Initial Sail
Affiliated with the Atlantic Fleet, the Grayback made a test run in Long Island Sound from Newport, then to New London, and finally the city of New York before going into service. She left New London, Connecticut, on September 8 for patrol duties in the Caribbean Sea as well as Chesapeake Bay, then landed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on November 30 for a major refit and maintenance. In September 1941, the Grayback returned to the Chesapeake Bay then to Caribbean after completing a shakedown trip. Finally, in February 1942, the Grayback departed Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine for Pearl Harbor, where the United States had become a major player in the battle.
Initial Sail
First Patrol
That’s when things started to become very bad. After completing her first wartime cruise from February 15 to April 10, 1942, the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor. There, on the morning of February 22, an enemy submarine launched two torpedoes at Grayback, which the submarine then pursued across the Pacific. The battle lasted four days. Once, the Japanese ship approached the position of Grayback, but the submarine was unable to get in position to engage.
First Patrol
