| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1939 | Nov 22 | Keel laid down by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. |
| 1941 | Jan 25 | Launched. |
| | Apr 21 | Commissioned with LCDR. Elton W. "Joe" Grenfell in command.
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| | Aug 28 | After shakedown along the California coast, Gudgeon sailed North, heading for Alaska via Seattle, WA. On her northern jaunt the new submarine inspected Sitka, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor for suitability as naval bases. |
| | Oct 10 | Gudgeon arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Dec 11 | Gudgeon, in company with Plunger, sailed from Pearl Harbor, HI. on her, and America's, first submarine offensive war patrol of World War II. |
| 1942 | Jan 27 | Gudgeon became the first U.S. Navy submarine to sink an enemy warship in World War II, the Japanese submarine I-178. |
| | Feb 22 | Gudgeon departed on her 2nd war patrol. |
| | Mar 26 | Gudgeon sank an unidsentified freighter. |
| | Mar 27 | Gudgeon sank the 6526 ton Nissho Maru. |
| | Apr 15 | Gudgeon terminated her 2nd war patrol. She then checked into drydock for overhaul, but undocked 3 weeks early and readied for sea in a remarkable 40 hours to participate in the momentous Battle of Midway. |
| | May 18 | Departing Pearl Harbor, HI. on her 3rd war patrol,m Gudgeon took station off Midway as part of the submarine screen which eneireled the two giant fleets clashing there. |
| | Jun 14 | Gudgeon returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Jul 11 | Gudgeon departed on her 4th war patrol. |
| | Aug 3 | Gudgeon sank the 4,858 ton NaniwaMaru in a night submerged attack, her only kill of the patrol. |
| | Aug 17 | Gudgeon carried out an aggressive attack on a four ship convoy, torpedoing and damaging the Japanese tankers Shinkoku Maru and Nichiei Maru Northwest of Truk. |
| | Sep 2 | Gudgeon ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia. |
| | Oct 8 | Gudgeon departed on her 5th war patrol. |
| | Oct 21 | Now a part of the Southwestern Pacific submarine forces, Gudgeon sank the 8,783 ton Cholco Maru. |
| | Nov 11 | Gudgeon carried out a daring attack on a seven ship convoy, torpedoing several ships but sinking none. |
| | Dec 1 | Gudgeon terminated her 5th war patrol. |
| | Dec 27 | Gudgeon began her 6th war patrol. |
| 1943 | Jan 14 | Gudgeon successfully landed six men on Mindanao, Philippines, to carry out the vital guerrilla resistance movement there. |
| | Feb 9 | Returning from her patrol area, Gudgeon was diverted to Timor Island. |
| | Feb 10 | Gudgeon rescued 28 men—Australian, English, Portuguese, and Filipino—for passage to Fremantle.
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| | Feb 18 | Gudgeon ended her 6th war patrol in Fremantle, Australia. |
| | Mar 13 | Gudgeon departed on her 7th war patrol. |
| | Mar 22 | Gudgeon sank the 5,434 ton Meigen Maru as well as seriously damaging two other ships in the convoy. |
| | Mar 27 | Gudgeon took on the 9,997 ton tanker Toko Maru in a night surface attack. It took five torpedoes to sink Toko Maru, and most of Gudgeon's crew enjoyed the rare treat of watching her slide into the depths. |
| | Mar 27 | (Cont'd.) Another attack later the same day damaged the 1192 ton tanker Kyoei Maru.
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| | Apr 6 | Gudgeon terminated her 7th war patrol. |
| | Apr 15 | Gudgeon sailed from Australia on her 8th war patrol, headed for Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Apr 28 | Gudgeon sank the Kamakura Maru, a former ocean liner. The 17,526 ton transport was the largest Japanese transport, and one of the largest enemy ships sunk by an American submarine. |
| | Apr 30 | Special operations interrupted Gudgeon’s patrol as she landed six trained guerrilla fighters and three tons of equipment for the guerrilla movement on Panay. |
| | May 4 | After sinking the 500 ton trawler Naku Maru with her deck guns west of Panay, Gudgeon battle-surfaced again that same day and left a coastal steamer burning and settling. |
| | May 12 | Gudgeon torpedoed and sank the 5861 ton freighter Sumatra Maru off Bulusan, Luzon, Philippines. |
| | May 25 | Returning to Pearl Harbor,HI., the veteran submarine was sent to San Francisco, CA., for badly needed overhaul, her first since commissioning two years earlier.
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| | Sep 1 | A refreshed sub and crew departed Pearl Harbor, HI. for their ninth war patrol in the Marianas Island area. |
| | Oct 6 | Before returning to Midway Island with all torpedoes expended, Gudgeon had sunk the 3158 ton Taian Maru, torpedoed and damaged the 3266 ton auxiliary gunboat Santo Maru, as well as seriously damaging several other ships.
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| | Oct 31 | Heading along the China coast for her 10th war patrol, Gudgeon chalked up two more Marus. |
| | Nov 23 | Gudgeon spotted a convoy of four ships in the East China Sea. Gudgeon fired a spread of six torpedoes with gratifying results. The 870 ton frigate Wakamiya, hit by one torpedo, broke in two, sinking almost immediately. |
| | Nov 23 | (Cont'd.) The two tankers in the convoy, the 5106 ton Ichiyo Maru and the 8469 ton Goyo Maru, were also hit but managed to escape. Gudgeon closed in to finish off the 6783 ton troop transport Nekka Maru.
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| 1944 | Feb 11 | Gudgeon’s 11th war patrol saw a few successful sinkings of Japanese vessels. She torpedoed and sank the already damaged 3091 ton merchant Satsuma Maru off Wenchow, China. |
| | Feb 17 | Gudgeon sank a Japanese sampam with gunfire in the East China Sea, another sampan being damaged in the attack. |
| | Mar 5 | Gudgeon returned to Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Apr 4 | Gudgeon sailed on her 12th and final war patrol. |
| | Apr 7 | Gudgeon stooped off for fuel at Johnston Island and was never heard from again. |
| | Jun 7 | Gudgeon was officially declared overdue and
presumed lost on 7 June 1944. Captured Japanese records shed no light on the manner of her loss, and it must remain one of the mysteries of the silent sea. 78 men lost.
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