First and second war patrols, August – November 1942
After conducting shakedown out of New London, Guardfish left that base on 28 June 1942 for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal, and arrived there on 25 July to prepare for her first cruise. Her first war patrol was in previously unpatrolled waters off northeast Honshū. Guardfish left Pearl Harbor on 6 August 1942, sank a trawler on 22 August, and two days later sank 3,114ton cargo shipSeikai Maru off Kinkasan Harbor. Evading escort vessels, she proceeded up the coast and found a convoy on 2 September. Guardfish attacked the next day, sinking 5,253ton Kaimei Maru and 1,118ton cargo ship Tenyu Maru. Chita Maru, a 2,376ton freighter, retreated into the harbor and anchored, but a long-range shot from Guardfish left her beached in the mud. Guardfish returned from her successful first patrol to Midway for refit on 15 September 1942.
Guardfish left Midway on her second war patrol on 30 September and headed for the East China Sea. Surviving an attack by patrolling aircraft on 19 October, Guardfish closed a seven-ship convoy 21 October, sinking a 4,000-ton freighter and 6,362ton Nichiho Maru north of Formosa as the convoy scattered. After evading pursuing aircraft and surface ships, Guardfish returned to Pearl Harbor on 28 November 1942. For her success on these first two patrols, Guardfish received a Presidential Unit Citation.
Third, fourth, and fifth war patrols, January – August 1943
Moving her base of operations to the Truk area, Guardfish left Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1943 to patrol off the Japanese stronghold. She sank Japanese patrol Boat No.1 (the former destroyerShimakaze) on 12 January west of Kavieng, and a 1,300ton cargo ship the next day. Attacked by the destroyerHakaze on 23 January, Guardfish sank her with a well-placed torpedo. Moving south toward Rabaul, she attacked a large convoy near Simpson Harbor, but was driven off by concentrated shore fire and escort attacks. Guardfish ended her third patrol by arriving at Brisbane, Australia on 15 February 1943.
Her fourth war patrol was conducted in the Bismarcks, Solomons, and New Guinea area, and Guardfish recorded no kills on this cruise, 9 March to 30 April 1943.
Leaving Brisbane for the same waters on 25 May 1943, Guardfish sank the transport and hell ship, Suzuya Maru,[7] and damaged another before being forced to dive by aircraft on 13 June. She picked up a surveying party on the west coast of Bougainville on 14 July and returned to Brisbane for refit on 2 August 1943.
Sixth and seventh war patrols, August 1943 – February 1944
Guardfish left Brisbane for her sixth war patrol on 24 August 1943, landing a reconnoitering party on Bougainville and then moving into cruising waters. She sank the 5,460ton Kasha Maru on 8 October and subsequently spent two days as lifeguard ship during the air strikes on Rabaul. Guardfish embarked another reconnoitering party on 19 October at Tulagi, landed them on Bougainville, and took vital soundings in Empress Augusta Bay before re-embarking the Marine party on 28 October. These important missions were carried out two days before the American landings at Bougainville. Guardfish reached Brisbane, completing her sixth patrol on 3 November 1943.
On 3 December 1943 Guardfish was damaged in a collision with an unknown tanker.[8]
Turning to the shipping lanes between Truk and Guadalcanal, Guardfish began her seventh war patrol on 27 December 1943, sinking 10,024ton oiler Kenyo Maru on 14 January 1944. She then closed Truk and sank the destroyer Umikaze on 1 February in an attack on a convoy. After serving briefly as lifeguard ship off Truk she arrived at Pearl Harbor 18 February and from there returned to San Francisco for repairs nine days later.
Eighth and ninth war patrols, June – October 1944
Guardfish again put to sea from San Francisco and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 1 June. She then joined submarines Thresher, Piranha, and Apogon to form the coordinated attack group known as the "Mickey Finns", commanded by Captain W. V. O'Regan in Guardfish.
The submarines patrolled the shipping lanes around Formosa with spectacular success, Guardfish sinking 5,863ton auxiliaryMantai Maru, 2,838ton cargo ship Hizan Maru, and 5,215ton cargo ship Jinsan Maru southwest of Formosa on 17 July. After damaging another freighter 18 July, Guardfish sank the 6,512GRT cargo ship Teiryu Maru the next day, barely escaping the attacks of her escorts. She arrived at Midway for refit on 31 July 1944, and for her performance on the eighth patrol was awarded a second Presidential Unit Citation.
Sailing the Sea of Japan as a member of another wolf pack on 23 August 1944, Guardfish and the submarines, Thresher and Sunfish, had a 40-minute surface gun battle with sampans on 2 September. On 25 September Guardfish attacked and sank 873ton cargo ship Miyakawa Maru #2 and returned to Pearl Harbor on 24 October 1944.
Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth war patrols, November 1944 – June 1945
Guardfish left on 26 November 1944 for her 10th war patrol to cruise in the "Convoy College" area of the South China Sea, with yet another wolf pack. She recorded no sinkings on this cruise, but nearing Guam in the early morning of 24 January 1945 she mistook the U.S. Navy rescue and salvage shipExtractor(ARS-15), for a Japanese I class submarine. She fired a torpedo which struck Extractor's starboard side, causing her to capsize and sink at 15°44′N135°29′E / 15.733°N 135.483°E / 15.733; 135.483, within five minutes.[9] Six crew were killed, and the remainder were rescued by Guardfish. This action ended the patrol.
Guardfish's 11th war patrol was spent watching for enemy fleet units attempting to escape from the Inland Sea of Japan by way of the Kii Suido between Shikoku and Honshū. Leaving Saipan on this duty on 27 February, she found no ships but rescued two downed aviators on 19 March before returning to Midway on 11 April 1945.
Guardfish left Midway on 8 May 1945 on her 12th and final war patrol, and was assigned lifeguard station for the ever-increasing air attacks on the Japanese mainland. She sank a small trawler by gunfire on 16 June, and arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 26 June 1945.
Post-war service
The veteran submarine served with the training command after her return to Hawaii, helping to train surface ships in the newest antisubmarine warfare tactics until 25 August 1945. She then sailed for the United States, transiting the Panama Canal on 12 September and arriving at New Orleans on 16 September. Guardfish arrived at New London 6 November and decommissioned there on 25 May 1946.
Guardfish remained inactive until 18 June 1948, when she was placed "in service" for duty as a Naval Reserve Training Ship at New London. Declared surplus to Navy needs, she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1960. This ship, one of the most successful of World War II submarines, performed her final service as a target ship for a new submarine torpedo. Blenny sank her with the newly developed torpedoes off New London on 10 October 1961.
Honors and awards
Presidential Unit Citation, two awards, one for her first and second war patrols, and a second for her eighth war patrol.[10]
Of about 250 American submarines which conducted combat patrols in World War II, Guardfish ranked 13th in total tonnage sunk (72,424 tons) and tied for eighth in number of ships sunk with 19.
In the media
Guardfish was the subject of an article in the 14 December 1942 edition of TIME magazine. The article, titled Battle of the Pacific: A Day at the Races[11] and written by an embedded Times staff writer (Clay Blair?), describes the Guardfish, either the 1st or 2nd war patrol and Commander Klakring's famed sneak into Tokyo Bay; Close enough to watch the horse races through the periscope.
Excerpt from article – It was a Sunday afternoon. Lieut. Commander Thomas Burton Klakring had run his submarine smack up to Japan's shore. Klakring raised his periscope. There was a big seaside town, a race track and a race, which "the whole town" had turned out to see. Klakring & crew placed some bets, "but we were just a little too far away to be sure which horse won." Anyhow, they were there to provide more exciting diversion for the people of Japan.
Guardfish life on patrol was predominately displayed in the much longer article, featured in the 15 March 1943 publication of LIFE magazine.[12] The article is titled West to Japan. US sub patrols the Japanese Coast, watches Horse-races and sinks 70,000 tons of Japanese shipping. By John Field. The article is over 4,000 words and depicts life aboard a submarine, both exciting and mundane. Byline: "This story has 50 heros and one heroine. The heros are the officers and men of an American submarine. The heroine is the ship herself. More than 300 ft. long, with ten torpedo tubes and a surface speed of better than 20 knots, she was commissioned about a year ago. Since that day, she has led an exciting and secret life. On one cruise, to the shores of Japan itself, she sank 70,000 tons of (enemy) shipping. This is the story of that cruise."[12]
Guardfish was the subject of one episode of the syndicated television series The Silent Service
USS Gato (SS-212) was the lead ship of her class of submarine in the United States Navy. She was the first Navy ship named for the common name used for a number of species of catshark. She was commissioned only days after the declaration of war and made thirteen combat patrols during World War II. She survived the war and spent the post-war period as a training ship before being sold for scrapping in 1960.
USS Skate (SS-305) was a Balao-class submarine in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was used as a target ship in the 1946 atomic bomb tests and finally sunk as a target ship in October 1948.
USS Halibut (SS-232), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the halibut, a large species of flatfish.
USS Growler (SS-215), a Gato-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy named for the growler.
USS Tautog (SS-199), the second Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog, a small edible sport fish, which is also called a blackfish. She was one of the most successful submarines of World War II. Tautog was credited with sinking 26 Japanese ships, for a total of 72,606 tons, scoring second by number of ships and eleventh by tonnage earning her the nickname "The Terrible T." Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, she was one of only five to survive the war.
USS Grayling (SS-209) was the tenth Tambor-class submarine to be commissioned in the United States Navy in the years leading up to the country's December 1941 entry into World War II. She was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling. Her wartime service was in the Pacific Ocean. She completed seven war patrols in the following 20 months, and is credited with the sinking of over 20,000 tons of Japanese merchant shipping and warships. Grayling received six battle stars for her World War II service. She was declared lost with all hands in September 1943. Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, only five survived the war.
USS Tambor (SS-198), the lead ship of her class of submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tambor.
USS Drum (SS-228) is a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named after the drum, a type of fish. Drum is a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama, at Battleship Memorial Park.
USS Tarpon (SS-175), second United States Navy ship of this name, was a Porpoise-class diesel-electric submarine. Tarpon conducted war patrols in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
USS Finback (SS-230), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the finback. Nine of Finback's twelve World War II patrols in the Pacific were designated as "successful"; she received 13 battle stars for her service and is credited with having sunk nearly 70 thousand tons of enemy shipping.
USS Sturgeon (SS-187), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sturgeon. Her 1944 sinking of the Japanese troopship Toyama Maru, killing more than 5,000 Japanese, was one of the highest death tolls from the sinking of a single ship in history. Her 1942 sinking of the Montevideo Maru which, unknown to crew on the Sturgeon, was carrying over 1,000 POWs, was the worst maritime disaster in Australian history.
USS Greenling (SS-213), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the greenling.
USS Flying Fish (SS/AGSS-229), a Gato-class submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flying fish. Flying Fish is credited with having sunk a total of 58,306 tons of Japanese shipping and received 12 battle stars for World War II service.
USS Haddock (SS-231), a Gato-class submarine, was the second submarine of the United States Navy to be named for the haddock, a small edible Atlantic fish related to the cod. A previous submarine had been named Haddock (SS-32), but was renamed K-1 prior to her launching, so Haddock (SS-231) was the first to actually bear the name.
USS Hoe (SS-258), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the hoe, one of various sharks, especially the dogfish.
USS Jack (SS-259), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the jack.
USS Peto (SS-265), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the peto, a sharp-nosed tropical fish of the mackerel family.
USS Pogy (SS-266), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pogy, or menhaden. She was credited with sinking 16 ships totaling 62,633 gross register tons during World War II.
The first USS Sunfish (SS-281), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, a plectognath marine fish, having a deep body truncated behind, and high dorsal and anal fins.
USS Seahorse (SS-304), a Balao-class submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the seahorse, a small fish whose head and the fore part of its body suggest the head and neck of a horse.
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