On 16 September, she sighted an Allied Liberty ship in the Coral Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) east of Grafton Passage in the Great Barrier Reef at 16°35′S 146°45′E / 16.583°S 146.750°E / -16.583; 146.750 at 04:05.

After Pompon returned to the surface, she unsuccessfully attempted to exchange recognition signals with the ship, which opened gunfire on her at a range of 12,000 yards (11,000 m) at 06:14.

[7] After reaching her patrol area, Pompon made several unsuccessful attacks and experienced a near miss by a Japanese submarine.

After running Balabac Strait, where two radio-equipped Japanese motor sampans were sunk by gunfire, Pompon mined waters southwest of Cochin China.

After a five-day sortie into the Celebes Sea, Pompon returned to Darwin for fuel, ending her patrol on 28 January 1944.

A submerged attack resulted in a hit directly under the rising sun flag amidships, breaking the ship in two.

For the next seven hours Pompon was the target for five Japanese escorts and a portion of the air force, but she managed to crawl away from the scene at deep submergence.

In the wild night surface action which followed an 8,000-ton tanker was badly damaged by two torpedoes, 2,718-ton transport Mikage Maru No.

She returned to Pearl Harbor 3 September for onward routing to San Francisco Bay for modernization and overhaul conducted at the Mare Island Navy Yard.

En route to Majuro she picked up a Filipino who had been drifting in a broken down motor launch for 45 days.

Repairs completed, Pompon departed Midway 30 March for her eighth patrol area along the coasts of China and Formosa.

Her only contacts, a motor sampan, a hospital ship, and 106 planes, provided excellent diving experience, but poor hunting.

During September and October 1957 Pompon participated in the large scale NATO exercise "Strikeback", visiting the Clyde River, Scotland; Le Havre, France; and Portland, England.

Following decommissioning Pompon was struck from the Navy List 1 April 1960, and was sold to Commercial Metals Company for scrap on 25 November 1960.

It is one block north of the Torpedo Factory Art Center on a concrete slab in the water of the Potomac River.