USS Sawfish (SS-276), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the sawfish, a viviparous ray which has a long flat snout with a row of toothlike structures along each edge. It is found principally in the mouths of tropical American and African rivers. Construction and commissioning Sawfish was laid down on 20 January 1942 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine; launched on 23 June 1942; sponsored by Hattie Wyatt Caraway, the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate; and commissioned on 26 August 1942. Service history World War II After shakedown off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in Narragansett Bay, and en route to the Panama Canal, Sawfish arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 21 January 1943. Ten days later, she got underway for the first of her 10 war patrols. First and second war patrols, January–June 1943 Sawfish proceeded to waters off southwestern Japan where she attacked several targets and concluded that she had sunk or damaged some. However, it turned out that she had mistakenly sunk two neutral Soviet cargo ships, Kola on 16 February 1943 and Ilmen on 17 February. A careful study of Japanese and American records after the war did not confirm any other sinkings on Sawfishs first war patrol, which ended when she reached Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on 25 March 1943. The submarine departed Midway on 15 April and headed for Japan. On 5 May off the coast of Honshū, she sank the converted gunboat, Hakkai Maru. A fortnight later, she stalked an enemy task force but lost her quarry in heavy swells. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 June. Third war patrol, June–August 1943 Underway again on the last day of the month, Sawfish set course for the East China Sea. On the night of 21 July, she attacked convoy Hi-3 of nine ships and concluded that she had scored several hits. However, postwar assessment of records was unable to confirm any kills during this attack or during her operations for the next five days. Finally, early on the morning of 27 July, her luck changed when she attacked a convoy escorted by a 720-ton minelayer. Comdr. Sands fired a spread of four torpedoes from a range of only . He went deep as soon as the “fish” were clear and, in less than half a minute, the submarine was