| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1937 | Sep 7 | Keel laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME. |
| 1938 | Jul 27 | Launched. |
| 1939 | Jan 16 | Commissioned with LT.W.D.Wilkin in command.
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| | May 23 | While on her initial shakedown cruise, Sculpin was diverted to search for the sunken submarine, Squalus. |
| 1940 | Jan 28 | Sculpin departed Portsmouth, NH., following the assistance given in the recovery of Squalus. |
| | Mar 6 | Sculpin arrived at San Diego,CA. |
| | Apr 1 | Sculpin departed San Diego, CA. |
| | Apr 9 | Sculpin arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| 1941 | Oct 23 | Sculpin departed Pearl Harbor, HI. as part of Submarine Division 22. |
| | Nov 8 | Sculpin arrived at Manila, Philippines. From Cavite, she engaged in local operations and type training until war broke out.
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| | Dec 8 | Sculpin departed Cavite on her 1st war patrol. Sculpin and Seawolf (SS-197) escorted Langley (AV-3) and Pecos (AO-65) as far as San Bernadino Strait. She then took station in the Philippine Sea North of Luzon on 10 December. |
| 1942 | Jan 22 | Sculpin's 1st war patrol terminated at Surabaja, Java. |
| | Jan 30 | Sculpin departed on her 2nd war patrol. Her area was in the Molucca Sea, East of Sulawesi. |
| | Feb 4 | Off Kendari, Java, Sculpin torpedoed a Japanese destroyer, inflicting heavy damage. Japanese records revealed that, after a submarine attack off Kendari on 4 February, destroyer Suzukaze, had been forced to run aground to avoid being sunk. |
| | Feb 17 | Sculpin was detected while making a surface attack on a destroyer and was forced to dive. During the ensuing depth charge attack, she sustained damage to her starboard main controller and starboard shaft. |
| | Feb 28 | Sculpin arrived at Fremantle, Australia, for repairs.
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| | Mar 13 | Sculpin departed Fremantle, Australia on her 3rd war patrol in the Banda Sea area. |
| | Mar 26 | Sculpin fired a spread of 3 fish at a large cargo ship. The torpedoes were last seen running straight for the target, but apparently ran deep and passed under the merchant ship. |
| | Apr 1 | A similar incident, as the one on 26 March, occurred in a night attack. |
| | Apr 27 | The frustrated Sculpin returned to Fremantle, Australia. |
| | May 29 | Sculpin departed for the South China Sea on her 4th war patrol. |
| | Jun 8 | Sculpin was unsuccessful in an attack on a cargo ship, again due to torpedo malfunction. |
| | Jun 13 | Near Balabac Strait, Sculpin torpedoed a cargo ship which returned fire with her deck gun and commenced to limp away. |
| | Jun 19 | Sculpin torpedoed a cargo ship, making a hit forward of the stack. A heavy secondary explosion was heard, and the damaged vessel was last seen headed for the shore to beach, smoke pouring from her forward hatch. |
| | Jul 17 | Sculpin returned to Brisbane Australia. |
| | Sep 8 | Sculpin departed on her 5th war patrol to the Bismarck Archipelago. |
| | Sep 28 | Sculpin scored 2 hits on a cargo ship, but was forced to dive as a Japanese destroyer raced to the scene. |
| | Oct 7 | Sculpin made her first confirmed kill, the 4,731 ton transport Naminoue Maru, off New Ireland. |
| | Oct 14 | Sculpin intercepted a 3 ship convoy in the shipping lane between Rabaul and Kavieng. Sculpin fired a spread of 4 torpedoes at the 2,000 ton cargo ship Sumoyoshi Maru. While the blazing Maru lay dead in the water and sinking, Sculpin slipped away. |
| | Oct 18 | Sculpin inflicted minor damage on the light cruiser Yura, with a hit forward of the bridge, but was driven off by the cruiser’s gunfire. |
| | Oct 26 | Sculpin returned to Brisbane, Australia. |
| | Nov 18 | Sculpin departed Brisbane, Australia on her 6th war patrol. She worked her way past New Britain to the rich hunting grounds off Truk. |
| | Dec 11 | Sculpin escaped a Japanese aerial attack. |
| | Dec 19 | Sculpin scored two hits on a tanker, with no sinking confirmed.
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| 1943 | Jan 8 | Sculpin arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Jan 9 | Sculpin steamed to San Francisco, CA. for a 3 month overhaul period at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. |
| | May 9 | Sculpin returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | May 24 | Sculpin departed Hawaii for her 7th war patrol and operated off the Northwest coast of Honshu. |
| | Jun 9 | Sculpin detected a Japanese task force consisting of two aircraft carriers with a cruiser escort. Sculpin rang up flank speed to close, but was outdistanced. She made a desperate shot, 4 torpedoes from 7,000 yds. |
| | Jun 19 | Sculpin destroyed 2 sampans by gunfire, leaving them aflame, with decks awash. During the remainder of the patrol, she spotted other possible targets, but they all hugged the shore some running inside the ten fathom line. |
| | Jul 4 | Sculpin terminated her 7th war patrol at Midway Island. |
| | Jul 25 | Sculpin departed on 8th war patrol off the Chinese Coast and Formosa Strait. |
| | Aug 9 | Sculpin torpedoed and sank the cargo/transport, Sekko Maru, off the coast of Formosa. |
| | Aug 21 | Sculpin intercepted an armed cargo ship and fired a spread of 3 torpedoes which ran "hot, straight, and normal" but did not explode. |
| | Sep 17 | Sculpin ended her 8th war patrol at Midway, Island. |
| | Nov 5 | Following overhaul at Pearl Harbor, HI., Sculpin departed on her 9th war patrol. Sculpin and two other submarines were to form a wolfpack to make coordinated attacks on the enemy. Capt. John P. Cromwell was on board Sculpin to coordinate the operations. |
| | Nov 7 | Sculpin refueled at Johnston Island and then proceeded to her assigned station. |
| | Nov 19 | Scuttled in the Gilberts Archipelago on her 9th patrol. The Commanding Officer CDR.Connaway was killed. Capt. Cromwell went down with the ship and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his act of heroism and devotion to country. |
| 1944 | Mar 25 | Struck from the Naval Register. |