USS Quillback ( SS - 424 ) USS " Quillback " ( SS - 424 ) , a " Tench " - class submarine , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for quillback , a fish of the sucker family , widespread in the freshwaters of North America and Northern Asia . Construction . When her construction by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine , was authorized , her name was to be " Trembler " , which would have made her the first ship named for the trembler , a torpedinoid fish of the West Indies and Brazil , but she was given a less embarrassing name on 7 December 1943 . Her keel was laid down on 27 June 1944 . She was launched on 1 October 1944 sponsored by Mrs . J . A . Tyree , Jr . , and commissioned on 29 December 1944 with Lieutenant Commander R . P . Nicholson in command . Wartime Activities . After training at New London , Connecticut , and work on an experimental ordnance project at Key West , Florida , " Quillback " departed for Pearl Harbor and her maiden war patrol , off the coast of Kyūshū . During this patrol , from 30 May to 24 July 1945 , she destroyed a Japanese suicide motorboat and rescued one aviator from the water only a half mile from the heavily armed shore . Surrender of the enemy found " Quillback " refitting for her second patrol at Guam . Training Activities . Peacetime duties returned " Quillback " to New London for duty as a unit of Submarine Squadron 2 . From 1945 to 1951 , she operated with the Submarine School in a training capacity and as an experimental unit of the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory . In April 1951 , " Quillback " departed New London for a six - month tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea . In April 1952 , she reported to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for decommissioning and conversion . On 27 February 1953 , " Quillback " was recommissioned and joined the Submarine Force , Atlantic Fleet as a streamlined Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program ( GUPPY ) Submarine . She reported to ComSubRon 4 at Key West . There in local operations , with occasional trips to Guantanamo Bay , she assisted the Fleet Training Group in Destroyer ASW indoctrination . In 1956 , 1957 , and 1958 , " Quillback " took part in major fleet and NATO exercises in the North Atlantic . Mediterranean Deployment . In 1959 , " Quillback " was transferred to Submarine Squadron 12 . During 1960 , she underwent extensive overhaul at Charleston , South Carolina , to improve her offensive capabilities . She deployed to the Mediterranean in October 1961 , returning to Key West in February 1962 . Operating locally out of Key West from May to October , " Quillback " was deployed to Guantanamo Bay when the Cuban Quarantine was put into effect and remained there during the first ten days of the Cuban Missile Crisis . During 1963 , " Quillback " operated out of Key West and rendered services to the Fleet Training Group at Guantanamo . " Quillback " deployed to the Mediterranean for six months in July 1964 . Experimental torpedo research and development projects were assigned to " Quillback " in 1965 until she deployed to Guantanamo Bay in June . She continued to operate out of Key West until deploying to the Mediterranean again from August to November 1967 . She spent most of 1968 and 1969 in the Caribbean . Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 23 March 1973 , " Quillback " was sold on 21 March 1974 . " Quillback " earned one battle star for World War II service .