USS Menhaden (SS-377) - Launch and Deployment

Launch and Deployment

Menhaden was laid down by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc., 21 June 1944; launched 20 December 1944; sponsored by Miss Mirium R. Johnson and commissioned at Manitowoc 22 June 1945, Commander David H. McClintock in command.

Menhaden was skippered by Commander McClintock and manned by sailors from the redoubtable Darter (SS-227) which had been lost by grounding during the Battle of Leyte Gulf the previous October. Menhaden, the last of the Manitowoc-built boats to have commissioned service during World War II, trained in Lake Michigan until 15 July. Thence, she was floated down the Mississippi River to New Orleans where she departed for the Canal Zone 27 July. She conducted extensive training out of Balboa during the closing days of the war against Japan, and between 1 September and 16 September cruised to Pearl Harbor for duty with SubRon 19.