June 6, 1943-The Darteris launched from Groton Connecticut.
September 7, 1943-The Darter is commissioned.
October 31, 1943-The Darter leaves New London, bound for Pearl Harbor.
November 26, 1943-The Darter arrives in Pearl Harbor.
December 21, 1943-The Darter leaves for its first war patrol, focusing on the areas southwest of Truk’s shipping lanes.
December 29, 1943-The Darter’s war patrol is halted after the ship is forced to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs, staying until January 3, 1944, when the submarine leaves to resume its patrol.
January 12, 1944-The Darter scouts the island of Eniwetok, then the next day managed to hit a large target with a torpedo, but was subjected to a massive depth charge attack from the freighter’s escort.
January 30, 1944-The Darter’s war patrol is again set back as the ship enters Tulagi for further repairs until February 8, when the final repair stop of the tour is made.
February 16, 1944-The Darter fuels up at Milne Bay after patrolling during carrier raids on the island of Truk. After being fueled, the submarine leaves to be refitted at Brisbane.
February 29, 1944-The Darter is refitted at Brisbane until March 17, 1944.
March 17, 1944-The Darter leaves for the second war patrol, which is set to be around Davao and Western New Guinea.
March 21, 1944-The Darter is refueled at Milne, then resumes the patrol duties the next day.
March 30, 1944-The Darter sinks a cargo ship, then is assigned to patrol near New Guinea throughout the Allied landings.
April 29, 1944-The Darter again is refueled, this time at Darwin, leaving on April 30 for the standard patrolling duties.
May 23, 1944-The Darter leaves the second war patrol, when the submarine arrives at Manus for another refit.
June 21, 1944-The Darter embarks on its third war patrol near Mindanao and the island of Halmahera.
June 29, 1944-The Darter sinks the minelayer Tsugaru near Morotai, afterwards being subjected to another severe depth charge attack.
August 8, 1944-The Darter returns to Brisbane after completing the third war patrol, then left on the ships fourth and final war patrol, near the South China Sea and the Celebes Sea.
September 10, 1944-The Darter arrives at Darwin for minor repairs and refueling, then back out to the Celebes Sea.
September 27, 1944-The Darter enters Mios Woendi to be refueled.
October 1, 1944-The Darter leaves with Dace for patrol duties in the South China Sea, preparing for the impending Allied invasions of Leyte.
October 12, 1944-The Darter attacks a convoy of shipping tankers.
October 21, 1944-The Darter and Dace leave to enter the Balabac Strait, where it would be assigned to watch shipping or provide other essential duties during the landings.
October 23, 1944-The Darter and Dace make contact with the approaching Japanese Center Force near the Palawan Passage. After flashing a report to notify the other ships of the enemy presence, the submarines moved into a position and began a torpedo run on the group of ships. Torpedoes from the Darter sank the flagship of Admiral Kurita, the cruiser Atago and also managed to damage the cruiser Takao. The pair of submarines tracked the Takao through the Palawan Passage, but the Darter managed to run aground on Bombay Shoal. Every effort was made to free the submarine, but a Japanese destroyer was closing to investigate. The destroyer continued on, and Darter became more firmly grounded as the tide receded. The papers aboard the submarine, along with all vital electronics, were destroyed and charges were set to destroy the submarine completely. However, the charges failed to detonate, and Dace closed and fired torpedoes, which blew up harmlessly on the reef due to the shallow water. The Dace submerged, and as the ship was leaving, an aircraft bomb from a Japanese bomber destroyed the Darter.
November 6, 1944-The Dace arrived at Fremantle with the Darter’s former crew. The two submarines involved in the attack were later awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.
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