page_title: USS Bonita (SSK-3)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Bonita (SSK-3)
caption_attribution_description: navy photo of Bonita (SSK-3) from navsource
context_page_description: USS Bonita, a Barracuda-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bonito, a name applied to several types of fish, including the skipjack tuna, the Atlantic bonito, the lesser amberjack, or the cobia. She was originally named USS K-3 (SSK-3).
  The original contract for construction of K-3 (SSK-3) was awarded to New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, but later transferred to Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California, where her keel was laid down on 19 May 1950. She was launched as K-3 on 21 June 1951, sponsored by Mrs. J.S. Clark, widow of Commander James S. Clark, and commissioned on 11 January 1952 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Eric E. Hopley.
  The three SSK boats, K-1, K-2, and K-3 (SSK-3), were equipped with the large BQR-4 bow-mounted sonar array as part of Project Kayo, which experimented with the use of passive acoustics with low-frequency, bow-mounted sonar arrays. When the boat was rigged for silent running, these arrays gave greatly improved convergence zone detection ranges against snorkeling submarines.
context_section_description: USS Bonita (SSK-3/SS-552), a Barracuda-class submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bonito, a name applied to several types of fish, including the skipjack tuna, (Katsuwonus pelamis), the Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda), the lesser amberjack (Seriola fasciata), or the cobia (Rachycentron canadum). She was originally named USS K-3 (SSK-3).
  The original contract for construction of K-3 (SSK-3) was awarded to New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, but later transferred to Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California, where her keel was laid down on 19 May 1950.  She was launched as K-3 on 21 June 1951, sponsored by Mrs. J.S. Clark, widow of Commander James S. Clark (who died while commanding USS Golet (SS-361)), and commissioned on 11 January 1952 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Eric E. Hopley.
  The three SSK boats, K-1 (SSK-1), K-2 (SSK-2), and K-3 (SSK-3), were equipped with the large BQR-4 bow-mounted sonar array as part of Project Kayo, which experimented with the use of passive acoustics with low-frequency, bow-mounted sonar arrays. When the boat was rigged for silent running, these arrays gave greatly improved convergence zone detection ranges against snorkeling submarines. The SSKs themselves were limited in their anti-submarine warfare (ASW) abilities by their low speed and their need to snorkel periodically to recharge their batteries, but the advances in sonar technology they pioneered were invaluable to the development of nuclear-powered submarines. The class was developed as mobilization prototypes should large numbers of Soviet submarines based on the Type XXI U-boat appear.
caption: Bonita with the characteristic bulky sonar dome at her bow (Mare Island Naval Shipyard)
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