High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Hammerhead (SS-364), a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the hammerhead shark; a shark found in warm seas with a flattened anterior forward of the gill slits, presenting a hammer-like silhouette when viewed from above. The first Hammerhead was launched 24 October 1943 by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. of Manitowoc, Wisc.; sponsored by Mrs. R. W. Berry; and commissioned 1 March 1944, Commander J. C. Martin in command.