USS Tautog (SS-199), the second , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog, a small edible sport fish, which is also called a blackfish. She was one of the most successful submarines of World War II. Tautog was credited with sinking 26 Japanese ships,Beating even Dick O'Kane's record. Blair, Silent Victory (Lippincott, 1975), p.989. for a total of 72,606 tons, scoring second by number of ships and eleventh by tonnageBlair, p.990. earning her the nickname "The Terrible T." Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, she was one of only five to survive the war.
Tautogs first patrol, into the Marshall Islands in late 1941 and early 1942, produced reconnaissance information but no enemy vessels sunk. However, on her second visit to that area, in the spring of 1942, she torpedoed the Japanese submarines and , plus a freighter. Operating out of Australia between July 1942 and May 1943, Tautog went into the waters of the East Indies and Indochina on five patrols during which Tautog sank the and seven merchant ships. She also laid mines off Haiphong and endured a depth charge attack in November 1942.
Following an overhaul at San Francisco, California, Tautog resumed operations from Pearl Harbor in October 1943, sinking the and damaging a tanker and three freighters during this cruise, her eighth of the war. Her next four patrols, from December 1943 to August 1944, took her to the Japanese home islands, including the frigid northern Pacific. This period was a very productive one, with the destroyer and eleven Japanese merchant ships falling victim to Tautog. A stateside overhaul followed, with the submarine's thirteenth war patrol, into the East China Sea, beginning in December 1944. The next month she sank a landing ship and a motor torpedo boat tender to conclude the submarine's combat career.
Assigned to training duty in February 1945, Tautog spent the rest of World War II in that role and supporting developmental work off Hawaii and the West Coast. She transferred to the Atlantic in November 1945, a few months after Japan's surrender, and was decommissioned in December. In 1947 Tautog went to the Great Lakes, where she was employed as a stationary Naval Reserve training submarine at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for nearly twelve years. Tautog was removed from service in September 1959. Sold some months later, she was scrapped at Manistee, Michigan, during the early 1960s.
Construction and commissioning The submarine's keel was laid down on 1 March 1939 at Groton, Connecticut, by the Electric Boat Company. She was launched on 27 January 1940 and was sponsored by Mrs. Hallie N Edwards, wife of Captain Richard S. Edwards, Commander Submarine Squadron Two. The boat was commissioned on 3 July 1940.
1940–1941 Following a short training period in Long Island Sound, Tautog departed for the Caribbean Sea on her shakedown cruise which lasted from 6 September 1940 to 11 November 1940. She returned to New London, Connecticut and operated from that base until early February 1941 when she was ordered to the Virgin Islands.
Late in April, she returned to New London, Connecticut, loaded supplies, and sailed with two other submarines for Hawaii on 1 May. After calls at Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, and San Diego, California, they arrived at Pearl Harbor on 6 June 1941. Tautog operated in the Hawaiian area until mid-October. On 21 October, she and stood out to sea, under sealed orders, to begin a 45-day, full-time, simulated war patrol in the area around Midway Island. For 38 consecutive days, the two submarines operated submerged for 16 to 18 hours each day. Tautog returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1941.
Two days later, on Sunday, 7 December, Tautog was at the submarine base when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Shortly after the attack began on Ford Island, Tautogs gun crews, with the help of and a destroyer, shot down a Japanese torpedo bomber as it came over Merry Point.
First patrol Tautogs first war patrol began on 26 December 1941 and took her to the Marshall Islands for reconnaissance work. After 26 days in the area gathering information, particularly of Kwajalein, she reported no enemy activity at Rongelop, Bat, Wotho, or Bikini. On 13 January 1942, she launched three torpedoes at a small minelayer, receiving a depth charging in return. Plagued by a fogging periscope, she returned to Pearl Harbor on 4 February and was routed to Mare Island for upkeep.
Second patrol On 9 April 1942, Tautog headed westward toward Hawaii and started her next war patrol upon leaving Pearl Harbor 15 days later. Her assigned area was again in the Marshall Islands. Around 10:00 on 26 April near Johnston Island, while en route to her station, Tautog sighted the periscope of an enemy submarine, apparently maneuvering to reach a favorable firing position. Tautog made a sharp turn and fired one stern torpedo, evidently exploding above the target,Blair, p.229. and was officially credited as sinking Ro-30 (1,047 tons). However, Ro-30 had been in 4th Reserve since December 1938 and was converted into a training hulk on 1 April 1942. She survived the war at the Ōtake submarine school and was subsequently scrapped. Fitzsimons does not confirm sinking Ro-30, the Japanese report no submarines going missing around April 1942 in any theater, and as of 2024 the only confirmed occasion of one submarine sinking another in wartime while both were submerged is HMS Venturer sinking U-864.
Shortly after her arrival in the Marshalls, Tautog was ordered to Truk to intercept ships returning from the Battle of the Coral Sea, especially the Japanese aircraft carriers Zuikauku and Shōkaku (the latter codenamed "Wounded Bear");Blair, p.230. because Pearl Harbor underestimated Shōkakus speed, Tautog and two compatriots arrived too late and did not see Shōkaku depart, on 11 or 12 May. South of the harbor, Tautog launched two torpedoes at Goyo Maru, scoring one hit and suffering a circular run (typical of the erratic Mark XIV torpedo), forcing Tautog deep.Blair, p.231. (Goyo Maru beached herself.)Blair, p.231. He makes no mention of a hospital ship. Two days later, Tautog was alerted by ULTRA of four Japanese submarines in the vicinity, also returning from battle. She was caught by surprise by the first, and failed to attack. She detected and fired two torpeodes at the second. Although the Japanese boat was not in sight when Tautog surfaced, she was not officially credited with a sinking. Later in the morning, Tautog sighted another submarine with the designation "I-28" clearly discernible on its conning tower.Gill (1968). p.61 Just as I-28 fired at Tautog, the American boat launched two torpedoes, then went to to avoid. One torpedo missed, the second sent the Japanese boat to the bottom, making her the third sunk by Pacific Fleet submarines.It was a bad day for Japanese submarines: the same day, C. C. Kirkpatrick's Triton sank I-64. Blair, p.233.
Tautog sighted two ships departing Truk on 22 May and made a submerged sound attack on the larger. The American submarine's crew thought they had sunk the target, but the 5,461-ton cargo ship Sanko Maru had been only damaged. Three days later, Tautog made an attack from periscope depth against a cargo ship. Her spread of torpedoes sent Shoka Maru to the bottom. The patrol ended at Fremantle on 11 June. She was credited with six ships sunk for 19,500 tons; postwar, this was reduced to three for 7,500 tons.Blair, p.908.
Third patrol Her third war patrol, conducted from 17 July to 10 September 1942, took Tautog to the coast of Indochina, where (in part due to torpedo shortages) she laid mines. The hunting was poor, and she sank only one ship, Ohio Maru (5,900 tons),Blair, p.910. on 6 August.
Fourth patrol Tautog was refitted by at Albany, south of Fremantle. Again loaded with mines, the submarine put to sea 8 October 1942. On 20 October, her lookouts spotted the dim outline of a ship through a rain squall. Quickly submerging, the submarine determined that the ship was a 75-ton fishing schooner. Tautog prepared for battle, surfaced, closed the range, and fired a shot from her deck gun across the schooner's bow; the target hove to. The stranger broke the Japanese colors and hoisted a signal flag. Investigation revealed a Japanese crew and four Filipinos on board. The Filipinos swam over to the submarine and later enlisted in the United States Navy. The Japanese were ordered to take to their boats but refused to do so. Three shells fired in the schooner's stern disabled her rudder and propeller. The Japanese then launched a boat, were given water, and directed to the nearest land. When Tautog opened fire to sink the ship, several more Japanese emerged and scrambled into the boat. Ten more rounds left the schooner a burning hulk.
On 27 October, Tautog tracked a passenger-cargo ship until dark and launched two torpedoes into her. A fire started in the target aft, her bow rose into the air, and the unidentified ship sank within a few minutes (tentatively identified as the Hokuango Maru formerly Chinese vessel Pei An )Listed as a "unknown Maru" but see The next day, a spread of torpedoes fired at another merchantman turned out to be duds; their impacts on the target which could be heard in the sub.Blair, p.352. This was the first confirmed dud in a litany of problems with the Mark XIV, which became a cacophony before the Bureau of Ordnance belatedly cured the ailments, in September 1943. However, escort ships had seen their tracks, and the submarine received a thorough depth charging which caused no serious damage. During the night of 2 November, Tautog laid mines off Haiphong, Indochina, with several exploding as they were emplaced. On 11 November, she launched a torpedo at another passenger/cargo ship. It missed and alerted an escort which gave Tautog a severe depth charge attack. Five explosions close aboard caused extensive minor damage. The submarine returned to Fremantle ten days later for repair and refit. She was credited with one ship of 5,100 tons; postwar, it was reduced to 4,000 tons.Blair, p.922
Fifth patrol Her fifth war patrol, from 15 December 1942 to 30 January 1943, took Tautog to the Java Sea, near Ambon Island, Timor Island, and Celebes Island. She contacted a freighter in Ombai Strait on 24 December and tracked her until 03:06 the next morning when she fired three stern tubes. Two hits sent Banshu Maru Number 2 to the bottom. Tautog went deep and began retiring westward; enemy patrol boats kept her down for ten hours before they withdrew.
That night, Tautog was headed for Alors Strait when she sighted a ship (thought to be a freighter) coming west, accompanied by an escort. The targets suddenly turned toward Tautog and were recognized as an antisubmarine warfare team. The submarine went deep but still received a severe pounding. On 5 January 1943, Tautog sighted a sail off her port bow and promptly closed the ship. It turned out to be a native craft with a dozen Muslim sailors, four women, several babies, some chickens, and a goat on board. After he had examined the ship's papers, Tautog'''s commanding officer, William B. Sieglaff, allowed the vessel to resume its voyage. On 9 January at 08:38, Tautog (relying on ULTRA) sighted Natori, a Nagara-class cruiser off Ambon Island, at a range of about . Three minutes later, the submarine fired her first torpedo. At 09:43, her crew heard a loud explosion, and sonar reported the cruiser's screws had stopped. In the next few minutes, as the cruiser got underway at reduced speed, Tautog scored two more hits, while the cruiser opened fire on her periscope with guns, preventing her from tracking the target for another attack; the cruiser limped into Ambon.Blair, p.352.