USS Drum (SS-228)

USS Drum (SS-228) is a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named after the drum, any of various types of fish capable of making a drumming sound. Drum is presently on display as a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama, at Battleship Memorial Park.

Drum was laid down on 11 September 1940 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 12 May 1941 (sponsored by Mrs. Thomas Holcomb), and commissioned on 1 November 1941, with Commander Robert H. Rice in command.

Drum was the twelfth of the Gato class but was the first completed and the first to enter combat in World War II. She is the oldest of her class still in existence.

World War II
Drum arrived at Pearl Harbor from the East Coast on 1 April 1942, and after a voyage to Midway Atoll, cleared Pearl Harbor on 14 April on her first war patrol. Cruising off the coast of Japan, she sank JAPANESE SEAPLANE CARRIER Mizuho on 2 May and afterwards endured a 16 hour depth charge attack consisting of 31 depth charges. Later that month she sank three cargo ships before returning to Pearl Harbor on 12 June to refit. Drum's second war patrol, which she made in the waters between Truk and Kavieng from 10 July – 2 September, found her efforts frustrated by poor torpedo performance, but she damaged one freighter before returning to Midway to refit.

The submarine sailed from Midway on 23 September on her third war patrol, bound for the eastern coast of Kyūshū. On 8 October, she contacted a convoy of four freighters, and defying the air cover guarding the ships, sank one of the cargo ships before bombs forced her deep. The next day, Drum underwent a severe depth charging from several escorts after she attacked a cargo ship. Later in the patrol, she sank one of three air-escorted cargo ships, and damaged at least two more ships before completing her patrol at Pearl Harbor on 8 November.

On her fourth patrol, 29 November 1942 – 24 January 1943, Drum carried out the demanding task of planting mines in heavily traveled Bungo Suido. On 12 December, she spotted JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Ryūhō, which had a full deck-load of planes. Although taking water forward due to faulty valves, Drum launched torpedoes at this choice target, scoring two hits, and causing the carrier to list so far that her flight deck became completely visible. Also visible was a destroyer bearing down, and splashes that indicated Drum's periscope was under fire. As the submarine dove she lost depth control and her port shaft stopped turning. As she made emergency repairs, she underwent two waves of depth charging. When she surfaced several hours later to see what had become of her prey, an airplane forced her down. Also during this patrol, Drum damaged a large tanker, another choice target.

After a thorough overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Drum made her fifth war patrol, 24 March – 13 May, searching waters south of Truk after she had made a photographic reconnaissance of Nauru. She sank two freighters in April, then refitted at Brisbane, Australia. Her sixth war patrol, 7 June – 26 July, found her north of the Bismarck Archipelago, sinking a cargo-passenger ship on 17 June. Again she put into Brisbane to replenish, and on 16 August sailed on her seventh war patrol. Adding to her already impressive list of sinkings, she sent a cargo ship to the bottom on 31 August, as well as patrolling off New Georgia during the landings there. She put into Tulagi from 29 September – 2 October to repair her gyrocompass, then sailed on to Brisbane.

Drum sailed on 2 November for her eighth war patrol, coordinated with the landings at Cape Torokina. Patrolling between the Carolines and New Ireland, she sank a cargo ship on 17 November, and on 22 November attacked a convoy of four freighters. The convoy's escorts delivered three depth charge attacks. Drum was heavily damaged and ordered to Pearl Harbor. She returned there on 5 December, and after inspection showed the conning tower needed to be replaced, she sailed to the West Coast.

Returning to Pearl Harbor on 29 March 1944, Drum sailed 11 days later on her ninth war patrol, during which she patrolled the waters around Iwo Jima and other islands in the Bonin Islands. No worthy targets were contacted, but a reconnaissance of Chichi Jima gained valuable intelligence for bombardment of the island later by surface ships.

The submarine refitted at Majuro from 31 May – 24 June, then sailed on her 10th war patrol to give lifeguard service for raids on Yap and Palau. She sank a 125-ton sampan on 29 July, capturing two prisoners with whom she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 14 August. She sailed for Surigao Strait on 9 September on her 11th war patrol, and after two weeks in the Strait with no contact, was ordered north to the South China Sea. Here she patrolled during the Leyte landings and the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf, sinking three cargo ships bound for the Philippines with Japanese reinforcements. While bound for Majuro for refit, Drum searched east of Luzon Strait for downed aviators.

Drum replenished and made repairs at Majuro from 8 November – 7 December, then sailed for the Nansei Shoto on her 12th war patrol. Only one contact was made during this patrol, and she returned to Guam on 17 January 1945. During her 13th war patrol, from 11 February – 2 April, Drum played a part in the assaults on both Iwo Jima and Okinawa, providing lifeguard service for air strikes on the Nansei Shoto and the Japanese home islands as bases were neutralized before both invasions. Returning to Pearl Harbor, Drum sailed to the West Coast for another overhaul, and after training at Pearl Harbor, cleared Midway on 9 August on what would have been her 14th war patrol; this trip was cut short by the Japanese surrender on 15 August. She proceeded to Saipan at the end of hostilities, and from there sailed for Pearl Harbor, the Panama Canal Zone, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Post-War
Drum was decommissioned on 16 February 1946 and on 18 March 1947, began service at Washington, D.C., to members of the Naval Reserve in the Potomac River Naval Command, which continued through 1967. She was in the inactive Fleet at Norfolk, Virginia from 1967 to 1969.

Awards
Drum received of 12 battle stars for her World War II service. She is credited with sinking 15 ships, a total of 80,580 tons of enemy shipping, eighth highest of all US submarines in total Japanese tonnage sunk.

Museum ship and landmark


Drum was donated to the USS Alabama Battleship Commission on 14 April 1969. She was towed to Battleship Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama arriving on 18 May 1969. Drum was dedicated and opened to the public on 4 July 1969.

The submarine was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Drum was moored in the waters behind Alabama, until she was substantially damaged by the storm surge of Hurricane Georges in 1998. As a result, she is now on display on shore. Alabama and Drum also sustained damage when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on 29 August 2005. Tours on board Drum resumed 9 January 2006. Most funding to maintain the submarine comes from a community of American Submarine Vets.