The USS Grenadier’s fourth war patrol would be its first with Lieutenant Commander Bruce L. Carr in command. Carr had been Grenadier’s Executive Officer for her first three patrols. He relieved Lieutenant Commander Willis A. Lent as Grenadier’s new skipper following her third war patrol, which had ended at Fremantle. Carr would captain Grenadier on her first war patrol in the Southwest Pacific Area. Would he meet Comtaskfor 51′s expectations and high standards?
The first guerrilla submarine stood out of Brisbane on December 27, 1942, bound for the Philippine Islands, where she would land a small group of men who would begin the groundwork for Operation Planet – the establishment of a Philippines-wide radio, intelligence, and armed resistance network. With that mission accomplished, she would later almost be destroyed by depth charges dropped by one of the tokusetsu kanshitei or specially equipped guard boats the enemy was putting into service. With numerous damages throughout the boat including ten torpedo tubes out of commission, she managed to escape and perform a critical rescue mission on her way to Fremantle.
The first war patrol of the USS Snook (SS-279) spanned forty-two days at sea. Her principal assignment was to plant twenty-four mines in the Yangtze River delta. She would then search for enemy shipping in the East China Sea.
http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/snook-files/uss-snook-first-war-patrol.shtml
