She was launched on 29 January 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Joseph B. Provance, and was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, on 15 July 1919.

The French Navy submarine Phénix failed to resurface after a mock attack on the light cruiser Lamotte-Picquet during training maneuvers in the South China Sea off Cam Ranh, French Indochina, on 15 June 1939,[1] and after her wreck was located 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) northeast of the island of Hon Chut on 16 June 1939 with its stern resting on the seabed at a depth of 105 metres (344 ft) and its bow floating at a depth of 40 metres (131 ft),[2] Pigeon was dispatched to render assistance.

Richard E. Hawes immediately prepared to get Pigeon underway and stood by to evacuate the Cavite Navy Yard.

Pigeon was moored in a five-ship nest at the Cavite Navy Yard on 10 December 1941 when Japanese bombers launched massive raids.

In the nest which Pigeon had occupied lay submarine Sealion—her pressure hull pierced by bomb hits and beyond salvage—and Seadragon, damaged and without power to get underway.

While Pigeon maneuvered to save Seadragon, Machinist Rollin M. Reed and Watertender Wayne E. Taylor jumped in a surf boat to haul the burning lighter clear, got the gasoline lighter out of reach of flames, then assisted another small boat in hauling Bittern off from the dock and to safety.

Nevertheless, Pigeon calmly placed her stern across the end piling and ran a line some 20 ft (6.1 m) to Seadragon and hauled the submarine clear of the dock.

Just as Pigeon pulled the submarine backward to the channel, a big fuel tank exploded and spewed a horizontal wave of fire that blistered the hulls of both ships.

Her leaks were plugged and her pressure hull was patched by submarine tender Canopus when she departed for Soerabaja, Java on 16 December.

By the end of the month, her sailors had earned a second Presidential Unit Citation for fighting ability not expected of men in a little support craft.

Pigeon scored again the following day when an enemy observation plane made the mistake of passing overhead, then turned back for a closer look.

Since Japanese warships outside Manila Bay made it impossible for her to escape, Pigeon remained behind with Canopus, a few old gunboats, and small craft to fight with the Army of Bataan.

On the night of 5 January, she slipped off Japanese-occupied Sangley Point, Cavite, and snatched a barge of submarine mines from under the nose of the enemy.

Men armed to the teeth stepped quickly and quietly from a whaleboat, made a towline fast, and returned to Pigeon.

In February 1942, she deprived the enemy of two ammunition lighters and salvaged some 160,000 gallons (605,600 L) of fuel oil from merchantman S.S. Don Jose enabling gunboats to stay on patrol.

In March 1942, Pigeon salvaged and concealed gasoline drums ashore in Saseaman Cove, fueled a submarine and gunboats, and towed several lighters between Corregidor and Bataan.

That night, Pigeon made rendezvous with fleet submarine Snapper under the enemy guns in the south channel off Corregidor.

Snapper had brought 46 short tons (42 t) of food and stores for beleaguered Corregidor and Pigeon hurried to load the cargo before the start of night bombing raids.

After the fall of Bataan, Pigeon's crew spent the days on shore and returned to their ship for night operations that included dumping Philippine currency in the channel south of Corregidor.

Frank Alfred Davis carried on the fighting tradition and valor of his command while interned at the infamous prisoner-of-war camp at Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands.

He volunteered for command of a firewood detail, and despite the constant surveillance of Japanese guards, succeeded in smuggling into camp tremendous amounts of food and other necessities to his fellow prisoners.

Davis received the Navy Cross for his intrepid fight on Canopus and Pigeon and was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit for his courageous and dedicated service to fellow prisoners.