USS Sailfish / Squalus (SS-192) Ship's Log 
YearDateHistorical Events
1937Oct 18Keel laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME.
1938Sep 14Launched.
1939Mar 1Commissioned with with LT. Oliver F. Naquin in command.
 May 23Squalus sank while conducting sea trials off Portsmouth, NH. due to the failure of the main induction valve. 26 men lost.
 Sep 13Squalus was raised, and towed into the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME.
 Nov 15Squalus was decommissioned.
1940May 15After reconditioning, repair, and overhaul, Squalus was recommissioned as Sailfish, with LCDR. Morton C. Mumma, Jr. in command.
1941Jan 16Sailfish departed the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME., and headed for the Pacific.
 Mar 1Transiting the Panama Canal, Sailfish arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI., after refueling at San Diego, CA. Sailfish then sailed west to Manila where she joined the Asiatic Fleet until the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 Dec 8Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sailfish departed Manila on her 1st war patrol, destined for the West Coast of Luzon.
 Dec 10Sailfish sighted a landing force, supported by cruisers and destroyers, but could not gain firing position.
 Dec 13Sailfish made contact with 2 Japanese destroyers, and bravely began a submerged attack. The destroyers detected her, dropping a couple of depth charges, while Sailfish fired 2 torpedoes.
 Dec 13(Cont'd.) Despite a massive explosion nearby, no damage was done, and the destroyers counterattacked with eighteen or twenty depth charges.
 Dec 17Sailfish returned to Manila, Philippine Islands.
 Dec 21Sailfish's 2nd war patrol, now in the hands of Richard George Voge, took her to waters off Taiwan.
1942Jan 27Off Halmahera, near Davao, Sailfish sighted a Myoko class cruiser. Making a daylight submerged attack with 4 torpedoes, she reported the target was damaged, for which she got credit.
 Feb 14Sailfish arrived at Tjilatjap, Java for refueling and rearming.
 Feb 19Departing for her 3rd war patrol, Sailfish headed through Lombok Strait to the Java Sea.
 Mar 2Sailfish intercepted an enemy destroyer. Following an unsuccessful attack on the Japanese warship, she was forced to dive deep to escape the ensuing depth charge attack from the destroyer and patrol aircraft.
 Mar 2(Cont'd.) Near the mouth of Lombok Strait, Sailfish spotted what appeared to be Kaga escorted by 4 destroyers. Sailfish fired 4 torpedoes, scoring 2 hits. Leaving the target aflame and dead in the water.
 Mar 19Sailfish arrived at Fremantle, Australia. Believed to be the first U.S. sub to have sunk an enemy carrier, postwar, it was revealed that Kaga had not been in the area, and the target had in fact been the 6,440 ton aircraft ferry Kamogawa Maru.
 Mar 22The Java Sea and Celebes Sea were the areas of Sailfish's 4th war patrol. After delivering 1,856 rounds of antiaircraft ammunition to "MacArthur's guerrillas", she made only one contact and was unable to attack the target.
 May 21Sailfish returned to Fremantle, Australia.
 Jun 13Sailfih's 5th war patrol, was off the coast of Indochina in the South China Sea.
 Jul 4Sailfish intercepted and tracked a large cargo type vessel but discovered the intended target was a hospital ship and held her fire.
 Jul 9(Cont'd.) Credited during the war with a 7,000 ton ship, postwar examination of Japanese records confirmed no sinking in the area on that date. Sailfish observed only one other enemy vessel before the end of the patrol.
 Jul 9Sailfish intercepted and torpedoed a Japanese freighter. One of a pair of torpedoes struck home and the ship took a fifteen degree list. When she surfaced in the area an hour and one-half later, no ship was in sight.
 Aug 1Sailfish returned to Brisbane, Australia.
 Sep 13Sailfish, now under the command of John R. "Dinty" Moore, got underway from Brisbane, Australia for her 6th war patrol, and headed for the Western Solomon Islands.
 Sep 17On the night of 17 September – 18 September, Sailfish encountered 8 Japanese destroyers escorting a cruiser, but she was unable to attack.
 Sep 19Sailfish attacked a minelayer. The spread of 3 torpedoes missed, and Sailfish was forced to dive deep to escape the depth charge counterattack. 11 well placed charges went off near Sailfish, causing much minor damage.
 Nov 1Sailfish returned to Brisbane, Australia.
 Nov 24Underway for her 7th war patrol, Sailfish proceeded to the area South of New Britain.
 Dec 2Sailfish made an unsuccessful attack on a destroyer.
 Dec 25Sailfish scored a hit on a Japanese submarine. Postwar analysis of Japanese records could not confirm a sinking in the area. During the remainder of the patrol, she made unsuccessful attacks on a cargo ship and a destroyer.
1943Jan 15Sailfish ended the patrol at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Jan 27Sailfish arrived at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA. for overhaul.
 Apr 22Sailfish departed for Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Apr 30Sailfish arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 May 17Departing Hawaii for her 8th war patrol, Sailfish stopped off to fuel at Midway Island and proceeded to her station off the East Coast of Honshu.
 Jun 15Sailfish encountered 2 freighters off Todo Saki, escorted by 3 subchasers. Firing a spread of 3 stern torpedoes, she observed one hit which stopped the Maru dead in the water. The Shinju Maru broke up and sank.
 Jun 25Sailfish found a second convoy, 3 ships with a subchaser and, unusually, an aircraft, for escort. Sailfish once more fired 3 stern tubes, sinking the Iburi Maru.
 Jun 26Sailfish set a course for Midway Island.
 Jul 3Sailfish arrived at Midway Island.
 Jul 25Sailfish's 9th war patrol, commanded by William R. Lefavour, in the Formosa Strait and off Okinawa, produced only two contacts, a 2,500 ton steamer at Naha, Okinawa, Okinawa, and a junk, but no worthwhile targets.
 Sep 16Sailfish returned to Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Nov 17Sailfish departed, under the command of Robert E. McC. Ward, for her 10th war patrol, which took her South of Honshu. She suffered a "hot run" in tube 8, and after the skipper himself went over the side to inspect the damage, ejected the torpedo.
 Dec 3Sailfish made radar contact at 9,000 yards. The group consisted of the Japanese aircraft carrier Chuyo, a cruiser, and destroyers. Sailfish maneuvered into firing position shortly after midnight on 3 December – 4 December, dived to radar depth.
 Dec 4Sailfish fired 4 bow torpedoes at the carrier, at a range of 2,100 yards, scoring 2 hits. She went deep to escape the escorting destroyers, which dropped twenty-one depth charges reloaded, and surfaced to resume the pursuit.
 Dec 4(Cont'd.) Sailfish saw the carrier, lying dead in the water, listing to port and down by the stern. Later in the morning, Sailfish fired another spread of 3 torpedoes, from only 1,700 yards, scoring 2 final hits.
 Dec 4(Cont'd.) Loud internal explosions and breaking up noises were heard. Abruptly, a cruiser appeared and, Sailfish went to 90 feet, losing a chance at this new target. Shortly afterwards, the 20,000 ton carrier Chuyo, went to the bottom.
 Dec 4(Cont'd.) In an ironic twist, Chuyo was carrying American prisoners of war from Sculpin, the same ship that had helped locate and rescue Sailfish, then Squalus, over 4 years before. 20 of the 21 US crew members from the Sculpin were killed.
 Dec 4(Cont'd.) Sailfish fired another spread of 3 bow "fish" from 3,100 yards, scoring 2 more hits on the stricken carrier. Diving to elude the Japanese counter attack, which was hampered by the raging seas, Sailfish came to periscope depth.
 Dec 7Sailfish escaped a strafing attack by a Japanese fighter.
 Dec 13Sailfish made contact and commenced tracking 2 cargo ships with 2 escorts, South of Kyushu. That night she fired a spread of 4 torpedoes at the 2 freighters. Sailfish heard the 3,000 ton Totai Maru break up and sink.
 Dec 20Sailfish intercepted an enemy hospital ship, which she left unmolested.
 Dec 21Sailfish intercepted 6 large freighters escorted by 3 destroyers. With 5 torpedoes left, she fired a spread of 3 stern tubes, scoring 2 hits on the largest target. Sailfish detected breaking up noises as the 6,400 ton Uyo Maru went to the bottom.
1944Jan 5Sailfish terminated her 10th war patrol at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Jan 15Sailfish underwent an extensive overhaul at the Mare island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA., 15 January to 17 June 1944.
 Jul 9Sailfish sailed on her 11th war patrol, as part of a wolf pack, "Moseley's Maulers", commanded by Stan Moseley, with Greenling (SS-213) and Billfish (SS-286), to prey on shipping in the Luzon–Formosa area.
 Aug 7Sailfish and Greenling contacted an enemy convoy. Sailfish launched a spread of 3 torpedoes at a mediun tanker. One hit caused the tanker to disintegrate into a column of water, smoke and debris. It was not recorded in the postwar account.
 Aug 19The next target was a battleship escorted by 3 destroyers. Sailfish fired all 4 bow tubes. One escort ran into the path of 2 torpedoes, the other 2 missed. While the destroyer must have been severely damaged or sunk, there was nothing in the JANAC record.
 Aug 24Sailfish made contact with an enemy convoy of 4 cargo ships escorted by 2 small patrol craft. Sailfish fired a salvo of 4 torpedoes, scoring 2 hits. The 2,100 ton cargo ship, Toan Maru was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Shortly afterwards she sank.
 Aug 24(Cont'd.) Sailfish closed on a second cargo ship, scoring 2 hits out of 4 torpedoes fired. Sailfish's crew felt the cargo ship either had been sunk or badly damaged, but the sinking was not confirmed by postwar examination of Japanese records.
 Sep 6Sailfish terminated her eleventh patrol at Midway Island.
 Sep 29Sailfish's 12th war patrol, was conducted between Luzon and Formosa, in company with Pomfret (SS-391) and Parche (SS-384). After passing through the edge of a typhoon, Sailfish arrived on station to perform lifeguard duty.
 Oct 12Staying surfaced in full view of enemy attackers, Sailfish rescued 12 Navy fliers who had ditched their stricken aircraft after strikes against Japanese bases on Formosa.
 Oct 12(Cont'd.) Sailfish sank a sampan and a patrol craft with her deck gun as the enemy craft tried to capture the downed aviators.
 Oct 13Sailfish rescued another flier.
 Oct 24The submarines pulled into Saipan, Marianas Island to drop off their temporary passengers, refuel, and make minor repairs.
 Nov 3After returning to the patrol area with the wolf pack, Sailfish made an unsuccessful attack on a transport.
 Nov 4Sailfish damaged 2 destroyers but was slightly damaged herself by a bomb from a patrol aircraft.
 Nov 24Sailfish intercepted a convoy heading for Itbayat in the Philippines. She was moving to attack when one of the escorting destroyers headed straight for her. Sailfish fired a 3 torpedo spread "down the throat" and headed toward the main convoy.
 Nov 24(Cont'd.) At least one hit was scored on the destroyer and her pip faded from the radar screen. Suddenly Sailfish received an unwelcome surprise when she came under fire from the destroyer that she had believed to be sunk.
 Dec 11Sailfish headed for Hawaii, via Midway, and completed her 12th and final war patrol upon arriving at Pearl Harbor, HI.
 Dec 26Following refit, Sailfish departed Hawaii.
1945Jan 22Sailfish arrived at New London, CT.., via the Panama Canal. For the next four and a half months, she aided training out of New London, CT.
 Jun 9Sailfish operated as a training ship at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from 9 June to 9 August.
 Oct 2After a 6 week stay at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA., Sailfish arrived at Portsmouth, NH., for deactivation.
 Oct 27Decommissioned.
1948Apr 30Struck from the Naval Register.
 Jun 18Sailfish was sold for scrapping to Luria Brothers of Philadelphia, PA. Her conning tower stands as a memorial to the lost crew of the USS Squalus at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME.