USS Snook (SS-279), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the common snook, an Atlantic marine fish that is bluish-gray above and silvery below a black lateral line.
Snook's keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine on 17 April 1942. She was launched on 15 August 1942 sponsored by Mrs. James C. Dempsey, wife of Lieutenant Dempsey who had been awarded the Navy Cross for heroism as commanding officer of the submarine S-27, and commissioned on 24 October 1942 with Lieutenant Commander C.O. Triebel in command.