area, but made no rescues. On 14 July, she fired three torpedoes at what was thought to be an inter-island freighter. All missed, and the ship turned out to be a disguised antisubmarine ship. Tarpon went deep to evade the depth charges and cleared the area. On the 25th, she made radar contact on a small convoy and fired three torpedoes at the largest ship. All missed, and the submarine closed to engage with her deck guns. After the second shot, the gun jammed, and only the machine guns continued firing. Tarpon withdrew to clear the gun and then returned to the attack. She inflicted considerable damage on the enemy ship before she was outgunned and forced to break off the engagement.Tarpon's final war patrol, from 31 August to 14 October, consisted of lifeguard duty in the Truk area. When she returned to Pearl Harbor, she was ordered to the east coast of the United States. The submarine departed Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944, and arrived at New London, Connecticut, on 17 January 1945. Post-war After operations on the United States East Coast, Tarpon was decommissioned at Boston on 15 November 1945. Early in 1947, the submarine was scheduled for duty as a Naval Reserve training ship. Tarpon left Boston under tow on 28 March and arrived at New Orleans on 9 April and was placed in service there on the 17th. She served as a training submarine in the 8th Naval District until placed out of service and stricken from the Navy list on 5 September 1956.Tarpon foundered in deep water, south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on 26 August 1957, while under tow to the scrap yard. Her wreck is located at . Honors and awards Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with seven battle stars for World War II service In media "Secrets of the Shark," a 1991 episode of the PBS television series Return to the Sea, includes a segment centered around a dive on the wreck of Tarpon''. External links Return to the Sea Episode 102 "Secrets of the Shark" at OceanArchives (Fair use policy for video at OceanArchives) References United States Porpoise-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Ships built in Groton, Connecticut 1935 ships Maritime incidents in 1957