Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	31 May 1943
Launched:	12 October 1943
Commissioned:	22 January 1944
Decommissioned:	19 March 1946
Fate:	sold
Stricken:	1 March 1967
General Characteristics
Displacement:	1526 tons surfaced, 2391 tons submerged
Length:	311 ft 8 in (95 m)
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.3 m)
Draft:	15 ft 3 in (4.6 m)
Propulsion:
Speed:	20 knot (37 km/h) surfaced, 9 knot (17 km/h) submerged
Range:
Complement:	66 officers and men
Armament:	1 x 5 in (127 mm) gun, 1 x 40 mm cannon, 10 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Motto:

USS Pipefish (SS-388), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the pipefish , a long, narrow, bony-scaled fish with straight, tubular snout found in Panama that has extraordinary powers of concealment in vegetation. Her keel was laid down on 31 May 1943 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 12 October 1943 sponsored by Mrs. George J. Bates, and commissioned on 22 January 1944, with Lieutenant Commander William N. Deragon in command.

Following training off the East Coast, Pipefish proceeded via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she arrived 3 May 1944.

On her first war patrol, 24 May to 16 July, Pipefish cruised west of the Mariana Islands, as a rescue submarine for pre-invasion carrier strikes on Saipan, saving one pilot on 12 June. She also cruised in the Surigao Straits to block Japanese escape from the Battle of the Philippine Sea. She moored at Majuro on 16 July.

On her second war patrol, 6 August to 27 September, she patrolled off the southeastern coast of Honshu, Japan. Pipefish sank Hakutetsu Maru Number Seven, 1018 tons, on 12 September. While evading escorts after that attack, she struck bottom three times. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 September.

On her third war patrol, 28 October 1944 to 6 January 1945, Pipefish roamed southwest of Taiwan and off the east coast of Hainan Island, China, operating with submarines Pampanito (SS-383), Sea Cat (SS-399), and Sea Raven (SS-196) . Attacking a convoy, Pipefish sank Japanese Coastal Defense Vessel Number 64, 800 tons, on 3 December. She arrived at Majuro on 6 January.

On her fourth war patrol, 31 January to 26 March, Pipefish provided rescue capability for downed aviators in the Nansei Shoto area.

During her fifth war patrol, 28 April to 16 June, she performed lifeguard duty for B-29 Superfortress aviators off Honshu, and in the Nanpo Shoto area. Pipefish saved eight aviators on 26 May, 29 May, and 10 June. She moored at Midway Island on 16 June.

Her sixth war patrol, 15 July to 28 August, called for lifeguard duty in the Nanpo Shoto area and off the east coast of Kyushu. On patrol she destroyed eight naval mines. Following termination of hostilities with Japan she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 28 August, and then proceeded to the West Coast.

Pipefish decommissioned on 19 March 1946, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified as an auxiliary submarine and given hull classification symbol AGSS-388 on 1 December 1962. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1967 and sold on 20 January 1969.

Pipefish received six battle stars for World War II service.

References