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The second POMPANO (SS-181) was laid
down 14 January 1936 by the Navy Yard, Mare Island, Calif.;
launched 11 March 1937; sponsored by Mrs. Isaac I. Yates;
and commissioned 12 June 1937, Lt. Comdr. L. S. Parks in
command.
In the years preceding World
War II, POMPANO operated out of Mare Island off the west
coast of the United States, training her crew and patrolling
in a constant state of readiness.
Although the submarine was awarded
a battle star for the Pearl Harbor raid, she had not yet
arrived from Mare Island. Reaching port shortly after the
disastrous strike, she sailed from Pearl Harbor 18 December
1941 for her first war patrol, devoted mainly to
reconnoitering the eastern Marshall Islands for a carrier
raid in January. Planes from the flattops bombed the
submarine by mistake 20 December, but she escaped damage.
On her next patrol, undertaken in
Japanese home waters, POMPANO was able to attack five
vessels successfully, sinking a total of 16,500 tons.
POMPANO left Pearl Harbor 20 April 1942, refueled at Midway,
and entered her area 7 May patrolling the steamer lanes west
of Okinawa and in the East China Sea. Shipping was scarce,
but on 24 May she caught a large sampan and sent it down
with gunfire. On the next day, she torpedoed tanker TOKYO
MARU, which exploded and sank.
A Navy Yard overhaul at Mare Island,
including the installation of new main engines, kept the
ship in the yard until 18 December 1942. Sailing back to
Pearl Harbor, she departed on her fourth war patrol 16
January 1943. The Marshalls were her first objective, and at
dawn on the 25th, she was off Kwajalein. After
reconnoitering the area, she moved on to Truk to begin
patrolling.
Catching a tanker with only one
escort on 30 January, she damaged the tanker with torpedoes.
Another tanker came in view 4 February, but only one of the
stern torpedoes hit. Although damaged, the tanker managed to
make it into port. Moving back to the Marshalls, POMPANO
sighted another tanker on the morning of 18 February. Two
hits slowed the Japanese down, but depth charging held
POMPANO down until her target had escaped. After
reconnoitering Rongerik, Rongelap, and Bikini, she returned
home, mooring at Midway 28 February.
POMPANO left Midway 20 August,
bound for the coasts of Hokkaido and Honshu. She was never
heard from again, and when she failed to return, was
presumed lost. The Japanese knew that she was in her area,
however, for two ships fell to her torpedoes during
September: AKAMA MARU, a 5,600 ton cargo carrier, on the
3rd, and TAIKO MARU, a 2,958 ton cargo carrier on the 25th.
The enemy made no anti-submarine attacks during this period
in POMPANO’s area, so enemy mines probably destroyed the
veteran. POMPANO was struck from the Navy List 12 January
1944.
POMPANO received seven battle stars
for service in World War II. |
