USS Gar ( SS - 206 ) USS " Gar " ( SS - 206 ) , a " Tambor " - class submarine , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gar , a fish of the " Lepisosteidae " family . Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton , Connecticut . She was launched on 7 November 1940 sponsored by Mrs . George T . Pettengill , wife of Rear Admiral Pettengill , and commissioned at New London on 14 April 1941 with Lieutenant D . McGregor in command . First War Patrol . After shakedown training along the New England seaboard from Portsmouth , New Hampshire , and New London , Connecticut , " Gar " departed New London 24 November and transited the Panama Canal on 3 December 1941 en route to San Diego , California , where she arrived three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor . She prepared for combat in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard , then departed San Francisco , California , on 15 January 1942 for Pearl Harbor . Her maiden patrol , from 2 February to 28 March , was conducted around Nagoya and the Kii Channel entrance to the Inland Sea of Japan . She torpedoed and sank the 1520 - ton cargo ship " Chichiubu Maru " on 13 March . Second , third , and fourth war patrols . During her second war patrol , from 19 April to 8 June , she fired on a freighter off Kwajalein atoll , which her commanding officer believed hit , but the ship did not sink . West of Truk Lagoon , she fired on a supposed Q - ship , which was not one in fact . " Gar " terminated her patrol at Fremantle , Australia . No sinkings were confirmed by JANAC postwar . Her third war patrol , from 3 July to 21 August , took her to the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam , where her only contact was a hospital ship . Her fourth war patrol , from 17 September to 7 November , took her to the northernmost waters in the Gulf of Siam , where on 19 October she laid 32 mines in the entrances to Bangkok . This was one of the strategic plants covering important Japanese shipping lanes previously patrolled by American submarines . Both patrols produced few contacts , thanks to timid patrolling , and no sinkings . " Gar " executive officer and third officer both requested transfers on her return , while her commanding officer received a " blistering " endorsement from his squadron commander and was relieved . Fifth , sixth , and seventh war patrols . Now in the hands of Philip D . Quirk ( Class of 1932 ) , " Gar " s fifth , sixth and seventh war patrols were conducted largely in approaches to Manila , Philippine Islands , via Borneo . During her fifth , from 28 November to 19 January 1943 , she drove freighter " Heinan Maru " onto the beach with six torpedo hits and scored hits on a seaplane tender . ( " Gar " was credited with one ship of 600 tons by JANAC postwar . ) Her sixth , from 9 February to 2 April , brought numerous contacts with targets which could not be closed to firing range because of vigilant enemy aircraft and antisubmarine patrol ships . During her seventh war patrol , from 23 April to 27 May 1943 off Manila , she sank five small craft with gunfire ; torpedoed and sank 703 - ton Japanese freighter " Aso Maru " south of the Negros Islands on 9 May , then six days later attacked a convoy west of Mindoro , sinking 3197 - ton passenger - cargo ship " Moikai Maru " and 4361 - ton " Indus Maru " . Captain ( USN RET ) Philip D . Quirk served on numerous ships and submarines in WW2 and was also the commanding officer on USS Fort Mandan ( LSD - 21 ) following the outbreak of the Korean War . Quirk was awarded an astonishing six Bronze Star Medals ( BSM ) throughout his Navy career . For the first three medals , Quirk was Commanding Officer of USS Gridley ( DD - 380 ) . The most fascinating award was Quirk ' s BSM # 1 for assisting in the rescue of RM1 / c George R . Tweed from the Japanese - held island of Guam . Tweed had been marooned there since the Japanese invasion , and later wrote a book about his adventures titled " Robinson Crusoe , USN " . BSM # 2 was won for screening the Leyte landings in October 1944 . BSM # 3 was won for sinking the Japanese submarine I - 46 off Leyte in Oct . 1944 . Quirk then became Commanding Officer of USS Walker ( DD - 517 ) and was awarded BSM # 4 was for service during the Okinawa kamikaze attacks . Following this , Qurik transferred to Submarine Service assuming command of USS Gar ( SS - 206 ) . BSM # 5 was awarded in 1946 for Gar ' s patrol # 5 , and BSM # 6 was awarded late in 1947 for USS Grampus ( SS - 207 ) patrol # 1 . Quirk complained loudly about the Navy ' s faulty torpedoes , and was beached in July 1943 . This scandal was soon proven all too true and corrected . Quirk was restored to grace but transferred back to destroyer commands . Quirk was awarded his Silver Star medal for Gar ' s 7th war patrol , which sank 3 Japanese ships totaling 8000 tons . Eighth and ninth war patrols . Her eighth war patrol , from 18 June to 23 July , was spent patrolling the Flores Sea , where she torpedoed a 500 - ton motorship which ran itself aground , the crew escaping into the jungle . ( " Gar " was not given credit for it by JANAC . ) " En route " from Fremantle to Pearl Harbor on her ninth war patrol , from 8 August to 13 September , " Gar " scouted off Timor and scored hits on a freighter in Makassar Strait . She then went in for overhaul in the Mare Island Navy Yard . " Gar " returned to Pearl Harbor 30 November 1943 , now in the hands of George W . Lautrup , Jr . ( Class of 1934 ) , to resume combat duty in the Pacific , based out of Freemantle . Her ninth patrol saw her credited with one ship of 4 , 000 tons ( reduced to 1 , 000 tons in the postwar accounting ) . Tenth , eleventh , twelfth , and thirteenth war patrols . Her tenth war patrol , out of Freemantle from 16 December 1943 to 9 February 1944 , was conducted off Palau , where on 20 January she sank the 5325 - ton cargo ship " Koyu Maru " ; damaged two ships of another convoy on 22 January ; then attacked a third convoy the following day to sink the 3670 - ton " Taian Maru " . She returned to Pearl Harbor . Her 11th war patrol , from 3 March to 21 April , found her performing lifeguard duty for aviators making the first carrier - based air strikes on Palau . She saved eight aviators , one less than two miles ( 3 km ) off the beach and within range of enemy gun emplacements . Her 12th patrol , from 20 May to 5 July , was spent in the Bonin Islands area , where she made gunfire attacks on a convoy of Japanese sea trucks , leaving a small freighter raging in flames and dead in the water . Her 13th patrol ( now commanded by Maurice Ferrara , the first officer of the Class of 1937 to be given a submarine command ) , lasted from 14 August to 9 October and was largely taken up with lifeguard duty off Yap supporting the combined fleet - shore operations that captured the Palau Islands . She also performed valuable reconnaissance work off Surigao Strait . She bombarded installations on Yap 6 September through 8 September and ended her patrol at Brisbane , Australia . Fourteenth and Fifteenth War Patrols . On her 14th war patrol , from 3 November to 30 November , " Gar " landed 16 men and 25 tons of supplies at Santiago Cove , Luzon , Philippine Islands , on 23 November ; picked up intelligence documents , and terminated her patrol in Mios Woendi lagoon . On her 15th and final war patrol , from 4 December to 27 December , she landed 35 tons of supplies on the west coast of Luzon , near Duriagaos Inlet on 11 December , returning to Pearl Harbor with urgent intelligence documents including maps locating enemy gun emplacements , beach defenses , troop concentrations , and fuel and ammunition dumps on Luzon . End of World War II and fate . After overhaul in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard , " Gar " put to sea 2 April 1945 to serve the remainder of the war as a target trainer for antisubmarine ships at Saipan and Guam , Marianas Islands . She departed Apra Harbor , Guam , on 7 August 1945 , proceeding via Hawaii , San Francisco , California , and the Panama Canal to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , where she arrived 20 October . She decommissioned there 11 December 1945 and remained in reserve until September 1948 , when she began an overhaul in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard which lasted until through October . She was then transferred as a reserve training submarine for the 4th Naval District at Cleveland , Ohio , arriving , via the Mississippi River and the Chicago Canal , on 28 November 1948 . She continued her reserve training until her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 29 May 1959 . The submarine was sold for scrapping 18 November 1959 to Acme Scrap Iron and Metal Company . " Gar " received 11 battle star s for service in World War II .