USS Kingfish ( SS - 234 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the kingfish , a fish found along the Atlantic coast of the United States . " Kingfish " ( SS - 234 ) was laid down on 29 August 1941 by Portsmouth Navy Yard . She was launched 2 March 1942 ( sponsored by Mrs . Harry A . Stuart , wife of Rear Admiral Stuart ) , and commissioned 20 May 1942 , with Lieutenant Commander Vernon L . " Rebel " Lowrance ( Class of 1930 ) in command . First war patrol , September – November 1942 . " Kingfish " arrived at Pearl Harbor from New London 31 August 1942 , and sailed on her first war patrol from there 9 September . Patrolling close to Japan ' s coast , " Kingfish " sighted a three - ship convoy and fired a three - torpedo spread at the last freighter , scoring one hit . Unable to determine the extent of the damage due to an uncomfortably efficient barrage of depth charges ( lasting 18 hours ) , " Kingfish " successfully outwitted her attackers and cleared the area . Sighting freighter " Yomei Maru " 1 October , " Kingfish " fired a three torpedo spread which sent her to the bottom . Going deep for the inevitable depth charging , " Kingfish " reloaded her tubes and continued scouting shipping lanes . Four days later she sighted and torpedoed a freighter off Muroto Zaki but could not verify the sinking . Two weeks of frustration followed due to lack of targets . On 23 October the freighter " Seiko Maru " was sighted and sent to the bottom by two torpedoes . Completing her first war patrol , " Kingfish " arrived Midway Atoll 3 November . Second and third war patrols , November 1942 – April 1943 . After refit " Kingfish " sailed 25 November to Chichi - jima on her second war patrol . Entering the South China Sea 5 December , she sighted freighter " Hino Maru No . 3 " and sank it two days later . Then , on 28 December , she sent another freighter , " Choyo Maru " , to the bottom . Two trawlers were attacked by gunfire early in January . The first target was riddled and set afire , and the second sunk by gunfire . " Kingfish " ended this patrol at Pearl Harbor 23 January 1943 . " Kingfish " was underway for her third war patrol 16 February . On the sub ' s passage to Formosa , she sank a trawler off the Bonin Islands and torpedoed a passenger freighter . Damage to this ship could not be ascertained as the submarine was immediately attacked by enemy bombs and depth charges . On 17 March , a freighter was tracked and a precise torpedo spread damaged it considerably . Two days later " Kingfish " sighted , tracked , and sank a troop transport as enemy troops scrambled down her sides . On 23 March , " Kingfish " was subjected to a severe depth charge attack . The attack was so intense and the damage so great that secret codes and material were burned in preparation for abandoning ship . The last string of depth charges bashed in the main induction piping , allowing a huge bubble to escape to the surface ; this apparently caused the enemy to think the ship had sunk . " Kingfish " cautiously surfaced , cleared the area and set course for Pearl Harbor , arriving 9 April with a grateful crew . The submarine then proceeded to Mare Island Navy Yard , where entire sections of the boat were rebuilt and installed . Fourth and fifth war patrols , July – November 1943 . Battle damage repaired , " Kingfish " sailed back to Pearl Harbor , arriving 23 June 1943 . Eight days later he sailed for her fourth war patrol , this one to the Babuyan Channel , north of the Philippines , off southern Formosa , and near Manila . " Kingfish " was ordered to depart the patrol area due to lack of enemy activity and to report to Fremantle , Australia , for refit . Assigned the South China Sea for her fifth patrol area , " Kingfish " cleared Fremantle 24 September . She was assigned two special missions for this patrol . The first entailed planting mine s in enemy shipping lanes ; the second involved the secret and successful landing of a party of Allied personnel and equipment on the northeast coast of Borneo . Continuing on her patrol , " Kingfish " sank a gunboat by gunfire and damaged a tanker with torpedoes 9 October off Sibutu Islands . She sank cargo ship " Sana Maru " off Cape Varella 20 October . Her patrol a success , " Kingfish " sailed into Fremantle 14 November 1943 . Sixth , seventh , and eighth war patrols , December 1943 – June 1944 . " Kingfish " departed Fremantle on 16 December 1943 with a new commanding officer , Lieutenant Commander H . L . Jukes . Threading her way in the South China Sea , she made first contact on 3 January when she sent tankers " Ryuei Maru " and " Bokuei Maru " to the bottom , and sank tanker " Fushimi Maru No . 3 " 7 January . Having navigated brilliantly through extremely dangerous waters and having outwitted the enemy escort vessels , " Kingfish " headed for Pearl Harbor with a proud record , arriving 26 January 1944 . " Kingfish " ' s seventh war patrol was in the Mariana Islands area from 19 February – 9 April 1944 . The submarine made no attacks during this patrol , although the boat underwent a bombing and depth charge attack . " Kingfish " departed her patrol area , arriving Majuro , Marshall Islands , 9 April for refit . The submarine ' s eighth war patrol was made in the Bonins . Since this patrol was also unfruitful due to the lack of worthwhile targets , " Kingfish " received orders to return to Midway , arriving there 19 June . While there she was ordered to Mare Island , for overhaul . Ninth and tenth war patrols , October 1944 – February 1945 . Her overhaul completed , and with a new commanding officer , ( Commander T . E . Harper , " Kingfish " sailed from Pearl Harbor on her ninth war patrol 12 October . On 24 October , the day " Kingfish " entered her patrol area , she spotted freighter " Ikutagawa Maru " and sent her to the bottom off Chichi Jima Retto . Three days later she sank the cargo ship " Tokai Maru No . 4 " and a landing craft transport off Kita , Iwo Jima . Changing patrol areas to Okinawa , " Kingfish " tracked a convoy but was unable to attack . The submarine completed her patrol at Guam 28 November . On 23 December 1944 " Kingfish " steamed out of Guam toward the Japanese home islands for her tenth war patrol . A convoy was sighted 2 January 1945 , but heavy weather prevented the submarine from attacking . The following night she made up for lost time , sending the freighter " Yaei Maru " and the passenger / cargo ship " Shibozono Maru " to the bottom . For the remainder of the patrol " Kingfish " was assigned the additional task of " lifeguard " duties for carrier air strikes . She returned to Guam 1 February . Eleventh and twelfth war patrols , March – August 1945 . The submarine refitted at Guam and sailed 6 March , operating in a coordinated attack group with and . Despite thorough coverage , no targets worthy of torpedo fire were encountered . However , late in March " Kingfish " experienced the great pleasure of rescuing four downed aviators from a British task force . Leaving the area , " Kingfish " debarked the British aviators at Saipan and set course for Pearl Harbor , arriving 25 April . Departing Hawaii 17 June with a new commanding officer , Lieutenant Commander T . D . Keegan , the submarine sailed via Guam for the Japanese island of Honshū . In smartly executed night gun attacks , she sank two sampan picket boats off Honshū 5 August . She also exploded several drifting mines during this patrol . Having completed her 12th and last war patrol , " Kingfish " arrived Midway 2 hours before the war ended . Post - war service . " Kingfish " got underway for Galveston , Tex . , 27 August " via " Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal , arriving 23 September . She sailed to Orange , Tex . , 25 October for Navy Day . " Kingfish " sailed 30 October to New London , Conn . , arriving 5 November . There , she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 9 March 1946 . She was struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1960 . On 6 October 1960 , she was sold for scrap to Albert Heller .