The USS Drum (SS-228) made a remarkable official 13 (thirteen) war patrols in WWII from April 17, 1942 through April 2, 1945, and also had an unofficial 14th (fourteenth) war patrol in WWII from July 21, 1945 through August 30, 1945.

Acknowledgements:

• Thanks to Tom Bowser, retired submarine veteran and USS Drum volunteer, for the war patrol charts that you see on each war patrol report. He created these charts and provided them for use on this website. He has also provided tremendous input and answered the numerous questions that I have had.
• Thanks to John Clear of Submarine Memorabilia, who sells scanned copies of WWII submarine war patrol reports on disc.
• Thanks to Shelley Shelstad of History on CD-ROM for the images of ships that you see on many of the war patrol reports. He specializes in selling scanned copies of historic military manuals and documents on disc.
• Thanks to Ron Martini, submarine veteran, and Mark Allen, USS Batfish (SS-310) Historian, for their continued aid in answering my many questions.

As you visit each war patrol report, note that there is a button on the upper-right of each report that says "Click here to return to the War Patrols index". If you click on that button, you will be brought back to this page where you can choose another war patrol report to read. At the bottom of each report you will see three navigational links as well: previous patrol, back to the top of the current patrol, or next patrol.

While I have done my best to reproduce these reports by eye, hand, and keyboard, error is possible and likely. In addition, some letters, numbers, sketches, etc. were illegible on my copies of the original reports. Blame the ancient microfiche! Whenever I could not determine a letter or number, you will see a "?" in its place. There are more after-the-fact details written in each patrol, and I am not including that information, at least at this time. I encourage you to attain your own copy of the original war patrol reports if you desire further information.

You can use the custom Google search box below to search the entire Drum228.org website, including all of the war patrol reports.

USS Drum (SS-228) WWII War Patrols
War Patrol (link to report)	Dates	Departed From/ Arrived At	Commanding Officer	Successful?	Tonnage Sunk (JANAC)	Ships Sunk (JANAC)
[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine - Launched May 12, 1941 / Commissioned Nov. 1, 1941]
One	Apr. 17, 1942 - June 12, 1942	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Rice		20,644 tons	4
Two	July 10, 1942 - Sept. 2, 1942	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Midway Atoll	Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Rice	Not deemed as successful	0 tons	0
Three	Sept. 23, 1942 - Nov. 8, 1942	Midway Atoll Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Robert H. Rice		13,208 tons	3
Four	Nov. 29, 1942 - Jan. 24, 1943	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Bernard F. McMahon		0 tons	0
[Overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Jan. 25 - Mar. 15, 1943]
Five	Mar. 24, 1943 - May 13, 1943	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Brisbane, AU	Lieutenant Commander Bernard F. McMahon		10,189 tons	2
Six	June 7, 1943 - July 26, 1943	Brisbane, AU Brisbane, AU	Lieutenant Commander Bernard F. McMahon		5,087 tons	1
Seven	Aug. 16, 1943 - Oct. 6, 1943	Brisbane, AU Brisbane, AU	Lieutenant Commander Bernard F. McMahon		1,334 tons	1
Eight	Nov. 2, 1943 - Dec. 5, 1943	Brisbane, AU Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Commander Delbert F. Williamson		11,621 tons	1
[Overhaul at Mare Island, Jan. 16 - Mar. 22, 1944]
Nine	Apr. 9, 1944 - May 31, 1944	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Majuro, Marshall Is.	Commander Delbert F. Williamson	Not deemed as successful	0 tons	0
Ten	June 24, 1944 - Aug. 14, 1944	Majuro, Marshall Is. Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Maurice H. Rindskopf		0 tons	0
Eleven	Sept. 9, 1944 - Nov. 8, 1944	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Majuro, Marshall Is.	Lieutenant Commander Maurice H. Rindskopf		18,497 tons	3
Twelve	Dec. 7, 1944 - Jan. 17, 1945	Majuro, Marshall Is. Apra Harbor, Guam	Lieutenant Commander Frank M. Eddy	Not deemed as successful	0 tons	0
Thirteen	Feb. 11, 1945 - Apr. 2, 1945	Apra Harbor, Guam Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Frank M. Eddy	Not deemed as successful	0 tons	0
[Overhaul at Hunters Point, Apr. 11 - June 25, 1945]
Fourteen*	July 21, 1945 - Aug. 30, 1945	Pearl Harbor, T.H. Pearl Harbor, T.H.	Lieutenant Commander Frank M. Eddy Lieutenant Commander Herbert P. McNeal?	n/a	n/a	n/a

* UNOFFICIAL The 14th war patrol was unofficial, as the war ended just days before Drum could reach station at Saipan.

The Drum sank an official JANAC total of 80,580 tons (15 ships) of Japanese shipping, or an estimated wartime total of 118,000 tons (19 ships) of Japanese shipping. The crew even claimed to have sunk 27 vessels - you can see 26 of these claimed kills represented on their "kill flag" on your right. It was normal of estimated wartime totals to be greater than the JANAC confirmed totals as numerous times the submarines could not stay and confirm the sinking of their targets. Regardless, the USS Drum ranks within the top 10 (eighth highest) of all American submarines in terms of total tonnage sunk during WWII, and she is only one of two submarines in this top 10 list that still remains today as a museum.

If you find these reports useful or informative, please do something to help the Drum.

USS Drum (SS-228) WWII Attack Summary
War Patrol	Date of Attack	Type of Attack	Vessel Name	Vessel Type	Tonnage (JANAC)	Tonnage (Alden)	Sunk? (JANAC)	Sunk? (Alden)	Damaged? (Alden)
One	2 May 1942	Night Surface Visual	Mizuho	Seaplane Tender	9,000	10,930	Yes	Yes	-
	9 May 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	(Unknown) Maru	Cargo	4,000 est.	4,000 est.	Yes	No	Possible
	13 May 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Shonan Maru	Cargo	5,264	5,356	Yes	Yes	-
	25 May 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Kitakata Maru	Cargo	2,380	2,380	Yes	Yes	-
Three	8 Oct. 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Hague Maru	Passenger/Cargo	5,641	5,641	Yes	Yes	-
	9 Oct. 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Hachimanzan Maru	Cargo	2,461	2,461	Yes	Yes	-
	20 Oct. 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Ryunan Maru	Cargo	5,106	5,106	Yes	Yes	-
Four	12 Dec. 1942	Day Underwater Periscope	Ryuho	Light Aircraft Carrier	-	13,360	No	No	Confirmed
Five	9 Apr. 1943	Day Underwater Periscope	Yuzan (Oyama) Maru	Cargo	3,809	3,809	Yes	Yes	-
	10 Apr. 1943	Night Surface Radar	Akagisan Maru	Passenger/Cargo	4,634	4,634	No	No	Confirmed
	18 Apr. 1943	Day Underwater Periscope	Nisshun Maru	Cargo	6,380	6,380	Yes	Yes	-
Six	17 June 1943	Day Underwater Periscope	Myoko Maru	Passenger/Cargo	5,087	5,086	Yes	Yes	-
Seven	28 Aug. 1943	Night Surface Radar	Yamagiri Maru	Passenger/Cargo	6,438	6,438	No	No	Confirmed
	8 Sept. 1943	Day Underwater Periscope	Hakutetsu Maru #13	Cargo	1,334	1,334	Yes	Yes	-
Eight	17 Nov. 1943	Day Underwater Periscope	Hie Maru	Submarine Tender	11,621	11,621	Yes	Yes	-
Eleven	24 Oct. 1944	Day Underwater Periscope	Shikisan Maru	Passenger/Cargo	4,725	4,725	Yes	Yes	-
	26 Oct. 1944	Night Surface Radar	Taisho Maru	Cargo	6,886	6,886	Yes	Yes	-
	26 Oct. 1944	Night Surface Radar	Aoki Maru	Cargo	3,710	3,710	No	No	Light Possible
	26 Oct. 1944	Day Underwater Periscope	Taihaku Maru	Cargo	6,886	6,886	Yes	Yes	-
	26 Oct. 1944	Day Underwater Periscope	Tatsurra Maru	Cargo	-	6,420	No	No	Possible

References:
HyperWar: Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II
Alden, John D. United States Submarine Attacks During World War II: Including Allied Submarine Attacks in the Pacific (Naval Institute Press, 1989)