| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1941 | Nov 2 | Launched by the Electric Boat Co., Groton,CT. |
| 1942 | Mar 20 | Commissioned with LCDR. Howard W. Gilmore in command.
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| | Jun 29 | Growler's first war patrol began as she cleared Pearl Harbor, HI. for her assigned patrol area around Dutch Harbor, Alaska after topping off fuel at Midway Island on 24 June. |
| | Jul 5 | Growler saw her first action, sighting 3 destroyers. Her torpedoes struck the first 2 targets amidships putting them out of action, and hit the third in the bow. One of the torpedoed destroyers, Arare, was sunk, and the other two were severely damaged. |
| | Jul 17 | Growler arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Aug 5 | Growler began her 2nd and most successful war patrol. |
| | Aug 25 | Growler fired at and sank an ex-gunboat, the Senyo Maru. |
| | Aug 31 | Growler sank the 5,866 ton cargo ship, Eifuku Maru. |
| | Sep 4 | Growler sank by gunfire, the Kashino, a 4,000-ton supply ship. |
| | Sep 7 | Growler sent two torpedoes into the 2,204-ton cargo ship Taika Maru, which broke in half and sank in 2 minutes. |
| | Sep 15 | Growler cleared her patrol area. |
| | Sep 30 | Growler arrived back in Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Oct 1 | Growler departed on her 3rd war patrol. Her patrol area in these days of bitter fighting over Guadalcanal was almost continually covered by enemy planes, and only eight enemy ships were sighted with no chance for attack. (Exact date unknown) |
| | Dec 3 | Growler cleared her patrol area. |
| | Dec 10 | Growler arrived in Brisbane, Australia. |
| 1943 | Jan 1 | Growler sailed on her 4th war patrol from Brisbane, Australia for what was to prove to be one of the most gallant actions in naval history. |
| | Jan 8 | Growler entered her patrol area, again athwart the Truk-Rabaul shipping lanes. |
| | Jan 13 | Growler sughted a convoy. Maneuvering inside the escorts, Growler fired two torpedoes and saw them hit. She was credited with sinking Chifaku Maru, a passenger-cargo ship.
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| | Feb 7 | Growler stealthily approached a gunboat for a night surface attack. Growler rammed the enemy amidships at 17 knots. Machine gun fire raked the bridge at point blank range. The courageous sub seemed lost. CDR. Gilmore cleared the bridge except for himself. |
| | Feb 7 | (Cont'd.) For his heroic sacrifice to ship and crew, CDR. Gilmore was awarded the Medal of Honor. |
| | Feb 7 | (Cont'd.) Desperately wounded, he realized that he could not get below in time if his ship were to be saved. "Take her down" he ordered, and as he floated in the sea, he wrote another stirring tale of inspirational naval history. |
| | Feb 17 | Severely damaged but still under control, Growler returned to Brisbane, Australia under command of her Executive Officer LCDR. A. F. Schade.
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| | Apr 1 | Growler's fifth, sixth, and seventh war patrols were relatively uneventful. Heavy enemy air cover and a lack of targets resulted in her coming home empty-handed from all but the fifth, on which she sank the passenger cargo ship Mialadono Maru. |
| | Oct 27 | The seventh patrol was marred by trouble with the storage~battery and generators and only 11 days out of Brisbane, Australia, she was ordered to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Nov 7 | Growler arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI, and from there to the Navy Yard at Hunter's Point, CA., for an extensive overhaul and refitting.
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| 1944 | Feb 21 | Growler departed Pearl Harbor, HI. on her 8th war patrol, and after refueling at Midway. headed for her patrol area. Once there, Growler was again plagued by violent weather which made even periscope observation almost impossible. |
| | Apr 16 | Growler returned to Majuro. |
| | May 14 | Growler left Majuro on her 9th war patrol to patrol in the Marianas-Luzon area. Rendezvousing with Bang and Seahorse to form a wolfpack, she closed several targets but achieving firing position only once, when she sank the cargo vessel Katori Maru. |
| | Aug 11 | Growler departed Pearl Harbor, HI. on her 10th war patrol, in a new wolfpack, nicknamed "Ben's Busters" after Growler's skipper CDR.. T. B Oakley. In company with Sealion and Pampanito, she headed for the Formosa Straits area. |
| | Sep 26 | Growler returned to Fremantle, Australia, having sunk the destroyer Shikinami and the frigate Hirado. |
| | Oct 20 | Growler's 11th and final war patrol began out of Fremantle in a wolfpack with Hake and Hardhead, headed by Growler. |
| | Nov 8 | The wolfpack, headed by Growler, closed a convoy for attack. The order to commence attacking was the last communication ever received from Growler. She was listed as lost in action against the enemy, cause unknown. 85 men lost. |