USS Tuna ( SS - 203 ) USS " Tuna " ( SS - 203 ) was a United States Navy " Tambor " - class submarine , serving in the Pacific during World War II and earning seven battle star s for her service . After the war , she participated in the Bikini Atoll atomic testing in 1946 . Origins . " Tuna " was the second ship of the US Navy to be named for the tuna , a vigorous , spiny - finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food . Her keel was laid down on 19 July 1939 at Vallejo , California , by the Mare Island Navy Yard . She was launched on 2 October 1940 sponsored by Mrs . Wilhelm L . Friedell , and commissioned on 2 January 1941 with Lieutenant Commander J . J . Crane in command . " Tuna " departed San Diego , California , on 19 May 1941 for Pearl Harbor and shakedown training . Operations in Hawaiian waters revealed that the submarine ' s torpedo tubes were misaligned . This problem necessitated her returning to Mare Island for repairs . During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , " Tuna " lay in drydock at Mare Island . She set out for Pearl Harbor on 7 January 1942 . Wartime operations . Initial patrols . The first of " Tuna " ’ s 13 war patrols lasted from 26 January to 21 March 1942 , as she roved the waters of the East China Sea . On 4 March off Kyūshū , a 4000 - ton cargo ship became " Tuna " ’ s first kill . For the rest of the cruise , however , hunting was poor , and the unidentified maru remained the submarine ' s only victim during her initial war patrol . Standing out of Pearl Harbor on 14 April , " Tuna " once again set her course towards the Japanese home islands and the hunting off Honshū . She added another score to her tally by sinking the 805 - ton cargo ship " Toyohara Maru " on 15 May before returning to Pearl Harbor on 16 June . Following refit , " Tuna " became Task Unit 8 . 5 . 12 , with orders to proceed to the Aleutian Islands . This third war patrol commenced on 13 July , but her only contact with the Japanese came on 9 August , when " Tuna " sighted a Japanese I - boat on the surface . She lost it shortly thereafter in heavy weather . Later in the month , she supported the Army occupation of Adak Island by transporting a colonel and six enlisted men from Dutch Harbor , Alaska , to Kuluk Bay between 25 August and 27 August . She returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 September . Patrolling New Guinea waters . After routine overhaul , " Tuna " set out from Pearl Harbor on 9 November . She made only one contact during her fourth war patrol , firing two torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer operating off New Georgia Island on 12 December . Both missed their mark . Three days after Christmas 1942 , " Tuna " arrived at her new base , Brisbane , Australia . Setting out again on 18 January 1943 to begin patrol number five , she arrived in waters off the east coast of Vella LaVella six days later . Expending 16 torpedoes in five futile daylight attacks , " Tuna " pressed home determined forays only to be driven deep by intense enemy antisubmarine countermeasures . Kept on station between New Ireland and Buka after 11 February , " Tuna " launched further attacks – but from excessive ranges – which only resulted in still more frustration for her crew . Dispatched next to interdict traffic from reinforcing Vila Plantation and Munda , " Tuna " remained luckless and was forced deep and endured depth - charge attacks before ending the patrol on 7 February . After refitting at Brisbane , " Tuna " set out on her sixth war patrol on 4 March to take up a position in the Bismarck Archipelago , off Lyra Reef , on the northeast side of New Ireland . En route , she patrolled west of Bougainville . On 16 March , she received orders to shift her position to a point southeast of a line between Mussau Island and Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands . Late in the afternoon of 29 March , she sighted a convoy of four merchantmen , with two escort ships and two aircraft . After stalking the convoy all night , " Tuna " attacked the following morning , firing three torpedoes at the largest vessel . Two hits , and the 4697 - ton " Kurohime Maru " plunged to the bottom . On 4 April , " Tuna " changed patrol zones , prowling now to the northwest of the Manus - Mussau line in the East Caroline Basin on the traffic lanes to Rabaul . After no further attack opportunities developed , " Tuna " returned to Brisbane on 20 April . On 19 May , en route to her war patrol station for the seventh patrol , " Tuna " came under attack by a Japanese submarine which fired one torpedo at the American ship before breaking off the attack . After that brush with destruction , " Tuna " prepared to bombard Wakde Island with her deck guns , but the presence of Japanese subchasers forced a change in plans . Friendly fire . On 29 July 1943 , as " Tuna " set out from Brisbane on her eighth patrol , a Royal Australian Air Force patrol bomber attacked her , dropping three bombs close aboard . The resultant damage necessitated 17 days of major repairs at Brisbane , delaying her departure for the eighth patrol until 21 August . Once on station , two attack opportunities presented themselves , but neither one bore fruit . Arriving back at Fremantle on 14 October , " Tuna " refitted alongside submarine tender before proceeding on her ninth patrol which commenced on 7 November . After transiting the Molucca Strait , " Tuna " prowled in the Java Sea and Flores Sea . Attacking a freighter in a rain squall on 21 November , " Tuna " launched four torpedoes , but only one hit the enemy merchantman . On 12 December , the submarine had better luck . The 5484 - ton cargo ship " Tosei Maru " fell victim to her torpedoes , becoming the largest kill in " Tuna " ’ s war career to that date . Following her ninth patrol , " Tuna " proceeded across the Pacific to Hunters Point Navy Yard in California , where she arrived on 6 April 1944 for a major overhaul . After refitting , she headed for Pearl Harbor , her base of operations for war patrol number 10 . Departing Pearl Harbor on 24 April , she soon commenced roving the Palau Islands . The " Takima Maru " . On 4 May 1944 , " Tuna " sighted a 100 - ton trawler . Bound for Wake Island with classified documents on board , " Takima Maru " put up a fight when taken under fire by the submarine ' s two 20 - millimeter guns . In the face of the returned fire , " Tuna " opened up with her three - inch deck gun and scored a hit on the first salvo , holing " Takima Maru " near the stern . Ten minutes later , the trawler settled beneath the waves , stern first , leaving the waters littered with secret papers and the surviving Japanese . Meanwhile , submarine arrived on the scene and assisted in the pickup of confidential documents and prisoners . Each submarine picked up 30 documents ; " Tuna " fished out three prisoners , one of whom died later . The two remaining prisoners were transferred to " Haddock " . " Tuna " lost her senior enlisted man , the Chief of the Boat , who was swept overboard and drowned while recovering material from the sea . Ten days later , " Tuna " bombarded the phosphate works on Fais Island with 24 rounds from her deck gun . After the remainder of her patrol proved fruitless , the submarine returned to the Marshall Islands arriving at Majuro Atoll on 21 June . Final war patrols . After commencing her 11th patrol upon departing Majuro Atoll on 15 July 1944 , " Tuna " roamed the sea lanes of the Japanese home islands , off Shikoku and Kyūshū . Her radar picked up tempting targets , but bad luck continued to dog the ship ' s efforts to make contact and launch attacks . On occasion , the superior surface speed of the hunted enabled it to easily outrun the hunter , and good antisubmarine measures by the Japanese escort ships forced " Tuna " to proceed cautiously . On 5 September , she arrived at Pearl Harbor empty - handed . Following refit , " Tuna " departed Pearl Harbor on 8 October , bound for the western Pacific . In conjunction with Operation " King Two , " the invasion and liberation of the Philippine Islands , " Tuna " operated in a wolf pack , " Roach ' s Raiders , " in company with Haddock and . During this 12th patrol , " Tuna " contacted seven ships ; but made only one unsuccessful attack before arriving at Saipan on 2 December . " Tuna " ’ s final war patrol began on 6 January as she left Saipan to take position off the west coast of Borneo . From 28 January to 30 January 1945 , " Tuna " conducted a special mission , reconnoitering the northeast coast of Borneo . She did not attempt a landing due to enemy activity . From 2 March to 4 March , " Tuna " accomplished her second special mission of the patrol , landing personnel and 4400 pounds of stores near Labuk Bay . During the patrol , she sighted no contacts deemed worthy of torpedo fire , and " Tuna " returned to Fremantle on 13 March 1945 . Post - war assignments . Thereafter , based at Fremantle , " Tuna " operated on training duty until she sailed for Leyte in the Philippine Islands on 13 April . The submarine touched at Subic Bay and Saipan before returning to Pearl Harbor on 5 September . From there , she proceeded to San Francisco , California , arriving on 14 September . After moving through the Panama Canal to the East Coast , " Tuna " remained in commission , in the inactive fleet , to assist in the maintenance and security of other submarines sent to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , for tests . In this capacity , she served with Submarine Division 162 , Submarine Squadron 16 , Inactive Fleet , New London Group , until she was selected as a target vessel for the upcoming atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands . Atomic testing . After once again transiting the Panama Canal , " Tuna " arrived at Pearl Harbor on 2 March 1946 and reported for duty with Commander , Joint Task Force 1 . In company with submarines , , and , " Tuna " departed Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1946 . Upon her arrival at Bikini Atoll , nine days later , " Tuna " was assigned a place among the target vessels anchored in the atoll . The first atomic bomb was detonated on 1 July 1946 , and the second followed 24 days later . Receiving only superficial damage , " Tuna " departed for Kwajalein on 22 August 1946 en route to Pearl Harbor and the West Coast . On 5 September , she arrived in Hawaiian waters , mooring at the submarine base . Decommissioning . Underway for the West Coast on 7 October 1946 , " Tuna " arrived at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard a week later where she moored with the 19th Fleet . Scheduled for decommissioning on 11 December 1946 , she was retained as a radiological laboratory unit and subjected to numerous radiological and structural studies while remaining at Mare Island . No preservation work was undertaken on the ship , and she was decommissioned on 11 December 1946 . On 20 September 1948 , fleet ocean tug towed " Tuna " from Mare Island for the submarine ' s " last patrol . " On 24 September 1948 , " Tuna " was sunk in of water off the West Coast and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 21 October 1948 .