USS Stingray (SS-186) - First and Second War Patrols

First and Second War Patrols

Stingray was at Manila on 7 December during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and immediately put to sea on her first war patrol. Patrolling in Lingayen Gulf, the submarine witnessed the Japanese invasion of Lingayen, but due to material deficiencies in the submarine, she was unable to attack. She terminated her first war patrol at Manila on 24 December.

Following repairs, Stingray got underway on her second war patrol on 30 December. While in Sama Bay on 10 January 1942, she torpedoed and sank her initial victim of the war, the transport Harbin Maru. The submarine then patrolled in Davao Gulf through 8 February without any contacts and put into Surabaja, Java, on 12 February. As the Japanese closed upon that Dutch base, she quickly got underway for Fremantle, Western Australia, arriving on 3 March.