USS Gunnel ( SS - 253 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gunnel , a blennoid fish of the north Atlantic ranging south as far as Cape Cod . Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company , Groton , Connecticut . She was launched 17 May 1942 ( sponsored by Mrs . Ben Morell , wife of the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks ) , and commissioned 20 August 1942 , with Lieutenant Commander John S . " Jack " McCain , Jr . in command . Atlantic patrol . " Gunnel " s first war patrol ( 19 October – 7 December 1942 ) covered a passage from the United States to the United Kingdom , during which she participated in Operation " Torch " , the Allied invasion of North Africa . One of six submarines assigned to Admiral Henry K . Hewitt ' s Western Naval Task Force , " Gunnel " did reconnaissance off Fedhala 6 November 1942 , 2 days before the invasion , and on D - day ( 8 November ) made infrared signals to guide the approaching fleet to the beachheads . Missions well accomplished , the submarine departed for Rosneath , Scotland , 7 December to terminate her first patrol . " En route " home , the drive gears of her HOR engines failed , forcing her to complete the final on her auxiliary diesel , leading to a major overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery , Maine . Pacific patrols . Second and third patrols . Subsequently assigned to the Pacific Fleet , " Gunnel " sailed to Pearl Harbor , then to her second patrol ( 28 May – 3 July 1943 ) in waters west of Kyūshū in the East China Sea . Success crowned her efforts when cargo ship " Kayo Maru " ( 6 , 300 tons ) was sunk 15 June , giving " Gunnel " her first kill , and four days later when another cargo ship , " Tokiwa Maru " ( 7 , 000 tons ) , was sent under . Both sinkings were confirmed by JANAC postwar . After overhaul at Mare Island , California , the submarine accomplished a third war patrol ( 17 November 1943 – 7 January 1944 ) in Japanese home waters off Honshū . This , too , was successful ; on 4 December " Gunnel " sent passenger - cargo ship " Hiyoshi Maru " to the bottom . Fourth , fifth , sixth patrols . The fourth war patrol ( 5 February – 6 April ) took the boat from Midway to Fremantle and in the South China , Sulu , and Celebes Seas . Bad luck dogged " Gunnel " and she was forced to return to port having made no further kills . Her fifth and sixth patrols , ( 3 May – 4 July ) and ( 29 July – 22 September 1944 ) found her again in the southern approaches of the Sunda Straits and cruising in the Sulu Sea - Manila area but failed to add to her score . Seventh and eighth patrols . During her seventh patrol ( 21 October – 28 December ) in the South China and Sulu Seas , she sank the motor torpedo boat " Sagi " ( 600 tons ) ; passenger - cargo ship " Shunten Maru " ( 5 , 600 tons ) ; and torpedo boat " Hiyodori " ( 600 tons ) . On this same patrol " Gunnel " evacuated 11 naval aviators at Palawan 1 December to 2 December after the fliers had been protected by friendly guerrilla forces for some 2 months . She conducted her eighth patrol ( 13 June – 24 July 1945 ) in the Bungo Suido area . She attacked an unescorted Japanese submarine 9 July . The great range and speed of the enemy , however , caused " Gunnel " ' s torpedoes to miss . She returned from the patrol after duty as a lifeguard ship for B - 29 s flying toward Japan on bombing missions . Postwar . " Gunnel " was refitting at Pearl Harbor and at war ' s end she was ordered to New London , Connecticut , where she decommissioned 18 May 1946 . Her name was struck from the Navy List 1 September 1958 and she was sold for scrapping in August 1959 . " Gunnel " received five battle stars for World War II service . Her first , second , third , and seventh war patrols were designated successful . In the JANAC accounting postwar , she was credited with six ships sunk for 24 , 624 tons .