USS Drum featured a complete crew complement of 83 men broken down into 75 enlisted personnel with eight officers. The crew were further divided into established watches to serve in intervals to allow one quarter of the crew the allotted downtime and rest required to operate at full efficiency.
Drum became the twelfth named boat of the Gato-class thought the first of the group to actually be completed for USN service in World War 2. Gato-class boats were soon recognized for their inherent firepower, ocean-going speed, and endurance. Drum entered the war by traversing the Panama Canal from the American East Coast and arriving at Pearl Harbor on April 1st, 1942. Her first war patrol then followed as she made her way to the Japanese coast for hunting prey. On May 2nd, she claimed the Mizuho seaplane carrier of the IJN - a critical vessel able to carry some 24 seaplanes. However, Drum was then the recipient of an IJN depth charge attack which kept her underwater for sixteen hours. Surviving her first outing, Drum then sailed again and claimed three Japanese merchant vessels before retreating to friendly waters for a refit. She arrived at Pearl on June 12th.
Her second war patrol from mid-July to early September was less nerve-wracking as she only damaged a freighter. She returned to Midway and underwent another refit thereafter.
One September 23rd, 1942, Drum took on her third war patrol which netted a Japanese cargo vessel. Enemy air support drove Drum down. Another attack the following day resulting in the boat heading under again to avoid destruction from the Japanese response. Drum claimed three more cargo vessels before returning to Pearl on November 8th.
From November 29th, 1942 to January 24th, 1943, Drum was on her fourth war patrol. She dispersed naval mines at Bungo Suido straight of the Japanese islands and successfully damaged the light carrier Ryuho. She took on damage and survived another depth charging action and returned to Pearl for an overhaul. From March 24th to May 13th came her fifth war patrol which saw her sinking two enemy cargo vessels. On her sixth war patrol from mid-June to late-July, Drum recorded a passenger/cargo ship.
From Brisbane, Australia, Drum took on her seventh war patrol beginning on August 16th. On the 31st, the crew claimed another cargo ship and patrolled for a time before ending at Brisbane once more. Thus came her eight war patrol on November 2nd when she netted another cargo ship on November 17th. A few days later, a depth charge attack damaged her to the point that she was delivered back to Pearl for repair. From here, she was sent to the American West Coast for more thorough repairs - ending 1943 in a shipyard.
From March 29th onwards, Drum began her ninth war patrol from Pearl with a new conning tower having been installed. During this outing, she was able to use her stealth to ascertain enemy positions near Iwo Jima and elsewhere. Sailing to Majuro, she was given a refit which saw her tenth war patrol begin in late June 1944. She supported Allied actions and claimed a large enemy vessel during this sail. She returned to Pearl for mid-August.
During mid-September, Drum conducted her eleventh war patrol and supported the Leyte amphibious assault. She claimed three more enemy cargo ships and rescued Allied airmen before returning for refit to Majuro. Her twelfth war patrol in January of 1945 reveled nothing of interest and led to her thirteenth war patrol taking place from February 11th to April 2nd. During this time, she supported Allied amphibious actions at Iwo Jima and Okinawa - two classic Allied victories of the war. With fewer and fewer Japanese surface targets available for her torpedoes, Drum was relegated to information gathering, Allied airmen rescue, and other non-direct enemy contact roles for the remainder of her service career. She was relocated to the American West Coast to undergo another overhaul and returned to Pearl for training by August. En route to her fourteenth war patrol of the conflict, the Japanese government signed the surrender on August 15th, 1945 to officially end the fighting in the Pacific. The formal surrender ceremony took place on September 2nd at Tokyo Bay - marking the official end to World War 2 in full.
With the war now over, Drum was sent to the American East Coast. Her services no longer needed, she was decommissioned on February 16th, 1946. She served in a support role for the Potomac River Naval Command from Mach 18th, 1947 onwards and then resided in Virginia (Norfolk) waters from the period of 1967 to 1969. On April 14th, 1969, she was handed to the USS Alabama Battleship Commission to become a display piece for the public. She was accepted on May 18th, 1969 and took on her first tourists in July. Moored near the USS Alabama, USS Drum was damaged during 1998's Hurricane Georges which resulted in her hull being raised and set upon supports on land where she resides under the Mobile sun today (2014). 2005's Hurricane Katrina also pummeled the display. She is still open to the public as part of the USS Alabama floating exhibit which also includes outdoor aircraft, armored vehicles and artillery systems, and an indoor aircraft hangar. All portions of the boat remain accessible including the forward torpedo bay, rear torpedo bay, the conning tower, and all parts in between.
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