The Gato class of submarines were built for the United States Navy and launched in 1941–1943. Named after the lead ship of the class, USS Gato, they were the first mass-production U.S. submarine class of World War II.
USS Salmon (SSR/SS/AGSS-573), a Sailfish-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the salmon.
The Balao class was a design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 120 boats completed, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences. The most significant improvement was the use of thicker, higher yield strength steel in the pressure hull skins and frames, which increased their test depth to 400 feet (120 m). Tang actually achieved a depth of 612 ft (187 m) during a test dive, and exceeded that test depth when taking on water in the forward torpedo room while evading a destroyer.
USS Flier (SS-250) was a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flier.
USS Silversides (SS/AGSS-236) is a Gato-class submarine, the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the silversides.
USS Razorback (SS-394), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named after the razorback, a species of whale found in the far southern reaches of the Pacific Ocean. She is arguably the longest-serving combat front-line submarine still existing in the world, having been commissioned by two different countries for 56 years of active duty. She was in Tokyo Bay during the surrender of Japan. In 2004, the state of Arkansas adopted the submarine and she is now a museum ship at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.
USS Bergall (SS-320), a Balao-class submarine in commission from 1944 to 1958, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bergall, a small fish of the New England coast. During World War II she made five war patrols between 8 September 1944 and 17 June 1945, operating in the South China Sea, Java Sea, and Lombok Strait and north of the Malay Barrier. During these patrols she sank two Japanese merchant ships totaling 14,710 gross register tons and one 740-displacement ton Imperial Japanese Navy frigate. She also damaged the Japanese heavy cruiser Myōkō, which was never repaired.
The Porpoise class were submarines built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s, and incorporated a number of modern features that would make them the basis for the subsequent Salmon, Sargo, Tambor, Gato, Balao, and Tench classes. In some references, the Porpoises are called the "P" class.
USS Requin (SS/SSR/AGSS/IXSS-481), a Tench-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named after the requin, French for shark. Since 1990 it has been a museum ship at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
USS Raton (SS/SSR/AGSS-270), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the raton, a polynemoid fish inhabiting semitropical waters off the Pacific coast of the Americas.
USS Rock (SS/SSR/AGSS-274), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the rockfish, a striped bass found in the Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere along the United States East Coast.
The first USS Batfish (SS/AGSS-310) is a Balao-class submarine, known primarily for sinking three Imperial Japanese Navy submarines in a 76-hour period, in February 1945. USS Batfish is the first vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the batfish, a type of anglerfish that crawls about on the sea floor.
USS Becuna (SS/AGSS-319), a Balao-class submarine in commission from 1944 to 1969, was a submarine of the United States Navy named for the becuna, a pike-like fish of Europe. During World War II, she conducted five war patrols between August 23, 1944 and July 27, 1945, operating in the Philippine Islands, South China Sea, and Java Sea. She is credited with sinking two Japanese tankers totaling 3,888 gross register tons.
USS Bugara (SS-331), a Balao-class submarine in commission from 1944 to 1970, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the bugara, a multicolored fish found along the coast of California.
USS Cobia (SS/AGSS-245) is a Gato-class submarine, formerly of the United States Navy, named for the cobia.
A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from criminal activities such as smuggling. By definition a radar picket must be some distance removed from the anticipated targets to be capable of providing early warning. Often several detached radar units would be placed in a ring to encircle a target to provide increased cover in all directions; another approach is to position units to form a barrier line.
Albert Lilly Becker was an American naval officer during World War II who served as the first commander of the USS Cobia (SS-245), a Gato-class submarine, during its initial five wartime patrols in the Pacific Ocean.
Hatsutaka was the lead vessel in the Hatsutaka-class of medium-sized minelayers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during World War II. She was designed as an improved version of Shirataka anti-submarine netlayer. However, during the Pacific War, due to the critical shortage of escort patrol ships, she was fitted with depth charge racks, her minelaying rails were removed, and she was used primarily for convoy escort duties.
I-351 was an I-351-class (Senho type submarine tanker/transport submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Originally designed to support flying boats in forward areas, she was converted into a tanker. The only submarine of her class to be completed, she was commissioned in late January 1945 and was sunk on the return leg of her second voyage in July 1945.
