| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1939 | Jan 16 | Keel laid down by the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. |
| | Dec 20 | Launched. |
| 1940 | Jun 3 | Commissioned with LCDR. John M. Murphy, Jr., in command.
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| | Aug 6 | Tambor got underway for her shakedown cruise which took her to New York City, Washington, D.C. Morehead City, N.C.; and Houston, Tex. Following further training off Colon, Canal Zone, the submarine returned to New London, CT. |
| 1941 | May 1 | After conducting experiments measuring the effectiveness of depth charges, Tambor reported to the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet.
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| | Nov 25 | Tambor began a peace-time patrol of Wake Island, and when war with Japan broke out,however, she was forced to return to Pearl Harbor with one engine out of commission. She was routed back to Mare Island for repairs. |
| 1942 | Mar 1 | Tambor returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Mar 15 | Tambor began her 1st war patrol when she stood out of Pearl Harbor, HI. to reconnoiter the areas around Wake, Truk, New Ireland, New Britain, and Rabaul. |
| | Mar 30 | Tambor made unsuccessful attacks on enemy ships. |
| | Apr 6 | Tambor made unsuccessful attacks on enemy ships. |
| | Apr 16 | Tambor fired 2 torpedoes at a tanker. 1 hit, but the submarine's report that the target had been sunk was not verified by postwar examination of Japanese records. |
| | May 12 | Tambor returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | May 21 | For her 2nd war patrol, Tambor was assigned to Task Group 7.1. The group of 6 submarines sailed for Midway Island to begin patrolling a 160 mile circle in anticipation of the invasion fleet that intelligence had reported was enroute there. |
| | Jun 6 | Tambor sighted 4 large ships at a range of 3 miles. 3 others soon appeared, but 2 hours passed before the fleet was identified as 2 Japanese cruisers escorted by 5 destroyers. |
| | Jun 6 | (Cont'd.) The ships soon outdistanced the submarine, but she promptly radioed their position to Midway. |
| | Jun 8 | Tambor sighted a scout plane 7 miles away, and she went to 140 feet. 2 depth bombs, which exploded close aboard, damaged both her periscopes and cracked all four battery blower motors. |
| | Jun 16 | Tambor returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. for repairs. |
| | Jul 24 | Tambor began her 3rd war patrol and searched for enemy shipping in the Marshall Islands. |
| | Aug 7 | Near Wotje Island, Tambor sank the converted net tender Shofuka with 1 torpedo which broke her in half. |
| | Aug 19 | Tambor was ordered to patrol the Southern passages to Truk. As there was time to spare before she was to take station there, she prowled through the Caroline Islands. |
| | Aug 21 | Near Ponape, Tambor fired a spread of 3 torpedoes at a freighter and her escort. The 1st hit the target amidships and the other 2 aft, blowing off the stern. Shinsei Maru No. 6 quickly sank. |
| | Sep 19 | Tambor returned to Fremantle, Australia. |
| | Oct 12 | On her 4th war patrol, Tambor sailed for Hainan Strait and laid mines there. |
| | Nov 3 | Tambor fired 3 torpedoes at a freighter but all missed. The submarine eluded detection, and 30 minutes later, she fired 2 more. 1 hit amidships, and Chikupo Maru went under by the stern. |
| | Nov 6 | Tambor fired 2 torpedoes at a cargo-passenger ship flying the French flag, but both missed. |
| | Nov 10 | Tambor closed an unarmed sampan, took it's crew on board and sank it by gunfire. |
| | Nov 21 | Tambor returned to Fremantle, Australia for refit, during which her deck gun was replaced by a modern 6-inch gun.
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| | Dec 18 | On her 5th war patrol, Tambor patrolled Soenda Strait between Krakatau and Thartway Island. |
| 1943 | Jan 1 | Tambor attacked a destroyer but a spread of 4 torpedoes missed and she went deep to avoid the 18 depth charges that followed.
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| | Jan 28 | Tambor returned to Fremantle, Australia. |
| | Feb 18 | Tambor sailed on her 6th war patrol from Fremantle, Australis to carry out a special mission in the Philippine Islands. |
| | Mar 5 | Tambor landed a small Navy party with 60,000 rounds of .30-caliber ammunition, 20,000 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition, and $10,000 in curreney on Southern Mindanao. |
| | Mar 22 | Tambor fired 3 torpedoes at a naval auxiliary Southwest of Apo Island and saw 1 hit. |
| | Mar 29 | Tambor scored 1 hit on a freighter out of 3 torpedoes fired. |
| | Apr 14 | The submarine returned to Fremantle, Australia for refit and the installation of a 20-millimeter gun forward of the bridge.
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| | May 7 | Tambor's 7th patrol took her North of the Malay Barrier. |
| | May 26 | Tambor fired a spread of 3 torpedoes at a tanker-all misses. |
| | May 29 | 3 torpedoes missed a cargo ship. Tambor tried again several hours later, saw 2 of the 3 torpedoes fired score hits, and heard 3 explosions. As the target was sinking, she fired another spread of 3 at an accompanying freighter. |
| | May 29 | (Cont'd.) Some of the crew of Eiski Maru escaped in two lifeboats. |
| | Jun 2 | On 2 and on 6 June, Tambor fired spreads of 3 torpedoes at cargo ships. The 1st appeared to break in half, and the 2nd seemed to sink, but there is no record of the sinkings in Japanese official records. |
| | Jun 16 | Tambor fired her last 3 torpedoes at a tanker off Cam Ranh Bay but all missed.
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| | Jun 27 | Tambor returned to Fremantle, Australia. |
| | Jul 20 | On her 8th war patrol,Tambor stood out of Fremantle, Australia for the last time enroute to Lombok Strait. |
| | Aug 3 | Tambor sighted 5 cargomen and a destroyer in Palawan Passage. 3 shots at a freighter produced 2 hits, and 1 fired at another target missed. However, Japanese records do not indicate any sinking. |
| | Aug 21 | Tambor sighted an unescorted convoy of 3 tankers and 5 freighters. She fired 5 torpedoes at a pair of freighters, but scored no hits. 2 more sped toward a tanker and produced 1 explosion but no apparent damage. |
| | Aug 22 | Tambor sighted another convoy heading in the opposite direction. Making a submerged attack, Tambor fired 5 torpedoes at a large freighter. 3 made perfect hits amidships, but all bounced off the side of the ship without exploding. |
| | Sep 7 | Tambor arrived at Midway Island. |
| | Sep 8 | Tambor departed for Pearl Harbor, HI. and was ordered to return to the United States. |
| | Nov 20 | Tambor arrived at San Francisco, CA. for overhaul. |
| | Dec 15 | Tambor returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. and held refresher training during the remainder of the month. |
| 1944 | Jan 5 | Tambor began her 9th war patrol. Her assigned area was in the East China Sea. |
| | Jan 22 | Tambor sighted a Natori-class cruiser, but lost contact in a rain squall. |
| | Jan 28 | Tambor contacted a convoy of nine ships heading north and tracked it until 01:56 the next day. |
| | Jan 29 | (Cont'd.) Tambor opened fire with her aft 20-millimeter gun and turned hard to port causing the escort to pass 20 yards astern. After evading the escort, the submarine tried to regain contact with the convoy but failed.
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| | Jan 29 | Tambor fired 2 torpedoes at a cargo ship in a surface attack. Both hit and sent Shuntai Maru down by the bow. An escort headed straight for the submarine and ramming seemed inevitable. |
| | Feb 2 | Tambor began tracking 2 ships. |
| | Feb 3 | Tambor fired 2 torpedoes at a cargo ship, and both hit amidships. She directed 2 more at a tanker, and 1 hit forward of the target's stack. Both Ariake Maru and Goyo Maru sank. |
| | Feb 13 | Tambor encountered another 3 ship convoy. In a night surface attack,she fired a spread of 3 torpedoes at a cargo ship. As Tambor submerged, her crew heard 1 hit and sank the passenger-cargo ship Ronsan Maru. |
| | Mar 1 | Tambor returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. for refit. (Exact date unknown) |
| | Apr 9 | Tambor put to sea enroute to the Marianas Islands on her 10th war patrol. |
| | Apr 18 | Tambor attacked a 250 ton trawler loaded with food and vegetables. A boarding party from the submarine killed seven members of the Japanese vessel's crew and captured the second officer. The Americans removed the ship's papers and left her afire and sinki |
| | May 10 | Tambor contacted an 8 ship convoy, escorted by 5 destroyers and 2 destroyer escorts. In a submerged attack, Tambor fired 4 torpedoes at a cargo ship and heard 2 explosions, then went deep, taking 50 depth charges from the escorts. |
| | May 10 | (Cont'd.) Tambor surfaced later and attempted to close the convoy once more. However, a destroyer picked her up and subjected her to another depth charge attack. |
| | May 26 | Tambor scored 2 hits which sank the Chigo Maru. |
| | Jun 2 | Tambor ended the patrol at Midway Island. |
| | Jul 16 | Tambor, now in the hands of William J. Germershausen, conducted her 11th war patrol in the waters off Southern Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands. |
| | Jul 28 | She fired 3 torpedoes at a freighter and heard 3 explosions. However, a dense fog prohibited her seeing the results. |
| | Aug 13 | Tambor made a surface attack against a cargo ship and then photographed Toei Maru as she lowered two lifeboats and sank in 20 minutes. |
| | Aug 23 | After returning to Midway Island, Tambor continued to Pearl Harbor, HI. for refit.
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| | Oct 6 | Tambor returned to Midway Island on her 12th war patrol. |
| | Oct 7 | Tambor sailed for the Tokyo Bay area. |
| | Oct 15 | Tambor fired 4 torpedoes at 3 radar pips and heard 1 explosion. She was forced to go deep to evade 26 depth charges. She emerged with no damage. |
| | Oct 19 | Tambor attacked an escort with 4 torpedoes and heard 4 explosions, but no sinking was verified. |
| | Nov 8 | Tambor returned to Saipan, Mariana Islands. |
| | Nov 10 | Tambor then resumed her patrol, now one of 6 members of the wolfpack "Burt's Brooms" (named for Thomas B. Klakring, commanding SubDiv 101) |
| | Nov 15 | Tambor fired 3 torpedoes at a patrol boat, but scored no hits. 45 minutes later, 3 more missed. |
| | Nov 16 | Tambor's commander decided to battle on the surface with his deck guns; the escort fired back, and a Tambor crewmen was severely wounded. 30 minutes later, as the target began to sink, Tambor's crew took 2 prisoners from the water. |
| | Nov 18 | Tambor transferred the prisoners and wounded crewman to the USS Gravson (DD-435). |
| | Nov 30 | Tambor ended her last war patrol at Pearl Harbor, HI. to be retired from combat.
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| | Dec 10 | Tambor arrived at San Francisco,CA. |
| 1945 | Mar 9 | After an extended overhaul, Tambor sailed for Puget Sound, WA. Upon her arrival, Tambor began training operations with Navy patrol aircraft under Fleet Air Wing 6. |
| | Sep 17 | Tambor departed the West Coast for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME. |
| | Dec 10 | Decommissioned and placed "In Reserve". |
| 1947 | Apr 1 | Tambor was assigned to the Ninth Naval District to train naval reservists. |
| | Dec 8 | Tambor reported to the Naval Reserve Training Center, Detroit, MI. Tambor remained on this station until 1959 when a Board of Inspection and Survey found her unfit for further naval service. |
| 1959 | Sep 1 | Struck from the Naval Register snd subsequently sold for scrap. |