USS Growler ( SS - 215 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was the third ship of the United States Navy named for the growler , a large - mouth black bass . Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company of Groton , Connecticut . She was launched on 2 November 1941 ( sponsored by Mrs . Robert L . Ghormley ) , and commissioned on 20 March 1942 with Lieutenant Commander Howard W . Gilmore in command . First patrol ( June – July 1942 ) . " Growler " ’ s first war patrol began 29 June 1942 as she cleared Pearl Harbor for her assigned patrol area around Dutch Harbor , Alaska ; topping off at Midway Island on 24 June she entered her area on 30 June . Five days later she saw her first action ; sighting three destroyer s , " Growler " closed them submerged , launched her torpedoes and then surfaced . Her torpedoes struck the first two targets amidships putting them out of action , and hit the third in the bow but not before that target had launched two torpedoes at " Growler " . As the Japanese torpedoes " swished down each side " , " Growler " dived deep , but no depth charge s followed . The Japanese destroyer was sunk , and the other two and were severely damaged . " Growler " completed her patrol without finding any more targets , and on 17 July berthed at Pearl Harbor . Second patrol ( August – September 1942 ) . On 5 August 1942 " Growler " began her second and most successful war patrol , entering her area near Taiwan on 21 August . Two days later she conducted a submerged night attack on a freighter , surfacing to give chase when both torpedoes ran under the target and failed to explode ; the freighter ' s quick exit into shallow waters prevented " Growler " ' s gun attack . Patrolling amidst a large fishing fleet on 25 August , " Growler " sighted and fired at a large passenger freighter but all three torpedoes missed ; after a three - hour depth charge attack , in which some 53 " ash cans " were dropped , " Growler " surfaced and almost immediately spotted a convoy . After two hours of maneuvering , she failed to catch up with the main body of the convoy but did fire at and sink an ex - gunboat , " Senyo Maru " . No more ships appeared in this immediate area for three days , so " Growler " shifted to the east side of the island . First to fall victim was " Eifuku Maru " , a 5 , 866 ton cargo ship , which " Growler " sank within 40 minutes of first sighting her 31 August . On 4 September " Growler " sank " Kashino " , a 10 , 360 ton ton supply ship ; three days later she sent two torpedoes into the 2 , 204 ton cargo ship " Taika Maru " , which broke in half and sank in two minutes . On 15 September " Growler " cleared her patrol area , and arrived back at Pearl 30 September . Third patrol ( October – December 1942 ) . During refitting , new surface radar was installed , as well as a new 20 mm gun ; thus equipped , " Growler " sailed from Hawaii for her new patrol area in the Solomon Islands across the key Truk - Rabaul shipping lanes . Her patrol area in these days of bitter fighting over Guadalcanal was almost continually covered by enemy planes and only eight enemy ships were sighted with no chance for attack . " Growler " cleared the area 3 December and arrived in Brisbane , Australia , on 10 December . Fourth patrol ( January – February 1943 ) . 1 January 1943 saw " Growler " sail from Brisbane . Entering her patrol area , again athwart the Truk - Rabaul shipping lanes , on 11 January , she waited only five days before sighting an enemy convoy . Maneuvering inside the escorts , " Growler " launched two torpedoes and saw them hit ; then , as her war diary reports , she was in the unfortunate predicament of being about from the destroyer and had to dive without being able to continue the attack . She was credited with sinking " Chifuku Maru " , a passenger / cargo ship . The patrol continued as normal with two further attacks , but no sinkings until shortly after 01 : 00 7 February when " Growler " stealthily approached a gunboat for a night surface attack . The small fast ship suddenly turned to ram . Unable to avoid the collision , Gilmore ordered left full rudder and all ahead flank , and rammed the enemy amidships at , bending Growler ' s bow 18 feet to the port side . As machine gun fire raked them at point - blank range , Commander Gilmore ordered the bridge cleared . As the commanding officer , Gilmore was the last to leave the bridge , but was grievously wounded before he could get below . Realizing that he was jeopardizing his boat ' s escape , he ordered " Take her down ! " . The XO , Lt Cdr . Schade , shut the hatch and dived the boat . By saving his command at the expense of his own life , Gilmore became one of the seven World War II submariners to earn the Medal of Honor . A seaman and another officer also lost their lives in this incident . Severely damaged but still under control , " Growler " returned to Brisbane under command of her executive officer ( the " exec " or " XO " ) , Lieutenant Commander Arnold F . Schade ; she docked 17 February for extensive repairs . Following the refit , the submarine was nicknamed the " Kangaroo Express " , as the refabricated bow had two nickel kangaroos as decorations . Fifth , sixth , and seventh patrols . " Growler " ’ s fifth , sixth , and seventh patrols , out of Brisbane to the Bismarck - Solomons area , were relatively uneventful , heavy enemy air cover and a lack of targets resulted in her coming home empty - handed from all but the fifth , on which she sank the passenger / cargo ship " Miyadono Maru " . The seventh patrol was marred by trouble with the storage battery and generators , and on 27 October 1943 , only 11 days out of Brisbane , she was ordered to Pearl Harbor ( arriving 7 November ) and from there to the Navy Yard at Hunter ' s Point , California , for an extensive overhaul and refitting . Eighth patrol ( February – April 1944 ) . Returning to the Pacific , on 21 February 1944 , " Growler " departed Pearl Harbor , and after refueling at Midway Island , headed for her patrol area . However , a week out of Midway Island a typhoon ' s high seas and wind delayed her arrival to the patrol area . Once on station , " Growler " was again plagued by violent weather which made even periscope observation almost impossible . " Growler " returned to Majuro on 16 April Ninth patrol ( May – July 1944 ) . The submarine departed Majuro 14 May to take up patrol in the Mariana Islands - Eastern Philippine Islands - Luzon area , where the first stages of the attack on the Mariana Islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea were getting underway . Rendezvousing with and to form a wolfpack , she continued the patrol closing several targets but achieving firing position only once , when she sank the cargo vessel " Katori Maru " . Tenth patrol ( August – September 1944 ) . Her tenth patrol , out of Pearl Harbor on 11 August , found her in a new wolf pack , nicknamed " Ben ' s Busters " after " Growler " ’ s skipper , Commander T . B . ( " Ben " ) Oakley ; in company with and , she headed for the Formosa Straits area . Aided greatly by reconnaissance and guidance from friendly aircraft , the wolf pack closed a convoy for night surface action 31 August ; their torpedoes plunged the Japanese into chaos , with their own ships shooting at each other in the dark , but no sinkings were reported . Two weeks later , 12 September , the wolf pack sighted a second convoy and closed for torpedo action . A destroyer spotted " Growler " and attacked her , but the sub calmly fired a spread of torpedoes at the oncoming destroyer . Heavily damaged by the torpedoes , the flaming destroyer bore down on " Growler " and only adroit maneuvering took the submarine out of the enemy ' s way ; paint on the bridge was seared by the heat of the passing destroyer . Meantime " Growler " ’ s other torpedoes and those of " Sealion " and " Pampanito " were hitting the convoy , and when Ben ' s Busters returned to Fremantle on 26 September , they were credited with a total of six enemy ships . " Growler " had sunk the destroyer " Shikinami " and the Japanese frigate " Hirado " ; her companions also racked up two kills each . One of the sunken vessels was transporting Allied prisoners of the Japanese ; the three submarines rescued over 150 Allied prisoners . This difficult operation had been carried out despite rough seas caused by an approaching typhoon . Eleventh patrol ( October – November 1944 ) . " Growler " ’ s 11th and final war patrol began out of Fremantle on 20 October 1944 in a wolf pack with and . On 8 November the wolf pack , again headed by " Growler " , closed a convoy for attack , with " Growler " on the opposite side of the enemy from " Hake " and " Hardhead " . The order to commence attacking was the last communication ever received from " Growler " . After the attack was underway , " Hake " and " Hardhead " heard what sounded like a torpedo explosion and then a series of depth charges on " Growler " ’ s side of the convoy , and then nothing . All efforts to contact " Growler " for the next three days proved futile . The gallant submarine , veteran of seven successful war patrols , was listed as lost in action against the enemy , cause unknown . Possibly she was sunk by one of her own torpedoes , but it is probable that the convoy ' s escort , destroyer " Shigure " , and " kaibokan " ( frigates ) " Chiburi " and " CD - 19 " sank her . " Growler " received eight battle stars for her service in World War II .