USS Pompano (SS-181)

The USS Pompano (SS-181) was a Perch class World War II era submarine.

The namesake of the USS Pompano is a marine fish of the genus Carangoides, which is native to the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America.

The radio call sign of the USS Pompano was NAN-EASY-NAN-QUEEN.

On August 20, 1943, the USS Pompano, captained by Lieutenant Commander Willis M. Thomas, left Midway Island on her seventh and last war patrol.  She was headed for the northeast coast of Honshu, where she had been ordered to patrol from August 29th until sunset on September 27th.  The Pompano did not return to Midway Island on the scheduled date, nor did she respond to numerous radio transmissions.  On October 15, 1943, SubPac headquarters reported her as presumed lost in enemy waters.  Her loss was made public on January 5, 1944: 1

Navy Department Communiqué No. 495, January 5, 1944

1. The U. S. Submarine Pompano is overdue from patrol and must be presumed to be lost.

2. The next of kin of personnel in the Pompano have been so informed.

The Pompano was struck from the Navy List on January 12, 1944.

There was no immediate evidence of any enemy antisubmarine attacks during this period in the Pompano's assigned patrol area.  SubPac headquarters reasoned she may have struck a mine, experienced a fatal operational failure, or underwent an unrecorded enemy attack.  The true circumstances of her loss remain a mystery.  All that can be said with certainty is that she disappeared sometime after she damaged the Nanking Maru, on September 9, 1943.  According to Wilfred J. Holmes, at the time of the Pompano's last patrol, it was not known that the Japanese were laying anchored mines off northeast Honshu in 250 fathoms.  Holmes attributed the ignorance of this to the losses of the Runner and the Pompano.  Another possibility is that she was sunk on September 17, 1943, by a bomb and depth-charge attack in the Shiriyasaki Sea, off Aomori Prefecture, at northeast Honshu Island, by a Japanese seaplane and surface vessels.  The seaplane spotted and attacked a surfaced submarine, which returned gunfire.  Oil rose to the surface after the attack.  Consecutive depth-charge attacks were then made by five surface vessels on the submerged submarine, which was stopped and possibly sunk.  A Tabular Record of Movement for one of the Japanese surface vessels indicates the submarine was possibly the Pompano. 2

The Pompano was credited by JANAC with sinking two enemy merchant vessels during her last patrol: the 5,600-ton cargo vessel Akama Maru, on September 3, 1943, and the 2,958-ton cargo vessel Taiko Maru, on September 25, 1943.  However, the JANAC score for the Taiko Maru is disputed by the Alden-McDonald score, which documents that the JANAC position coordinates given for that sinking are in the Sea of Japan, well outside of the Pompano’s assigned patrol area off the northeast coast of Honshu.  The Alden-McDonald score also proves that the Taiko Maru was instead sunk by the USS Wahoo on the same date and at the same coordinates in the Sea of Japan, which was the Wahoo’s assigned patrol area at that time.  Therefore the JANAC score for the Pompano is overstated by the amount of the credit given for this vessel.

The Pompano received seven battle stars for service in World War II.  She was credited incorrectly by JANAC with sinking 21,443 tons of Japanese shipping in five vessels.  The correct score should have been 18,185 tons in four vessels.  Alden-McDonald score for the Pompano is eight vessels sunk with a gross tonnage of 22,702 and four vessels damaged for 9,862 tons.  The SORG score for the Pompano is six vessels sunk worth 42,000 tons and four vessels with a gross tonnage of 55,300 tons damaged. 3

A list of the personnel lost with Pompano is maintained at http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm.

Patrol Data and Captains for the USS Pompano (SS-181)

Patrol No.	Patrol Area	Patrol Duration DD-MM-YY	Captain's Rank & Name	Sailed From
1	Marshalls	18-Dec-41 to 31-Jan-42	LCDR Lewis S. Parks	Pearl
2	East China Sea	20-Apr-42 to 18-Jun-42	Same	Pearl
3	Empire	19-Jul-42 to 12-Sep-42	LCDR Willis M. Thomas	Pearl
4	Marshalls	16-Jan-43 to 28-Feb-43	Same	Pearl
5	Empire	19-Mar-43 to 10-May-43	Same	Pearl
6	Empire	06-Jun-43 to 28-Jul-43	Same	Pearl
7	Empire	20-Aug-43 to Lost	Same	Pearl

JANAC Score for the USS Pompano (SS-181)

Patrol No.	Date DD-MM-YY	Vessel Name	Vessel Type	Tonnage Sunk	Location Sunk
2	25-May-42	Tokyo Maru	Tanker	902	27-03N, 127-03E
2	30-May-42	Atsuta Maru	Transport	7,983	26-07N, 129-06E
3	12-Aug-42	Unknown	Cargo	4,000 e	33-02N, 136-00E
6	03-Sep-43	Akama Maru	Cargo	5,600	41-00N, 141-30E
6	25-Sep-43	Taiko Maru	Cargo	2,958	41-30N, 139-00E
TOTALS			5 vessels	21,443 tons
Note: e is estimated tonnage

Alden-McDonald Score for the USS Pompano (SS-181)

Patrol No.	Date DD-MM-YY	Vessel Name	Vessel Type	Tonnage Sunk	Tonnage Damaged
2	24-May-42	Kotuko Maru	Sampan	50
2	25-May-42	Tokyo Maru	Tanker	902
2	30-May-42	Atsuta Maru	Transport	7,937
2	03-Jun-42	Unknown	Cargo	400
2	05-Jun-42	Ito Maru #3	Picket Boat		30
3	04-Sep-42	Nanshin Maru #27	Picket Boat	83
6	04-Jul-43	Sagara Maru	Cargo	7,189 sh
6	19-Jul-43	Unknown	Sampan	100
6	20-Jul-43	Uyo Maru	Cargo		6,376
7	01-Sep-43	Nanka Maru	Cargo		451
7	03-Sep-43	Akama Maru	Cargo	6,041
7	09-Sep-43	Nanking Maru	Cargo		3005
	TOTALS	8 vessels sunk 4 vessels damaged	sh = Shared credit with Harder (SS-257)	Tons sunk 22,652	Tons damaged 9,862

SORG Score for the USS Pompano (SS-181)

SORG totals for Pompano
6 vessels sunk for 42,000 tons
4 vessels damaged for 55,300 tons

Updated Sunday, 22-Jan-2012 17:38:33 EST

1.  United States Submarine Losses World War II, p. 54-55.

3.  Ibid.; Also see: Holmes, Wilfred J., Double-Edged Secrets: U. S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific during World War II, p. 156; Hackett, Bob and Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall, "IJN Minelayer ISHIZAKI: Tabular Record of Movement," published online at http://www.combinedfleet.com/Ishizaki_t.htm (accessed on October 11, 2011); Miller, Vernon J., "U. S. Submarine Losses," issue 44, p. 46.

3.  Alden, John D., and Craig R. McDonald, United States and Allied Submarine Successes in the Pacific and Far East During World War II, Fourth Edition, see USS Pompano (SS-181), Attack Nos. 40, 178, 180, 188, 192, 196, 271, 272, 310, 590, 599, 622, 743, 951, 963, 975, 978, 1072, 1076, 1099, and 1155; Submarine war patrol reports on CD, data collected by the Submarine Operations Research Group (SORG) in the report "Results of U. S. Submarine War Patrols Listed Alphabetically by Name of Submarine," see USS Pompano (SS-181); Japanese Naval And Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II By All Causes, Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee, USS Pompano (SS-181), published online at http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-6.html#pompano (accessed September 29, 2011).