USS Rock ( SS - 274 ) USS " Rock " ( SS / SSR / AGSS - 274 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was a ship of the United States Navy to be named for the rock , a striped bass found in the Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast . " Rock " ( SS - 274 ) was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co . , Manitowoc , Wisc . , 23 December 1942 ; launched 20 June 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . B . O . Wells , and commissioned 26 October 1943 , Comdr . John Jay Flachsenhar in command . After a month of intensive training in Lake Michigan , " Rock " passed through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal ( at the time known as the Chicago Drainage Canal ) to Lockport , Ill . There she entered a floating drydock for her voyage down the Mississippi River . She arrived in New Orleans on 29 November 1943 , and got underway 6 days later for Panama , where she received further training before sailing for Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1944 . Following voyage repairs " Rock " departed from Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol on 8 February 1944 . First and second war patrols , February – May 1944 . On 29 February 1944 , " Rock " contacted a large enemy convoy en route to Truk . Detected by destroyer " Asashimo " while making a night surface approach on the convoy , she fired a spread of four torpedo es from her stern tubes at the closing enemy destroyer without scoring . Then illuminated by the destroyer ' s searchlight , and under fire from the surface ship ' s guns , she dived . For 4 hours she underwent depth charge attacks , but survived . That night she surfaced and found that her periscope s were excessively damaged and that her bridge had been riddled with shrapnel . The damage necessitated a return to Pearl Harbor for repairs . Later that night , the busy " Asashimo " sank . " Rock " began her second war patrol on 4 April 1944 , destination Honshū . However , after 34 days in the Bungo Suido and Sagami Wan area without action , she returned to Majuro where she was refitted by . Third war patrol , June – August 1944 . " Rock " , in company with and , departed Majuro on 22 June 1944 , in a coordinated attack group to patrol the Luzon Strait . At dawn on 19 July " Rock " attacked a Japan ese convoy of seven large ships and three escorts , firing 10 torpedoes , six of which exploded . But , as she immediately dove to escape a depth - charge attack , she could not observe their effect . Two days later " Rock " contacted another enemy convoy consisting of six large ships and four escorts . She launched four torpedoes , two of which seemed to hit but , again " Rock " was forced down by depth charges and unable to assess damage to her targets . During the remainder of her time on station , " Rock " weathered a severe typhoon and witnessed the sinking of Japanese submarine " I - 29 " by " Sawfish " . On 27 July she headed toward Pearl Harbor . Fourth war patrol , September – November 1944 . " Rock " departed Pearl Harbor on 9 September 1944 , en route for the South China Sea for her fourth patrol . On 26 October 1944 , she scored three hits on a tanker , " Rock " ' s only sinking , " Takasago Maru No . 7 " , accompanied by three escorts . On 27 October 1944 , she fired nine torpedoes at , stranded on Bombay Shoal , to prevent her salvage by the Japanese . Three of the torpedoes were hits . This patrol ended when " Rock " departed the area and sailed for Fremantle , Western Australia , for refit . Fifth and sixth war patrols , December 1944 – May 1945 . On 14 December 1944 , " Rock " departed Fremantle on her fifth patrol . The only event of note during this 64 - day patrol was the rescuing of a downed pilot from . At the start of her sixth patrol , 7 March to 4 May 1945 she picked up 15 merchant seamen , adrift in a life raft for 32 days , and landed them at Exmouth . Continuing northward the next day , " Rock " was bombed by an aircraft and that night she was struck by a dud torpedo . Neither attack caused any critical damage . In a night attack on 27 March , " Rock " fired on an enemy destroyer escort without success . On 18 April she joined in bombarding Batan Island to leave the Japanese radio station in ruins . " Rock " then turned toward Saipan to complete a 54 - day patrol . From the Marianas the submarine headed for the United States , arriving at Hunter ' s Point , San Francisco , 14 May for overhaul . She sailed for Pearl Harbor 7 August 1945 , but with the cessation of hostilities was ordered east . Officially credited with damaging 42 , 282 tons of enemy shipping during her six war patrols , " Rock " participated in Navy Day celebrations at New Orleans , then proceeded to New London where she began inactivation in November 1945 . She was decommissioned 1 May 1946 and was berthed as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . Radar picket submarine ( SSR - 274 ) , 1953 – 1959 . In early 1951 " Rock " was towed from New London to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , where she was converted to a radar picket submarine by bisecting her at the forward bulkhead of the control room and inserting a section between the control room and the forward battery to house the new CIC and the majority of her new electronic equipment . Reclassified SSR - 274 on 18 July 1952 , Rock recommissioned at Philadelphia 12 October 1953 . After a short period of training with SubRon 6 off the Virginia Capes , she proceeded to San Diego to join SubRon 5 . On 23 July 1954 , she departed San Diego for the western Pacific area and a 6 - month tour on the Taiwan Strait Patrol . She subsequently alternated deployments to WestPac with operations off the Pacific coast . She made 6 - month deployments to WestPac in 1956 and during the winter of 1958 – 1959 . Auxiliary general submarine ( AGSS - 274 ) , 1959 – 1969 . On 31 December 1959 there no longer existed an operational requirement for a radar picket submarine in the Fleet , and on that date the Air Control Center was decommissioned and Rock was redesignated " auxiliary general submarine " AGSS - 274 . Following operations off the Pacific coast and another overhaul , " Rock " again deployed to WestPac in November 1961 . She made subsequent 6 - month deployments to WestPac in 1963 , 1965 , 1966 – 1967 , and 1968 . Operating in the eastern Pacific during the first half of 1969 , " Rock " departed San Diego 11 July and conducted operations in support of fleet training in the Hawaiian operating areas until steaming 16 August for the Pacific coast . Less than a month later , on 13 September 1969 , " Rock " decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . Struck from the Navy List on the same day , she was designated for use as a target to destruction . " Rock " earned four battle star s for World War II service .