USS Albacore (SS-218) was a Gato-class submarine which served in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, winning the Presidential Unit Citation and nine battle stars for her service.

Following shakedown, the submarine proceeded via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor and, from that base on 28 August 1942, began her first war patrol, to waters of the north and northeast pass through the coral reef which surrounds Truk.

One torpedo hit the mark, and 12 minutes after firing, the sound of two heavy explosions caused the submarine's crew to presume they had downed the vessel.

The ships crisscrossed over Albacore, close enough for propeller noise to reverberate throughout her hull and compelled her to proceed at silent running, with her ventilator fans shut down.

After a chase of nearly seven hours, the Japanese ships disappeared astern, and Albacore then surfaced to clear the immediate area.

Her assigned areas were the St. George's Channel, New Britain, along the east coast of New Guinea to Vitiaz Strait, and the Dallman Pass off Madang harbor.

Two Japanese destroyers depth charged her and the explosions caused numerous small leaks around the cable packing glands in the pressure hull.

After a two-hour chase, the Japanese retired, and Albacore shifted her patrol area to Vitiaz Strait.

When Albacore ended her patrol at Brisbane on 11 March, she was credited with sinking one destroyer and a frigate for a total of 2,250 tons.

Albacore was briefly dry-docked for repairs and underwent refresher training before sailing for a fourth patrol on 6 April.

On 4 September, she encountered a two-ship convoy protected by two escorts and sank one of the ships, the auxiliary gunboat Heijo Maru, with three torpedo hits made shortly after the initial contact.

Four bombs landed close alongside Albacore as she submerged to escape the attack,[7] but she sustained no damage.

Albacore was again bombed by an American Fifth Air Force aircraft on 10 November in the northeastern portion of the St. George's Channel 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) southwest of Kavieng, New Ireland at 03°08′N 150°17′E / 3.133°N 150.283°E / 3.133; 150.283.

[8] This time, a four-engine bomber dropped a string of bombs which straddled Albacore,[8] and the submarine suffered considerable damage.

Following this ordeal, Albacore received orders to locate and attack the light cruiser Agano, which had been hit and damaged by the submarine Scamp.

Albacore found Agano on 12 November and tried to attack, but Japanese destroyers subjected the submarine to a four-hour depth-charge barrage.

Another destroyer attacked Albacore with fifty-nine depth charges, leaving Scamp and Guardfish free to pursue the three tankers; they succeeded in sinking one each.

After three days of repairs to get her ready for the voyage, Albacore continued on to the Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California for overhaul.

Albacore left Mare Island on 5 May 1944 and held training exercises with USS Shad en route to Hawaii.

On the morning of 18 June, two days after American forces began landing on Saipan, Albacore shifted from her position west of the Mariana Islands to 100 miles (160 km) further south.

The carrier was in the process of launching an air strike, and one of the pilots (Sakio Komatsu) intentionally dove his plane into a torpedo, setting it off early.

The explosion jammed the ship's forward aircraft elevator; its pit filled with gasoline, water, and fuel.

Though Admiral Ozawa wanted to go down with the ship, his staff prevailed on him to survive and to shift his quarters to Japanese cruiser Haguro.

American codebreakers had lost track of Taihō after the Battle of the Philippine Sea and, while puzzled, did not realize she had gone down.

According to Japanese records obtained after the war, a submarine (presumed to be Albacore) struck a naval mine very close to the shore off northeastern Hokkaidō on 7 November 1944.

A Japanese patrol boat witnessed the explosion of a submerged submarine and saw a great deal of heavy oil, cork, bedding, and food supplies rise to the surface.

On 25 May 2022, a Japanese team led by Dr. Tamaki Ura of the University of Tokyo began a search for the wreck of Albacore off Hokkaidō in waters about 7 kilometers (3.8 nmi; 4.3 mi) east of Hakodate.

[17] On 26 May 2022, the team used a remotely operated underwater vehicle to photograph the wreck, capturing an image of what appeared to be the bridge and periscope of a submarine.

[17] On 16 February 2023, the Naval History and Heritage Command confirmed the identity of the wreck as Albacore, based on documented modifications made to her prior to her last patrol.