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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 19 October 1933 |
| Commissioned: | 1 December 1933 |
| Decommissioned: | 17 October 1945 |
| Fate: | sold |
| Stricken: | |
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| Displacement: | 1110 tons |
| Length: | 271 feet 10 inches |
| Beam: | 24 feet 9 inches |
| Draft: | 12 feet 10 inches |
| Speed: | 17 knots |
| Complement: | 43 officers and men |
| Armament: | one three inch gun, six 21-inch torpedo tubes |
, the lead ship of
Her Class and one of the "
V-boats ", was the only ship of the
United States Navy to be named for the
Sperm Whale . Her keel was laid down by the
Portsmouth Navy Yard . She was
Launched on
19 October 1933 as ''V-8'' (SC-4) sponsored by Miss K. D. Kempff, and
Commissioned on
1 December 1933 with Lieutenant Commander M. Comstock in command.
After shakedown, further construction, tests, and overhaul, ''Cachalot'' sailed for
San Diego, California , where on
17 October 1934 she joined the Submarine Force, U.S. Fleet. Operating until
1937 principally on the West Coast, she engaged in fleet problems, torpedo practice, antisubmarine, tactical, and sound training exercises. She cruised twice to
Hawaii an waters and once to the
Panama Canal Zone to participate in large-scale fleet exercises.
''Cachalot'' cleared San Diego
16 June 1937 , bound for
New London, Connecticut , and duty in experimental torpedo firing for the Newport Torpedo Station, and sound training for the New London Submarine School until
26 October 1937 when she began a lengthy overhaul at
New York Navy Yard . A year later she sailed for participation in a fleet problem, torpedo practice and sound training in the
Caribbean Sea and off the Canal Zone, and on
16 June 1939 , reported at
Pearl Harbor for duty with the Submarine Force and the Scouting Force.
War came to ''Cachalot'' as she lay in
Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in overhaul. In the Japanese
Attack On Pearl Harbor of
7 December 1941 , one of her men was wounded, but the submarine suffered no damage. Yard work on her was completed at a furious pace, and on
12 January 1942 she sailed on her first war patrol. After fueling at
Midway Island , she conducted a reconnaissance of
Wake ,
Eniwetok ,
Ponape ,
Truk ,
Namonuito , and
Hall Island , returning to
Pearl Harbor on
18 March with vitally needed intelligence of Japanese bases. Her second war patrol, for which she cleared from Midway on
9 June , was conducted off the Japanese home islands, where she damaged an enemy tanker. Returning to Pearl Harbor
26 July , she cleared on her final war patrol
23 September penetrating the frigid waters of the
Bering Sea in support of the
Aleutian Islands operations.
Overage for strenuous war patrols, ''Cachalot'' still had a key role to play during the remainder of the war, which she spent as training ship for the Submarine School at New London. She served there until
30 June 1945 , when she sailed to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , where she was decommissioned
17 October 1945 . She was sold
26 January 1947 .
''Cachalot'' received three
Battle Star s for
World War II service.
