Seventy-seven Gato-class submarines were built during World War II, commissioned from November 1941 through April 1944. The class was very successful in sinking Japanese merchant ships and naval vessels: the top three US submarines in tonnage sunk were Gatos, along with three of the top seven in number of ships sunk. But success had a price: 20 of the 52 US submarines lost in that war were of this class, plus , a damaged boat that returned to the US but was considered a constructive total loss and not repaired. Although many of the class were in reserve postwar and scrapped in 1959-1960, some Gatos served actively with the US Navy into the late 1960s, and others served with foreign navies into the early 1970s.
SS-361 through SS-364 were initially ordered as Balao-class, and were assigned hull numbers that fall in the middle of the range of numbers for the Balao class (SS-285 through SS-416 & SS-425âÂÂ426). Thus, in some references they are listed with that class. However, they were completed by Manitowoc as Gatos, due to an unavoidable delay in Electric Boat's development of Balao-class drawings. Manitowoc was a follow yard to Electric Boat, and was dependent on them for designs and drawings.
Abbreviations and hull classification symbols for postwar redesignations/conversions: