USS Sea Dog ( SS - 401 ) USS " Sea Dog " ( SS - 401 / AGSS - 401 ) was a " Balao " - class submarine in the United States Navy . She was the first ship to be named for the dogfish , a small shark of the North Atlantic , considered destructive by fishermen . " Sea Dog " was laid down on 1 November 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine . She was launched on 28 March 1944 sponsored by Mrs . Vernon L . Lowrance , and commissioned on 3 June 1944 with Commander Vernon L . Lowrance in command . Following a month ' s training off the New England coast , " Sea Dog " sailed for Pearl Harbor to join Submarine Squadron ( SubRon ) 28 and prepare for her first war patrol . Arriving in Hawaii on 22 August , she sailed west on 13 September , topped off at Midway Island on 17 September ; and entered her patrol area in the Nansei Shoto on 28 September . First War Patrol . With daylight traffic routed well inshore , she hunted unsuccessfully in the Kikai Jima , Amami O Shima , and Okinoyera Jima areas for the first few days , then searched the likely traffic lanes to Naha and Unten Ko . By 3 October , she had rounded Okinawa to patrol in the approaches to Nakagusuku Wan , and , by 6 October , she was again northwest of Okinawa in the Iheya Jima area . " Sea Dog " remained west of Okinawa for another five days but found no targets worthy of a torpedo . On 10 October , however , she took an armed trawler under fire and left it burning . On 11 October , she headed back into the Amami Gunto . A week later , she moved north into the Tokara Gunto and , on 22 October , while between the islands of Suwanose and Nakano , she sighted a convoy making eight to nine knots and zigging every five minutes . " Sea Dog " moved ahead of the port column and , at 0726 , fired as two cargo ships overlapped in a zig . A minute later , she lost depth control and dropped to . Shortly after 0728 , three loud explosions were heard . At 0732 , the convoy ' s escorts began dropping depth charge s . At 0745 , breaking up noises were heard ; and , at 0800 , there was a dull , heavy explosion . Converted gun boat " Tomitsu Maru " and collier " Muroto " had been sunk . Depth charging continued for another two hours . In total , Japanese escorts and aircraft fired 109 depth charges at the " Sea Dog " , but LtCdr . Lowrance manages to evade the attack . " Sea Dog " continued to patrol in the Tokara Gunto for another two days , then headed back to the Amami Gunto . On 28 October , she contacted and attacked , unsuccessfully , a formation of two battleship s and a destroyer ; and , on 29 October , she set an eastward course for Midway . On 30 October , she patrolled in the likely traffic lanes to the Bonin Islands , and , on 5 November , she reached Midway . Second War Patrol . Refitted by submarine tender , " Sea Dog " got underway again on 29 November . On 1 December , she rendezvoused with submarines and to form a coordinated attack group with the commanding officer of " Sea Dog " in charge of the wolfpack . On 8 December , the group stopped off at Saipan ; and the next day headed west . On 14 December , the ships arrived on station in Balintang Channel to begin their patrol in the South China Sea . The next 34 days were spent on station patrolling a trapezium - shaped area with Luzon , Hainan , Hong Kong and Formosa as the corners . On 3 January 1945 , " Sea Dog " interrupted her hunting to repair her port reduction gear , without which she was limited to single shaft operations . On the night of 5 January , she and " Sea Robin " made contact with a small convoy and , despite heavy seas , commenced a surface approach . Shortly after 0100 on 6 January , " Sea Robin " attacked the lead ships and scored two hits . " Sea Dog " stalked the right rear ship , a converted escort . The target , however , foiled an attempt at a bow shot by reversing course . Further maneuvers for a stern tube attack were frustrated when the converted escort presented a zero angle on the bow and opened fire with her forward gun , estimated to be a three - inch . " Sea Dog " fired four " down - the - throat " and retired . No hits were scored . On 18 January , the submarines closed Luzon Strait in hopes of sighting targets before leaving the area . Unsuccessful , they continued east . On 25 January , " Sea Dog " reached Guam , whence she continued on to Pearl Harbor . Arriving on 5 February , " Sea Dog " ’ s main engines were overhauled ; the 40 millimeter gun was installed in a high position forward ; and ST radar equipment was added . On 11 March , she got underway to return to Japanese waters . Third War Patrol . Assigned to patrol immediately south of the home islands , she spent 29 days in the area , with most of that time taken up in providing lifeguard services for aircraft strikes . From 22 March to 24 March , she was on lifeguard duty to the southeast of the Nanpō Islands . On 25 March , she moved into that chain and , on 28 March she closed the Kyūshū coast off Toi Misaki . The next day , lifeguard duty took her on a high speed run south to the Osumi Islands , where sea planes picked up the downed pilots as she arrived . A short while later , however , a third plane circled , then ditched eight miles off . " Sea Dog " picked up the pilot , submerged , and headed back to the Kyūshū coast . At 1903 , as she was making preparations to surface , she sighted an enemy I - boat which had just surfaced . " Sea Dog " took the offensive and fired on the submarine but not fast enough . The torpedoes missed , and the I - boat escaped . " Sea Dog " remained off the Kyūshū coast for another day ; then moved north to lifeguard duty south of Sagami Wan . Although assigned to cover both sides of the Izu Shoto , resulting in much of her time being spent on high speed runs south around Mikura Jima with no rescues being made at the end of the runs , potential target opportunities increased . On 2 April , she sighted and fired on a small minelayer . All torpedoes missed . On 16 April , she sank a medium - sized cargo ship , " Toko Maru " , between Hachijo Jima and Mikura Jima . A typhoon then interrupted both hunting and rescue operations ; and , on 23 April , she headed for Guam . Fourth War Patrol . Refit took " Sea Dog " into May , when preparations were made for her last foray into Japanese home waters . Additional duties during the patrol included those of flagship for the nine - submarine Japan Sea Patrol Pack ( TC 17 . 21 ) . On 27 May , she departed Guam with the other two submarines of her immediate pack , Later that day , the ships separated to proceed independently , planning to rendezvous on 4 June . On 28 May , one of " Sea Dog " ’ s crew became seriously ill and was diagnosed as a possible pneumonia case . On 29 May , the submarine rendezvoused with and , after transferring the patient to that destroyer , continued on to the Sea of Japan . On arrival , " Sea Dog " reconnoitered the approaches to western Honshū ports to locate minefields ; then took up station off the east coast of Sado Shima . At 2000 on 9 June , she sank her first target of the patrol , the small cargo ship , " Sagawa Maru " . Twenty - three minutes later , she made her second contact ; and , at 2044 , she fired three torpedoes at another merchant ship , the " Shoyo Maru " . One torpedo hit , starting a fire aft . " Sea Dog " pulled away , watched , then moved in for the " coup de grace " . Two more torpedoes were fired , one ran erratic ; the second hit amidships . The target exploded ; her bow broke off ; and her stern assumed a 60 - degree down angle . Soon afterward , " Sea Dog " cleared the Niigata area and headed north to patrol off Sakata and Akita . On 10 June , she closed Oga Hanto , and that night she patrolled northwest of Kiskakata and northeast of Tobi Shima . On 11 June , she returned to the vicinity of Oga Hanto . Shortly after 1300 , she made contact with another coastal freighter , surfaced , and commenced running west and north to intercept . At 1519 , she dived . At 1555 , she fired one torpedo . Forty - three seconds later , the torpedo hit ; and the target , cargo ship " Kofuku Maru " , broke in two , up - ending both the bow and the stern . " Sea Dog " resumed her patrol to the southward . That night , she took up station to the north of Nyudo Saki and , at 0635 on 12 June , sighted a small convoy as it rounded that headland and continued northward , through relatively shallow waters , toward Henashi Zaki . " Sea Dog " fired on the freighter farthest from the coast . " Shinson Maru " broke in two and sank in about two minutes . Her companions moved even closer to the coast . " Sea Dog " headed for deeper water and patrolled to the southwest . On 13 June , " Sea Dog " was still off Oga Hanto . That evening , the starboard mine clearing cable , installed during the previous refit at Guam , parted and fouled the starboard screw . " Sea Dog " cleared the Japanese coast and stopped , lying - to while attempts were made to get divers down . Leaks in the face mask of the shallow water diving outfit , however , proved impossible to repair ; and , soon after 0130 on 14 June , the submarine got underway . The noise and vibration from the starboard shaft was found to occur only for short periods at low speeds . At high speeds , its performance was satisfactory , and " Sea Dog " resumed her patrol , setting a southwest course for a surface patrol across the approaches to Akita , Sakata , and Niigata . With daylight on 14 June , she dived , stopped her starboard propeller , and commenced hunting underwater . Less than an hour later , she sighted smoke and attempted to intercept . Her quarry , two cargo ships beat her into Sakata . That night , she moved northward again , and , at 0510 on 15 June , she sighted a passenger / cargo ship standing south past the northern end of Oga Hanto . At 0522 , she fired a torpedo which hit just forward of amidships . " Koan Maru " sank in four minutes . " Sea Dog " cleared the area as small craft from the beach moved out to pick up survivors . On 17 June , " Sea Dog " rotated areas with " Spadefish " and " Crevalle " and headed north to hunt along the Hokkaidō coast between Benkai and Kamoi Misaki . Two days later , she sighted three merchantmen moving northward along the coast and attacked , firing two torpedoes at the lead ship and three at the second . The third ship changed course . " Sea Dog " turned back to the previous targets . The first ship , cargo ship " Kokai Maru " , was going under , stern first . But , before she could fire again on the second ship , an enemy plane was sighted . " Sea Dog " dived . At , she grounded ; backed off , cleared and then headed north . The plane did not attack . SS - 401 remained in the area for several more days , then headed for Pearl Harbor . On 30 June , she arrived at Midway ; and , on 5 July , she entered Pearl Harbor . Fifth War Patrol . On 13 August , she departed that port for her fifth war patrol . On 14 August , she received orders to cease hostilities ; and , on 15 August , she reversed course for Pearl Harbor . " Sea Dog " conducted training operations in the Hawaiian Islands during the remainder of August . On 6 September , she headed west with , , and ; and , on 26 September , she arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippine Islands , to join the newly formed postwar squadron , SubRon 5 . Post - War Duties . For the next three and one - half months , " Sea Dog " operated out of Subic Bay and , on 12 January 1946 , set a course for the West Coast , arriving at San Francisco , California , on 2 February . Overhaul at Mare Island followed ; and , in June , she returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for her second postwar deployment to the Far East . During July , while en route to the Philippines , she conducted a mock war patrol . In August and early September , she provided antisubmarine training services to Seventh Fleet units in the Tsingtao area ; and , at the end of the latter month , she returned to Pearl Harbor . Through 1947 , " Sea Dog " remained in the eastern Pacific , conducting training operations in the Hawaiian Islands and off the coasts of Washington , British Columbia , and California . In mid - January 1948 , she again deployed to the western Pacific Ocean , where , after a visit to Australia , she again joined TG 71 . 2 , the 7th Fleet ' s antisubmarine warfare training group at Tsingtao . On 2 March , she suffered minor damage in a collision with ; and , after repairs , she headed back to Hawaii . Two months later , " Sea Dog " cleared Pearl Harbor and headed north to the Bering Sea to collect hydrographic and oceanographic information . On her return to Pearl Harbor , 15 June , she resumed a schedule of local training exercises alternated with periods of antisubmarine warfare training services to Fleet Air Wing 4 off the Washington coast . In January 1950 , " Sea Dog " was again deployed to the western Pacific . On her return , she received orders to join the Atlantic Fleet . Departing Pearl Harbor in mid - June , she arrived at Norfolk in early July and commenced training services necessitated by the outbreak of the Korean War . In July 1952 , " Sea Dog " was reassigned to SubRon 12 at Key West , Florida , whence she continued to provide training services . On 7 November 1952 , while conducting exercises with Airship Squadron 2 off Jacksonville , Florida , she intercepted a distress signal from a damaged U . S . Navy blimp , " K - 119 " , commanded by then - Lieutenant G . Robert Keiser , USN , and proceeded at flank speed to the last reported position to pick up Keiser and 10 other survivors for further transfer to the rescue and salvage ship USS " Escape " ( ARS - 6 ) . The blimp itself , however , proved too waterlogged to be towed back to port and was taken under fire by " Sea Dog " . The gas tanks were penetrated , and the burning blimp sank . " Sea Dog " remained based at Key West into the fall of 1955 when she was ordered to New London , Connecticut , to begin inactivation . Arriving early in December , she proceeded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine for overhaul in January 1956 ; and , in May , she returned to New London , where she was decommissioned on 27 June . She remained in the New London Reserve Group until partially activated in February 1960 for service as a Naval Reserve training ship in the 1st Naval District . She served in that capacity until struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 December 1968 She was docked in Salem , Massachusetts as a floating museum until 1973 when she was sold for scrap . " Sea Dog " earned two battle star s during World War II . As of 2005 , no other ship in the United States Navy has carried this name .