USS ALABAMA BATTLESHIP

A History of the USS DRUM (SS 228)

The GATO Class submarine USS DRUM (SS 228) was built at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Navy Yard and commissioned on 1 November 1941. After training and equipment checks, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 1 April 1942 to begin a series of 13 war patrols as summarized below:

DRUM's War Patrols
Underway 14 April 1942	DRUM sank Japanese seaplane tender MIZUHO & 3 cargo ships
Underway 10 July 1942	DRUM damaged one Japanese freighter
Underway 23 September 1942	DRUM sank 3 Japanese freighters & damaged 2 other cargo ships
Underway 29 November 1942	DRUM damaged the Japanese aircraft carrier RYUHO and a tanker
Underway 24 March 1943	DRUM made a photo reconnaissance of the island of Nauru and sank two freighters
Underway 7 June 1943	DRUM sank one Japanese cargo-passenger ship
Underway 16 August 1943	DRUM sank one Japanese cargo ship
Underway 2 November 1943	DRUM sank one Japanese cargo ship and received heavy damage under depth charge attack from enemy escort ships
Underway 9 April 1944	DRUM made a photo reconnaissance of the island of Chichi Jima
Underway 24 June 1944	DRUM sank one Japanese sampan
Underway 9 September 1944	DRUM sank three Japanese cargo ships
Underway 7 December 1944	DRUM could not detect any enemy shipping
Underway 11 February 1945	DRUM provided pilot rescue & reconnaissance for the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

DRUM sank 15 ships for cumulative displacement of 80,580 tons, ranking eighth among American submarines, earning 12 Battle Stars for her World War II service. She was decommissioned 16 February 1946, but reactivated 18 March 1947 to serve as a training ship for naval reservists around Washington, DC, where she remained throughout most of the 1960's. She was opened for public display at USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park on 4 July 1969.