"USS Swordfish (SS-193), a Sargo-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy named for the swordfish, a large fish with a long, swordlike beak and a high dorsal fin.
She was the first American submarine to sink a Japanese ship during World War II.
Operational history: 1937 to 1941
Her keel was laid down on 27 October 1937 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California. She was launched on 3 April 1939 sponsored by Miss Louise Shaw Hepburn, and commissioned on 22 July 1939 with Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) Chester C. Smith in command.
Following shakedown and post-shakedown repairs at Mare Island, Swordfish operated out of San Diego, California, until early 1941, when she set sail for Pearl Harbor.
On 3 November Swordfish, in company with three other U.S. submarines, departed Pearl, and on 22 November arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands. The submarine remained at Manila until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The following day, she set sail on her first war patrol, conducted off the coast of Hainan, China. After damaging several enemy vessels on the 9th, 11th, and 14th ("Kashii Maru"), Swordfish sank her initial victim of the war on 16 December 1941.
Hit amidships by one of three torpedoes, the cargo ship Atsutasan Maru erupted in a cloud of smoke and flames and disappeared beneath the waves."
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Inscription on the Memorial Plaque:
"CDR K.E. Montross, USN, Commanding Officer; Launched 1 April 1939; Lost at sea, January 1945.
Less than two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Swordfish sank her first ship. So began the career of a submarine that not only sank many more Japanese vessels before the war’s end but also proved the usefulness of submarines in a variety of wartime operations.
In addition to carrying out her routine offensive war patrols, Swordfish conducted close-range reconnaissance photography and evacuated military and civilian personnel from dangerous areas.
During one such mission, she transported the Philippines President and his family, along with several other high ranking government and army officials, to safety.
Swordfish earned the Navy unit commendation for three of her patrols, as well as eight battle stars. However, her thirteenth patrol proved to be unlucky.
Swordfish set out from Pearl Harbor on 22 December 1944 on a special mission. She was to photograph the beaches and defense installations of the Japanese stronghold on Okinawa in order to prepare for the allied invasion of that island. Swordfish never returned.
The exact cause of her loss remains unknown. The submarine Kete reported hearing prolonged depth charging in Swordfish’s area on 12 January 1945, and Japanese records obtained after the war revealed that the waters off Okinawa were heavily mined. Eighty-nine valiant men perished with Swordfish."