Allied Warships

Kingfish (SS-234)

Submarine of the Gato class

USS Kingfish during the war

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	Gato
Pennant	234
Built by	Portsmouth Navy Yard (Kittery, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered	28 Jun 1940
Laid down	29 Aug 1941
Launched	2 Mar 1942
Commissioned	20 May 1942
End service	9 Mar 1946
History	Decommissioned 9 March 1946. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Stricken 1 March 1960. Sold 6 October 1960 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Kingfish (234)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt. Vernon Long Lowrance, USN	20 May 1942	1 Dec 1943
2	T/Cdr. Herbert Lollis Jukes, USN	1 Dec 1943	19 Jun 1944
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Talbot Edward Harper, USN	19 Jun 1944	31 May 1945
4	T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Daniel Keegan, USN	31 May 1945	9 Mar 1946

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Notable events involving Kingfish include:

USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army hospital ship Takachiko Maru (8154 GRT) in Formosa Strait in position 26?00'N, 122?18'E.

14 Jul 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lowrence, USN) arrived at New London, Connecticut.

5 Aug 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lowrence, USN) departed New London, Connecticut for the Panama Canal Zone.

17 Aug 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lowrence, USN) transited the Panama Canal.

31 Aug 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) arrived at Pearl Harbor from New London.

9 Sep 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 1st war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

1 Oct 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Yomei Maru (2860 GRT) off Ichiezaki, Japan in position 33°31'N, 135°26'E.

23 Oct 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Seikyo Maru (2608 GRT) at the entrance to Kii Suido, Honshu, Japan in position 33°20'N, 135°27'E.

3 Nov 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway.

25 Nov 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) departed from Midway for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Formosa.

7 Dec 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Hino Maru No.3 (4389 GRT) west of the Bonin Islands in position 23°59'N, 138°43'E.

28 Dec 1942
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Choyo Maru (5388 BRT) off the northwest coast of Formosa in position 24°46'N, 120°40'E.

7 Jan 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) sank two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire west of the Bonin Islands in the following positions 25°46'N, 138°09'E and 25°31'N, 136°28'E.

23 Jan 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

16 Feb 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol off Formosa.

4 Mar 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) sank a large Japanese sampan with gunfire off the Bonin Islands in position 24°23'N, 143°18'E.

17 Mar 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese transport ship Tenryugawa Maru (3883 GRT) in Formosa Strait in position 24°32'N, 120°15'E.

23 Mar 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) is damaged by depth charges north of Formosa in position 26°20'N, 121°55'E, and is forced to terminate her patrol.

9 Apr 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) ended her 3rd war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She is now ordered to the Mare Islands Navy Yard to be repaired and refitted. (1)

23 Jun 1943
With her repairs completed USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) arrived back at Pearl Harbor.

1 Jul 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

25 Aug 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia.

21 Sep 1943
USS Kingfish (T/Cdr. V.L. Lawrence, USN) conducted exercises off Fremantle. The destroyer HrMs Tjerk Hiddes (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Kruys, RNethN) served as target ship during these exercises. Also A/S exercises were carried out. (2)

24 Sep 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) departed from Fremantle for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

6 Oct 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) lands men and supplies on northeast coast of Borneo.

9 Oct 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and damaged the Japanese fleet oiler Hayatomo (14050 GRT) in the Sibitu Channel in position 05°09'N, 119°18'E.

10 Oct 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) lays mines off Cape Pepe, Makassar Strait, Celebes.

20 Oct 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Sana Maru (3365 GRT) off Banbon Bay, French Indochina in position 12°36'N, 109°30'E.

14 Nov 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. V.L. Lawrence) ended her 5th war patrol at Fremantle.

16 Dec 1943
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) departed from Fremantle for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea.

3 Jan 1944
While attacking a Japanese convoy north-west of Miri, Borneo, USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) departed from torpedoed and sank the Japanese fleet tankers Bokuei Maru (5135 GRT) in position 06°58'N, 112°02'E, and the Ryuei Maru (5144 GRT) in position 08°06'N, 112°30'E.

7 Jan 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant tanker Fushimi Maru No.3 (4289 GRT) southwest of Palawan in position 09°27'N, 117°36'E.

26 Jan 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

19 Feb 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Mariana Islands area.

9 Apr 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) ended her 7th war patrol at Majuro.

1 May 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) departed from Majuro for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Bonin Islands.

19 Jun 1944
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Jukes) ended her 8th war patrol at Midway. She is now ordered to the Mare Islands Navy Yard for an overhaul.

1 Jul 1944
The Japanese merchant cargo ship Nikko Maru (3098 GRT) is sunk by a mine, most likely laid by USS Kingfish on 10 October 1943, off Makassar in position 05°38'S, 119°28'E.

12 Oct 1944
With her overhaul completed USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Bonin Islands.

24 Oct 1944
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Ikutagawa Maru (2220 GRT) east of Chichi Jima in position 27°08'N, 143°13'E.

27 Oct 1944
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) torpedoed and sank the Japanese sank the Japanese landing ship T-138 (887 tons) and the Japanese army cargo vessel Tokai Maru No.4 (537 BRT) about 30 nautical miles north-north-east of Iwo Jima in position 25°22'N, 141°31'E.

28 Nov 1944
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) ended her 9th war patrol at Guam.

23 Dec 1944
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) departed from Guam for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Bonin Islands.

3 Jan 1945
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Shoto Maru (572 GRT) and the Japanese merchant cargo ships Yaei Maru (1941 GRT) and Shibazono Maru (1831 BRT) about 200 nautical miles north of Chichi Jima in position 30°29'N, 142°03'E.

1 Feb 1945
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) ended her 10th war patrol at Guam.

6 Mar 1945
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) departed from Guam for her 11th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol south of Kyusyu.

25 Apr 1945
USS Kingfish (Cdr. T.E. Harper) ended her 11th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

17 Jun 1945
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. T.D. Reegan) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 12th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters and the Kuril Islands.

2 Jul 1945
Around 1645K/2, USS Lionfish (T/Lt.Cdr. B.M. Ganyard, USN) and USS Kingfish (T/Lt.Cdr. T.D. Keegan, USN) departed Guam for their patrol areas. They were escorted until 2030K/2 by USS PC-1587 (Lt. D.N. Perrine, USNR).

The submarines parted company with each other around 2200I/4.

5 Aug 1945
USS Kingfish (Lt.Cdr. T.D. Reegan) sank two Japanese sampans with gunfire off Paramushir, Kuril Islands in position 50°43'N, 156°38'E.