USS Lapon (SS-260), a , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after the lapon, a scorpionfish of the Pacific coast of the United States. Construction and career Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut 21 February 1942. She was launched on 27 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. J. B. Oldendorf, wife of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. Lapon was commissioned on 23 January 1943. First and second war patrols, June – November 1943 Completing trials and training in Long Island Sound, Lapon departed New London for the Pacific 4 May 1943. She reportedly was mistakenly machine-gunned by friendly forces at New London Sanctuary on 5 June, but continued her voyage and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 1 June 1943. She departed 24 June for her first war patrol which was spent in the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan. On 3 July, Lapon, along with and became the first U.S. submarines to slip through a mined strait into the Sea of Japan. The entire time Lapon operated in the Sea of Japan, she was surrounded by thick fog and had problems with her radar. After she exited the Sea of Japan through La Perouse Strait, she patrolled off the east coast of Hokkaidō and Honshū. There she saw an aircraft carrier and a pair of destroyers. The escorts kept Lapon pinned down with the assistance of aircraft, and the carrier escaped. The submarine departed 26 September for a close inshore patrol off the south coast of Honshū. After sinking cargo ship Taichu Maru 18 October, Lapon returned to Pearl Harbor 4 November 1943 and departed for the West Coast 7 November for an overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard. Third, fourth, and fifth war patrols, January – August 1944 Refitted with four new engines, the submarine departed for the South China Sea via Pearl Harbor in February 1944. Lapon sought out torpedo targets and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. She sank the cargo ship Toyokuni Maru on 8 March, Nichirei Maru on 9 March, and Hokuroku Maru (8359 tons) on 18 March, and inflicted heavy damage to several small craft. Lapon terminated this patrol in Fremantle, Australia, arriving 1 April 1944. Departing 25 April, Lapon arrived in the South China Sea and on 23 May detected and tracked a convoy. During the early hours of 24