USS Narwhal ( SS - 167 ) USS " Narwhal " ( SS - 167 ) , the lead ship of her class of submarine and one of the " V - boat s " , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the narwhal . She was named " V - 5 " ( SC - 1 ) when her keel was laid down on 10 May 1927 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine . " V - 5 " was launched on 17 December 1929 sponsored by Mrs . Charles F . Adams , wife of the Secretary of the Navy , and commissioned on 15 May 1930 , Lieutenant Commander John H . Brown , Jr . in command . Inter - War Period . " V - 5 " departed Annapolis , Maryland on 11 August for a cruise to the West Indies , returning to Portsmouth on 11 September . She trained in New England waters until 31 January 1931 , when she sailed for the West Coast via the Panama Canal , arriving San Diego on 4 April . On 19 February , " V - 5 " was renamed Narwhal and on 1 July received the new hull number SS - 167 . After overhaul , " Narwhal " departed Mare Island Navy Yard on 2 February 1932 for fleet exercises off Hawaii . She returned to San Diego on 17 March . After patrol duty along the West Coast , the submarine got underway on 12 July 1934 for a cruise with Submarine Division 12 ( SubDiv 12 ) until her arrival at San Diego on 18 September . For the next three years , she operated as far north as Seattle , Washington and as far west as Pearl Harbor , which became her home base for operations through 1941 . World War II . " Narwhal " was one of four docked submarines caught by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in the early morning of 7 December 1941 . Within minutes of the first enemy bomb explosions on Ford Island , " Narwhal " s gunners were in action to assist in the destruction of two torpedo planes . On her first war patrol – from 2 February - 28 March 1942 — " Narwhal " , with Lieutenant Commander Chester W . " Weary " Wilkins in command , departed Pearl Harbor to reconnoiter Wake Island on 15 – 16 February , then continued on to the Ryukyu Islands . On 28 February , she made her first torpedo attack of the war , heavily damaging " Maju Maru " . Six days later , the submarine sank " Taki Maru " in the East China Sea . She spent her second war patrol – from 28 May – 13 June – in defense of Midway Atoll . As TF 16 – with the aircraft carrier s , , and — prepared to meet the Japanese attack , " Narwhal " joined and in scouting east of Midway ; during the Battle of Midway on 3 – 6 June , these submarines – along with 15 others – accomplished nothing . " Narwhal " s third patrol – from 7 July – 26 August – took her close to Hokkaidō to stalk Japanese shipping off the Kurile Islands . She claimed two small inter - island freighters on 24 and 28 July . One reference credits Narwhal with " 3 " sinkings on 24 July . See reference only On 1 August , " Narwhal " included " Meiwa Maru " to her credit despite aircraft bomb and depth charge retaliation . One reference credits Narawal with an additional sinking on 1 August . See reference only Seven days later , she sank " Bifitku Maru " . On the morning of 14 August , the submarine raised her periscope to discover three enemy destroyer s crossing her stern in column . She waited while the destroyers " were running all over the ocean " dropping depth charges . Only slightly damaged , " Narwhal " departed her patrol area the next day . On 8 September , " Narwhal " sailed from Pearl Harbor for the West Coast , arriving Mare Island Navy Yard on 15 September for overhaul . She went on to San Diego on 4 April 1943 , arriving two days later to embark the 7th Infantry Scout Company for the invasion of Attu Island . On 18 April , she set course for Alaska , arriving Dutch Harbor on 27 April . The submarine began her fourth war patrol – from 30 April - 25 May – departing Dutch Harbor for the western Aleutian Islands . She rendezvoused with sister ship on 11 May off the northern side of Attu Island , and the two ships debarked Army Scouts in rubber boats for the preliminary landings in the recapture of the island , a venture successfully completed on 29 May . " Narwhal " returned to Pearl Harbor with a stopover at Dutch Harbor on 14 and 18 May . With Commander Frank D . Latta in command , she again got underway for the Kurile Islands on her fifth war patrol , from 26 June – 7 August . Her mission – beginning on 11 July – was to create diversion by bombarding an air base on Matsuwa . , , and " Plunger " were about to attempt an exit from the previously impenetrable Sea of Japan which they had so daringly invaded . The night of 15 July , " Narwhal " drew so much enemy attention to her presence she was forced to dive from the shells , but she accomplished her mission : the other submarines slipped through Etorofu Strait without detection . " Narwhal " made her sixth war patrol – from 31 August – 2 October – off the Marshall Islands . On the morning of 11 September , she torpedoed and sank " Hokusho Maru " before a Japanese escort caught up with her . After a severe depth charging , she departed for the Kwajalein Atoll area . By the end of September , the submarine was " en route " to Brisbane , Australia . Upon arrival , " Narwhal " prepared to assist in the campaign to reoccupy the Philippines begun in January 1943 , when debarked six Filipinos and a ton of equipment on Negros Island . " Narwhal " eventually became the leading submarine in supporting the Philippine guerrilla movement with nine secret transport missions to her credit . " Narwhal " was loaded down with of ammunition and stores and a party of ten for her seventh patrol , from 23 October – 22 November . She was in the Sulu Sea , off Mindanao , the night of 10 November " en route " to Puluan Bay when two Japanese ships astern opened fire . The night of 13 November , she entered Ptiluan Bay stealthily to debark her passengers and half of her cargo while lying off the starboard side of " Dona Jitana Maru " . By midnight " Narwhal " was safely on her way to Nasipit , on Mindanao , where she docked on 15 November to unload the rest of her stores to the tune of " Anchors Aweigh " played by a grateful Filipino band . She then embarked 32 evacuees , including eight women , two children , and a baby , for Darwin , Australia , and the end of her patrol . Picking up such odd assortments of passengers and secret cargo soon became routine for " Narwhal " . She departed on her eighth war patrol – from 25 November – 18 December – with the usual cargo and 11 Army operatives bound for Cabadbaran , on Mindanao , arriving Butuan Bay on 2 December for debarking . With seven evacuees on board , " Narwhal " sailed for Majacalar Bay , arriving off Negros Island on 3 December . Taking on nine more people , she stood out of Alajacalar Bay on 5 December . Around sunrise that same day , the submarine sank " Hinteno Maru " in a blaze of gunfire . On 11 December , she debarked her passengers at Port Darwin , then continued on to Fremantle , Western Australia . On her ninth war patrol – from 18 January - 15 February 1944 – the submarine returned to Darwin to embark observer Commander F . Kent Loomis and more stores . Following a nighttime transit of the Surigao Strait , " Narwhal " slipped west and north , made a submerged patrol off Naso Point , Panay , then headed for Pandan Bay to transfer cargo to sailing craft . With six new passengers , she came off Negros Island on 7 February to deposit 45 tons of supplies . " Narwhal " then received 28 more evacuees for the trip to Darwin . On her tenth war patrol – from 16 February – 20 March — " Narwhal " delivered more ammunition to Butuan Bay on 2 March . With 28 new people on board , she departed on 3 March for Tawi - Tawi . That evening , she damaged " Karatsu " ( the captured American " Luzon " ( PR - 7 ) ) and was heavily bombarded with depth charge s by enemy escorts for her trouble . On the night of 5 March , two small boats – assisted by rubber boats from " Narwhal " — put off for shore with cargo . Three Japanese destroyers closed in later ; she eluded them and transferred her passengers , now a total of 38 , to " Chinampa " on 11 March before docking at Fremantle . " Narwhal " — Commander Jack C . Titus in command – departed on her 11th war patrol – from 7 May – 9 June – for Alusan Bay , Samar , where she landed 22 men and supplies , including electric lamps , radio parts , and flour for the priests , the night of 24 May . By 1 June , the submarine was unloading 16 men and stores on the southwest coast of Mindanao . She ended this patrol at Port Darwin . The twelfth war patrol – from 10 June – 7 July – gave " Narwhal " a chance for some action . On 13 June , she submerged for reconnaissance of Bula , Ceram Island , a source of enemy oil . That night , the submarine closed the shore and fired 56 rounds of projectiles to destroy several gasoline storage tanks and set fires around a power house and pumping station area before she had to retreat from the salvos directed at her . Three minutes before sunset on 20 June , she rendezvoused with native boats to send her cargo ashore during a suspenseful nine and one - half hours . Within 30 minutes , she had completed unloading and taking on 14 evacuees , a submarine chaser was in her wake . " Narwhal " evaded him to do some shooting herself the next day at a Japanese sea truck and on 22 June at an unidentified tanker . After putting her evacuees ashore at Port Darwin on 29 – 30 June , she continued to Fremantle . Her 13th war patrol – from 12 August – 10 September – started at Fremantle and ended at Port Darwin . On the night of 30 August , " Narwhal " surfaced in Dibut Bay on the east coast of Luzon for her usual debarking procedures , greatly speeded this time by the use of bamboo rafts built by the shore party under direction of Commander Charles Parsons , a liaison man in the Philippine supply and evacuation missions . Before midnight on 2 September , " Narwhal " sent a party and supplies ashore to a beach off the mouth of the Masanga River , and received four evacuees in return to complete the patrol . On her 14th war patrol – from 14 September – 5 October — " Narwhal " deposited men and stores on Cebu Island on 27 September , then took off for Sairi Bay , where on 29 September she received 31 liberated prisoners - of - war rescued from the sea after sank several Japanese transports off Sindagan Point on 6 September . " Narwhal " found herself in danger the afternoon of 30 September , when she submerged to avoid a Japanese antisubmarine patrol plane , her stern planes locked in a 20° angle . Forced to blow her main ballast to stop the steep dive , " Narwhal " reversed direction and popped out of the water stern first just two minutes after she went down . Luckily , the patrol plane could not maneuver fast enough to return before she again dove . " Narwhal " based at Mios Woendi , Dutch New Guinea , before starting on her 15th and last war patrol – from 11 October – 2 November – with Commander William G . Holman in command . Friday the 13th brought a near attack by a PBY Catalina . Once the submarine was recognized , the aircraft signaled " GOOD LUCK NARWHAL . " The evening of 17 October she was off a Tawi Tawi beach to deliver of food stuffs . Two days later she unloaded the rest of her cargo and 37 men at Negros Island and took on her last passengers , 26 in all , for the trip to Brisbane . According to a POW survivors account ( Murray M . Sneddon , Zero Ward : A Survivors Nightmare ) the " Narwhal " picked up 82 POW ' s ( not 31 as presently stated ) at Siari , Mindanao . " Forty - one placed in the forward torpedo room and 41 in the aft torpedo room " , p . 126 . " Narwhal " departed Brisbane on 6 January 1945 for the east coast via the Panama Canal , entering the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 21 February , where she was decommissioned on 23 April . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 May and sold for scrap . " Narwhal " s two guns are permanently enshrined at the Naval Submarine Base New London , at Groton , Connecticut . " Narwhal " received 15 battle star s for World War II service , making her one of the Most decorated US ships of WWII .