Built by the Electric Boat Co., Groton, Conn., for the USS navy.
05 October laid down
21 August 1941 launched under the name GATO (SS-212), christened by Mrs. Royal E. Ingersoll.
Displacement 1.526 ton surfaced, 2.424 ton submerged. Dim. 311.9 x 27.3 x 19.3ft. (draught)
Powered by General Motor’s diesels, and electric motors, 6.500 bhp, speed 20.25 knots surfaced, 8.75 knots submerged.
Armament 1 – 3 inch gun and 4 MG, 10 – 21inch torpedo.
Crew 65/74
Building cost of the Gato class was average $6.228.2000.
31 December 1941 commissioned under command of Lt. Comdr. V.G.Myers.
After her shakedown training at new London, GATO departed on 16 February 1942 for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Francisco. On her first war patrol from Pearl Harbor (20 April to 10 June 1942), she unsuccessfully attacked a converted aircraft carrier on 3 May before driven away by the fierce depth charges 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 (02 July – 29 August 1942), she patrolled east of the Kurile Islands towards the Aleutian chain. She obtained four torpedo hits with unconfirmed damage to a ship on 15 August 1942 and terminated her patrol at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska.
Her third patrol (04 September – 23 December 1942) included operations off Kiska; then she steamed via Midway and Pearl Harbor to the Truk Atoll, where her attack on 6 December on a convoy was broken off by aerial bomb and a severe depth charge attack by three destroyers. This patrol terminated at Brisbane, Australia on 23 December 1942.
During her fourth war patrol (13 January – 26 February 1943), GATO torpedoed and sank transport KENKON MARU on 21 January, the cargo vessel NICHIUM MARU on 29 January; and the cargo vessel SURUYA MARU on 15 February, all off New Georgia, Solomon Islands.
On her fifth war patrol (19 March – 06 June 1943), she landed an Australian Intelligence party at Toep, Bougainville on 29 March, and evacuated 27 children, 9 mothers and 3 nuns, transferring them on 31 March to SC-531 off Ramos, Florida Island. During a submerged radar attack approach 04 April 1943, between Tanga and Lihir Island, she was shaken so violently by three exploding depth charges that she returned to Brisbane for temporary repairs what took from 11 to 20 April. GATO landed more Australian commandos at Toep Harbor on 29 May, transported more evacuees to Ramos Island, and the reconnoitered off Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands before putting in at Pearl Harbor on 6 June 1943.
GATO was routed onward to the Mare Island Shipyard for overhaul; returned to Pearl Harbor on 22 August 1943. and conducted her sixth war patrol (06 September – 28 October) via Truk and Bougainville in the Solomons to Brisbane. En route on 19 October she attacked a convoy scoring hits for unknown damage to two large cargo ships.
Her seventh war patrol (18 November 1943 – 10 January 1944) took her north of the Bismarck Archipelago. On 30 November she made a coordinated attack with RAY, sinking the cargo ship COLUMBIA MARU. She rescued a Japanese soldier from a liferaft on 16 December; then attacked a convoy in the Saipan-Massau traffic lanes four days later, to sink cargo vessel TSUNESHIMA MARU and scored damaging hits on another freighter. After 2 hours of dodging depth charges, she finally evaded her attackers; surfaced and headed for Tingmon, the most likely course of the damaged cargo vessel.
GATO discovered a live depth charge on her deck at the same time that two enemy escorts headed in her direction were sighted. She outran them while disposing of the unexploded depth charge by setting it adrift, on a rubber raft. Although she did not overtake the cargo vessel, she did sight a convoy. On 2 December a float plane finally driven off by her gunners foiled her chase. She concluded the patrol at Milne Bay, New Guinea on 10 January 1944.
GATO departed from Milne Bay on 2 February 1944 to conduct her eight war patrol in the Bismarck-New Guinea-Truk area. She sank a trawler off Truk on 15 February; transport DAIGEN MARU No. 3 on the 26th. And cargo vessel OKINOYAMA MARU No. 3 on 12 March. Two other trawlers were destroyed by her gunfire before she returned to Pearl Harbor on 1 April 1944.
On the ninth war patrol (30 May - June 1944), GATO took Vice Admiral Charles A Lockwood to Midway; completed photographic reconnaissance of Woleai Island served as lifeguard station for air strikes on Truk from 11 to 18 June, and terminated her patrol at Majuro Atoll.
On 15 July 1944 she was underway on her 10th war patrol taking lifeguard station for the carrier-based air strike on Chichi Jima, during which she rescued 2 aviators. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September, proceeded to Mare Island for overhaul and the returned to Pearl Harbor.
On her 11th war patrol (28 January – 13 March 1945) Gato patrolled the Yellow Sea as a unit of a coordinated attack group which included JALLAO (SS-368) and SUNFISH (SS-281). She sank a coast defense ship on 14 February and cargo ship TAIRIKU MARU on 21 February, and then returned to GUAM.
She departed for her 12th war patrol on 12 April 1945, taking up lifeguard station in support of the invasion of Okinawa. On the night of 22 to 23 April she had a brief contest with two Japanese submarines and narrowly missed destruction as well-aimed torpedoes came close. Between 27 and 30 April she rescued 10 Army aviators from shallow water near the beaches of Toi Misaki, Kyushu. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 June 1945.
On her 13th war patrol, GATO departed on 6 July for lifeguard station for air strikes on Wake Island and then off the eastern coast of Honshu. She received word of “Cease Fire” on 15 August while making an attack approach on a sea truck; steamed into Tokyo Bay the 31st.; remained for the signing of surrender documents on board MISSOURI on 2 September 1945.
Then she sailed the following day and via Pearl harbor and the Panama Canal to the New York Naval Shipyard, where she was decommissioned on 16 March 1946. She served for a number of years as a naval reserve training ship at New York and later at Baltimore Md., until her name was struck from the Navy List on 01 March 1960.
She was sold for scrapping 25 July 1960 to the Northern Metals Co. Philadelphia.
USS GATO received the Presidential Unit Citation in recognition of daring exploits during war patrols four through eight and 13 battle stars for service in World War II.
Marshall Islands 2000 33c sg?, scott 754B
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