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The USS '''Becuna''' (SS-319) was laid down on April 29, 1943 at Groton, [[Connecticut]], by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on January 30, 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George C. Crawford; and commissioned on May 29, 1944, Lt. Comdr. Henry D. Sturr in command.

The USS '''Becuna''' (SS-319) was laid down on April 29, 1943, at Groton, [[Connecticut]], by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on January 30, 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George C. Crawford; and commissioned on May 29, 1944, Lt. Comdr. Henry D. Sturr in command.

After shakedown training out of New London, [[Connecticut]], the submarine headed for the Pacific and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 29 July. She conducted additional training in the [[Hawaiian]] Islands before departing Oahu on 23 August for her first war patrol. After patrolling for a month without spotting anything but aircraft, the submarine surfaced on the afternoon of 25 September; and her lookouts spied a convoy of three merchantmen escorted by a destroyer. Becuna submerged and fired a spread of six torpedoes. While she evaded a depth-charge attack, her crew heard an explosion but could not verify any sinking. She had a similar experience on 8 October when she launched torpedoes at a heavily escorted tanker north of Palawan Passage in the Philippines. Again her crew heard two distinct explosions but were too busy dodging depth charges to observe the results of the attack. The following day, however, the submarine recorded her first verifiable success when she joined Hawkbill (SS-366) in sinking the 1,943-ton freighter Tokuwa Maru. Though she also claimed to have destroyed two tankers out of the convoy, postwar examination of Japanese records failed to verify those kills. Later in October, Becuna put into Fremantle, Australia, for refit.

After shakedown training out of New London, [[Connecticut]], the submarine headed for the Pacific and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 29 July. She conducted additional training in the [[Hawaiian]] Islands before departing Oahu on 23 August for her first war patrol. After patrolling for a month without spotting anything but aircraft, the submarine surfaced on the afternoon of 25 September; and her lookouts spied a convoy of three merchantmen escorted by a destroyer. Becuna submerged and fired a spread of six torpedoes. While she evaded a depth-charge attack, her crew heard an explosion but could not verify any sinking. She had a similar experience on 8 October when she launched torpedoes at a heavily escorted tanker north of Palawan Passage in the Philippines. Again her crew heard two distinct explosions but were too busy dodging depth charges to observe the results of the attack. The following day, however, the submarine recorded her first verifiable success when she joined Hawkbill (SS-366) in sinking the 1,943-ton freighter Tokuwa Maru. Though she also claimed to have destroyed two tankers out of the convoy, postwar examination of Japanese records failed to verify those kills. Later in October, Becuna put into Fremantle, Australia, for refit.