,806-gross register ton passenger-cargo ship. On 23 October 1944, while patrolling off western Luzon, Bream made a daring surface attack on a Japanese naval force, damaging the heavy cruiser Aoba.

After World War II, Bream operated in the United States Pacific Fleet during the 1950s and 1960s and saw service in the Vietnam War.

World War II

January–May 1944
Following shakedown training in the New London, Connecticut, area, Bream set out for the Pacific Ocean on 10 March 1944 and reached the Panama Canal Zone on 20 March 1944. She completed another series of exercises before transiting the Panama Canal on 10 April 1944 and continuing on to Brisbane, Australia, where she arrived on 8 May 1944.

On 10 May 1944, Bream left Australia bound for New Guinea. During her voyage, an Allied Liberty ship mistook her for a Japanese submarine and opened gunfire on her at a range of 12,000 yards (11,000 m) in the Coral Sea at 18°31′S 153°13′E, firing five or six rounds. Bream suffered no damage or casualties.

Bream reached Milne Bay, New Guinea, on 14 May 1944 and underwent voyage repairs alongside the submarine tender USS Euryale (AS-22). Upon completion of that work, Bream proceeded to Seeadler Harbor on the Admiralty Islands. She reached Seeadler Harbor on 29 May 1944 and began preparations for her first war patrol.

First war patrol
On 1 June 1944, Bream got underway for her first war patrol, assigned a patrol area in the vicinity of Halmahera Island. She made several contacts with Japanese vessels in Morotai Strait, but conditions prevented her from taking any offensive action. Her luck changed on 8 June 1944, however, when she spotted a Japanese convoy, selected a transport as a target, and unleashed a six-torpedo spread. Members of Bream′s crew heard one loud explosion before she went deep. Several depth charges detonated nearby, but she survived unscathed. Postwar study of Japanese records failed to confirm a kill.

On 13 June 1944, while Bream tracked another Japanese convoy, a depth-charge barrage forced her to break off pursuit before she could maneuver into position for an attack. Her luck improved again on 16 June 1944 when she next encountered a Japanese convoy. She fired torpedoes at two transports, and breaking-up noises reverberated throughout the submarine shortly thereafter as the 5,704-gross register ton Japanese cargo ship Yuki Maru disintegrated and went to the bottom. Several days after that attack, damage to a hatch gasket in Bream′s conning tower while she was submerged allowed water to flood into her pump room and knock out all electrical power in the room. This forced Bream to head for Seeadler Harbor, where she arrived on 29 June 1944. Work to correct the damage began shortly thereafter.

Second war patrol
Following repairs, refitting, and training, Bream began her second war patrol on 21 July 1944, when she got underway for a patrol area in waters off the southern Philippine Islands. On 29 July 1944, she had almost reached the entrance to Davao Gulf when flames broke out in her maneuvering room. Centered over the port main motor, the fire ignited cork and auxiliary cable insulation in the overhead. Fifteen minutes after it broke out, the blaze was extinguished. The damage was not serious enough to force Bream to terminate her patrol, and she proceeded to the coast of Mindanao.

On 7 August 1944, Bream moved to an area off Davao Gulf in an attempt to intercept traffic coming from the Palau Islands. She encountered Japanese ships but expended no torpedoes. On the morning of 26 August 1944, as she retired toward Fremantle, Australia, Bream spotted a Japanese airplane. The plane dropped a bomb which exploded near her as she dived, raised her stern about 20 feet (6.1 m), and shook her severely. A second bomb also detonated nearby and inflicted considerable damage. Nevertheless, Bream put into Brisbane safely on 6 September 1944.

Third war patrol
Bream underwent a refit by Euryale before beginning her third war patrol, getting underway for Darwin, Australia, on 2 October 1944. She paused at Darwin on 9 October for minor repairs and refueling before continuing on to her patrol area off the Philippine Islands between the northern end of Palawan Passage and Manila. On 16 October 1944, she sighted a two-masted barge with an escort but decided to let them pass to avoid alerting more valuable targets of her presence.

On 23 October 1944, three large ships — two Imperial Japanese Navy light cruisers and one heavy cruiser — appeared on Bream’s radar scope. One of the Japanese warships approached to within 800 yards (730 m) on Bream′s port quarter before Bream fired six torpedoes. Soon thereafter, Bream’s crew heard three loud explosions and believed that they had sunk a Japanese cruiser. A study of Japanese records after the war revealed that Bream had damaged the Japanese heavy cruiser Aoba severely enough to keep her from participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf of 23–26 October 1944. Bream endured intermittent depth charging over the next five hours, but suffered no damage.

On 24 October 1944, Bream picked up six survivors of a Japanese ship sunk several days before by the submarine USS Bluegill (SS-242). On 25 October, she moved into position for an attempt to intercept the Japanese fleet retiring from Philippine waters after Japan's defeat in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On 30 October 1944, she spotted a Japanese convoy, fired a six-torpedo spread at a large transport, and went deep to avoid depth charges. Her torpedoes damaged the transport, but it was able to continue under its own power.

On 4 November 1944, Bream fired four torpedoes at another Japanese transport, but all missed. After weathering a total of eight depth charges, she eluded her pursuers and resumed her patrol. On 6 November, she came upon two Japanese cruisers and began closing for an attack on the leading ship. After careful maneuvering to avoid the cruiser’s escorts, she fired four torpedoes. Some Bream crewmen reported three explosions, but no damage to any Japanese ship seems to have resulted. Bream then shaped a course for Fremantle, where she arrived on 22 November 1944.

Fourth war patrol
Following refit and training, Bream commenced her fourth war patrol on 19 December 1944. She entered Exmouth Gulf on the coast of Western Australia on 22 December 1944 and refueled there that same day. She continued on through Lombok Strait northbound, entered the Java Sea, spotted a sailboat on 31 December, and decided to attack it with her 4-inch (102 mm) gun. During the action, a Japanese plane approached, forcing Bream to cease fire and dive.

On 9 January 1945, Bream began patrolling the western approaches to Balabac Strait. After four uneventful days, she moved to the northern end of the strait but again made no contacts and so shifted to Miri on the coast of Borneo for reconnaissance work. She sighted a large Japanese vessel on 24 January, but the contact proved to be a hospital ship. Bream transited Lombok Strait southbound on 4 February 1945, paused at Onslow, Australia, for refueling on 6 February, and finally arrived at Fremantle on 10 February 1945.

Fifth war patrol
Bream left Australia on 7 March 1945 for her fifth war patrol, made a refueling stop at Exmouth Gulf on 10 March, and proceeded through Lombok Strait northbound to the shipping lanes between Balikpapan on Borneo and-Surabaya on Java. On 13 March 1945, she intercepted two Japanese "sea trucks" — the U.S. term for small cargo ships — and sank them with her 4-inch (102 mm) gun. On 14 March, she came across a Japanese convoy of three small cargo ships and an escort. She fired three bow tubes at the leading cargo ship, but all of them broached. She then got off one more torpedo, and it seemed to hit the ship, which blew up with a tremendous explosion. However, postwar accounting failed to confirm a kill.

On 15 March 1945, Bream sighted a Japanese escort destroyer and began preparing for an attack. However, the destroyer detected Bream and began depth-charging her. Several depth charges went off close aboard and drove Bream to the bottom in 100 feet (30 m) of water. Bream remained on the ocean floor, mired in mud, for five hours and underwent repeated depth-charge barrages. During one attack, her conning tower hatch was lifted, forcing her crew to abandon the conning tower and secure it by closing the lower hatch. When the destroyer gave up the chase later that night, Bream surfaced and began evaluating the extent of her damage. The damage proved extensive, and she spent several days making temporary repairs.

Bream later detected two ships on radar that proved to be Japanese cargo ships. She fired four torpedoes from her bow tubes, but all four promptly sank. Apparently the tubes had been damaged in the encounter with the Japanese escort destroyer. Bream then set a course through Lombok Strait for Australia and reached Fremantle on 22 March 1945. she underwent a refit, during which both of her periscopes, her starboard propeller shaft, and both of her screws were replaced, and the damage to her torpedo tubes was corrected.

Sixth war patrol
On 20 April 1945, Bream commenced her sixth war patrol. She transited Lombok Strait northbound on 25 April 1945 and early on the morning of 26 April spotted what appeared to be an American submarine. The submarine quickly turned and headed toward Bream, which dived and manned her battle stations. Several depth charges dropped by a Japanese escort vessel shook Bream, but she managed to clear the area safely. A few hours later, she encountered two small Japanese patrol boats, but they were too small to merit a torpedo attack.

On 29 April 1945, while patrolling off southern Borneo, Bream picked up the trail of a Japanese oiler. After stalking the oiler for several hours, she fired four torpedoes at it. The first torpedo hit, and the oiler disintegrated in a mass of flames. Bream continued her patrol uneventfully until pulling into port at Subic Bay on Luzon in the Philippines on 14 May 1945 for voyage repairs and fuel. On 16 May, she put back out to sea and headed for lifeguard duty off the southern tip of Formosa. During her time on station, she rescued five downed American aviators. On 31 May 1945, she headed for Saipan in the Mariana Islands, where she arrived on 5 June 1945.

Bream departed Saipan on 6 June 1945 and, following a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arrived at San Francisco, California, on 24 June 1945. Upon her arrival, she began an overhaul at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard in San Francisco. While the work was in progress, the war in the Pacific ended on 15 August 1945 (14 August on the other side of the International Date Line in San Francisco). Bream later transferred to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California. She was decommissioned there on 31 January 1946 and was laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.