USS Seahorse (SS-304), a submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the seahorse, a small fish whose head and the fore part of its body suggest the head and neck of a horse. Seahorse was laid down on 1 August 1942 by the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California. The vessel was launched on 9 January 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Chester C. Smith, and commissioned on 31 March 1943. First war patrol, August – September 1943 Following shakedown along the California coast, Seahorse sailed to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii and, on 3 August 1943, got underway for her maiden war patrol, conducted off the Palau Islands. On the morning of 29 August, while the submarine was gaining attack position on a Japanese convoy, she was detected by escorting destroyers and suffered minor damage from a depth charge attack. Seahorse scored three torpedo hits on a transport on 6 September, and then went deep to evade a depth charge attack that caused severe leaks and put her number four torpedo tube out of commission. A week later, she expended eight torpedoes in an unsuccessful attempt to sink a large tanker. The submarine terminated her first patrol at Midway on 27 September. During this patrol, Seahorses commanding officer ignored several potential targets, rather than face sonar-equipped escorts, which unrealistic prewar training indicated was virtual suicide. Second war patrol, October – December 1943 Following refit, Seahorse sailed on 20 October for her second war patrol with her new skipper, Slade Cutter, the executive officer of the first patrol. Between 29 October and 31 October, the submarine sank three enemy trawlers in surface actions and then commenced a two-day attack on a 17-ship convoy. Early on the morning of 2 November, following an attack on the convoy by another United States submarine, Seahorse evaded three escort ships and launched three torpedoes into two freighters. Four hours later, she again attacked, sending three torpedoes toward a tanker and another spread at a third freighter. Flames burst from each target as two Japanese destroyers turned toward Seahorse but too late to catch the rapidly departing submarine. Sunk in this action were the 7,089-ton cargo ship Chihaya Maru, and the 5,859-ton cargo ship, Ume Maru. Seahorse later closed again on the convoy but was driven down by depth charges and departed the vicinity. On 22 November,