USS Spearfish (SS-190) - First and Second War Patrols

First and Second War Patrols

Spearfish operated between Hawaii and the West Coast until 23 October 1941 when she departed Pearl Harbor and headed for Manila. She conducted training operations there from 8 November until the outbreak of war on 8 December (7 December east of the International Date Line), when she began her first war patrol. This mission took her into the South China Sea, near Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina, and off Tarakan and Balikpapan, Borneo. On 20 December, Spearfish encountered a Japanese submarine and made a submerged attack. She fired four torpedoes but all missed the target. She put into Surabaja, Java, on 29 January 1942 for refitting.

On 7 February, she began her second war patrol. Spearfish patrolled in the Java Sea and Flores Sea and made unsuccessful torpedo attacks on two cruiser task forces. On 2 March, she put into Tjilatjap, Java, and took on board 12 members of the staff of the commander of the submarines of the Asiatic Fleet, for transportation to Australia. The patrol ended at Fremantle, Australia.