USS Threadfin ( SS - 410 ) USS " Threadfin " ( SS - 410 ) , a " Balao " - class submarine , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the threadfin , any of a family of fishes related to the mullet s and distinguished by filamentous rays on the lower part of the pectoral fin . " Threadfin " was laid down on 18 March 1944 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine . She was launched on 26 June 1944 sponsored by Mrs . Frank G . Fox , and commissioned on 30 August 1944 with Commander John J . Foote in command . Training and trials out of Portsmouth followed her final completion late in September . After transiting the Panama Canal in mid - November , the submarine reached Pearl Harbor early in December and conducted intensive training in preparation for her first war patrol . First War Patrol . " Threadfin " stood out of Pearl Harbor on 25 December . Early in January 1945 , she reached her assigned patrol area in the waters just south of Kyūshū . There , she spent 30 of her 54 days at sea . She encountered numerous enemy aircraft , patrol craft , and fishing vessels , but only six targets worthy of a torpedo . On 30 January , " Threadfin " sighted a large enemy patrol craft , but prudently allowed her to pass unmolested in the hope of drawing a bead on any merchant vessels for which she might be running interference . Presently , a 2000 - ton coastal freighter escorted by two patrol vessels and a plane crossed her path . " Threadfin " fired a spread of six torpedoes from a range of about . At least one of them struck home , obscuring the target in smoke and steam . The cargoman probably sank ; but " Threadfin " could not verify that result visually because the escorts drove her deep with a persistent , though ineffective , depth charge attack . Two days later , the submarine encountered a Japanese " Ro - 60 " - class submarine . However , the enemy ' s course changes kept " Threadfin " from gaining an advantageous attack setup , and the Japanese " pig - boat " disappeared in the distance . " Threadfin " next happened upon two freighters escorted by three patrol craft . This time , the small convoy ' s position close inshore defied the American submarine ' s efforts to attack . The following day , she mistook another patrol vessel for a cargo ship and discovered her mistake in just enough time to make a deep dive to safety . That escapade also robbed her of a chance at a small convoy consisting of two small cargomen and two escorts . She sighted the convoy later when she returned to periscope depth ; but , by then the ships had passed out of range . A week later , she launched six torpedoes at a minesweeper distant . In spite of an excellent fire - control solution , all six missed . They apparently ran too deeply . Three days later , she concluded a somewhat discouraging , but still successful , first war patrol at Midway Island . Second War Patrol . Following a month there for refit and training , " Threadfin " embarked upon her second war patrol on 14 March . She initially joined a coordinated attack group composed of herself , and submarines and . During her five - day tour with that wolf pack , " Threadfin " made two attacks on enemy shipping . On the afternoon of 28 March , she came across two Japanese destroyer escort - type warships and apparently dispatched one with a single hit from a spread of six torpedoes . The stricken warship ' s screws stopped while her colleague ' s depth charge attack deprived " Threadfin " of definite knowledge of the ultimate result . That evening , the submarine tangled with a convoy composed of two small trawlers and four luggers . During the ensuing surface gun engagement , the submarine inflicted serious damage on two of the luggers , moderate damage on the trawlers , and minor damage on the remaining pair of luggers . Though disconcerting , the Japanese return fire proved ineffectual . On 31 March , that group was dissolved , and " Threadfin " received orders to join and near Bungo Suido , the primary entrance to the Seto Inland Sea which separates Honshū from Kyūshū and Shikoku . The new attack group ' s primary assignment was to guard against an undetected sortie of the remainder of Japan ' s fleet during the Allied assault on Okinawa . On the evening of 6 April , " Threadfin " made radar contact with what later proved to be an enemy task force built around Japan ' s super battleship , " Yamato " . Passing up a tempting opportunity in order to carry out her prime directive , " Threadfin " flashed the warning to Fifth Fleet headquarters afloat off Okinawa . Completing that phase of her mission , the submarine tried desperately to regain attack position on the force , but its speed denied her a second chance . On the whole , however , her radio was probably more valuable than her torpedoes would have been . Her timely warning enabled the planes of Task Force 58 to ambush and sink " Yamato " and to destroy most of her consorts as well . A second mission of the submarine consisted of lifeguard duty to rescue downed American airmen . Her first war patrol afforded her no opportunity to pursue such a humane mission ; but , near the end of the second she rescued a half - drowned P - 51 Mustang pilot . Though he had swallowed large quantities of water , artificial respiration soon brought him around . That proved to be the last noteworthy event of the patrol ; and , after a refueling stop at Midway on 30 April , " Threadfin " concluded her second war patrol at Pearl Harbor on 4 May . Third War Patrol . At Pearl Harbor , she underwent refit followed by a brief four - day training period before departing on her third and final war patrol . She stopped briefly at Guam for voyage repairs ; then continued on to her assigned area in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea . She closed her first victim , a three - masted schooner , to inspect her and determine her nationality . Finding her to be enemy - operated and worthy of attack , the submarine opened up with her five - inch ( 127 mm ) deck gun . Fifteen hits later , the schooner vanished beneath the waves . " Threadfin " rescued nine crewmen from the schooner and learned that her victim had been bound for Dairen laden with coal . The next day , the submarine encountered a freighter sunk in shallow water and surrounded by small boats , apparently conducting some variety of salvage operations . She fired a single torpedo which caused the wreck to settle a further ten feet and which she hoped would suspend the suspected salvage operations . Closer inspection , however , indicated that the boats were fishing , not conducting salvage operations . Soon thereafter , " Threadfin " sighted a four - masted cargo schooner and sank her in a gun attack . The following afternoon , her deck gun accounted for another cargo schooner . On the 19th , she stopped a group of five two - masted cargo junks for inspection but allowed them to continue their voyage after identifying them as friendly Chinese . The next night , she made a surface radar torpedo attack on an enemy ship shrouded by heavy fog . She loosed a spread of five torpedoes , of which two found their mark . The target sank within five minutes without ever being visually sighted from " Threadfin " . The submarine concluded her offensive operations near the Strait of Tsushima . After a day of submerged patrolling without sighting a worthwhile target , she received word that night that submarine had come upon a patrol craft heading north and four small cargomen heading south . While " Sea Robin " took on the patrol craft , " Threadfin " hit the small convoy . During the ensuing night gun action , she sank two of the four tiny merchantmen and forced the other two into " Sea Robin " ’ s path . The two American submarines dispatched all four . On the return trip from her final war patrol , " Threadfin " rescued three survivors from a downed American flying boat and took them to Guam where she arrived on 27 July . Post - War Activities . From 27 July to 12 August , the submarine refitted at Guam in preparation for her fourth war patrol , but that patrol never occurred . While she conducted post - refit training , the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities . On 18 August , she got underway from Guam to return to the United States . She transited the Panama Canal on 16 September and reported for duty with the Atlantic Fleet . Six days later , she tied up at the naval base at Staten Island , New York . The balance of " Threadfin " ’ s 28 - year career proved to be routine in nature . Initially , she operated out of New London , Connecticut , serving as a training platform for the officers and men learning the ropes at the Submarine School . That duty apparently lasted until December 1952 , at which time the submarine was decommissioned to enter the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for an extended conversion overhaul . Over the next eight months , " Threadfin " received extensive modifications in an effort to make her more effective in underwater operations — more truly a submarine than simply a submersible . When she emerged from the shipyard the following summer , her hull had been streamlined and her sail modified . In addition , she lost one of her four diesel engines to make room for auxiliary equipment displaced by an expanded sonar facility . Finally , her underwater performance was boosted by the installation of two " greater capacity " batteries — they actually produced the same power as the old style batteries but in a smaller , lighter physical plant — and a snorkel for extended submerged cruising . At the completion of her Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program ( GUPPY ) conversion , " Threadfin " was recommissioned at Portsmouth on 7 August 1953 with Lieutenant Commander Daniel G . Bailey in command . In October , she conducted her post - conversion shakedown cruise and , early the following month , reported for duty as a unit of Submarine Squadron 4 at Key West , Florida . Over the remaining 19 years of her career , " Threadfin " operated off the East Coast . She participated in several exercises each year and frequently conducted summer training cruises for United States Naval Academy and N ROTC midshipmen . Though based in Key West , she made visits to ports on the Gulf of Mexico such as New Orleans , Louisiana , and often ventured north to New London , Connecticut . In October 1962 , she participated in President of the United States John F . Kennedy ' s quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis . The following summer , the submarine made what , on the basis of sparse records , appears to be her only post - war overseas deployment with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea . Turkish Navy service . After successive years of routine operations in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean , " Threadfin " was placed out of commission on 18 August 1972 and transferred to Turkey that same day . She served in the Turkish Navy , on loan , as TCG 1 . " İnonu " ( S 346 ) until the following summer . On 1 August 1973 , her name was struck from the American Naval Vessel Register . Two weeks later , the loan expired , she was returned to the United States Navy , and sold to Turkey . In mid - 1998 she was still in active service in the Turkish Navy . She has reportedly been decommissioned since then . Honors and awards . " Threadfin " was awarded three battle star s for World War II service .