During Its Fifth Tour
On its fifth tour, the Grayback managed to carry out a rescue operation. Six Americans had been stranded at Munda Bay in the Solomon Islands after the Martin B-26 Marauder bomber was wrecked. Two of the men on the submarine went ashore and found the airmen as the Grayback dove at dawn to evade the attention of the Japanese planes. The night after that, these two submariners ferried all six survivors back to the vessel. Commander Edward C. Stephan, the captain of the vessel, ended up getting both the Navy Cross and the U.S. Army Silver Star for this rescue. As the submarine went on with its mission, it torpedoed a few more Japanese vessels. Sadly, it was later damaged by depth charges courtesy of an enemy destroyer.
During Its Fifth Tour
A Damaged Hatch On The Hull
The hull of the Grayback suffered a damaged hatch, which resulted in leaking. This forced the vessel to go back to Brisbane. Sadly, the next patrol of the submarine did not lead to successful attacks. Part of this had been due to its newly fitted yet malfunctioning radar. At any rate, it survived to see a seventh tour that started after leaving the port in Brisbane on April 25th, 1943. On the cruise, the sub stumbled upon a Japanese convoy and sent Yodogawa Maru to its death with two torpedoes. A couple of days after this, the U.S. craft caused extensive damage to an enemy destroyer with torpedoes. This was not the last of its victories as it was able to sink one more cargo ship and hit two others on the same day. After this set of triumphs, the sub returned to Pearl Harbor and then on to San Francisco for a refit.
A Damaged Hatch On The Hull