Pre-World War II Following
shakedown,
Permit operated from
Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, until 29 November 1937, when she got underway for the Pacific. Transiting the
Panama Canal on 10 December, she continued up the West Coast, and arrived at
San Diego, California on 18 December to join Submarine Squadron 6 (SubRon 6). For the next 22 months, she cruised the Eastern Pacific, ranging from southern
California to the
Aleutian Islands and
Hawaiian Islands. In October 1939, she got underway for the
Philippines to join the Asiatic Fleet.
World War II Permits first cruises were conducted in Philippine waters during 1940–1941. The two-year period of peace time activity gave the submarine's crew valuable training for later war activity. The ship - commanded by
Lieutenant Commander Adrian M. Hurst - conducted her first war patrol off the west coast of
Luzon from 11 to 20 December 1941. From 22 to 27 December, she made a second patrol in the area.
Permit embarked members of
Admiral Thomas C. Hart's staff at
Mariveles Bay on 28 December and evacuated them to the
Netherlands' Submarine Base,
Surabaya,
Java, arriving on 6 February 1942.
En route, she completed a third war patrol, scouting in waters of the southern
Philippines. The submarine departed
Surabaya for her fourth war patrol on 22 February, as the
Japanese began to close on Java. On 19 February, got through to
Corregidor, which was still holding out against the Japanese. On 13 March,
Permit sank the scuttled
PT-32 of
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three. It was now
Permits turn to penetrate the blockade to the "Rock." She rendezvoused off Corregidor on the night of 15–16 March, took on board 40 officers and enlisted men (including 36 precious
cryptanalysts from the intelligence station, CAST), and landed her ammunition. She headed for repairs at her new base,
Fremantle, Western Australia, after minor damage suffered eluding three enemy
destroyers on 18 March.
Permit departed Fremantle on 5 May, and until 11 June was engaged in her fifth war patrol off
Makassar,
Celebes Island and in the enemy shipping route stretching towards
Balikpapan,
Borneo. She made her sixth war patrol
en route to
Pearl Harbor - from 12 July-30 August - and shortly departed for the
United States, entering
Mare Island Navy Yard on 9 September for overhaul. She conducted her seventh war patrol off
Honshū,
Japan from 5 February-16 March 1943. Towards sunset on 8 March, she attacked a nine-ship convoy with two escorts. Two hits sent
Hisashima Maru to the bottom.
Permit departed
Midway Island on 6 April for her eighth war patrol in the shipping lanes from the
Mariana Islands to
Truk Atoll,
Caroline Islands, and after several encounters, returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 May. On 7 July,
Permit launched two torpedoes which sank
Banshu Maru Number 33. Just after midnight, she spotted a two-ship convoy headed for the Korean coast, and with a salvo of two torpedoes sank
Showa Maru in five minutes. At approximately 18:30 on 9 July 1943,
Permit mistakenly attacked the
Soviet oceanographic research ship Seiner No. 20 with gunfire off
Kaiba To and west of
Todosima Island, setting the ship ablaze and killing two people. Upon discovering that she was a Soviet ship,
Permit closed with her and rescued
Seiner No. 20's 12 survivors, seven men and five women.
Seiner No. 20 sank at 19:00.
Permit commenced her 13th patrol with her departure from
Majuro Atoll on 30 June, and ended it with her arrival at
Brisbane,
Australia on 13 August. On 21 September, she departed to relieve on lifeguard duty off Truk, and on 11 November ended her 14th and last war patrol at
Pearl Harbor. After
refit, she sailed for the
United States on 29 January 1945, and entered the
Philadelphia Navy Yard on 23 February. In mid-May, she sailed to the
Submarine Base,
New London, Connecticut, to serve as a schoolship until 30 October, when she entered
Boston Naval Shipyard for inactivation.
Permit decommissioned on 15 November 1945. Her name was stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register on 26 July 1956; her hulk was sold for scrap to A.G. Schoonmaker, Inc.,
New York City on 28 June 1958. ==Awards==