USS Scamp ( SS - 277 ) USS " Scamp " ( SS - 277 ) , a " Gato " - class submarine , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the scamp , a member of the " Serranidae " family . Her keel was laid down on 6 March 1942 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery , Maine . She was launched on 20 July 1942 sponsored by Miss Katherine Eugenia McKee , and commissioned on 18 September 1942 with Commander W . G . Ebert in command . First and Second War Patrols . On 19 January 1943 , after training out of New London , Connecticut , " Scamp " set course for Pearl Harbor , via the Panama Canal . She arrived in Hawaii on 13 February 1943 and commenced final training in the local operating area . " Scamp " began her first war patrol on 1 March 1943 . She stopped at Midway Island on 5 March , debarked her passenger , Rear Admiral Charles A . Lockwood , Jr . Commander , Submarine Force , Pacific Fleet , fueled , and then , headed for the coast of Honshū . Her first two attacks on the enemy were doomed to failure by the faulty magnetic detonators in her torpedoes . After the inactivating of the magnetic features on her remaining torpedoes , " Scamp " scored two hits , one on an unidentified target on the night of 20 March and the other damaged " Manju Maru " early the next morning . The submarine stopped at Midway Island again on 26 March and returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 April . " Scamp " put to sea again on 19 April , bound for the Southwest Pacific . She took on fuel at Johnston Island then slipped between the Marshall Islands and the Gilbert Islands to reconnoiter Ocean Island and Nauru Island . This mission she completed on 27 April and 28 April and then shaped a course for the Bismarck Archipelago . She had to hold fire on each of her first three enemy contacts because they were hospital ships . However , on the afternoon of 28 May , she succeeded in pumping three torpedoes into the converted seaplane tender " Kamikawa Maru " ( The Kamikawa Maru had been damaged during an attack by the USS " Wahoo " on 4 May 1943 ) . She evaded the enemy escorts and came up to periscope depth to observe the results . The enemy ship was down by the stern and loading men into boats . A little after midnight , " Scamp " finished off her stricken adversary with two more well aimed torpedoes . She ended her second war patrol at Brisbane , Australia , on 4 June 1943 . Third and Fourth War Patrols . From Brisbane , she departed on her third war patrol on 22 June 1943 . She patrolled a scouting line off the Solomon Islands and north to the Bismarck Sea . She passed the Shortland Islands on 14 July and , on 27 July , encountered an enemy convoy . During her approach , a destroyer passed over her and dropped two depth charges some distance from her . " Scamp " continued her approach and loosed a spread of six torpedoes at a Japanese tanker . She scored a hit but had to dive in order to escape the escorts . When she surfaced , a little over an hour later , all enemy shipping was out of sight . Continuing her patrol into the Bismarck Islands , " Scamp " patrolled to the southeast of Steffen Strait , between New Ireland and New Hanover . At 17 : 54 , still on 27 July , she sighted a submarine , which launched a torpedo at " Scamp " . " Scamp " went ahead full and levelled off at , letting the torpedo pass above her . Less than ten minutes later , she returned to periscope depth to engage her adversary . At 1812 , she launched four torpedoes and the Japanese boat erupted in a tremendous explosion . At the time , it was believed that the loser of that duel was the Japanese submarine " I - 24 " . Later analysis of Japanese records indicated that it was not ; rather , it was " I - 168 " , which had previously sunk aircraft carrier at the Battle of Midway . By 8 August , " Scamp " was back in Brisbane . After almost a month in port at Brisbane , the fleet submarine stood out on her fourth war patrol . She again patrolled off the Solomon Islands and into the Bismarck Sea . On 18 September , she attacked a three - ship convoy and crippled one of them . Another changed course and avoided her torpedoes . " Scamp " passed close under the stricken enemy , trying to evade her escorts and came under machine gun fire from her victim . She escaped the pursuit of the enemy destroyer s but lost the undamaged quarry in a rain squall . " Scamp " returned to finish off the 8614 ton passenger - cargo ship " Kansai Maru " , which she succeeded in doing late that night . On the morning of 21 September , " Scamp " happened upon a heavily guarded convoy and began to stalk it . After dark , she moved in for the kill and , after launching three torpedoes , heard two double explosions . Her second attack was foiled by a severe rain squall . However , " Scamp " hounded the convoy all through the day on 22 September and , at around 03 : 00 on 23 September , unleashed four torpedoes at the convoy . While still maneuvering to attack the convoy , she passed through the wreckage of " Kansai Maru " and came upon an empty boat containing the sunken ship ' s logs and other documents . These were taken on board and later turned over to intelligence . " Scamp " made one more attempt upon the convoy , but was driven off by planes and kept down by aerial bombs . On 24 September , she was ordered to terminate her patrol and she re - entered Brisbane on 1 October . Fifth and Sixth War Patrols . She cleared port again on 22 October and began her fifth patrol with a mission in support of the Treasury Island invasion , 28 October to 30 October . From there , she moved to her patrol area , between Kavieng and Truk . On 4 November , she launched three torpedoes at a passenger - cargo ship . One exploded prematurely , but one reached its mark . By the time of the explosion indicating success , " Scamp " was already in a dive evading a depth charge attacker . Six days later , she disabled the 6481 ton " Tokyo Maru " ; then , after evading the escorts , fired three more torpedoes into the listing target . At about 21 : 00 , the cripple was observed being towed away . It was later learned that " Tokyo Maru " sank before daybreak . On 12 November , she damaged light cruiser " Agano " , so severely that the enemy warship remained in repair at Truk until the American strike of 16 February and 17 February 1944 . On 18 November , " Scamp " suffered minor shrapnel damage from two bombs dropped by an enemy float plane . Eight days later , she sailed back into Brisbane . On 16 December 1943 , " Scamp " left Brisbane and headed back to the Bismarck Archipelago for her sixth war patrol . On the night of 6 January 1944 , she missed a small tanker and was boxed in by the sound search of two Japanese destroyer s . At 2323 , she was able to surface and clear the area while the convoy escorts hunted for her about astern . On 14 January , she slipped by two destroyers to launch six torpedoes at " Nippon Maru " . The 9 , 975 ton tanker sank as " Scamp " made her escape . Foiled in an attempt to return to the area , she headed south to act as plane guard north of Lyra Reef for B - 24 bombers . On 6 February , she put into Milne Bay , New Guinea , for refit . Seventh War Patrol . " Scamp " spent her seventh war patrol searching the shipping lanes between New Guinea , Palau , and Mindanao in the Philippines . She exited Milne Bay on 3 March 1944 and , after uneventful patrolling , put in at Langemak Bay , from 29 March to 31 March , for repairs to her torpedo data computer . Following her resumption of patrol , she battle surfaced on 4 April and set fire to a 200 ton trawler , but broke off the action when her deck gun failed . Three days later , south of Davao Gulf , she encountered six cruiser s escorted by destroyers and planes . She dived and the destroyers passed overhead without noticing her presence a scant below the surface . She returned to the surface at 1405 but was forced down by a plane . A little later , she tried to surface again but was attacked by a diving float plane . As she crash dived to escape the enemy plane , an aerial bomb exploded . All hands were knocked off their feet by the explosion and all power was lost . " Scamp " began to take an up angle and started to settle rapidly . At just below , she began to hang on , then started up . The diving officer reported that the hydraulic controller had been jarred to " off " in the attack and that the hydraulic plant started closing all the main vents as fire started filling the maneuvering and after torpedo rooms with a thick , toxic smoke . Fortunately , the sub caught at , the decision having been made to surface and slug it out with the deck gun if she could not be held below . " Scamp " started down again , " see sawed " three times , and started down a third time before power was regained . Soon the submarine was making two thirds speed on each shaft and had levelled off at . She released oil and air bubbles to appear to have sunk and then headed for the Admiralty Islands . At 21 : 03 , she surfaced and , with a 17 degree list , made for Seeadler Harbor , Manus , where she arrived on 16 April 1944 . Eighth War Patrol and Loss . She made emergency repairs at Manus , shifted to Milne Bay on 22 April and then moved on to Pearl Harbor for a thorough overhaul at the yard . " Scamp " set out on her eighth war patrol on 16 October . She fueled at Midway Island on 20 October , then set course for the Bonin Islands . On 9 November , she acknowledged a message changing her patrol area . She reported her position to be about north of the Bonin Islands with all 24 torpedoes aboard and 77 , 000 US gallons ( 290 , 000 L ) of fuel remaining . On 14 November , she was ordered to take up the life guard station off Tokyo Bay in support of B - 29 Superfortress bomber strikes , but failed to acknowledge the message . " Scamp " was never heard from again . From records available after the war , it appears that " Scamp " was sighted by Japanese planes and reported depth charge d by Kaibokan CD - 4 to the south of Tokyo Bay on 11 November 1944 . " Scamp " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 April 1945 . " Scamp " ( SS - 277 ) earned seven battle star s for World War II service .