Seventy-seven Gato-class submarines were built during World War II, commissioned from November 1941 through April 1944.Bauer and Roberts, pp. 271-273 The class was very successful in sinking Japanese merchant ships and naval vessels: the top three US submarines in tonnage sunk were Gatos, along with three of the top seven in number of ships sunk.Blair, pp. 989-990 But success had a price: 20 of the 52 US submarines lost in that war were of this class, plus , a damaged boat that returned to the US but was considered a constructive total loss and not repaired.″United States Submarine Losses World War II″, Naval History Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington: 1963 (Fifth Printing) Although many of the class were in reserve postwar and scrapped in 1959-1960, some Gatos served actively with the US Navy into the late 1960s, and others served with foreign navies into the early 1970s.SS-361 through SS-364 were initially ordered as Balao-class and were assigned hull numbers that fall in the middle of the range of numbers for the Balao class (SS-285 through SS-416 & SS-425–426).Fleet Submarine index page at NavSource Thus, in some references they are listed with that class. However, they were completed by Manitowoc as Gatos, due to an unavoidable delay in Electric Boat's development of Balao-class drawings. Manitowoc was a follow yard to Electric Boat and was dependent on them for designs and drawings.Friedman 1995, p. 209

Abbreviations Abbreviations and hull classification symbols for postwar redesignations/conversions: AGSS—auxiliary submarine (various roles, including sonar testing) APSS/LPSS — amphibious transport submarine FS — "fleet snorkel" conversion, including a snorkel and streamlined sail"Snorkel added" was similar to fleet snorkel, but only the after part of the sail was streamlined. G IB — GUPPY IB conversion, including a snorkel, streamlined sail, and improved batteries IXSS — unclassified submarine PT—pier-side trainer for naval reservists, reportedly immobilized by removing the propellersThese were in commission but classed as "in commission, in reserve", thus some were decommissioned and recommissioned on the same day to reflect the change in statusFriedman 1995, p. 285 SSG — guided missile submarine SSK — hunter-killer submarine SSO/AOSS — submarine oiler conversion SSR — radar picket submarine Struck — Struck (deleted) from the Naval Vessel Register, usually followed by scrapping or other final disposal

Ships in class