USS Nautilus (was V-6) (SS-168) Ship's Log 
YearDateHistorical Events
1927Aug 2Keel laid down by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.
1930Mar 15Launched.
 Jul 1Commissioned with LCDR. Thomas J. Doyle, Jr. in command. V-6 operated out of New London, CT., conducting special submergence tests, until March 1931.
1931Feb 19V-6 was renamed Nautilus.
 Jul 1Nautilus was given hull number SS-168. She proceeded to Pearl Harbor, HI., where she became flagship of Submarine Division 12.
1935Jan 1Nautilus was reassigned to SubDiv 13 at San Diego, CA. 1935–1938. Then re-homeported at Pearl Harbor, HI., she maintained a regular schedule of training activities and fleet exercises and problems throughout the decade.
1941Jul 1Nautilus entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard Vallejo, CA. for modernization of radio equipment, external torpedo tubes, re-engining and air conditioning — until the following spring.
1942Jan 5Nautilus arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Apr 21Nautilus departed San Francisco, CA.
 Apr 28Nautilus arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 May 24Nautilus, commanded by LCDR. William H. Brockman, Jr., got underway for her 1st war patrol, destination Midway Island. Mission, to help repel the expected attack by the Japanese Fleet.
 Jun 4(Cont'd.) At 08:00, a formation of 4 enemy ships was sighted. 1 battleship and 3 cruisers (more probably a cruiser and 3 destroyers).Within minutes Nautilus was again sighted from the air and bombs began to fall.
 Jun 4(Cont'd.) Two of the "cruisers" closed for a kill and 9 depth charges were dropped at a distance of about 1,000 yards.When the attack ceased, Nautilus planed up to periscope depth. Ships surrounded her. Sighting the "battleship", she fired 2 bow tubes.
 Jun 4At 07:55, while approaching the northern boundary of her patrol area near Midway Island, Nautilus sighted masts on the horizon. Japanese planes sighted Nautilus at the same time and began strafing. After diving to 100 feet, she continued observation.
 Jun 7Nautilus replenished at Midway Island and then resumed her patrol to the West.
 Jun 20Nautilus was operating off Honshu, at the Northern end of the Tokyo-Marshall Islands supply route.
 Jun 22Nautilus damaged a destroyer guarding the entrance to the Sagami Sea off Oshima.
 Jun 25Nautilus sank the destroyer Yamakaze and damaged an oil tanker.
 Jun 27Nautilus sent a sampan to the bottom.
 Jul 11Nautilus returned to Pearl Harbor, HI.,for repairs.
 Aug 8Nautilus departed Hawaiian waters for her 2nd war patrol, a special troop transport mission of 3 weeks duration. Sailing with Argonaut and carrying the Second Raider Battalion under LTCOL. Evans F. Carlson.
 Aug 16Nautilus arrived off Makin Atoll to stage a raid, to divert Japanese attention from the Solomon Islands.
 Aug 17Nautilus sent the Raiders ashore on Little Makin. She provided gunfire support against enemy positions at Ukiangong Point on Butaritari and shelled enemy ships in the lagoon, sinking 2, a troop barge and a patrol boat.
 Aug 25Nautilus and Argonaut arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Sep 15On her 3rd war patrol, Nautilus returned to Japanese waters to join the submarine blockade chain stretched from the Kurile Islands to the Nansei Shoto. Nautilus torpedoed and sank 3 marus and, destroyed 3 sampans to add over 12,000 tons to her score.
 Oct 12The patrol became one of Nautilus's more perilous, as she took a heavy depth charging. 2 days later, her crew noticed a slight oil slick in her wake. The hindering seas now protected by breaking up the trace.
 Oct 20The first relatively calm day since the depth charging, air leaks were discovered. Nautilus was leaving a trail for Japanese defense patrols. Moving to a quieter area, with less aerial activity, she continued her patrol.
 Oct 24Nautilus sank her third maru of the patrol.
 Oct 31Nautilus reached Midway Island, performed temporary repairs, and continued on to Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Dec 13Nautilus conducted her 4th war patol in the Solomon Islands.
 Dec 31Nautilus rescued 26 adults and 3 children from Toep Harbor on 31 December and 1 January, then added the cargo ship Yosinogawa Maru to her kills and damaged a tanker, a freighter, and a destroyer.
1943Feb 4Nautilus arrived at Brisbane,Ausatralia, disembarked her passengers, and sailed for Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Apr 15Nautilus arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Apr 20Nautilus departed Pearl Harbor, HI., and headed North.
 Apr 27Nautilusa put into Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and commenced instructing 7th Army Scouts in amphibious landings. She then embarked 109 Scouts.
 May 1Nautilus headed for Attu, Aleutians Island.
 May 11Nautilus landed her "passengers" on Attu Island, five hours before the main assault.
 Sep 16Overhaul at Mare Island occupied most of the summer. Nautilus slipped out of Pearl Harbor, HI. to spend her 6th war patrol conducting photo-reconnaissance of the Gilbert Islands, concentrating on Tarawa, Kuma, Butaritari, Abemama, and Makin.
 Sep 16(Cont'd.) The information, including continuous panoramic pictures of the coastlines and chart corrections, proved among the most useful intelligence gathered of the area.
 Oct 17Nautilus returned to Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Nov 18On her 7th war patrol, Nautilus returned to Tarawa to obtain last minute information on weather and surf conditions, landing hazards and the results of recent bombardments.
 Nov 19Mistaking Nautilus as an enemy, the destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500) fired at her, sending a five inch shell through the conning tower, damaging the main induction valve. Diving as soon as the topography permitted, the boat was rigged for depth charge.
 Nov 19(Cont'd.) Within 2 hours repairs were sufficient to allow Nautilus to continue with her primary mission of landing a 78 man scouting party, composed of 5th Amphibious Reconnaissance Company marines and an Australian scout, on Abemama.
 Nov 20At midnight, 20 November – 21 November, Nautilus lay 3,000 yards off Kenna to discharge her passengers. By 1500, all were safely ashore.
 Nov 22Nautilus provided fire support to bring the tiny 25 man, but game enemy garrison out of their bunkers. This proved accurate, killing 14. The remainder committed suicide.
 Dec 4Nautilus returned to Pearl Harbor, HI.
1944Jan 27Nautilus departed on her 8th war patrol which was conducted North of Palau and West of the Mariana Islands. This netted 1 cargo ship sunk, the 6,070 ton America Maru, with damage inflicted on 3 others.
 Apr 26Nautilus sailed for Brisbane, Australia.
 May 29On her 9th patrol, Nautilus carried ammunition, oil, and dry stores to Colonel R.V. Bowler on Mindanao.
 Jun 12On her 10th war patrol, Nautilus transported a similar cargo to Negros Island and embarked evacuees, including one German POW, for Darwin, Australia.
 Jun 30During her 11th patrol, Nautilus landed a reconnaissance party and 12 tons of stores on North Pandan Island, and more supplies to Colonel Kangleon on Leyte and Colonel Abcede on Mindanao.
 Sep 25During Nautilus's 12th war patrol, she grounded on Iuisan Shoal. Forced to lighten her load, her evacuees, mail, captured documents, and cargo were sent ashore. All secret materials were burned. Her reserve fuel tanks were blown dry.
 Sep 25(Cont'd.) Variable ballast was blown overboard and six inch ammunition jettisoned. With the blowing of her main ballast tanks she was finally able to get off the reef within 3 and a half hours, despite the receding tide, and clear the area by dawn.
 Oct 31Nautilus finished off USS Darter (SS-227), which had run aground on a reef and could not be recovered. Numerous attempts to torpedo the wreck had failed as torpedoes detonated on the reef.
 Oct 31(Cont'd.) Nautilus's six-inch guns, however, scored 55 hits, and her report states, "It is doubtful that any equipment in Darter at 11:30 this date would be of any value to Japan — except as scrap."
1945Jan 30Nautilus completed her 14th, and last, patrol at Darwin, Australia. From Australia, she was routed on to Philadelphia, PA.
 May 25Nautilus arrived at Philadelphia, PA. for inactivation.
 Jun 30Decommissioned.
 Jul 25Struck from the Naval Register.
 Nov 16Nautilus was sold, to the North American Smelting Company of Philadelphia, PA., for scrapping.