Four War Patrols=Four Combat Stars

Excerpts from the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL FIGHTING SHIPS, Vol. IA, pp. 458-61.

An Atule is a bluish-olive colored fish growing to two feet in length, found in Atlantic waters from Cape Cod to Brazil, and in Pacific waters from Oregon to Japan and into the South Pacific.

THIS Atule however had the following attributes:

(SS-403: dp. 1,525 (surf.), 2,415 (subm.); l. 311 3″; b 27′3″; dr. 15′3″; s. 20.25 k. (surf.), 8.75 k. (subm.); cpl. 80; a 10 21′ tt., 1 5″, 1 40mm.; cl. Balao)

It was also the first submarine I became intimately familiar with. You see, my father, James Richard Kilgallon, served on all four of her war patrols. The stories I heard around the kitchen table at night, while my Dad smoked and reminisced, were quite “colorful” and quite awe inspiring to this youngster born on the sub base in Key West! My life long love of all things submarine (and Navy) stemmed from this man I grew to respect as I became older. But more about Dad later. These first pages are about the actions of his favorite “boat” the “O’Toole!”

Atule (hull number SS-403) was laid down on 25 November 1943 by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard; launched on 6 March 1944; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Louise Kauffman, the daughter of Rear Admiral James Lawrence Kauffman; and commissioned on 21 June 1944, Cdr. John Howard Maurer in command.

Following a month of shakedown training along the east coast, the submarine departed New London, Conn., and headed south to join the action in the Pacific. During a 15-day stopover at the Fleet Sound School in Key West, Fla., she sharpened her diving skills and fighting techniques. (It was during these drills, my father cracked his skull! He remembered to step over the hatch coaming–but not to duck!) After transiting the Panama Canal, Atule steamed to Pearl Harbor with Jallao (SS-368), training intensively en route to reach a peak of combat readiness. Upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor, Atule underwent voyage repairs and torpedo training into October 1944.