Ten of the 29 Tench-class submarines were completed in time to conduct war patrols in World War II, entering service beginning in late 1944.
They finished what the previous classes had largely accomplished: the near-destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet.
Another significant contribution was the rescue of downed aviators near Okinawa and Japan.
Two additional boats (Cutlass and Diablo) entered Japanese waters on their first war patrols immediately after the 13 August 1945 cease-fire.
Construction on the last four of the class was suspended, and they were completed 1948–1951.

Postwar, 24 of the 29 Tenches were modernized under the Fleet Snorkel and Greater Underwater Propulsion Power (GUPPY) programs, with most continuing in US service into the early 1970s.
Fourteen were transferred to foreign navies for years of additional service, and the former Cutlass remained active in Taiwan's Republic of China Navy as Hai Shih as of 2015, the last of the class in service with any navy.
Ten of the 29 Tench-class submarines were completed in time to conduct war patrols in World War II, entering service beginning in late 1944. They finished what the previous classes had largely accomplished: the near-destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet. Another significant contribution was the rescue of downed aviators near Okinawa and Japan. Two additional boats (Cutlass and Diablo) entered Japanese waters on their first war patrols immediately after the 13 August 1945 cease-fire. Construction on the last four of the class was suspended, and they were completed 1948–1951. 
Postwar, 24 of the 29 Tenches were modernized under the Fleet Snorkel and Greater Underwater Propulsion Power (GUPPY) programs, with most continuing in US service into the early 1970s. Fourteen were transferred to foreign navies for years of additional service, and the former Cutlass remained active in Taiwan's Republic of China Navy as Hai Shih as of 2015, the last of the class in service with any navy.
Tench-class submarine