1942
- 31 May 1942 – USS Growler arrives at Pearl Harbor: After her Atlantic shakedown, Gato‑class USS Growler (SS‑215) transited to the Pacific. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 31 May 1942, having steamed from New London via the Panama Canal. (Growler’s arrival marked her readiness for Pacific war patrols, which began the following month.)
1943
- 31 May 1943 – USS Bonefish commissioned: The new Gato‑class submarine USS Bonefish (SS‑223) was placed in commission at Groton, Connecticut on this date. Less than two months later Bonefish deployed to the Pacific, where she achieved multiple sinkings during the war.
- 31 May 1943 – USS Tunny attacked: On patrol in the Pacific, USS Tunny (SS‑282) came under attack by a Japanese aircraft late on 31 May 1943. Tunny suffered only minor damage from the strafing and continued her patrol after effecting repairs at sea.
1944
- 31 May 1944 – USS Cavalla begins first war patrol: Balao‑class USS Cavalla (SS‑244) departed Pearl Harbor on her maiden combat mission on 31 May 1944. During this first patrol she would notably track a Japanese carrier force and contribute to the victory in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, including torpedoing and sinking the carrier Shōkaku on 19 June 1944.
- 31 May 1944 – Barb and Herring sink a convoy: In the Kurile Islands, submarines USS Barb (SS‑220) and USS Herring (SS‑233) attacked a Japanese convoy on 31 May 1944. Together they sank all five ships of an enemy convoy off Matsuwa Island (Kuriles) on that day. (Barb sank the Koto Maru and Madras Maru on 31 May; Herring sank two others that night and was herself sunk by shore batteries the next day.)
1945
- 31 May 1945 – USS Segundo sinks sailing vessel: In the East China Sea on the evening of 31 May 1945, Balao‑class USS Segundo (SS‑398) encountered two Japanese sailing vessels. She fired torpedoes at the larger ship, a four-masted 225‑ft sailing vessel, and sank it by splitting it in two. This action, conducted at 2250 on 31 May 1945, was part of Segundo’s sixth war patrol.
- 31 May 1945 – USS Batfish departs for Pacific: Following an overhaul at Mare Island, USS Batfish (SS‑310) departed San Francisco on 31 May 1945, steaming for Pearl Harbor. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 June and shortly thereafter prepared for her final war patrol.
Sources: Official US Navy histories and archival accounts (NHHC DANFS, command histories, etc.) and contemporaneous war‐diary entries provide the above summaries of each event.
Patrol Reports 
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