USS Pampanito ( SS - 383 ) USS " Pampanito " ( SS - 383 / AGSS - 383 ) , a , was a United States Navy ship , the only one named for the pompano fish . She completed six war patrols from 1944 to 1945 and served as a Naval Reserve Training ship from 1960 to 1971 . She is now a National Historic Landmark , preserved as a memorial and museum ship in the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association located at Fisherman ' s Wharf . History : 1943 – 1970 . " Pampanito " s keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine , on 15 March 1943 . She was launched on 12 July 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . James Wolfender , and commissioned on 6 November 1943 , with Lieutenant Commander Charles B . Jackson , Jr . in command . After shakedown off New London , Connecticut , " Pampanito " transited the Panama Canal and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 14 February 1944 . Her first war patrol , from 15 March to 2 May , was conducted in the southwest approaches to Saipan and Guam . She served on lifeguard duty south of Yap , then scored two torpedo hits on a destroyer before sailing for Midway Island and Pearl Harbor for refit and repairs to a hull badly damaged by depth charge s . " Pampanito " s second war patrol , from 3 June to 23 July , took place off Kyūshū , Shikoku , and Honshū . On 23 June , a submerged Japanese submarine fired two torpedoes , just missing " Pampanito " . On 6 July , " Pampanito " damaged a Japanese gunboat , and 11 days later headed for Midway Island . " Pampanito " s third war patrol , from 17 August to 28 September , a wolfpack operation with submarines and , was conducted in the South China Sea . On 12 September , she unknowingly sank 10 , 509 ton POW ship " Kachidoki Maru " , which unfortunately was transporting 900 British prisoners , the 5 , 135 ton tanker " Zuihō Maru " , and she damaged a third ship . On 15 September , " Pampanito " moved back to the area of the original attack and found men clinging to makeshift rafts . As the sub moved closer , the men were heard to be shouting in English . " Pampanito " was able to pick up 73 British and Australian survivors and called in three other subs , " Sealion " , and , to assist with the rescue . She then set course for Saipan , disembarked the survivors , and steamed on to Pearl Harbor . " Pampanito " s fourth war patrol , from 28 October to 30 December , took place off Formosa and the coast of southeastern China with , , and . Sinking the 1200 ton cargo ship " Shinko Maru Number One " , 19 November , she damaged a second ship before putting in to Fremantle for refit . Her fifth war patrol in the Gulf of Siam , from 23 January to 12 February 1945 , with , was highlighted by two sinkings , the 6 , 968 - ton cargo ship " Engen Maru " 6 February and the 3 , 520 - ton passenger - cargo ship " Eifuku Maru " on 8 February . Refitted at Subic Bay , " Pampanito " returned to the Gulf of Siam for her sixth war patrol . Operating with , " Sealion " , and , she sighted only one target before sailing for Pearl Harbor . From Pearl Harbor the ship proceeded to San Francisco for overhaul , departing for Pearl Harbor again 1 August . With the end of the war , she was ordered to return to San Francisco . She was decommissioned at Mare Island on 15 December 1945 . She remained in reserve until April 1960 when she was assigned to Naval Reserve Training at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . Reclassified AGSS - 383 , 6 November 1962 , she served as a Naval Reserve Training ship at Vallejo , California , until she was stricken from the Navy Register on 20 December 1971 . " Pampanito " earned six battle star s for World War II service . Museum ship . " Pampanito " was turned into a memorial and museum at San Francisco on 21 November 1975 , transferred to the Maritime Park Association ( formerly the National Maritime Museum Association ) on 20 May 1976 , and opened to the public on 15 March 1982 . In 1986 , " Pampanito " was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared to be a National Historic Landmark . She is now owned and operated by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association and is moored at Pier 45 in San Francisco ' s Fisherman ' s Wharf area , where she is open for visiting . The USS PAMPANITO Amateur Radio Club brings the radio room to life on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month using the callsign NJ6VTNJVT was the boat ' s call sign during WWII . Ham radio operators may contact the boat on 7 . 260 and 14 . 260 MHz using voice , and on other frequencies using Morse Code . She flies a broom from her mast , indicating a clean sweep : a successful patrol that " swept the enemy from the seas . " In total , she sank six Japanese ships and damaged four others with a total of more than 27 , 000 tons of enemy shipping sunk . " Pampanito " has completed four maintenance drydockings since becoming a memorial and museum . " The Pampanito still has several working parts , including one torpedo tube , the periscope , engines , galley and ice - cream maker . " The museum runs educational programs including one that allows organized groups of children and adults to sleep overnight in the submarine ' s 48 bunk beds . In film . In 1995 , she played the fictional USS " Stingray " ( SS - 161 ) in the movie " Down Periscope " . The movie , with Kelsey Grammer as the ship ' s captain , is set in Charleston and Norfolk harbors , on the US east coast . Filming is actually of the " Pampanito " sailing under tow in San Francisco Bay and venturing past the Golden Gate Bridge . It had been fifty years since she sailed under the bridge .