USS Pompon (SS/SSR-267), a Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the pompon, an American fish of the Anisot family. Construction and commissioning Pompon was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on 26 November 1941; launched 15 August 1942, sponsored by Miss Katherine Mary Wolleson; and commissioned 17 March 1943. Service history On 5 April 1943 Pompon began her voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans in a floating drydock. Stores were loaded at New Orleans and she sailed for the Pacific. First war patrol, July – August 1943 Pompon steamed from Brisbane, Australia on 10 July to conduct her first war patrol in the Truk area. Only a few days out, a Japanese submarine fired two torpedoes at her, both passing ahead. Besides patrolling off Truk, Pompon formed a scouting line with other submarines to cover 7th Fleet operations. On 25 July she seized the opportunity and torpedoed 5,871 ton cargo ship Thames Maru. In the same action two more attacks damaged a second transport and also a smaller transport. Numerous patrol boats and another enemy submarine were evaded, and Pompon returned to Brisbane 22 August. Second war patrol, September – November 1943 Pompon departed Brisbane on 12 September 1943 for her second war patrol, en route to a patrol area in the South China Sea north of Singapore. On 16 September, she sighted an Allied Liberty ship in the Coral Sea east of Grafton Passage in the Great Barrier Reef at at 04:05. The ship altered course directly toward her and she submerged. After Pompon returned to the surface, she unsuccessfully attempted to exchange recognition signals with the ship, which opened gunfire on her at a range of at 06:14. Pompon submerged again and suffered no damage. After reaching her patrol area, Pompon made several unsuccessful attacks and experienced a near miss by a Japanese submarine. She returned to Fremantle, Australia on 5 November 1943 for supplies. Third and fourth war patrols, November 1943 – April 1944 The third patrol began on 29 November and again took her to the China Sea area off French Indo-China. After running Balabac Strait, where two radio-equipped Japanese motor sampans were sunk by gunfire, Pompon mined waters southwest of Cochin China. After a five-day sortie into the Celebes Sea, Pompon returned to Darwin for fuel, ending her patrol on 28 January 1944.