USS Bluegill (SS-242), a Gato-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bluegill, a freshwater sunfish of the Mississippi River basin and Great Lakes. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 17 December 1942. She was launched on 8 August 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Cole, wife of Congressman W. Sterling Cole of New York) and commissioned on 11 November 1943, with Lieutenant Commander Eric L. Barr, Jr. (Class of 1934) in command, and reported to the Pacific Fleet.