USS Skate (SS-305) - Third and Fourth War Patrols

Third and Fourth War Patrols

Skate's third war patrol was again conducted in the area of the Carolines, in support of Operation Hailstone, the carrier airstrikes on Truk. Skate departed Midway on 5 February, this time under the command of Lt. Commander W.P. "Bud" Gruner, Jr. On 16 February, the evening before the airstrike, Skate intercepted a Japanese light cruiser, which had survived a previous torpedo attack by submarine USS Scamp (SS-277). Skate launched four torpedoes for three certain hits that engulfed the ship in a shroud of smoke as the submarine submerged to evade heavy depth charging from the enemy escorts. She later returned to the scene of the attack, but before another torpedo could be launched, the cruiser rolled to port and sank. It was later determined the cruiser sunk was the Japanese light cruiser Agano. Following the airstrikes and further patrol in the area, the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor on 17 March.

During her fourth war patrol, off the Bonin Islands from 11 April to 31 May, Skate scored hits on an enemy cargo ship for unconfirmed damage and, on 14 May, sank an enemy sampan in a surface attack, taking three prisoners of war.