USS Nautilus ( SS - 168 ) USS " Nautilus " ( SF - 9 / SS - 168 ) , a and one of the " V - boat s " , was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name . She was originally named and designated " V - 6 " ( SF - 9 ) , but was redesignated and given hull classification symbol SC - 2 on 11 February 1925 . Her keel was laid on 10 May 1927 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo , California . She was launched on 15 March 1930 sponsored by Miss Joan Keesling , and commissioned on 1 July 1930 with Lieutenant Commander Thomas J . Doyle , Jr . in command . " V - 6 " operated out of New London , conducting special submergence tests , until March 1931 . She was renamed " Nautilus " on 19 February and given hull number SS - 168 on 1 July . She proceeded to Pearl Harbor where she became flagship of Submarine Division 12 ( SubDiv 12 ) . Reassigned to SubDiv 13 at San Diego , California , 1935 – 1938 , then re - homeported at Pearl Harbor , she maintained a regular schedule of training activities and fleet exercises and problems throughout the decade . In July 1941 , she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for modernization — radio equipment , external torpedo tubes , re - engining ( with Winton diesels ) , and air conditioning — until the following spring . First patrol — the Battle of Midway . She departed San Francisco , California , on 21 April 1942 , reaching Pearl Harbor on 28 April . On 24 May , " Nautilus " ( commanded by Lieutenant Commander William H . Brockman , Jr . ) got underway for her first war patrol , to Midway Island to help repel the expected attack by the Japanese fleet . At 07 : 55 , 4 June , while approaching the northern boundary of her patrol area near Midway Island , she sighted masts on the horizon . Japanese planes sighted the submarine at the same time and began strafing . After diving to , she continued observation . At 08 : 00 , a formation of four enemy ships was sighted : the battleship " Kirishima " , the cruiser " Nagara " , and two destroyer s ( misidentified , as they often were early in the war , as cruisers ) in company . Within minutes the submarine was again sighted from the air and was bombed . Two of the " cruisers " closed for a kill and nine depth charge s were dropped at a distance of about . When the attack ceased , " Nautilus " rose to periscope depth . Ships surrounded her . Sighting on " Kirishima " , she fired two bow tubes ; one misfired , one missed . At 08 : 30 , a destroyer immediately headed for the boat , which dove to to wait out the depth charge attack . At 08 : 46 , periscope depth was again ordered . The cruiser and two of the destroyers were now out of range ; echo ranging by the third appeared too accurate for comfort . At 09 : 00 , the periscope was raised again and an aircraft carrier was sighted . " Nautilus " changed course to close for an attack . The enemy destroyer followed suit and at 09 : 18 attacked with six depth charges . By 09 : 55 echo ranging ceased and " Nautilus " raised her periscope . The carrier , her escorts , and the attacking destroyer had disappeared . ( Unknown to her skipper at the time , the counterattacking Japanese destroyer Arashi , in his rush to rejoin , was tracked by ' s VB - 6 , led by Wade McClusky , back to the Japanese task force . ) At 12 : 53 , a damaged aircraft carrier with two escorts was sighted . The carrier was identified as " Sōryū " , but later research suggests it was probably " Kaga " . An hour later , " Nautilus " had moved into attack position . Between 13 : 59 and 14 : 05 , after the battle was largely over , " Nautilus " launched four torpedoes at the carrier from less than . One failed to run , two ran erratically , and the fourth was a dud ( a familiar problem for the Mark XIV ) , impacting amidships and breaking in half . " Nautilus " reported flames appeared along the length of the ship as the first hit , and the skeleton crew which had been aboard ( survivors of which reported no torpedo hit ) began going over the side , with the air bottle of the dud torpedo acting as a life preserver for Japanese sailors . " Nautilus " went to as a prolonged depth charge attack commenced . At 16 : 10 , the submarine rose to periscope depth . The carrier , burning along her entire length , had been abandoned . At 19 : 41 , " Nautilus " resumed her patrol , having expended five torpedoes and survived 42 depth charges , but accomplished little of substance . ( Not until much later was the importance of her attack on the battleship , and its connection to McClusky , recognized . ) Her commanding officer was awarded a Navy Cross for his actions . Between 7 June and 9 June , " Nautilus " replenished at Midway Island and then resumed her patrol to the west . By 20 June , she was operating off Honshū at the northern end of the Tokyo - Marshall Islands supply route . On 22 June , she damaged a destroyer guarding the entrance to the Sagami Sea off Ōshima . Three days later , she sank the destroyer " Yamakaze " and damaged an oil tanker . On 27 June , she sent a sampan to the bottom and on 28 June , after damaging a merchantman , underwent her severest depth charging , which forced her back to Pearl Harbor for repairs , 11 July to 7 August . Second patrol — the Makin Raid . " Nautilus " departed Hawaiian waters for her second war patrol , a special troop transport mission of three weeks duration , 8 August . Sailing with submarine and carrying the Second Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Evans F . Carlson ( the Marine Raiders , or " Carlson ' s Raiders " ) she arrived off Makin Atoll on 16 August to stage a raid to divert Japanese attention from the Solomon Islands . Early the following morning , she sent the Raiders ashore on Butaritari Island in rubber boats rigged with outboard motors . At 07 : 03 , she provided gunfire support against enemy positions at Ukiangong Point on Butaritari and shelled enemy ships in the lagoon , sinking two , a troop barge and a patrol boat . At 10 : 39 , an enemy plane appeared and " Nautilus " dove . Two aerial attacks followed at 11 : 30 and at 12 : 55 . The latter flight was made up of 12 planes , two of which landed in the lagoon to discharge troops . About 35 of the reinforcements made it to shore to fire on the Americans . The Marines began to withdraw at 17 : 00 . At 19 : 00 , they launched their boats . Many were unable to clear the breakers without the aid of their damaged outboards . Only seven boats and less than 100 men returned that night . The remainder , less nine who were later captured and executed , discovered there were no Japanese left to fight and crossed to the lagoon side , whence they headed for the submarine after nightfall on 18 August . Thinking all surviving marines were on board , " Nautilus " and " Argonaut " set course for Pearl Harbor , arriving 25 August . 3rd – 5th patrols , September 1942 – April 1943 . On her third war patrol , from 15 September to 5 November , " Nautilus " returned to Japanese waters to join the submarine blockade chain stretched from the Kurile Islands to the Nansei Shoto . Despite heavy seas , which precluded periscope use and torpedo firing during much of the patrol , and mechanical breakdowns , which impeded approaches to targets , she torpedoed and sank three " maru " s and , in surface action , destroyed three sampans to add over 12 , 000 tons to her score . On 12 October , however , the patrol became one of her more perilous , as she took a heavy depth charging . Two days later , her crew noticed a slight oil slick in her wake . The hindering seas now protected by breaking up the trace . By 19 October , the leak had enlarged considerably and on 20 October , the first relatively calm day since the depth charging , air leaks were discovered . " Nautilus " was leaving a trail for Japanese defense patrols . Moving to a quieter area , with less aerial activity , she continued her patrol until 24 October when she sank her third " maru " of the patrol , then headed for home without sighting enemy planes . She reached Midway Island 31 October , performed temporary repairs , and continued on to Pearl Harbor . During her fourth patrol , conducted in the Solomon Islands from on 13 December 1942 to on 4 February 1943 , " Nautilus " rescued 26 adults and three children from Toep Harbor on 31 December and 1 January , then added the cargo ship " Yosinogawa Maru " to her kills and damaged a tanker , a freighter , and a destroyer . On 4 February , she arrived at Brisbane , debarked her passengers , and sailed for Pearl Harbor . Arriving 15 April , she departed five days later heading north . On 27 April , she put into Dutch Harbor , Alaska , and commenced instructing 7th Infantry Division Provisional Scout Battalion in amphibious landings . She then embarked 109 Scouts and on 1 May , headed for Attu . There , on 11 April , she landed her " passengers " five hours before the main assault . 6th – 8th patrols , September 1943 – April 1944 . Overhaul at Mare Island occupied most of the summer and on 16 September " Nautilus " left Pearl Harbor to spend her sixth war patrol conducting photo - reconnaissance of the Gilbert Islands , concentrating on Tarawa , Kuma , Butaritari , Abemama , and Makin , all of which had been reinforced , particularly Tarawa , since the sub ' s 1942 excursion into those waters . The information , including continuous panoramic pictures of the coastlines and chart corrections , which she brought back to Pearl Harbor on 17 October , proved among the most useful intelligence gathered of the area . She returned to Tarawa 18 November to obtain last - minute information on weather and surf conditions , landing hazards and the results of recent bombardments . At 21 : 59 , 19 November , mistaking her as an enemy , destroyer fired at her , sending a five - inch ( 127 mm ) shell through the conning tower , damaging the main induction valve . Diving as soon as the topography permitted , the boat was rigged for depth charge and the damage control party went to work . Within two hours repairs were sufficient to allow " Nautilus " to continue with her primary mission : landing a 78 - man scouting party , composed of 5th Amphibious Reconnaissance Company marines and an Australian scout , on Abemama . At midnight , 20 November – 21 November , " Nautilus " lay off an island in the Abemama Atoll , Kenna to discharge her passengers . By 15 : 00 , all were safely ashore . On the afternoon of 22 November , " Nautilus " provided fire support to bring the tiny ( 25 - man ) enemy garrison out of their bunkers . This proved accurate , killing 14 ; the remainder committed suicide . By the time the main assault force arrived on 26 November , Abemama had been secured and preparations to turn it into an air base for the Marshall Islands campaign had begun . " Nautilus " returned to Pearl Harbor on 4 December to prepare for her eighth war patrol . Conducted north of Palau and west of the Mariana Islands from 27 January to on 21 March 1944 , this netted one cargo ship sunk , the 6 , 070 - ton " America Maru " , with damage inflicted on three others . On 26 April , " Nautilus " sailed for Brisbane , whence she departed 29 May to begin a series of special missions in support of guerrilla and reconnaissance activities in the Philippines . 9th – 14th patrols , May 1944 – January 1945 . On her ninth patrol , from 29 May to 11 June , she carried ammunition , oil , and dry stores to Colonel R . V . Bowler on Mindanao . Between 12 June and 27 June , she transported a similar cargo to Negros Island and embarked evacuees , including one German POW , for Darwin . During her 11th patrol , from 30 June to 27 July , she landed a reconnaissance party and 12 tons of stores on North Pandan Island , and more supplies to Colonel Kangleon on Leyte and Colonel Abcede on Mindanao . Her 12th , 13th and 14th patrols , she returned to the central Philippines , landed personnel and supplies at various points on Mindanao and Luzon , and carried evacuees to Australia . On 25 September , during the first of these three patrols , she grounded on Iuisan Shoal . Forced to lighten her load , her evacuees , mail , captured documents , and cargo were sent ashore . All secret materials were burned . Her reserve fuel tanks were blown dry , variable ballast was blown overboard and six - inch ( 152 mm ) ammunition jettisoned . With the blowing of her main ballast tanks she was finally able to get off the reef within three and a half hours , despite the receding tide , and clear the area by dawn . During her 13th patrol , on 31 October 1944 , " Nautilus " finished off , which had run aground on a reef and could not be recovered . Numerous attempts to torpedo the wreck had failed as torpedoes detonated on the reef . " Nautilus ' s " six - inch ( 152 mm ) guns , however , scored 55 hits , and her report states , " It is doubtful that any equipment in " Darter " at 11 : 30 this date would be of any value to Japan — except as scrap . " " Nautilus " completed her 14th , and last , patrol at Darwin on 30 January 1945 . From Australia , she was routed on to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where she arrived 25 May for inactivation . Decommissioned with a bottle of champagne over the forward six - inch ( 152 mm ) gun on 30 June , she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 25 July and sold 16 November , to the North American Smelting Company of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , for scrapping . Awards . " Nautilus " earned the Presidential Unit Citation for her aggressive war patrols in enemy controlled waters as well as 14 battle star s for her service during World War II . Her commanding officer was awarded a Navy Cross for his actions during the Battle of Midway .