USS Kingfish (SS-234), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the kingfish. Construction and commissioning Kingfish was laid down on 29 August 1941 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 2 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Harry A. Stuart, wife of Rear Admiral Harry A. Stuart, and commissioned on 20 May 1942, with Lieutenant Commander Vernon L. "Rebel" Lowrance in command. First war patrol, September – November 1942 Kingfish arrived at Pearl Harbor from New London 31 August 1942, and sailed on her first war patrol from there 9 September. Patrolling close to Japan's coast, Kingfish sighted a three-ship convoy and fired a three-torpedo spread at the last freighter, scoring one hit. Unable to determine the extent of the damage due to an uncomfortably efficient barrage of depth charges (lasting 18 hours), Kingfish successfully outwitted her attackers and cleared the area. Sighting freighter Yomei Maru 1 October, Kingfish fired a three torpedo spread which sent her to the bottom. Going deep for the inevitable depth charging, Kingfish reloaded her tubes and continued scouting shipping lanes. Four days later she sighted and torpedoed a freighter off Muroto Zaki but could not verify the sinking. Two weeks of frustration followed due to lack of targets. On 23 October the freighter Seiko Maru was sighted and sent to the bottom by two torpedoes. Completing her first war patrol, Kingfish arrived Midway Atoll 3 November. Second and third war patrols, November 1942 – April 1943 After refit Kingfish sailed 25 November to Chichi-jima on her second war patrol. Entering the South China Sea 5 December, she sighted freighter Hino Maru No. 3 and sank it two days later. Then, on 28 December, she sent another freighter, Choyo Maru, to the bottom. Two trawlers were attacked by gunfire early in January. The first target was riddled and set afire, and the second sunk by gunfire. Kingfish ended this patrol at Pearl Harbor 23 January 1943. Kingfish was underway for her third war patrol 16 February. On the sub's passage to Formosa, she sank a trawler off the Bonin Islands and torpedoed a passenger freighter. Damage to this ship could not be ascertained as the submarine was immediately attacked by enemy bombs and depth charges. On 17 March, a freighter was tracked and a precise torpedo spread damaged it considerably. Two days