USS Pompon ( SS - 267 ) USS " Pompon " ( SS / SSR - 267 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the pompon , an American fish of the " Anisot " family . " Pompon " ( SS - 267 ) was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co . , Manitowoc , Wisc . 26 November 1941 ; launched 15 August 1942 ; sponsored by Miss Katherine Mary Wolleson ; and commissioned 17 March 1943 , Lt . Comdr . E . C . Hawk in command . On 5 April 1943 " Pompon " began her voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans in a floating drydock . Stores were loaded at New Orleans and she sailed for the Pacific . First war patrol , July – August 1943 . " Pompon " steamed from Brisbane , Australia on 10 July to conduct her first war patrol in the Truk area . Only a few days out , a Japan ese submarine fired two torpedo es at her , both passing ahead . Besides patrolling off Truk , " Pompon " formed a scouting line with other submarines to cover 7th Fleet operations . On 25 July she seized the opportunity and torpedoed 5 , 871 ton cargo ship " Thames Maru " . In the same action two more attacks damaged a second transport and also a smaller transport . Numerous patrol boats and another enemy submarine were evaded , and Pompon returned to Brisbane 22 August . Second war patrol , September – November 1943 . She departed Brisbane on 12 September for the second patrol . En route to her area in the South China Sea north of Singapore , she was fired on by a " friendly " liberty ship . Luckily the range was too great for damage . After several unsuccessful attacks and a near miss by a Japanese submarine , " Pompon " returned to Fremantle , Australia on 5 November for supplies . Third and fourth war patrols , November 1943 – April 1944 . The third patrol began on 29 November and again took her to the China Sea area off French Indo - China . After running Balabac Strait , where two radio - equipped Japanese motor sampans were sunk by gunfire , " Pompon " mined waters southwest of Cochin China . After a five day sortie into the Celebes Sea , " Pompon " returned to Darwin for fuel , ending her patrol on 28 January 1944 . On 22 February , " Pompon " departed on her fourth patrol , and operated in the vicinity of Halmahera Island . She launched four torpedoes at three small Japanese escort vessels , but they ran under their targets due to the escorts ' shallow draft . A contact was made in Roeang Passage , but upon closing , it proved to be a hospital ship . She made no further contacts and proceeded to Pearl Harbor via Ascension and Midway , arriving 10 April . Fifth war patrol , May – June 1944 . After a refit and four days training , " Pompon " was again ready for sea . She departed Pearl Harbor on 6 May 1944 for a patrol off the coasts of Kyūshū , Shikoku , and Honshū . On 30 May she contacted a 742 - ton cargo ship off Muroto Zaki . A submerged attack resulted in a hit directly under the rising sun flag amidships , breaking the ship in two . The " Shiga Maru " immediately sank . For the next seven hours " Pompon " was the target for five Japanese escorts and a portion of the air force , but she managed to crawl away from the scene at deep submergence . After covering the Tokyo Bay approaches for the Battle for Saipan , " Pompon " returned to Midway 25 June . Sixth war patrol , July – September 1944 . On 19 July " Pompon " departed on her sixth and most successful patrol . Operating from the eastern coast of Honshū to the Sea of Okhotsk , she sank a 300 - ton armed trawler with gunfire . Then on 12 August she spotted a Japanese convoy off the coast of Russian Sakhalin . In the wild night surface action which followed an 8 , 000 - ton tanker was badly damaged by two torpedoes , 2 , 718 - ton transport " Mikage Maru No . 20 " was sunk , and a hit was possibly obtained on one of two hotly pursuing escort vessels . During this melee " Pompon " was almost sunk by one of her own torpedoes . While she was surfaced , with the enemy bearing down , one of her own " fish " perversely circled and just missed the stern . She was driven down by gunfire and then depth charge d , but managed to escape without damage . She returned to Pearl Harbor 3 September for onward routing to San Francisco Bay for modernization and overhaul conducted at the Mare Island Navy Yard . Seventh war patrol , December 1944 – February 1945 . By 13 December the veteran submarine was again at sea . En route to Majuro she picked up a Filipino who had been drifting in a broken down motor launch for 45 days . On 6 January 1945 she departed Majuro as a part of a wolf pack , for a patrol in the Yellow Sea . On 28 January she contacted a three ship convoy with four escorts off Kokuzan To . With in contact , the " Pompon " made two submerged night approaches only to have the alert escorts drive her off each time . While two escorts pinned her down astern of the convoy , " Spadefish " slipped in on the disengaged side and sank two of the ships and one of the escorts . " Pompon " surfaced in time to watch the sinkings and gave chase to the one remaining ship . Again she was deterred from attack by gunfire and a trailing escort . The next morning , while making a morning trim dive , the conning tower hatch failed . Before the dive could be halted the ship had reached a depth of , partially flooding the conning tower and control room , and completely flooding the pump room . " Pompon " crept homeward , having to run awash until the blower could be partially restored . While struggling along in this condition , she blundered into an enemy convoy and was sighted . The escorts forced her to dive despite her dangerous condition , but she miraculously escaped . found her one day out of Midway and led her in on 11 February . Eighth and ninth war patrols , March – July 1945 . Repairs completed , " Pompon " departed Midway 30 March for her eighth patrol area along the coasts of China and Formosa . Her only contacts , a motor sampan , a hospital ship , and 106 planes , provided excellent diving experience , but poor hunting . Ten survivors from a downed PBM were taken from for transportation to Guam , where " Pompon " arrived 24 May . During her ninth , and last , war patrol from 18 June to 22 July , she operated as a lifeguard in the Truk area . There were no ship contacts and few plane contacts . She was at Guam when the news of the war ' s end came . On 22 August she began her homeward voyage , arriving at New Orleans on 19 September . Post - war service as radar picket . On 11 May 1946 " Pompon " was decommissioned and placed in the U . S . Atlantic Reserve Fleet , New London Group . On 15 June 1953 she recommissioned as SSR - 267 , after being converted to the latest type radar picket submarine . After a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , she reported to her new home port at Norfolk , Va . In November she departed for the Mediterranean where she operated with the 6th Fleet until 4 February 1954 . In January 1955 she again left the Virginia Capes area , this time for the Caribbean , returning in March . " Pompon " returned to the Caribbean in February 1956 . From 6 July to 3 October she operated in the Mediterranean . During September and October 1957 " Pompon " participated in the large scale NATO exercise " Strikeback " , visiting the Clyde River , Scotland ; Le Havre , France ; and Portland , England . She continued to operate in the Atlantic and Caribbean until 17 June 1958 when she entered the Mediterranean , remaining there until September . Returning to Norfolk , she then operated off the east coast until placed in commission in reserve at Charleston 2 February 1959 . Following decommissioning " Pompon " was struck from the Navy List 1 April 1960 , and was sold to Commercial Metals Co . 25 November 1960 . " Pompon " earned 4 battle star s for World War II service . One of Pompon ' s screws ( propellers ) can be seen today on the river walk in Old Town Alexandria Virginia . It is 1 block north of the Torpedo Factory , on a concrete slab , in the water of the Potomac River .