USS Saury (SS-189) - Pre-World War II Service

Pre-World War II Service

Following commissioning, Saury conducted tests in the New London, Connecticut, area and as far south as Annapolis, Maryland, before visiting New York City in late April for the 1939 New York World's Fair. In mid-May, she conducted tests with experimental periscopes, then prepared for her shakedown cruise which, between 26 June and 26 August, took her from Newfoundland to Venezuela and the Panama Canal Zone and back to southern New England. In September, she entered the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, for post-shakedown overhaul.

After overhaul and final trials, Saury got underway on 4 December for the West Coast. On 12 December, she transited the Panama Canal and, nine days later, joined Submarine Division (SubDiv) 16 of Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 6, at San Diego, California. Upkeep, exercises, and services as a target for surface units took her through March 1940. In April, she sailed west to participate in Fleet Problem XXI, an eight-phased problem simulating an attack on the defense of the Hawaiian area and the destruction of one fleet prior to the concentration of another.

Based afterward at Pearl Harbor, Saury conducted exercises in the Hawaiian Islands and as far west as Midway Island until she returned to the West Coast in September for overhaul at Mare Island. From March to October 1941, she operated out of both Pearl Harbor and San Diego, California, then departed the former for her new base, Cavite, Philippines.