USS Pomfret (SS-391)

USS Pomfret (SS-391)
Public domain · source
Ship name	USS Pomfret (SS-391)
Ship class	Balao-class submarine
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard
Laid down	21 August 1943
Launched	21 December 1943
Commissioned	15 March 1944
Decommissioned	27 June 1969
Fate	Scrapped 1971
Displacement	1,526 long tons (surfaced)
Length	311 ft 8 in
Beam	27 ft 3 in
Draft	17 ft 3 in
Propulsion	Diesel-electric
Speed	20+ kn (surfaced)
Complement	~70
Armament	10 × 21 in torpedo tubes, 1 × 5 in gun, AA guns

USS Pomfret (SS-391) was a Balao-class submarine of the United States Navy commissioned in 1944 and active in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, Pomfret conducted multiple war patrols, conducted lifeguard and offensive operations, and later served in postwar training and reserve roles before decommissioning in 1969. The boat’s career intersects with major Pacific War campaigns, notable naval figures, and Cold War-era fleet developments.

Design and Construction

Pomfret was ordered as part of the War Emergency Program and laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard during the peak expansion of the United States Navy submarine force. As a Balao-class submarine, she featured a GUPPY-style pressure hull derived from lessons learned in interwar designs and earlier classes such as the Gato-class submarine. Designed for long-range patrols, Pomfret carried ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, a 5-inch deck gun similar to weapons aboard USS Wahoo (SS-238) and USS Tang (SS-306), and an array of anti-aircraft armament used during encounters with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft. Construction at Kittery, Maine employed techniques refined during builds of contemporaries like USS Harder (SS-257) and USS Barb (SS-220), with machinery and diesel-electric propulsion systems standardized across the class for compatibility with fleets operating from bases such as Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, and Guam.

Service History

After commissioning under Lieutenant Commander William J. Lowden, Pomfret conducted shakedown in the Atlantic Ocean before transiting the Panama Canal to join the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet (SubPac). Assigned to Service Squadron 10 and later operational control of COMSUBPAC, Pomfret operated from forward bases including Manus, Saipan, and Subic Bay while integrating with task forces that supported Operation Iceberg and interdicted Japanese shipping during the Philippine Campaign. Her patrols overlapped with actions by submarines such as USS Nautilus (SS-168), coordination with Fleet Air Wing One, and interactions with fleet units including Task Force 58 and Task Force 38 during carrier raids.

War Patrols and Engagements

Pomfret conducted multiple war patrols in critical areas: the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the approaches to the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea. Operating amid shipping lanes used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Transportation Service, she executed torpedo attacks against merchantmen and warships, notable for patrols that reported contacts with convoys escorted by vessels similar to Kamikaze-class destroyers and Matsu-class destroyers. Her lifeguard duties rescued aircrew from downed Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair fighters during air strikes on Formosa and ramp-up raids on the Japanese home islands tied to Operation Ten-Go and late-war air offensives. Encounters were influenced by contemporary technologies and doctrines such as Mark 14 torpedo development issues, wolfpack tactics pioneered in Pacific operations, and signals intelligence from Fleet Radio Unit Pacific.

Engagement summaries included submerged attacks, surface gun actions against small craft, and evasion of depth-charge patterns deployed by escorts reminiscent of Japanese anti-submarine warfare units and coordinated with aircraft from bases like Truk and Okinawa. Pomfret’s crew endured the hazards faced by boats such as USS Trigger (SS-237) and USS Pintado (SS-387), contributing to the attrition of Japanese merchant marine capacity and the interdiction of oil shipments integral to the Japanese war effort.

Postwar Service and Decommissioning

Following Japan's surrender and the end of World War II, Pomfret supported occupation duties, training missions, and fleet exercises during the early Cold War. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet during portions of her postwar career, she operated out of ports including New London, Connecticut and participated in anti-submarine warfare training with units such as Destroyer Squadron 6 and naval aviation squadrons. Periods in reserve and overhaul at shipyards including Newport News Shipbuilding preceded her final decommissioning on 27 June 1969. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register, Pomfret was sold for scrap in 1971, a fate shared by numerous Balao-class boats after the advent of nuclear-powered classes like USS Nautilus (SSN-571) and Skipjack-class submarine predecessors.

Honors and Awards

During her wartime service, Pomfret earned campaign recognition consistent with submarines that operated in the Pacific Theater of Operations; crew members were eligible for decorations issued by the Department of the Navy and campaign medals associated with operations around Leyte Gulf and the Philippines liberation. The boat’s patrol reports contributed to fleet assessments used by commanders such as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., and Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood in evaluating submarine effectiveness. Individual sailors received awards comparable to those given to crews of contemporary boats like USS Bowfin (SS-287) and USS Croaker (SS-246).

Preservation and Legacy

Although Pomfret was not preserved as a museum ship like USS Nautilus (SSN-571), USS Bowfin (SS-287), or USS Pampanito (SS-383), her operational history remains documented in archives maintained by institutions such as the Naval History and Heritage Command, the Submarine Force Museum, and the collections of regional museums in Maine and Connecticut. Her service illustrates the transition from World War II diesel-electric submarine doctrine to Cold War anti-submarine priorities and the eventual shift toward nuclear propulsion embodied by USS George Washington (SSBN-598) and later classes. Pomfret’s wartime patrol narratives contribute to scholarship on Pacific naval campaigns, submarine technology progression, and the human experiences reflected in oral histories collected by the Veterans History Project and similar repositories.

Category:Balao-class submarines Category:World War II submarines of the United States Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine