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CACHALOT (SS-170) was launched 19
October 1933 as V-8 (SC-4) by Portsmouth Navy Yard;
sponsored by Miss K. D. Kempff; and commissioned 1 December
1933 with Lieutenant Commander M. Comstock in command.
After shakedown, further
construction, tests, and overhaul, CACHALOT sailed for San
Diego, Calif., where on 17 October 1934 she joined the
Submarine Force, U.S. Fleet. Operating until 1937
principally on the west coast, she engaged in fleet problems,
torpedo practice, antisubmarine, tactical, and sound
training exercises. She cruised twice to Hawaiian waters and
once to the Canal Zone to participate in large- scale fleet
exercises.
CACHALOT cleared San Diego 16
June 1937, bound for New London, Conn., and duty in
experimental torpedo firing for the Newport Torpedo Station,
and sound training for the New London Submarine School until
26 October 1937 when she began a lengthy overhaul at New
York Navy Yard. A year later she sailed for participation in
a fleet problem, torpedo practice and sound training in the
Caribbean and off the Canal Zone, and on 16 June 1939,
reported at Pearl Harbor for duty with the Submarine Force
and the Scouting Force.
War came to CACHALOT as she lay in
Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in overhaul. In the Japanese attack
of 7 December 1941, one of her men was wounded, but the
submarine suffered no damage. Yard work on her was completed
at a furious pace, and on 12 January 1942 she sailed on her
first war patrol. After fueling at Midway, she conducted a
reconnaissance of Wake, Eniwetok, Ponape, Truk, Namonuito,
and Hall Islands, returning to Pearl Harbor 18 March with
vitally needed intelligence of Japanese bases.
Her second war patrol, for which
she cleared from Midway on 9 June, was conducted off the
Japanese home islands, where she damaged an enemy tanker.
Returning to Pearl Harbor 26 July, she cleared on her final
war patrol 23 September penetrating the frigid waters of the
Bering Sea in support of the Aleutians operations. Overage
for strenuous war patrols, CACHALOT still had a key role to
play during the remainder of the war, which she spent as
training ship for the Submarine School at New London.
She served here until 30 June 1945,
when she sailed to Philadelphia where she was decommissioned
17 October 1945. She was sold 26 January 1947. CACHALOT
received three battle stars for World War II service. |
