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.
Construction and commissioning
Gato′s keel was laid down 5 October 1940 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched 21 August 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Louise Ingersoll, wife of Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll, and commissioned 31 December 1941.
January – April 1942
After shakedown at New London, Connecticut, Gato departed 16 February 1942 via the Panama Canal for San Francisco, California, where she underwent additional training. She was at periscope depth while conducting a trim dive in the Pacific Ocean off the entrance to San Francisco Bay on 23 March 1942 when the U.S. Navy TC-class blimp TC-13 mistook her for a Japanese submarine and attacked her with four depth charges. The first two depth charges landed within of her periscope and the second pair exploded as she dived to a depth of . She suffered extensive damage but no casualties. It was the only friendly fire incident between a U.S. Navy blimp and a submarine during World War II.
After repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard in California, Gato was ready for sea again on 27 March 1942. She subsequently proceeded to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
First war patrol, April – June 1942
On her first war patrol from Pearl Harbor (20 April – 10 June 1942), Gato unsuccessfully attacked a converted aircraft carrier 3 May before being driven away by the fierce depth charging of four destroyers off the Marshall Islands. On 24 May 1942 she was ordered to patrol the western approaches to Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, taking station westward during the Battle of Midway of 3–7 June 1942.
Second and third war patrols, July – December 1942
On her second war patrol (2 July – 29 August 1942), she patrolled east of the Kurile Islands toward the Aleutian chain. She obtained four torpedo hits with unconfirmed damage to a ship 15 August 1942, and terminated her patrol at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Her third patrol (4 September – 23 December 1942) included operations off Kiska; then she steamed via Midway and Pearl Harbor to Truk atoll, where her attack 6 December on a convoy was broken off by aerial bombs and a severe depth charge attack by three destroyers. This patrol terminated at Brisbane, Australia, 23 December 1942.
Fourth and fifth war patrols, January – June 1943
During her fourth war patrol (13 January 1943 – 26 February 1943), Gato torpedoed and sank transport Kenkon Maru 21 January; cargo ship Nichiun Maru on 29 January; and cargo ship Suruya Maru on 15 February—all off New Georgia, Solomon Islands. On her fifth war patrol (19 March – 6 June 1943), she landed an Australian intelligence party at Toep, Bougainville, 29 March 1943, and evacuated 27 children, nine mothers, and three nuns, transferring them 31 March to the submarine chaser SC-531 off Ramos, Florida Island. During a submerged radar attack approach 4 April 1943, between Tanga and Lihir Islands, she was shaken so violently by three exploding depth charges that she returned to Brisbane for temporary repairs 11 to 20 April. Gato landed more Australian commandos at Toep Harbor 29 May, transported more evacuees to Ramos Island, and then reconnoitered off Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands before putting in at Pearl Harbor 6 June 1943.