Built by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Design: EB 200A
Keel laid 10 January 1935
Launched I S September 1936
Sponsor Miss A C. Lauman
Commissioned. 15 January 1937
First Skipper. Lt Clarence E. Aldrich
Decommissioned. 21 September 1945

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, USS POILLACK was en route to Hawaii from San Francisco and so missed the devastation. She arrived a day later and was made battle ready On 13 December, under command of LCDR Stanley P Moseley, she departed Pearl headed directly for Tokyo Bay. This was the heart of Japan, and they had little information about the area or its defenses She sank the very first Japanese merchantman of any American Pacific submarine in World War II.

On New Year's Eve, as they patrolled off the south coast of Honshu, they spotted a small Japanese destroyer and as they made ready for a surface attack, Moseley decided it was better off making a submerged attack, so they pulled the plug and dived. This was the first ever night periscope attack made by an American submarine in the Pacific. This periscope did not gather enough light on anything but a bright moonlit night, so they were nearly blind. He nevertheless made a valiant attempt and fired two torpedoes at where he thought the tin can should be - no luck.

POLLACK's luck was no better on 3 January when they spotted a Japanese freighter and made a submerged periscope attack. This was dangerous business, attacking a freighter on the coast of Japan but they tried. One torpedo -- a miss.

There was much shipping in the Tokyo Bay area, so POLLACK stayed on station, waiting. 5 January they spotted another ship and not wanting to take further chances, fired six torpedoes. There were three detonations - no confirmation. Her bad luck continued. Her luck changed on 7 January when they spotted a freighter in excess of 2,000 tons. Moseley fired two torpedoes at the ship. One hit and with a roar, DAI 1 UNKAI MARU went down.

Two nights later, another freighter was destroyed. Even though the DAI I UNKA1 MARU was sunk in the same area two days earlier, this freighter steamed along with her running lights on, but dimmed. POLLACK executed a night surface attack and closed quickly on the slow moving freighter. Two torpedoes - two misses! They spun around and fired two torpedoes - TEIANMARU was sunk.

Later that same night, POLLACK made a submerged attack on a destroyer He fired one torpedo and missed, due again to the poor light gathering of the periscope. They departed the patrol area and headed for home - and Moseley for a Navy Cross.

This was short lived, as Moseley and POLLACX returned quickly to the waters off Honshu for further patrols and on 11 March, sank the small cargo ship FUKUSHU MARU. On her way home, she took part in the picket line to the west of Midway in anticipation of the Japanese thrust at that island fortress.

On into the closing days of the war - March of 1944, POLLACK, now under LCDR B. E Lewellen, sank HAKUYO MARU and ten days later, sank TOSEI MARU

POLLACK was not unscathed by the war, and during her 7`h war patrol, she got her share of lumps and then some. On 20 May 1943 while patrolling off the southern Marshall Islands, POLLACK received 21 depth charges from a CHIDORI Class torpedo boat while at deep submergence. The main battery contactors in the control cubicles tripped open, causing temporary loss of all propulsion power. The bow planes lost power and jammed in the hard dive position. Auxiliary power contacts for several pumps in the engine room closed, starting up the pumps. The hydraulic line to MTB No. 7 flood valve was carried away which allowed considerable oil to escape from the hydraulic system. Low pressure lines to MTB No. 7 was ruptured.

After bodies flooded on three torpedoes loaded in tubes. Firing circuit for No. 2 torpedo tube was shorted by a loose stud which fell across the terminal connections in the conning tower. Miscellaneous other minor damage occurred, but POLLACK remained on patrol.

EDITOR NOTE - These reports of damage are meant not only to keep the history of the particular boat, but also to give the reader a 'feel' of what could happen during depth charge attack. A lot of things usually went wrong and they went wrong in stages. The men tried to repair or minimize the damage while still evading the hunter on the surface. If they succeeded, they probably returned to base. If not, they probably did not return. But in either possibility, there was a lot of sweat, prayers - and luck.

Spring and summer of 1944 was the time of American submarines not only refusing to retreat from Japanese destroyers, but actually hunting them! When a Japanese destroyer came foaming over the horizon with white waves flying from her bow, the American sub crews did not panic and run - they prepared for an attack, the now famous 'Down the Throat' shot made famous in the book and movie "Run Silent, Run Deep!" by Captain NED BEACH (1163LIFE-1989). Quite a few Japanese destroyers learned the hard way, that coming at a US submarine at flank speed would possibly get them a pair of tin fish coming their way, too late to avoid.

22 May 1944, POLLACK, still under command of Lewellen, sank the Japanese tin can ASANAGI near Bonin.

Summer of 1944 saw POLLACK, an older boat with but six tubes each, consigned to lifeguard duty. While she did not have any further opportunity to attack Japanese shipping, the lifeguard operation was priceless to the survival and the morale of the pilots.

WAR PATROLS of USS POLLACK
WP	From	To	Duration	Sinkings
1	PH Empire	PH	39 days	UNKAI MARU 2,225 ton cargo TAIAN MARU 5,387 ton cargo
2	PH Empire	PH	49 days	FUKUSHU MARU 1,454 ton cargo
3	PH Empire	PH	44 days	unknown
4	PH Truk	PH	50 days	None
5	PH Empire	PH	42 days	None
6	PH Marshalls	PH	43 days	None
7	Ml Marshalls	PH	46 days	TERUSHIMA MARU 3,110 ton gunboat BANKOK MARU 5,350 ton former cruiser
8	PH Empire	PH	57 days	TAGONOURA MARU 3,521 ton cargo
9	PH Empire	MI	43 days	HAKUYO MARU 1,327 ton cargo CH #54 442 ton sub chaser TOSEI MARU 2,814 ton cargo
10	MI Empire	PH	32 days	ASANAGI 1,720 ton destroyer
11	PH Transit	BA	58 days	Lifeguard duty Commanding officers were S. P. Moseley for the first three patrols; R. E. Palmer for patrols 4, 5 & 6; B. E. Lewellen for 7, 8, 9 & 10. POLLACK was awarded 10 Battle stars, decommissioned 12 Sept. 1945, stricken from the Navy List 29 October 1946 & delivered to Ship-Shape in Philadelphia for scrapping. She brought just $9,636.