USS Cero (SS-225) - First War Patrol

First War Patrol

Cero cleared New London 17 August 1943 for Pacific waters, and on 26 September sailed from Pearl Harbor, bound for the East China and Yellow Seas on her first war patrol. This patrol was also the first American wolfpack, comprising Cero, Shad (SS-235), and Grayback (SS-208), commanded from Cero by Captain "Swede" Momsen. At dawn on 12 October, Cero made her first attack, on a convoy of three freighters escorted by two destroyers; one of the merchantmen was heavily damaged. During this patrol, she damaged two other freighters, and a small patrol boat which she engaged on the surface.