USS Gato (SS-212)

The first Gato was laid down 5 Oct 1940 by the Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn.; launched 21 August 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Royal E. Ingersoll, and commissioned 31 December 1941, Lt. Comdr. W. G. Myers in command.

After shakedown training at New London, Gato departed 16 February 1942 for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Francisco. On her first war patrol from Pearl Harbor (20 April-10 June 1942), she unsuccessfully attacked a converted aircraft carrier 3 May before being driven away by the fierce depth charging of four destroyers off the Marshalls. On 24 May she was ordered to patrol the western approaches to Midway, taking station 280 miles westward during that historic victory.

On her second war patrol (2 July-29 August 1942), she patrolled east of the Kurile Islands toward the Aleutian chain. She obtained four torpedo hits with unconfirmed damage to a ship 15 August 1942 and terminated her patrol at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska. Her third patrol (4 September-23 December 1942) included operations off Kiska; then she steamed via Midway and Pearl Harbor to Truk atoll, where her attack 6 December on a convoy was broken off by aerial bombs and a severe depth charge attack by three destroyers. This patrol terminated at Brisbane, Australia, 23 December 1942.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Gato I (SS-212)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.