USS Caiman ( SS - 323 ) USS " Caiman " ( SS - 323 ) , a " Balao " - class submarine , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the caiman , a fresh water alligator inhabiting the Amazon River area . " Caiman " , originally " Blanquillo " , was renamed 24 September 1942 and launched 30 March 1944 by Electric Boat Co . , Groton , Conn . ; sponsored by Mrs . R . C . Bonjour ; commissioned 17 July 1944 , Commander J . B . Azer in command ; and reported to the Pacific Fleet . World War II . " Caiman " sailed from Pearl Harbor on her first war patrol 13 November 1944 . Pausing at Saipan to put ashore her severely ill commanding officer and embark his relief , the submarine pushed on to the South China Sea , where she combined offensive patrol with lifeguard duty as a part of air - sea rescue operations to save aviators downed in air strikes on enemy - held territory . Aggressive American submarine and naval air attack had already greatly reduced the Japan ese merchant fleet ; hence " Caiman " made no contacts on this patrol , from which she returned to Fremantle , Australia , on 22 January 1945 to refit . Her second patrol , performed in the South China Sea and off the Gulf of Siam , from 18 February to 6 April , also yielded no contacts , but on her third , which began at Subic Bay in the Philippines on 28 April , she sank two small schooner s . Their use illustrated graphically the almost complete loss of modern merchant ships which the Japan ese had suffered largely at the hands of the U . S . Navy . Returning to Fremantle 27 June from her patrol area off southern Indo - China and western Borneo , the submarine refitted for her fourth war patrol , during which she performed three dangerous special missions , landing and later evacuating agents from the coast of Java . On this patrol , which took place from 22 July to the end of hostilities , she sank another Japanese schooner . She returned to Subic Bay 19 August , then sailed for the West Coast . Post - war service . " Caiman " operated out of San Diego , Guam , and Pearl Harbor in 1946 . In 1947 she made an Arctic familiarization cruise out of Seattle . Thereafter , based on Seattle , she served as reserve training ship until 23 April 1951 , when she began a GUPPY conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . Since then based at Pearl Harbor and San Diego , " Caiman " has alternated local operations and fleet exercises with tours of duty in the Far East at 18 - month intervals . On her 1957 cruise , Brisbane , Australia , was added to her more usual itinerary of Japanese and Philippine ports . TCG " Dumlupınar " ( S 339 ) . " Caiman " was decommissioned , struck from the Naval Register , and transferred ( sold ) , 30 June 1972 , under terms of the Security Assistance Program , to Turkey . She arrived on 23 August 1972 in Gölcük and was commissioned the following day as TCG " Dumlupınar " ( S 339 ) , the third submarine of that name . Unfortunately , she too collided in the Dardanelles ( Just . north from the point where the previous TCG " Dumlupınar " was lost ) with the Soviet freighter " Szik Vovilov " . Luckily , her crew was able to ground the submarine on a nearby bank , thus preventing another tragedy . Honors and awards . Of " Caiman " s four war patrols , the last was designated " successful " . She received two battle star s for service in World War II .