Manitowoc 28
USS Pompon (SS 267)
Keel Laid – November 26, 1941
Launched – August 15, 1942
Commissioned – March 17, 1943
USS Pompon made nine war patrols and earned four Battle Stars. She sank three ships for a total of 13,470 tons. On her sixth and most successful patrol, Pompon sank a 300 ton armed trawler, the 2,718 ton transport Mikage Maru No. 20, and damaged an 8,000 ton tanker. Pompon was almost sunk by one of her own torpedoes on this patrol. While surfaced, with the enemy bearing down on her, one of her own “fish” circled and just missed the stern. She was driven down by gunfire and then depth charged, but managed to escape without damage.
On January 29, 1945, while making a morning trim dive, the conning tower hatch failed to release. Before the dive could be halted the ship had reached a depth of 44 feet, partially flooding the conning tower and control room and completely flooding the pump room. Pompon crept homeward,but was sighted by a convoy and was forced to dive to evade the enemy. USS Pogy found her just outside Midway and escorted her in on February 11, 1945.
In 1951 Pompon was converted to a radar picket submarine (SSR), operating in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. She was stricken from the Naval Register in 1960.
Discover more Submarines