High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Porpoise (SS–172), the fifth United States Navy ship to bear her name, was the lead ship of her class of submarines. She was laid down at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine on 27 October 1933; launched on 20 June 1935, sponsored by Miss Eva Croft; and commissioned on 15 August 1935, Lieutenant Commander Stuart S. Murray in command.