Getting Even More Maintenance
It underwent more maintenance at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard off the Maine coast. In February 1942, the sub went to Pearl Harbor now that the United States joined the war. It was about to get deadly serious for the sub and its crew. On February 15th, it set off for its first wartime patrol by sailing into the Pacific waters and cruising along the coasts of Guam. Japan had just attacked the island in December 1941. The Grayback traveled near the Saipan coast as well. The Pacific island was under Japanese occupation as well. The patrol took three weeks and saw the vessel playing cat-and-mouse with a Japanese sub for four days. Even though it managed to get away unscathed, it failed to reach a position to fire back.
Getting Even More Maintenance