USS Raton (SS/SSR/AGSS-270), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for the raton, a polynemoid fish inhabiting semitropical waters off the Pacific coast of the Americas. Construction and commissioning A fleet submarine, Raton was laid down on 29 May 1942 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was launched on 24 January 1943, sponsored by Mrs. C. C. West, and commissioned on 13 July 1943. Service history World War II July–October 1943 Following training in Lake Michigan, Raton moved to Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone for additional training. She was off Coco Solo on 11 August 1943 when the merchant ship ′s United States Navy Armed Guard mistakenly opened fire gunfire on her, firing one and two rounds. Raton immediately crash-dived and sustained no damage. Raton departed Panama for the South West Pacific Area on 19 September 1943, and upon arriving at Brisbane, Australia, on 16 October 1943, joined Submarine Force, United States Seventh Fleet. First war patrol, November – December 1943 From Brisbane, Raton headed for Tulagi in the Solomon Islands for her first war patrol which she conducted from 20 November to 6 December 1943 — in the Bismarck Archipelago–Solomons–New Guinea area. On 24 November 1943, while patrolling west of Massau, Raton sighted a Japanese convoy of two cargo ships escorted by two destroyers and a Nakajima A6M2-N (Allied reporting name "Rufe") floatplane. She trailed the convoy and that night made a torpedo attack, sinking the cargo ship Onoe Maru. Displaying excellent antisubmarine warfare proficiency, the two destroyers thwarted four attempts Raton made to sink the remaining cargo ship. On 28 November 1943, Raton sighted a Rabaul-bound Japanese convoy of five cargo ships accompanied by two escorts. In a submerged attack, Raton sank two of the cargo ships, Hokko Maru and Yuri Maru. After a severe pounding by the escorts, Raton escaped, but she remained in the area to renew her attack on the convoy. In a night attack, she heavily damaged a third cargo ship, then called for assistance, as her torpedoes were nearly expended. The submarine arrived and joined the attack, only to be attacked by the two Japanese destroyers. Raton surfaced and raced at flank speed to draw the escorts away from Gato and succeeded, allowing Gato to sink the cargo ship Columbia Maru. Raton concluded her patrol with her return to Milne Bay, New Guinea, for