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Battle

Submerged
Fighters
II

Submarine

World War

Battle

Submerged
World War H
HARLEY COPE

Submarine Fighters
of

Rear Admiral

and Captain

WALTER KARIG

W W

NORTON

if

COMPANY

INC

New

Yorfc

6PYRIGHT)

1951,

BY W.

W.

NORTON & COMPANY,

INC.

FIRST EDITION

FOR PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INC. PRESS, VAIL-BALLOU THE THE PUBLISHERS BY

GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO THE

OFFICERS
of the

AND MEN

SILENT SERVICE

Contents-

1.

Foreword The Submarine

First Offensives

xi

3
17

2.
3.

Seagoing Scarlet Pimpernels. Evacuation

ply Reconnaissance
Carlson's Raiders

and Sup29

4. 5.
6.
7.
8.

43
63

Mine Laying
Submarine Versus Submarine

76 87

They Chose Death

Operation Appendectomy Wolf Packs
Lifeguards Mission of Mercy

95 Submerged!
103 108

9.

10.

11.
12.
13.

121

134

14.

Submarine Versus Destroyer Penetrating Enemy Harbors

144
163

15.

Strange Target

182
192

16.
17.

Periscope Spies Shore Bombardment

215
III

18.

The Submarine

in

World War

237

Illustrations-

A A

merchant ship goes down

flaming Jap ship

"Eyes of the Submarine" The bridge watch and lookouts

Searching for targets U.S.S. Parche

Rockets awayl

Submarine rescue buoy

Air crew rescue

Navy Torpedo room

Tang
Torpedo
test

rescues

fliers

shop

Stowing a

"tin fish"

Submarine troop transport U.S.S. Cubera

Periscope and schnorkel
C7.S.S.

Clamagore

U.S.S.

Requin

Central operating compartment

Air manifold

Torpedomen

sleep with torpedoes

Foreword.

THE PRIMARY
method

purpose of

this

book

is

to describe the ex-

traordinary versatility of what will probably be the most important fighting craft in the next war the submarines. The
the authors have chosen
is

to relate

each of the war

missions that the submarines of the United States

Navy were

sent out to perform, in the narratives of as many ships. Any one submarine can do, and in the last war did do, virtually everything herein described.

The secondary purpose of the book is to demonstrate that even in this age of gadgetry and electronics, the sea is still the source of extraordinary adventure that it was in the days
of sail

and
is

galleys.

not a history, or even intended as a preface to the of the United States submarine in World War II. history, Consequently the authors must deeply regret the conspicuous
This
omissions from this volume, but no apologies are offered because none are expected by men of the stripe of Joe Willingham, Barney Sieglaff, Creed Burlingame, Slade Cutter, Reu-

ben Whitaker, George Grider, Johnny Coy, Burt Klakring which is to say, every sub skipper who creased enemy waters
with torpedoes. In the editorial judgment they exercised in selecting the one episode out of a hundred like it to describe

Xll

FOREWORD

a particular function of the submarine, the authors had only one motive, to do the most comprehensive job possible for

the reader's

and especially saw a submarine and wouldn't ride

benefit.,

for the reader

in

who never
traditional,

one for the

if

devalued, million dollars.

Debts are inadequately acknowledged to Admiral Louis Denfeld who, as Chief of Naval Operations, authorized use of war diaries and related operational reports to insure the
accuracy of these
tales of the Silent Service;

and

tain Charles F, Erck, Captain William D. Irvin

to Capand Captain

Lewis S. Parks, who gave indispensable help in expanding the too meager accounts their too modest colleagues recorded
in

war

diaries

and

official

reports.

HARLEY COPE

WALTER KARIG

Battle

Submerged

Submarine Fighters
of

World War

II

1
The Submarine

THE SUBMARINE

is essentially an American innovation, but in its development the United States has always lagged behind her sister maritime nations. During the War for Independence the infant United States had initiated submarine warfare with David BushnelFs hand-propelled but impotent

Turtle, Ironically, perhaps, the first warship in history to be sunk in combat by a submarine was the USS Housatonic

destroyed by the primitive hand-operated Confederate submarine Hunley on February 17, 1864. Other nations France, Italy and Germany had equipped their navies with submarines well before the parent country commissioned the first of John P. Holland's underwater torpedo boats on April 11, 1900. At the end of World War II we were still trying to catch up with our late enemies except in one thing: personnel. We may not have had the best submarines in the world, but by the record we had the
world's best submariners.

great difference existed between the types of boats that

4
fought World

BATTLE SUBMERGED

of difference shared with the automobiles

was the sort and airplanes of that span of years. Refinements and improvements had been added, but the fundamental principles remained unchanged. Like the Model T of 1918 and the streamlined job of 1941 the plodding L-boats of World War I and the historymaking Barb of 1945 were brothers under the skin. They both dove by flooding ballast tanks and torpedo tubes,
I
II,

War

and World War

but

it

ejected 21-inch torpedoes. Diesel engines continued to drive them on the surface while the same type of electric
still

motors, taking their energy from a nest of large storage batteries, were used submerged; periscopes still observed the
targets.

The difference even between the first Holland submarine and the best we had in operation against Japan was evolutionary.

Only now are we entering the stage of revolutionary

change, the true submarine that can cruise around the world without having to surface to breathe or charge batteries.

compared with the wallop it packs, the submarine unquestionably the most compact man-of-war in existence, and consequently the most crowded, The boat is no place for anybody who must have plenty of elbow room. Its bulkheads are so covered with dials, tubes, coils and gauges there is small room for pinups, but not a single piece
its

When

size is

is

of

equipment aboard

is

dispensable to
II,

The submarine
a
little

of

World War

best operation. already obsolescent, was

its

mum
Its

over 300 feet long, with a displacement of 1,500 tons, a surface speed of twenty knots or a little better and a maxi-

submerged speed

of ten knots.

(Our newer subs

will

not change

much in the single factor of external dimension. ) maximum armament consisted of six torpedo tubes
aft,

forward, four

them.

One

full

and twenty-four torpedoes to shoot from torpedo salvo banged out three tons of exwarship
afloat.

plosive,

enough

to sink the largest

THE SUBMARINE

The deck gun grew from 3-inch to 4-inch, and finally graduated to a 5-incher. The original .50 caliber machine
gun was
latterly

augmented by 20-millimeter and

40-milli-

meter guns. In the new submarines the deck guns are disappearing. What's the use for such guns on a submarine that never exposes its decks in combat? The compartmentation in the submarine with which this book is concerned hadn't changed much between wars. In the bow is the forward torpedo room, then next in line going aft are the forward battery room, control room, after battery, forward and after engine rooms, maneuvering room, and after torpedo room. "Forward," of course, is navy language for "up front," and "after" means toward the stem or rear. In the forward battery are the wardroom (on any ship the combined living room-dining room) and the officers' quarters. The control room and conning tower are the nerve center of the boat. Here the diving, steering, navigation, fire control, and every other control aboard are located. In the after battery are the galley (kitchen) and crews' quarters. Throughout the boat, tucked in this and that corner, under
control boards, in the overhead, are located units which provide the submarine with its air conditioning, refrigerating, fresh water, high-pressure air bottles, radio and radar. In fact, so many things are packed away in a sub that a catalog

of all

it

contains in such relatively small space

hull resembles a

would be read

with disbelief.
in shape, internally divided lengthwise in approximate halves. The lower half of the hull is subdivided into various tanks; fuel, water,

The

huge Perfecto cigar

storage batteries, and the diving or ballast tanks.

Two

hun-

dred fifty-two large battery cells, each one weighing close to a ton, are the source of electric power. The batteries are
kept charged by the Diesel generators
the surface.

when

the boat

is

on

The submarine

uses

two means

of propulsion, electricity

BATTLE SUBMERGED

when submerged

and, on the surface, four Diesel engines which can send it through the water at a speed of better than

twenty knots. Inasmuch as Diesel engines require a lot of air for operation, the electric motors must be used during submergence; and since the motors take their power from the storage battery, a submarine's submerged radius limited. The postwar adaption of the
is

German

necessarily very snorkel is

altering that handicap. The snorkel in simplest terms is a long tube that extends above the surface to draw air down

into the boat for the engines. The cruising depth is of course limited to the length of the snorkel. Below that depth re-

course must again be had to the electric motors. An ordinary surface craft remains afloat because
sesses positive buoyancy. If

it

pos-

enough water enters the ship,

destroyed and the vessel sinks. The same principle employed to submerge a submarine, only the admission of the sea water is controlled. That is the purpose
that buoyancy
is

is

of the ballast tanks

zero.

to

reduce the positive buoyancy to

course, the weight of the submarine and its variable contents has to be carefully calculated and controlled. To

Of

compensate
for those

consumed

for the weights taken aboard, or removed, be they men,

and conversely
supplies, equipemptied of

ment, or food, small variable tanks are

sea water.

filled or

When
what
is

all

called her "trim." She

has been properly adjusted, the submarine has still has enough positive buoy-

ancy to float, but not so much that it can't be quickly reduced to zero when the main ballast tanks are flooded for a
dive.

Also to aid the boat when submerging and to keep her at the required depth there are horizontal forward and planes
aft,

bow and stern planes, which have the same function as the stabilizing flippers on a fish. The usual dive is very aptly termed "quick" because it
called

THE SUBMARINE

takes less than a minute from the time the skipper sounds the diving alarm until nothing is seen on the sea but swirls and a corrugated slick. During those sixty seconds a well-

trained crew

fore the blast of the siren

work with speedy, silent efficiency. Behad reached its crescendo the Diesels were stopped and power switched to the motors. Simultaneously the ballast tanks and their vents were opened to the sea (the 1944 war boat had its ballast tanks always open to the sea ) bow and stern planesmen gave their planes down rudder, the main induction closed, and the skipper
at
,

was

pulled

the bridge hatch while the diving officer intently watched the depth gauges. When a dive bomber starts to pull out he often uncon-

down

the wings are going to remain with his plane. The diving officer on a submarine, too, entertains a subconscious thought: will the boat level off at periscope
sciously
if

wonders

depth or has some extra weight been taken aboard without compensation to make the boat heavy? Diving planes have been known to jam, too, and a oneway ride thousands of feet to the bottom is not pleasant to contemplate. Well-trained, well-disciplined crews have often saved submarines from destruction through diving failures, given warning enough, so the diving officer remains
constantly alert to catch the
first

signs of

any possible danger.

Our submarines were built with the premise in mind to carry a war to the coast of the farthest possible enemy. Should that be Japan, as everyone more than suspected, we knew that our boats would probably have to operate from bases
at least 5,000 miles

from Empire waters. Since the

Army

consistently admitted its inability to <J e f en(i the Philippines with the forces and funds available, we had to write them off as a possible base which left Pearl Harbor.

This meant that some of the conditions our boats would be required to meet would be a cruising radius of about 15,000 miles, facilities to provide food for an ample, varied, and

BATTLE SUBMERGED

highly nutritious diet for a sixty-day patrol, and means of

combating the depressing, enervating humid air of the tropics. The latter necessity was the last to be provided, strangely enough, although air conditioning was a comparatively simple and inexpensive installation. Actually, the submarines had to fight hard to get this important feature. Whom did they have to battle? Mostly the people who never went
to sea, like the constructors in the comfort of their airconditioned offices who remarked slyly that the submariners

were trying

luxury liners out of their boats. Some surface-craft people shared their views. They allowed lack of foresight to warp good judgment, for they failed to realize
to

make

important fact: during a sixty-day patrol the men had to par at all times; if they weren't, there was a better than even chance that they would not be able to
this

to

be up

wriggle out of the pattern of the next depth-charge attack. Fatigued men are not alert, either mentally or physically, and
of every patrol. ing as the steam

our submariners have to be on tiptoe alert every moment A soppily humid submarine is as enervatroom of a Turkish bath, but it took a lot of

persuasive oratory to convince the authorities that an uncomfortable crew might cost the life of the submarine and
all

hands aboard.

the

Then, of course, there was the discussion even before dud war heads became an issue over the submarine's

main weapon, the torpedo. The old S-boats had four tubes forward and none aft, except for a few of the S-48 and S-10 class, which also had one stern tube. Although the Germans had freighter submarines which supplied their boats at sea, American subs
operating thousands of miles from base could not replenish
their supply of torpedoes. Their offensive power was limited to the torpedoes they could The final answer to that carry. of maximum fire was a boat with problem obtaining

power

six

tubes forward and four

aft,

each carrying a torpedo;

THE SUBMARINE

fourteen others were loaded in the racks, giving the subs a total load of twenty-four torpedoes.

The torpedo is one of the most complex pieces of mechanism imaginable, and one of the most destructive. Three types were used during the war, Mark 10 for the
S-boats,

Mark
aches.

18.

Mark 14 for the Each type had its

fleet-type boats and, later, the share of modifications and head-

The
In

first

its

two were steam torpedoes; the Mark 18, electric. elementary form the Mark 10 was a long steel

projectile about twenty-one feet long, twenty-one inches in diameter, and weighing almost a ton. The forward part

of the torpedo, about four feet in length, carried the deadly

war head, containing 500 pounds of TNT (later the more powerful torpex), which was exploded by simple contact with the target. The next ten feet of the steel-jacketed missile contained a flask of compressed air, alcohol for fuel, and water to make steam. In a small midship section was located the combustion flask and igniter; then came the after body, containing the twin steam turbines, gyro, depth and steering mechanism, and the tail assembly carried the two fourbladed propellers and horizontal and vertical rudders.

To
first

fire the torpedo, the submarine's tube containing it flooded with sea water and then the outer door

is
is

starter opened. The torpedo is ejected by a blast of air. lever on the torpedo is mechanically tripped as it starts to leave the tube and from then on the torpedo is on its own

as the

The

finely machined parts begin to functiori. the in igniter midships section lights the fire under the combustion flask or boiler into which air and water is

hundreds of

sprayed, Steam is raised and piped back to the turbines, and the propellers begin to hum.

A high-speed gyro keeps the torpedo on a straight course, a hydrostatic piston and depth engine maintains the "fish" at a set depth. When the torpedo arrives at its expected des-

10

BATTLE SUBMERGED

tination the exploder mechanism is actuated by contact, a $10,000 missile rips into the innards of a ship then, bam! times worth many that price.

Of course, if one of the many little intricate pieces of mechanism fails to function properly, the torpedo can do
almost anything, even to circling back to strike the ship that sent it on its way. If the igniter at the start fails, no steam is

formed and the torpedo runs "cold" its only power being the air from the air flask. The result? It runs about one thousand yards, stops, and sinks. When it functions according to hopes, it is "hot and straight." The Mark 14 was a little longer, heavier, and faster. It had two speeds, forty-six and thirty-two knots. The exploder mechanism was a bit more complicated and, according to its constructors, the answer to all prayers for a good torpedo. It was supposed to explode whenever it ran through the
magnetic field set up by the steel in a ship's hull. Well discuss the headaches it caused the Service in another chapter.

The Mark 18
stead of steam.

uses electricity as

its
is

Its

great advantage

that

propulsive power init leaves no wake

string of bubbles

to reveal the submarine's location

by a

breaking the surface to point an accusing finger. The basic idea was lifted from a captured German torpedo. During the last six months of the war, 65 per cent of the torpedoes

used were of the

electric variety.

The personnel

in submarines are all volunteers

and spe-

cially selected at that.

A crew usually consists of eight officers

and seventy-five men. All of the officers lind most of the men are graduates of the Submarine School at New London. of noncomUsually 80 per cent of the crew is made
job other than their own, and all officers and men have to learn their boat in detail and to be able to operate any diving station in the submarine. No one ever goes for the ride in a subalong marine.

missioned

officers. All

men

learn to double in

up some

THE SUBMARINE
The
ratings

11

mates,

consist of torpedomen, motor machinist's radiomen, electronic gear operators, electricians, quartermasters, a gunner's mate, ship's cook, steward's mates, a yeoman, and a pharmacist's mate.

A senior chief petty officer is

and

appointed "chief of the boat"

acts as the general factotum of the submarine. good chief of the boat is as invaluable to the skipper as his right arm, and his right eye to boot.

The

officers consist of

the skipper, his executive officer

(who doubles as navigator), engineering officer, electrical officer, commissary and supply, communications, first lieutenant, gunnery and radar officer. These all take their turn
at being diving officer, although a particular that important billet during battle stations
officers

one holds down

when

the other

assist in fire control and torpedo rooms and the exec becomes the assistant approach officer. The periscope is the eye of the submarine and during the

approach and submerged attack is manned by the skipper. Through him the men in the submarine are told what is going on outside. Skippers usually make it a point to keep their crews informed of the approach and attack as it
progresses, giving a blow by blow description of the battle. On the surface, the radar operator first picks up the enemy ships or planes; when submerged, this responsibility
falls

on the sound operator or the periscope watch. During the early part of the war submerged attacks were made during daylight hours and very often at night, although night submerged attacks are rather unsatisfactory since the visibility through the periscope is uncertain except in the brightest moonlight. But in 1942 we did not carry
radar efficient enough to permit a successful surface attack except with the most advantageous visibility.
Later, with improved radar aboard, skippers always made night attacks on the surface if at all possible. The four

engines gave them a good speed advantage over the

enemy

12

BATTLE SUBMERGED

and permitted them to circle their slower-moving opponent like a skillful boxer, Then at a propitious moment they could lash out and step back out of danger. The engines cannot be used submerged, so maneuverability and speed are sacrificed for the advantages of invisibility, which is great
in daylight, but not so necessary at night because the darkness provides it anyway. On the other hand, when the sub-

marine

is

submerged, darkness

makes an accurate periscope

a disadvantage because it sight almost impossible and the

is

inability to use radar under water leaves submarines groping blindly. So, as long as our radar was superior to the Japs'

the night surface attack oifered the best chance of success. The submarine is equipped with an excellent sound device
for taking bearings on

enemy ships, and each gunnery season number of torpedoes fired from below periscope depth by means of sound bearings only.
before the war included a

In theory

it

offered a safe

way

of hitting targets except for

one thing a sudden change of course by the target necessitated a quick shift to a new firing course.

which Sound

would of course detect this change but every skipper felt he would do better when he could see the target at which he was shooting. The result was that very few sound shots were successfully tried during the war. Of course, many
shots were fired with only the radar acting as the eye of the submarine, for the skippers had developed such great confidence in the device during the latter part of the war that

they trusted it almost implicitly. Before .describing what happens during the time a target is sighted and fired upon, we must take time out to describe one item that is essential to every submarine's success. It
is

called the J-f actor, the "Jesus factor," a synonym for luck. Every submarine

somewhat more than

skipper admits that,

no matter how skillful and experienced he is and even though he undoubtedly has the best crew in the Navy, he
needs a good
J-f actor for

a perfect operation. After a success-

THE SUBMABINE
ful patrol

13
J-f actor

he

is

always careful to report that the

was

good.

When making

an attack the period between the time

the target is contacted either visually or by radar and the torpedoes are ejected is divided into two parts, the approach and the attack.

The approach
marine
the same time

essentially the process of placing the subin the most advantageous attack position, and at
is

by
if

various periscope observations

if

sub-

merged, by radar

getting the target speed, course, and range in order to compute an accurate "periscope angle." This means that when the periscope's crosswire is

on the surface

on the point of aim the torpedoes

will

have enough

offset to

intercept the target at the desired point, rather like when a hunter leads a duck. It means that the torpedo is aimed at

where the

target will be,

when the "fish" arrives.

the target is first sighted, the skipper from his initial observation makes an estimate of the "angle on the bow" if the target is pointed directly toward him the

When

angle is zero. The angle increases as the target swings, until a full broadside is presented 90 degrees or only the stern can be seen 180 degrees. With the angle on the bow and

with the true bearing of the target, the fire control gang can tell the skipper the target's course. An interception course is now steered. Then, with ranges and successive plots, a very
close estimate of the target speed may be obtained. The T.D.C. (target data computer) does most of the actual computing mechanically from data fed into the machine after

the

initial setup. All of this makes the approach look like

if

duck soup and

the target jnaintained a it would be comparatively easy steady course. But targets are never that cooperative. They

use every trick gained through experience to make it diffi? cult for the submarine. After the middle 20s, all of our sub-

marines worked on the premise that in the next war the

14
targets

BATTLE SUBMERGED
would
steer zigzag courses and air screens. Thus it

alert destroyer and skipper to learn the

be protected by behooved every

rudiments of making successful attacks

despite evasive tactics by the targets. The approach consequently really became a series of approaches, with the
skipper, especially in the final stages, trying to outguess the next move of the target. His ability to do this is a combination of the plot that has
is

ments, plus his personal skill

target, naturally,

been kept of the and the aid of

to reach

target's movehis J-factor.

endeavoring she must, perforce, make a large amount of along the base course in spite of the zigs and zags. Otherwise, she will never arrive at her destination. Certainly, if the
skipper can outguess her, she won't get there anyway, so perhaps it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. When

some port and the distance good

the destroyer escort picks up unmistakable signs of a submarine's presence the information is transmitted to the convoy, then the zigzagging and speed changes become

more pronounced and

the submarine skipper

is

is

often forced

into a very quick decision, for it target lined up for a perfect shot

frustrating to have the and then see it execute a

wide

zig just as the torpedoes leave the tubes. vicinity of the skipper in the conning tower therefore becomes an area of concentrated activity

The immediate

during the last stages of the approach, particularly when the target does the unexpected and the fire control party receives a peremptory demand for a new setup for the shoot.

These are but the preliminaries; setting the stage

final act

for the

the attack.
is essentially the responsibility of the skipper. that he has selected the foremast of the target

The climax
Assuming

aim for his first torpedo, he sets his periscope crosswire on the computed angle and, peering through the he watches the bow of the target come into his periscope,
as the point of
field of vision.

Probably squatting on the deck, streams of

THE SUBMABINE

15

perspiration pouring off his face, eyes pressed into the periscope, he gives the word to fire. At rapid intervals, he calcuthe familates other chosen points of aim, and at his order the other torpedoes are sped to liar "Fire two, fire three"

The interval is given between torpedoes to them from bumping into each other during their prevent run, and exploding prematurely. In cases where some doubt may exist about the exact speed and course of the target, or to compensate for an inthe target.
crease or decrease of the target speed or a change of course, a "spread" of torpedoes will be fired, only half of them ex-

pected to

hit.

torpedo is about to be fired the skipper has to keep a constant eye open for the convoy's protecting screen, which is probably closer to him than the target, and always on the alert to sight the periscope feather or torpedo wake. In a quick periscope sweep just before firing
the
first

When

he

may suddenly discover one of the destroyers charging down on him at full blast, or a plane in the act of releasing
aerial

an

bomb.

It

becomes a

crucial test of

skill,

coolness,

of the skipper for a wrong sense of timing on his part may result in having the destroyer over him before he can get his torpedoes off and still shout to the diving
officer,

and courage

"Take *er deep! And for Christ's sake, hurry!" The skill and daring displayed in attacks during World
II
is

War

attested to

by the many

screens successfully

penetrated, not only to fire the bow tubes and scram, but even to shoot off the stern tubes before going deep to evade

the depth-charge attacks that invariably followed. Surface attacks varied little in actual technique and in-

struments employed from the submerged ones, It was still incumbent on the submarine to remain hidden from the
prospective victim.

Once

discovered, the submarine's ad-

vantage of surprise is lost and the skipper has to dig into his bag of tricks to get away.

deep

16

BATTLE SUBMERGED
are never better than even.

The odds

That so many of

our submarines survived scores of battles, deeper in enemy territory than even aircraft could penetrate before the last

few weeks

and resourcefulness of the young Americans who manned them from

of the war,
is

testimony to the

skill

bridge to galley, as the succeeding chapters will portray.

First Offensives

1942 was a bleaker month than even the preDecember. Manila fell and the remnants of our forces ceding in the Philippines were hemmed in on Bataan and Corregidor. Germany, thrusting eastward, seemed to be on the road to
joining Japan's westward-driving hordes in India. The Dutch East Indies were gone, Malaya too, and Australia was

JANUARY OF

threatened.
in the

The eastern seaboard

reflection of

of the

United States glowed

Pacific,

bloody

torpedoed ships, and in the

for all the public knew from the pall of Pearl Harbor censorship and defeatist gossip, the United States Navy couldn't so

much

defend Catalina Island. Then, on February 1, Admiral Halsey's carrier task force wrote on the coral walls of Japan's mid-Pacific stronghold the
as

first forecast of America's eventual victory. Kwajalein, 120mile barrier athwart the United States-Australian life line,

was pounded by cruisers and destroyers, pulverized by Navy bombers, and all the world took notice that American wrath was thrusting across the oceans, American keels were parting waters the Axis smugly claimed for its own.
17

18

BATTLE SUBMERGED

But Kwajalein was not first blood for the American forces. Not Japanese colonial seas, but the sacred enclosure of Tokyo Bay itself was where the grave of Nippon's empire was begun. United States submarines were in Japan three months before the U.S.S.

Hornet ferried Jimmy

Doolittle's B-25s within

striking distance of the

Land

of the Rising Sun.

But nobody knew

advertising the fact.
turnity

it

except the Japanese,

Silent Service,
its

who were

not

The

traditional taci-

now wholly muted by

would

the

trail it

life-saving censorship, blazed take the whole nation until September 2,

1945, to follow. Within a few hours after Japan's treachery

had exploded on Hawaii,

long, low-freeboard ships with

bows and sterns, were steamdeadly torpedoes tucked ing out of smoking Pearl Harbor Channel and the North Channel of Manila Bay. Their destination? Empire waters! Within ten days after hostilities began United States subin their

marines had grimly started covering the bottom of the Pacific Ocean with the steel hulls of Japanese ships. And it was on January 7, over three weeks before the Mandates felt the sting of Admiral Halsey's hornets, that the Pollack, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Stanley P. Moseley, sank two Japanese ships, the Unkai Maru No. 1 and Teian Maru in close

Empire waters.
Unkai Maru had been sunk much on Tokyo's Broadway, the Ginza, would have had to duck the cascade of sparks from the explosion. The Unkai Maru No. 1 was sunk in Tokyo Bay! When war broke in December, the Silent Service started
closer to the shore, people

How close? Well, if the

performing duties that eventually mounted to operations and missions beyond anything that even the most optimistic submariner would have conjured in 1941, missions completed in enemy-controlled waters that covered areas completely sur-

rounding the Empire, the Mandates, the cold, fog-bound Kuriles and Aleutians, the Solomons, Carolines, Philippines, and Netherlands East Indies,

FIRST OFFENSIVES
Six hours after the
first

19

bomb

fell

marine skippers received a Naval Operations

:

terse directive

on Pearl Harbor all subfrom the Chief of

EXECUTE UNRESTRICTED AIR AND SUBMARINE WARFARE

AGAINST JAPAN.

The order was

ordered

as surprising

and unexpected

as the sneak

attack. Unrestricted could only mean one thing if C.N.O. it, and so each skipper consigned to the wastebasket

a small red-bound volume whose gold stamped title read: Instructions for the Navy of the United States Governing Maritime and Aerial Warfare. It had contained all of the strict and solemn rules prescribed by treaty restrictions for sub-

marine warfare and international laws piously framed in peacetime. The book grimly warned that any submarines violating them would be "hunted down and captured or sunk as pirates/' But all rules were off now. The Japanese had first thrown the book overboard when their carriers sailed for Pearl Harbor. History has written the same story so often. In peacetime nations agree to make the next one a gentlemanly war as if there could be such a thing. Then some predatory nation all strikes below the belt, and bam! regulations are promptly abandoned. When C.N.O/s directive was received the Silent Service had to spread its boats around pretty thin. There were so few in comparison with the number of places they were needed, but Commander Submarines did bis best to use effectively the ones he had for the greatest effect on the enemy offensive. In fact, there were only fifty-one United States submarines in the Pacific. Twenty-two were attached to Pearl Harbor, twentynine to the Asiatic Fleet. Twelve of these were old S-boats.

And, to oppose them, the entire Japanese fleet, at the moment the most powerful navy in the world. On December 7 six boats of the old S-boat class were on the

20

BATTLE SUBMERGED

West Coast

for special exercises, The fleet-type boats, Tuna and Nautilus were undergoing overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard. Pollack, Pompano and Plunger were en route from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor. Argonaut and Trout were maintaining a patrol near Midway. Thresher was off Pearl Harbor. Tambor and Triton were on similar duty near Wake Island, and Gudgeon was doing a training exercise with aircraft at Lahaina, Maui, The five remaining boats were in normal

routine overhaul at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor. No damage was sustained by any of the submarines in or

near Hawaii during the bombing (not so lucky were some of their sister ships in Manila Bay), so within a short time all were on their way to the Far East on their first war patrol.
Six of the twenty-nine boats attached to the Asiatic Fleet were also S-boats old, but far from feeble as the enemy soon

learned.

Admiral Thomas C. Hart, the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, had received a dispatch from the Chief of Naval Operations warning that an aggressive move by Japan was imminent which would probably include
27,

On November

an amphibious move against the Philippines. Admiral Hart wisely distributed his surface craft in various island ports down the line as far as Borneo to avoid destruction in case of a mass air attack. The submarines in port were alerted and prepared to move within an hour. Except for the Sealion and Seadragon undergoing necessary repairs at Cavite Navy Yard, twenty-seven subs were ready to move out of Manila Bay, or were already on patrol in the waters about Luzon. When war broke, the patrol was strengthened to cover
probable approaches to Luzon, while other boats went further afield to seek their targets from Formosa across the
all

South China Sea to French Indo-China.

The last Japanese airplane had scarcely regained its carrier to report the phenomenal success of the holocaust they had visited upon Pearl Harbor when the Asiatic Fleet subs began

FIRST OFFENSIVES
to slip through the mine fields at the entrance of to strike the first blow against the Japanese.

21
Manila Bay
Lieutenfirst

The honor went

ant

to the Swordfish,

commanded by
an enemy

Commander

Chester C. Smith. Actually, this was the

in history to sink
ship.

American submarine

Swordfish, Salmon, Sturgeon, and Skipjack, accompanied by the tender Holland, had arrived at Manila from Pearl Harbor in November. It was an old operating ground for

The

the skipper of the Swordfish. After graduation from the Submarine School at New London in 1929 his first assignment had been to the Asiatic Squadron in the S-40. As her executive officer he had plied the waters fronj the upper reaches of the East China Sea in the Gulf of Pichili, down through the South China Sea and in and out among the islands of the Philippine
Archipelago. Even in those days people out there believed that a war with Japan could break wide open at any time, and

had long determined that they would never be caught napping. On their annual war patrol from China they were always fully prepared to fight. They carried their full complement of war heads on board attached to all torthe submariners

pedoes except the four they expected to fire in practice off Corregidor at the end of the run. In three years of operating in Far Eastern waters, Smitty had become very well acquainted with the areas in which he finally had to fight. Shortly after noon on Monday, December 8 (it was still December 7 at Pearl Harbor) Smitty piloted the Swordfish

between Mariveles and Corregidor, After the field had been cleared the Swordfish submerged and proceeded toward French Indo-China, In some way it was hard to realize that this was really a war patrol in every sense of the word even though all had been anticipating, and trainfield

through the mine

'

ing for

this, for years.

When Smitty had left his pretty blond wife, Mary, and their
Harbor the month before, no one tried to disguise the presentiment that war was close at hand. Now
son, Donald, at Pearl

22

BATTLE SUBMERGED

the endless days of waiting and tension were over, The "Cops and Robbers" routine was over. This was the real thing. Now the slightest error in judgment would mean not a reprimand from the division commander but a telegram of regret to the

next of kin from the Navy Department.

To be sure, all skippers

by the Orders
for

had

fired the torpedo practices prescribed

Gunnery

These had on the bow, ranges, to size up situations and make decisions on attack methods. They involved firing
Exercises.
ability to judge angles

been a good criterion of their

torpedoes at fast zigzagging targets protected by alert destroyers maintaining careful scrutiny for periscope wakes, But

added up to a game of "Cops and Robbers." The eyes watching them practice weren't looking for a chance to drop
that
still

depth charges, set mines, or send air bombs hurtling down and tear a submarine wide open. Now, however, the opposing destroyers were looking for an opportunity to bomb and ram them., not just report their wakes to an umpire. To make the odds longer, we knew little about the Japanese destroyers except that they, were fast, sturdy, efficient craft and well-manned. Until their capabilities were learned, we would have to feel our way cautiously. But enemy ships and planes were not our submariners' sole worries. Our own surface ships and planes were far too inclined to shoot first and ask questions later. The wartime submarine is totally friendless; only skill and watchfulness can save her from destruction, equally unwelcome if at the hands
to rip

of a vengeful enemy or a regretful friend. Well, small chance of the latter

in her

happening to the Swordfish

ship she

own hunting

grounds!

Any

would bring

into

view on the choppy waters of the China Sea, darkly shadowed by an overcast sky, was bound to be enemy. Operations had given assurance that no Allied ships were reported in the
area.

that

The Japanese had already guaranteed that. So anything came within their vision would be something to sink. Shortly after midnight on December 9 the crew in the for-

FIRST OFFENSIVES

23

ward torpedo room was brought up standing by the ghostly order that erupted from the squawk box, "Stand by to firel" The identical words had come out of that same box many times before, but now they bore a meaning: now, there were war heads attached to the torpedoes. Now, the target would shoot back if the torpedoes did not run "hot and straight." Now was no time for an erratic torpedo, for its crazy wake would certainly write death for the submarine.

few moments before the

alerting order the northwest

horizon had suddenly been notched by a silhouette. A ship! Probably no, almost certainly one of the many enemy ships

converging on Luzon with supplies for the invading force. On the bridge Smitty, his curly hair uncovered to the breeze, was cautiously piloting the Swordfish to his first attack on an enemy ship. The night thickened and the range had to be made shorter until the dark outline of the target could be
traced.

thought Smitty, swinging the Swordfish over to a converging course, "but anyway ifs a big fellow." He glanced back over the sub's stem with satisfaction.

"Maybe an

aircraft tender,"

They were in a dark pocket, and not too much chance the Japanese would be able to spot them. The Swordfish could safely make a surf ace attack, the skipper decided as he passed

down to the assistant approach officer the information to feed

into the target data computer.

bearing, angle on the bow, range and other pertinent data, the skipper was assured, all added up to the "dope" that they had the target

The enemy's

sounded the warning that they had almost reached the firing bearing. Everyone braced himself for the lurch of the boat that would signify the surging de-

dead

to rights. Smitty

parture of the

first

torpedo.

is wholly skipper's report of what happened thereafter tie void of the drama that filled this first attack: the mounting

The

anxiety that the submarine might be sighted; the tension as the seconds were mentally ticked off to cover the torpedo's

run to the target before the explosion

if it hit!

24

BATTLE SUBMERGED
.

range 1,500 yards did not materialize. which attack to avoid gun submerged Lost depth control but had a fair glance at target. Apparently one hit one quarter length from stern. Explosion heard by Maneuvering Room but noise of diving prevented others from seemed to have hearing it. Ship was settling evenly but back
.
. . .

"At 0057 fired two torpedoes

been broken leaving the stern a little high. About twenty minutes later was able to observe again by periscope. Nothing
in sight.

No

propeller noises heard after firing although they

.

were

distinct before that time.

0151 surfaced and proceeded on. Just the bare facts. Such was the laconic obituary of the first Japanese ship sunk the first enemy ship of any nation, any war, sunk by a United States submarine. Two nerve-stretching disappointments followed fast. On
.

Consider ship sunk "

the afternoon of the same day Smitty crept up on a merchantman, all hands alert to bag Number Two, but instead of giving
the order to
fire

the skipper bit his

lips.

The

ship

was un-

doubtedly a Britisher or a Dutchman. The probabilities were that she was captive to the Japanese, but still there was a slim

chance she was

still

in friendly hands,

and Smitty gave the

ship that chance. Shortly before daybreak on Tuesday, December 11, the Swordfish attained a beautiful attack position

on a steamer at a range of 1,200 yards. Everything seemed perfect. There was no doubt about this baby being Japanese, with that big meatball merchant flag flying, recognizable even in the gray dawn. Two torpedoes lunged out straight as a die. followed their wakes right to the Smitty ship. But there was no explosion. The target proceeded without a change of pace. The Swordfish didn't know it then but she was seeing only the first of many defective war heads.
the next Sunday, just before daybreak, the Swordfish a steamer outside of caught Gaalong Bay, Hainan Island, and

On

watched

it plunge downward with two gaping torpedo wounds. There was nothing wrong with those war heads! In

FIRST OFFENSIVES
fact, the noise

25

they made, figuratively speaking, summoned the Japanese Navy to the spot. An old ship flying a very large Japanese merchant marine Like the bottle Alice found flag came loafing by the next day.
labeled, "Drink me," the tub was silently cryme." "Sink However, the invitation was sagely declined. ing, The trap was a little too obvious a seaplane flying ahead of
in

Wonderland

the ship, a destroyer trailing astern, and three more destroyers lurking in the distance with a bevy of trawlers, ready to swarm
in
if

a sub should disclose her presence.

wasn't until Tuesday, December 16, that the Japanese first loss to the Swordfish. From a group of six

It

admitted their

steamers leaving Hainan in a rather loose column formation Smitty selected what he considered the most likely target a

and three torpedoes went racing toward the Atsutusan Maru, All three hit, but only one exploded. However, it was enough to stop the target and start a
large freighter, well-loaded

large

fire

meager

to

raging amidships. Their torpedo supply was too expend any more unless absolutely necessary, so

Smitty lingered in the neighborhood to see what would hap-

pen
still

to her.

He killed a little time by taking another peek at the old hulk

Now two planes acted as an umbrella, had been added to her coterie of escorts. Smitty grinned. He wasn't having any, thank you. But when a patrolling destroyer came unsuspectingly close to the Swordfish, that was bait of another flavor. Two torpedoes were quickly expended, and hope ran high for a few seconds that the Swordfish would bag the warship, but one torpedo exploded prematurely and the warning enabled the nimble and
doing her siren
act.

and

sixteen trawlers

alerted destroyer to sidestep the other. It was a good lesson to all hands when depth charges began all around the Swordfish. They hoted that a lot of exploding

equipment would have to be more firmly secured next time. How was anybody to know what depth-charging could
their

26
do

BATTLE SUBMERGED
he had been through an attack? Next

to crockery until time.

.

The
fused

which had stubbornly refreighter, Atsutusan Maru, to go down for so long finally took the full count. More

targets

were found but the torpedoes gave every kind of performance except good, and Smitty decided it was high time to apprise Commander Submarines of the situation. When the Swordfish anchored at Mariveles within Manila

Bay on December

27, Smitty reported a continued rash of

defective torpedoes.

He intimated rather

broadly that

it

was

very demoralizing to a submarine skipper to

pedoes bounce harmlessly against the hulls, targets with no more results than to invite the target's escorts to beat out a symphony of hate on the submarine's hull with

watch his toror slide under the

depth charges.
"Just give us
triple the

good torpedoes/' Smitty begged, "and well

number of sinkings." Other skippers made the same disheartening revelation after their initial patrols. Commander Submarines decided

with considerable heat that remedial steps would be instituted immediately, but a long uphill battle with Washington faced them before the irksome problem of war heads could be settled, and would be settled only by peremptorily taking the issue in their own hands. For two long years the Bureau of Ordnance sent instructions how the trouble could be remedied and meanwhile continued to blame the submarine personnel for the torpedo failures they were forbidden to try to correct
themselves.

Until shortly before the war all torpedoes were manufactured by the Newport Torpedo Station, under the cognizance of the Bureau of Ordnance. It was the Bureau's
to provide torpedoes that

responsibility

would meet certain specifications concerning speed, depth, steering, and war-head performance. It made all tests, and the submarine personnel were forbidden to alter the mechanisms in any way. The strictly

FIRST OFFENSIVES

27

torpedoes were guaranteed to be perfect when they were delivered to the submarine service. If they didn't explode, the ordnance experts were satisfied it was the submariner's fault.

Their logic was flawless, but not their torpedoes.

Theoretically, in prewar days, a submarine was selected every year from each squadron to fire a torpedo carrying a

war head. Actually, it wasn't done. The High Command always demurred with: "Just suppose the torpedo should be erratic/' when the submarines wanted tangible proof that they
(

could send a torpedo crashing against the hull of a target with some reasonable assurance that the war head would function
properly.

The personnel were also extremely curious about the

magnetic exploder mechanism that the Bureau of Ordnance experts told them in hushed tones was foolproof. Yet no opportunity was ever given the people who would pedoes to test the truth of the experts' statements
fire

the tor-

were out on a war patrol and the experts were Washington! Not only were the submariners warned not to monkey with the mechanism, the Bureau kept it such a deep,
dark secret that there weren't enough trained personnel available to speed the remedy when the fault was finally located. For all the very limited number of subs in Far Eastern waters in the first year of the war there was such an abundance of targets that, with satisfactory weapons, the few could have accounted for triple the tonnage of Japanese shipping. The defective torpedoes not only discouraged the submariners, who found that a daring attack was rewarded only by a savage counterattack of depth charges, but it enabled the enemy to bring his full strength to bear on the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. The small number of ships sunk in those early
proportion to the opportunities presented and torpedoes fired. Thirteen defective torpedoes out of thirteen fired by the Sargo (Lieutenant Commander Tyrrell D.
all

until they still back in

days was out of

Jacobs) was no isolated case. At last Admiral Lockwood refused any longer to accept the

28

BATTLE SUBMERGED

impractical advice and instructions sent by Bureau of Ordnance experts and decreed that the Silent Service should solve
its

and the Bureau's! Two torpedoes were fired against the low-hanging cliffs on Kahoolawe, Hawaii. The one that didn't explode was taken back to the Submarine Base for examination and the faulty pin mechanism which should have been discovered over two years before was uncovered. Without any more ado the submarine tender personnel turned to on all exploder mechanisms. When the next boat started out on patrol there was a new light in the eyes of the personnel. The confidence that had started to wane in December, 1941, had returned. But a dismaying number of Japanese ships had safely delivered
thousands of men, thousands of tons of munitions, past the impotent tubes of our submarines in those months.

own problems

Seagoing Scarlet Pimpernels. Evacuation and Supply

SPIRITING away escaped prisoners and refugees from under

the noses of an

enemy to the safety of English shores, is a story that has been enacted in France many times, since before the days of the French Revolution and through World War II. In the last war the airplane introduced a swifter, more certain method of rescue behind the lines, and a more efficacious

way of delivering stores, equipment, and men to the bands of patriots who elected to continue the fight inside enemy-held territory. When D-Day finally came to Normandy Beach much
groundwork for the invasion had been laid by the courageous French people whose faith we had kept alive durof the

ing the dark years. But there were

complications to the problem of aiding resistance groups in the Pacific. In Europe the sympathies of most of the conquered people had remained
Allies,

many more

with the

and, since they lived in highly developed

29

30

BATTLE SUBMERGED

countries, they had the means as well as the spirit with which to fight back on their own. In the Pacific, the more primitive

peoples not only had practically nothing with which to fight, but most of them were uncertain that they should. We had to

do something concrete and demonstrative to convince the doubtful that there was no truth in the propaganda that Japanese had liberated them from servitude to the foreigners. "Asia for the Asiatics" was a slogan that had lots of appeal to people who had resented the exploiting white man for many years, although the Japanese soon themselves became our
best argument because of their barbaric conduct. Important, too, we had to restore the "face/* so precious to Asiatics, that we had lost when the enemy overran the
Philip-

pines and the southwest Pacific with such apparent ease. felt our responsibility to the Filipinos most keenly because

We
we

had guaranteed their freedom and independence. It was hard for them to believe that the all-powerful Americans could be vanquished so quickly, but they had seen it happen before
their eyes. And the Japanese inability to protect the

made
way.

a point of emphasizing our

Philippines

by humiliating

their

white

captives in every outrageous

course, we were confident that we would eventually de7 feat the Japanese and restore the Filipinos liberty. In fact, when General MacArthur uttered his famous promise, "I will

Of

he was simply voicing the feeling of people, but it needed more than promises to
return,"

all

the American

keep the flame of

resistance alight in the jungle camps of the guerrillas. the of the South Pacific needed certainly people

And

more than mere words to convince them that the once powerful Americans would never cease in their efforts to drive the enemy out of their countries. There had to be some tangible
evidence of our sincerity and determination. So it was decided to organize, arm, and maintain the defiant

something

little resistance groups that had formed throughout the islands from the scattered Philippine forces. These guerrilla bands

SEAGOING SCARLET PIMPERNELS

31

would have to be well-trained in jungle warfare, and equipped to strike at the Japs with such fury that they would give the impression of a force many times their actual number. In addition to the arms and training, food would have to be
provided not only for these groups but for the civilians denied who had taken to rations by the enemy. Furthermore, patriots the hills because a price had been put on their heads would have to be spirited away to safety. After the first days, our Army Air Force in the Philippines

had been

obliterated,

and we knew that many months would

pass before carrier planes could reach the islands. So, unlike Europe, where we could use aircraft based on England, some

had to be found to help the people in the Philipand other islands in the Pacific. But what, and the pines where? Submarines were the only American ships on the offensive in enemy waters. And although we didn't have many submarines, even for the essential work of sinking Japanese shipping, here was a mission of greater importance than firing torpedoes. Many lives would depend upon the ability of the submarines to deliver supplies to the guerrillas and rescue fugitives from the wrath of the Japanese; literally thousands of lives were at stake; not only the lives of those immediately helped but also the lives of our own troops when they should return to liberate the islands. For by keeping aflame the torch
other means
of hope,

we

could depend upon the help of the inhabitants

when we
make

"returned/*
as

January and February, 1942, the subs began to runs between Australia and Corregidor. The Seaferry wolf, Trout, Seadragon, and Permit carried in tons of badly

As early

needed anti-aircraft ammunition, medical supplies, and food., and carried out evacuated personnel. By way of variety, Mike
Fenno, in the Trout, took as part of his evacuation load the gold and silver from the Philippine Treasury, and many United States State Department documents. Then, to show

32

BATTLE SUBMERGED
still

that a submarine even with such a treasure aboard could

carry on her war routine, he took her to Pearl Harbor through Empire waters, where he torpedoed and sank two enemy
ships.

The

enemy
to

Swordfish, distinguished for having sunk the first ship in the war, toward the end of December began

sandwich "V.I.P." evacuations in between destruction of enemy vessels as she steamed back and forth between Corregidor and Australia. On December 31 she transported Captain John Wilkes and his staff to Soerabaya, Java, where Captain Wilkes set up an operational submarine command. That mission completed, the Swordfish began to work her way back to Corregidor again, highlighting her patrol with a daring penetration of Lembeh Strait at Kema to sink an enemy
ship at anchor.

Before slipping past the Japanese ships that were making a vigorous effort to isolate Corregidor from the outside world, Lieutenant Commander C. C. Smith heard that his next

evacuees would really be "top

President Manuel

flight/'

They were Philippine

they

Quezon and

his party of nine. After

safely aboard, the Swordfish eased her way past the Japanese patrol once more and two days later landed her

were

important passengers at San Jose, Panay, in the southern

Philippines,

where President Quezon and

his party

boarded

an

Army bomber to be flown to Australia.

Two days later the Stoordfish was back alongside the pier at Corregidor to carry out the second part of her mission another batch of evacuees, the Commissioner of the
High
long fraught with many perils. The subs continued to run the ever-tightening blockade to land stores at and evacuate personnel until Corregidor, resistance ended in May, 1942. Not a submarine failed to land her passengers at their destination.
safely

Philippines, Mr. Francis B. Sayre, his wife, and ten others. This time their destination was Fremantle, Australia, a road

SEAGOING SCARLET PIMPERNELS

Then, with the
fall of

33

the Philippines, came the even more dangerous task of actively supplying the scattered bands of with the means to fight: ammunition, weapons, guerrillas
food, clothing,
life, communication and even for of the gold enemy that could be any equipment,

and other

necessities of

bought.

Famous

resistance leaders like

Major

I.

A. Villamoor and

Colonel Abacede, who operated extensively on Negros, Colonel Fertig on Mindanao, and Colonel Kanglean on Leyte, were

aided by United States Naval and Army officers, notably Lieutenant Commander Charles Parsons, USNR, and Captain J. A.

Hammer, USA. They embodied

the courageous spirit that aroused the determination of the Filipino people to be of every assistance when MacArthur carried out his promise to

return.

These intrepid leaders organized and trained an estimated 65,000 jungle fighters to carry on an unceasing battle against the enemy. They also provided invaluable information
to those planning the recapture of the Philippines. But this ever-growing cankerous sore in the side of the

Japanese brought their dire vengeance upon the heads of

townspeople after the guerrilla raids. Frustrated, maddened, enemy troops took revenge on the civil population, whom they accused of collaboration. Very often, however, bands of harassed civilians took to the brush, preferring to die of starvation than at the cruel hands of the Japs. Whenever guerrilla scouts discovered such a group of civilians in dire circumstances a communication was sent to Commander Submarines. In March, 1944, a group of twenty United States citizens, number later raised to fifty, was holed up on Panay and unless they could be evacuated very little hope was held for their lives. They were absolutely destitute. Even their food had been reduced to what they could scrounge from the bushes and trees. Admiral Lockwood's finger moved across his operation chart until it hovered over an area near the north coast of Panay. The Angler, under Commander Robert I. (Swede)
the

34

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Olsen, should be able to handle the situation, he decided. That night a radio dispatch told the Angler about the group

and she was directed to take the refugees to Darwin. All was quiet in the little inlet on the north coast of Panay where tall trees on the beach cast their shadows on dark waters, when, a few miles off the fringe of palms, a darker shadow moved below the sea. Then silently a black-bellied craft slowly rose to the surface. In a few minutes a tall officer
the beach ahead. peered cautiously through his binoculars at slanted eyes now dark even and hands in was enemy Panay from the direction in to sea out might be eagerly peering

which a rescue ship could be expected instead of the hopeful ones the sub was looking for. A radio message is not strictly it and we were fighting a clever personal. Anyone can catch enemy. A trap was always possible, True, none of our boats had been destroyed in a venture like this but in a few instances they had been forced to fight their way to safety. Before daybreak the skipper had closed the bridge hatch and once more the dark shadow slipped along beneath the
surface as the Angler quietly moved in toward the beach. Cautious periscope observations showed nothing suspicious in any of the actions of the people who could be seen moving

about back of the line of trees on the beach at 9:00 A.M.

little later

the proper recognition signals by hanging a studied conglomeration of wearing apparel from the trees, a signal which must have reduced most of the refugees

they made

be free and above board. But Swede Olsen was perfectly aware that the enemy, who had been balked so many times, would go to any lengths to trap
a submarine.

to a state of complete nudity. So far everything appeared to

He decided to wait until sunset to reveal the sub-

marine's presence. In the meantime, he kept a sharp lookout the to detect through periscope any suspicious move,

Surfacing after dusk, the crew went to battle stations, surface. Then, with the decks almost awash, the Angler moved

SEAGOING SCARLET PIMPERNELS

in slowly to within 1,000 yards of the shore first move of the people on the beach.

35

and awaited the

From

the deep shadows of the shore a small banca stood

one passenger courtly, gray-haired, and emaciated Colonel Garcia. After expressing his deep gratitude for the presence of the submarine, he asked anxiously, "We
out. It contained

now have fifty-eight evacuees, Captain, instead of the fifty last

reported. Is it possible to take fear they will die if left here."

them

all

in your small ship?

Without hesitation the skipper answered, "Yes, of course. We will take all of them." Then he added with a wry smile, "A submarine is anything but a luxury liner, but we'll do everything we can to make them comfortable. You may be
sure of that/'

"May God

bless you, Captain/'

murmured

the Colonel

gratefully. "To get our f amilies out of this hell, any further hardships could be endured and enjoyed. We have lived like animals and been hunted like wild beasts. I will have them here within the hour/' he promised before stepping into his

banca.

In
six

less

than an hour

all

passengers,

which included twentyDarwin,

women and children, were aboard. The Angler came about

to sea for the twelve-day passage to

and stood out

Australia.

The following extracts from the

Skipper's patrol reports are

ample evidence that the trip was anything but physically pleasant, for the passengers were advanced candidates for a hospital, all suffering from exposure and malnutrition. "The
entire ship's

company was berthed

in the after battery

.
.

com-

men and partment, except for torpedo watch standers lived in after and children in women boys torpedo room,
.

forward torpedo room, C.P.O. quarters were inhabited by one woman with a two-month-old baby, one pregnant woman (eight months), one seriously ill girl (worms, temperature 104 degrees ) and two elderly women. Ship was immediately

36

BATTLE SUBMERGED

infested with cockroaches, body lice and hair lice. A large ulcers plus an odor percentage of the passengers had tropical

that

was unique

of prolonged ing from lacerated feet

All passengers showed signs undernourishment. All passengers were sufferin

its intensity.

due

to the long

barkation point without footgear. watch. Two temporarily insane, requiring a twenty-four-hour meals a day with soup at 2400 [midnight] was put in effect at once since it was apparent the ship did not have enough

emOne male passenger was

march

to the

food aboard for a full three meals a day. Passengers ate raventhe ship food was ously from their arrival until they left rationed until the night before our arrival at Darwin. Habitthe 'Black Hole ability forward of the control room resembled urinatfrom resulted children of Calcutta, a condition which

ing and spitting on the decks, body odors and forty-seven persons sleeping forward of the control room. In spite of a
constant watch at the head
[toilet] it

proved impossible to

teach our passengers the proper use of this article after two years in the hills." Anyone who has not flushed the toilet in a
lacks one great adventure in life. One of the highlights listed in the Angler report was, "One for the book was the sight of a two-year-old, half-Filipino boy
still

submerged submarine

smoking (and inhaling) a cigar between gulps which he was receiving at his mother's breast."

of his dinner

The skipper especially commended Pharmacist's Class Lee Marten Neidlinger, USNR, for his

Mate First outstanding work

which contributed materially to successfully landing all passengers at Darwin. "Doc" had a busy time of it for just about twenty-four hours each day and became especially expert
in the treatment of onslaughts Early in March the

most eastern of the nese tide was rising steadily during the early months of 1942 and everyone thought that the easy conquest of New Guinea might encourage an immediate strike toward Australia, at

by body vermin. Japanese army overflowed Timor, the Netherlands East Indies chain. The Japa-

SEAGOING SCABLET PIMPERNELS

that time in

37

Australians

no position to offer an effective resistance. The had made a brave attempt to stem the Jap horde that landed on Timor but they were too few. Those who weren't killed or captured took to the hills and bided their time. With the aid of the natives they had enough food to keep from starving, while they hopefully schemed the capture of a small sailing craft to take them across the Timor Sea to
Australia.

party of thirty-three under the able leadership of Lieutenant Flight Bryan Rofe had managed to evade the enemy searching parties who were methodically combing each village for several weeks. Thanks to advance warnings from the natives, Rofe and his party had always managed to keep clear, although sometimes by scant yards. Then a message, sent by the leader of the Japanese searchers, brought a wry smile to their gaunt faces.

One

"To the Australian and Dutch officers and men," the message read. "The war is over. N.E.L [The Netherlands East Indies] fell in our hand in succession. On March 9th. all Allied Forces surrendered to us with out any conditions. On Timor Island about 1,100 Australians and 100 Dutch soldiers under Lt. Col. Legatt and Detiger did the same. "They are enjoying life and awaiting for you being supplied with bread meat and fresh vegetables. Your movement and
present location are reported to us through RAJAHS. If you continue fighting against us, there's no way but to conquer
you. So come to us with this information and await for the return of peace with your friends. Japanese Army, March 14

'42"
their only consolation that they were still free although their chances of staying free seemed slimmer

With

men,
each

day, the Australians clung stubbornly to their determination to find a way to escape and get home, even though the news

from Australia on

their small field radio

On April 15 they received

their

first

from good. ray of hope. That day

was

far

38

BATTLE SUBMERGED

the treasured radio ticked out a message from Darwin that

made them forget the horrors of being hunted like wild beasts
from village to village and spending days on end in the bush. A United States submarine, they heard, would be close inshore at a point four miles south of Point Kurus for five nights com-

mencing April 13. When sea conditions permitted, rescue would be attempted. Then the recognition signals were given.

The message concluded

to accomplish rescue
if

with, "Submarine boat will be used no native boats are available. You will

Acknowledge." God," they ejaculated in unison. "The submarine is already there and two precious days have been wasted!" The stronger of the feeble, emaciated men immediately started helping the weaker members to commence the arduous trek to

be landed

at Fremantle, Australia.

"My

the rendezvous.

On the evening of April 11 the Searaven, cruising on the west coast of Timor, had been directed to rescue, the Australian soldiers. The skipper, Lieutenant Commander Hiram Cassedy, was warned that the Australians were using a code of doubtful security and that every precaution should be taken
against possible surprise attack while attempting rescue. Commander Cassedy describes his arrival off the coast and

down west coast of landmarks during daylight, made a survey of available material and equipment and discovered that practically all boat equipment had been turned in to the
preparations for the rescue: "Cruised

Timor and

identified

tender as part of the 'strip ship program/ Also learned that the motor boat engine had not been run since the outbreak of the war. Manufactured one pair of oars from a two by four used to shore the cargo and an ammunition crate. Also manufactured four paddles from ammunition crates. Manufactured an anchor by using a piece of two inch brass pipe as the shank, two pieces of half inch stock as arms and a burned up piston
lashed to the stock to give more weight." After making periscope observations of beach during the

SEAGOING SCARLET PIMPERNELS

39

day on April 13 the Searaven surfaced at 7:00 P.M. "Stationed machine gunners to guard against possible interference from small boats. Noted lights on beach at rendezvous. Commenced rigging boat and had trouble with engine. Signalled beach and received a light of thirty seconds duration each time the letters Sail Roger were sent. Took this to be the stranded party. At 2300 we had given up hope of starting the engine so the ship maneuvered at right angles to the beach until a six fathom sounding was obtained and a boat was
lowered.

We then sent 'SIT to the beach, received almost im-

mediately an answering signal and sent a message saying boat was on the way in. We noted signals from electric lights playing back and forth between spots on two high mountains in Recalled boat after failure on part of both the interior.
.

boat and ship to establish communications again after having sent signal that boat was on the way in,"

What Hiram Cassedy

still up in the was anywhere

didn't

know was

hills

completely unaware

that the party was that the submarine

in the vicinity. When questioned later about the apparently correct recognition lights Lieutenant Bryan

"The presence of correct signaling from the beach is mystifying and I can only ascribe it to a periodic freak of the large surf cutting out fishing fires on the beach. The posiRofe
said,

tion of lights as indicated at night."

by you

are

common fishing grounds

His explanation for a group of four men mounted on horseback and another party of three men afoot they had seen approach the rendezvous and then disappear into the brush at just about the rendezvous point on Tuesday was: "The horsemen and men were probably natives bringing us food and information concerning the Jap movements." On Tuesday night, Ensign George C. Cook, USNR, and his party from the submarine had again encountered apparitions ashore. This time even the Australian lieutenant could not
explain their presence.

The skipper

describes that event:

40

BATTLE SUBMERGED

"2050 noted reflection of a campfire on the beach a little south of the rendezvous point. Signalled (SR) and within two minutes received an answering signal from a point a little to the northward of the campfire. Sent boat in to this point to beach to this effect Received anpick up party and signalled after completion of this message. beach the flash from swering off the surf and attempted to the boat anchored Ensign Cook with someone ashore. Failing in this he get in communication swam ashore and approached a campfire near the beach. Here he noted about twelve men standing around. When within he turned his flashlight upon twenty-five yards of the campfire himself and shouted, at which all hands near the fire scattered. He searched the surrounding area for about an hour and then
contact. He was told reported he had been unable to make to return aboard and in the meantime an effort was made to contact the beach again from the ship with no success."

During the early morning of Wednesday, April 15, the signals from the beach were resumed and the skipper was beginning to wonder who was trying to fool whom! "The Commanding Officer became very suspicious of the whole
proceeding. After a careful study of orders for the rescue it was decided that a report of the difficulties experienced was in order, due to suspicious signals noted and the likelihood of
the Australian code being compromised." When the Australians finally did reach the rendezvous late in the day of April 15, the submarine was nowhere to be seen.
to the south of Kurus to charge batand explain the situation to Commander Submarines, The skipper also wanted a little time to see if he could figure out the answers to some of the peculiar things that had occurred. Commander Submarines directed them to return to Timor and continue attempts Friday and Saturday nights. Before getting under way the skipper told Commander Submarines that they were receiving the proper signals from the beach so it was feared that the Australians were entering a
teries

The Searaven had gone

SEAGOING SCARLET PIMPERNELS

trap.

41

Then

the Searaven set course for Point Kuras.

to prove

Someone
it

was crazy and the skipper was anxious Hiram Cassedy!

wasn't

Late the next afternoon, while the Searaven was submerged a mile off the rendezvous, seven horsemen and three pack horses were seen approaching four men afoot who had already reached the beach. The skipper could find nothing suspicious about their appearance. If they weren't the previous ghosts they should be Australians he hoped. Everyone looking
through the periscope agreed unanimously that what they saw was not a mirage. If it were, they'd better pack up and go home. At 7:00 P.M. the Searaven surfaced. "Observed a bombing raid on Kupang. The planes seemed to be doing an excellent job. There were a few bursts of what appeared to be about 3-inch anti-aircraft shells. There seemed to be about twenty to twenty-five Bofors firing almost continuously. Observed blinking light on Kurus. Made characters 'AIM' three times to
seaward." This time the light was so bright and definite that after messages were exchanged the skipper asked the Australians to turn out the light until boat reached them. It was a

beacon that could have drawn every enemy for miles around. It took two nights to evacuate the Australians completely and then they succeeded only because of the courageous efforts of Ensign George Cook. (He was later awarded a Navy Cross. ) The first night he swam out from the boat and saved two of the Australians from drowning. They had been coming out through the surf on a line without life jackets. Getting off the remainder of the men on the second night was a nightmare. After anchoring the boat Ensign Cook took one of the unconscious men out through the surf and put him into the boat, while L. B. Markesen, 2c, USN, and J. L. made SM several USN, Ic, McGrievy, trips to the beach and men the surf assisting others. rescuing drowning through After delivering this group to the submarine the boat returned

QM

42
to
its

BATTLE SUBMERGED

former anchorage. But this time the boat's anchor line parted and the heavy boat was thrown ashore despite the
crew's efforts to prevent it. However, once more through the heroic labors of Ensign Cook and the boat crew, the seemingly

impossible was achieved. They put two unconscious men and two more who were too weak to sit up in the boat, then with

the assistance of two of the strongest members of the party still ashore the crew launched it successfully through the surf

and returned to the submarine. All hands drew a grateful breath when the Searaven backed clear and headed down to Darwin.

finally

4
Reconnaissance*

NO MAJOR landing is ever attempted without trying to ascertain everything possible about the place to be invaded. Any misleading knowledge of the difficulties to be overcome is

worse than no knowledge at all, and the defenders, alert to the fact, do their best to conceal the truth and make falsehood convincing. To be of real value the information must contain
a typographical picture of the contour of the terrain, the state of tide and sea that can be expected on D-day, and any possible unobstructed routes to the beach for landing craft. To

must be added an analysis of the man-made defenses that be encountered, fortifications to be leveled, mined waters to be swept or made safe by underwater demolition crews. Gun emplacements on the beach have to be carefully noted as targets for the prelanding bombardment. The depth of the beach defense, the flexibility and size of the enemy reserves, and what camouflage hides their positions have to be accurately ascertained, and of course, the size of the enemy force
this

will

* United States submarines made sixty-two special reconnaissance missions, fourteen of which were photo reconnaissance.

43

44

BATTLE SUBMERGED

that can be expected as a reception committee. Information on the enemy's lines of communication with other sectors and reinforcements of men and munitions is to his
ability procure also of importance.

Naturally the

enemy does not

issue a tourist-bureau bro-

chure containing this information, and very seldom do prewar sources produce anything more than a general picture of the natural defenses of the island. So the information required to wartime landings on unfriendly beaches had to be
prior

painfully gathered

by our own

devices.

is Unquestionably, a superior method of reconnaissance with aerial photography. A complete set of clear aerial pictures makes it possible for a commander to visualize accu-

and harassing planes rately the obstacles his bombarding ships will have to liquidate provided the enemy has not been clever to important installations so well that they

enough

camouflage

are photographically undetectable. There were very compelling reasons

move back

connaissance was not attempted across the Pacific, particularly in the early phases at .Guadalcanal, and the island strongholds in the Marshall and Gilbert and Caroline groups. Our fields were too far away

why the ideal air rewhen we were planning our

for land-based planes to make the round trips and we didn't have enough escort ships to protect our carriers, so the Navy's planes were out. But even use of either aircraft would have

been a mistake. The concentration of a numerous reconnaissance in an area offering so wide a choice of feasible targets would have disclosed to the enemy exactly where we intended to strike. Surprise was one of the most important factors in our plans. It was the only element of warfare of which we had all

we could use.
but
it

anything landing more costly. If we saved the surprise until just before landing day to be revealed only when the battleships and
cruisers

Surprise not only gave us the initial advantage to make the prevented the enemy from doing

and destroyers poured in tons of high explosive

shells

RECONNAISSANCE
and

45

impossible at the right time.

carrier planes unloaded hundreds of bombs, we made it for the foe to concentrate strength in the right place

the Navy's earlier success in carrying General MacArthur to striking distance of the Philippines was our ability to keep the Japs confused about our next
thrust, so that they

Much of

where on

scatter their strength everythe overextended perimeter of their conquests.

were forced to

The one way

for the essential information to

be obtained

without the knowledge of the enemy was through a submarine periscope. Like so many other phases of the work the subs were called upon to perform during the war this, too, had to be developed from the bare germ of an idea. Little attention

had been given

to submarine reconnaissance during

prewar days. In fact, very few people had even considered the likelihood of such a mission and certainly not as a primary task for the underwater craft. The idea quickly branched into a trident to be thrust into

were committed

the Japs' secret places, a three-pronged probe. The submarines to make visual reconnaissance through periscope, photographic through periscope, and to send men ashore for reconnaissance by landing party. The hitch in that

scheme was that our submarines were not equipped with cameras that could do periscope work. They didii't even have cameras capable of taking militarily useful pictures to be of any value to any landing operation, including their own. That, however, was a remediable lack, and Lieutenant Commander Lewis S. Parks had a homemade cure which would do till a better one could be devised. In command of the Pompano, he was en route from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor when the war broke. Parks needed no blacksnake whip for his crew to "pour on the oil" so Pearl Harbor could be reached with all possible speed as the first step to the war zone. On December 18 the Pompano was ready. She steamed out of the Channel on her first war patrol, en route to an area that included Wake and the Marshall Islands: mission, sink Jap

46

BATTLE SUBMERGED

so Parks had instructions to ships, of course; but while doing find out all possible information on Jap installations, air strips

and incidental intelligence. Our information on the islands mandated to Japan was negligible. When only a few days out, Lew Parks received a dispatch to reconinforming him that his primary mission was changed now was one number His Let the naissance. job Jap ships go. to make a and cruisers were going reporting. Our carriers the Marshalls and Gilberts retaliatory hit-and-run strike on
the just to disillusion

the United States

enemy of any ideas they entertained that Navy had gone down for the count on
This was right

December 7.

Lew Parks grinned.

down his

alley.

Actually

he was already a big jump ahead of Commander Submarines Pacific. A photo fiend, he had been experimenting right along with his own camera. Aided by the machine shops at the Submarine Base, he had rigged a camera holder to use on a periscope. Parks had believed for a long time that there was a great future in periscope photography, but scarcity of money

during the prewar days kept the services on short rations for essentials, let alone such dubious experiments as taking pictures from a submerged submarine. Everyone insisted that
the main mission of submarines was to find better ways of making their torpedoes hit enemy ships, which was true

enough at the time. Pearl Harbor had altered all that. Lew had more than a chance to try out some of his theories. Now he was compelled to give them the acid test, under real service conditions, and no time for leisurely experiment. But while the Pompano was outward bound, still just a short distance from Pearl Harbor, Lew Parks's theories came within
a camera's click of never being tested, at least by him. They were steaming peacefully along, not expecting trouble while they were still in Hawaiian waters, when a United States

Navy patrol bomber spotted the Pompano. With the events of the fortnight before vividly in mind Japanese submarines

RECONNAISSANCE

47

the pilot untheir bombers did got to Pearl Harbor before loaded his bombs on the Pompano and then hightailed over the horizon to tell the eager pilots on the Enterprise the good news that a nice, fat target awaited them,
of pilot's disregard three come hightailplanes recognition signals their ing it over the horizon with no intention to apologize for

Lew

Parks swallowed his rage at the

when he saw

comrade's error. It was very plain that they were suffering from the same delusion, that the Pompano was one of Hirohito's nasty fleet, and Parks was presently too busy saving his
ship to exchange repartee. The three carrier pilots who dove so enthusiastically on the Pompano were among those that hadn't gotten the word that

American submarines were alone carrying on the war with Japan until the rest of the country could catch up with them. Happily, the bombers were more eager than accurate, although one close miss caused a leak in a fuel tank,
trail of oil

letting a

ribbon out astern of the

Pompano

for other planes

vessels to spot. In the end, though, the worst that happened to the Pompano s men was to receive a good shaking-up;

and

was

barely to escape death at the hands of one of our own planes at least valuable training in what they could expect by

way of occupational hazard. Once they were west of Midway they knew they could take it for granted that there would be no more "friendly" planes. From here on it was open season
on anything that floated, flew, or rested on an island, and, by the same token, they would be a fair mark for anybody who could spot them and shoot first.

The Pompano spent the early days of January in the area near Wake. Things had quieted down there since the tempestuous days of December. The enemy was now feverishly digging in, preparing for the day when we would try to take it
back. It never entered his

mind

that

we

wouldn't

try,

but to

the Jap's methodical mind it didn't occur that we wouldn't try by nibbling at the perimeter but would split the stolen Empire

48

BATTLE SUBMERGED

up

the back, leaving huge areas to die a lingering death on the vine. Wake could wait under surveillance. now our plans lay elsewhere. They concerned the

Right romantic Marshalls, the twin chain of beautiful tropic islands to the south that the Japanese had claimed as loot from World War I. Admiral Halsey's carriers and cruisers were planning a lightning raid on the rich but dangerous atolls toward the
last of January,

and they wanted to leave their calling cards where they would do the most good to the Allies, and the most

harm to the Japs. The Marshalls and

line

the farther Carolines were athwart the

States

between the United

and the area north of

Australia from which our forces planned to begin the bold march to Tokyo Bay right up the middle of the overextended

Empire. Short of everything, we couldn't afford to waste time, money, or ships beating up an uninhabited island. So Lew Parks was to make a careful reconnaisance of the Marshalls, starting

with Bikar at the north of the Radak Chain

past Wotje, Maloelap, Majuro and the Ralik Chain (western group) from up along His mission was to locate, from the Jaluit past Kwajalein. the more sea, important Japanese installations and concentra(eastern group)
Mili, then

down

to choose

tions to give the Navy the largest possible number of targets from in case weather or other obstacles made

any

too risky to reach.

But during all of this reconnaissance work Lew Parks wasn't hampered by any prohibition against using a few of his torpedoes if the arose. His only restriction opportunity in a against joining shooting war was that it must not
jeop-

primary mission. While he was conducting a daylight submerged reconnaissance patrol off Wotje on January 11, adding more notes to his growing collection and taking pictures with the homemade camera, he spotted several ships at anchor inside the big lagoon about one mile west of the island. Small
ships

ize his

RECONNAISSANCE

49

had been seen on the visit before, but what made this view exciting was a large auxiliary, the Yawata Mara, and a worthwhile target in any league. The enemy had the anchored ships pretty well tucked in, and since the sub could not sprout wings, they were safe so
long as they stayed in the harbor. The only recourse Parks's Pompano had, then, was to continue reconnaissance patiently and discreetly until the "Yawata Maru put out to sea.

While working around in the maze

of reefs

and

atolls

patrol boat of about 1,300 tons placed herself invitingly about 600 yards from the torpedoes of the Pompano. "Shall we bop him, Captain?" eagerly asked Slade Cutter,
his executive officer.

"No, not just now/' decided

tion. "If

we

sink this fellow

Lew after a second's now well tip em off

?

hesitato our

presence and probably lose that big fellow in the harbor. After we chop down the big one we'll work on the others/' So back they went to the tedious job of mapping and snooping, dull business for a shooting ship.

But the very next morning excitement boiled through the boat. The sound operator reported evidence of a large propellered ship under way. From her circling patrol off Schischmaren Strait, three miles from the reef, Pompano prepared to belay snapshots and to fire her first war-headed torpedo. It was like telling a group of starving men they could at last sit down to the banquet they had been eying out of reach. The target loomed up as big as a house as she steamed majestically down the lane to an invisible doom, with no idea that the slightest danger awaited. In the next minute four torpedoes removed her permanently from the merchant marine roster, and Lew Parks had the satisfaction of bringing the war to the Japs himself, as well as acting as a guide to
Halsey's
fleet.

That one hard, thumping blow

tolerable for the

at the

enemy made

Pompano

to turn to again, to collect

more more of
it

50

BATTLE SUBMERGED

the information that the Boss at Pearl Harbor was yelling for, such information, for example, as the news that a great
building

going on in Taroa Island (south of and warehouses galore were gobarracks Majuro ) Hangars, the United ing up to provide Japan with means to sever
.

boom was

States-Australia

life

line.

Now

they were carefully ear-

marked for the pilots in the Enterprise and Yorktown. The Pompano hadn't completely performed her mission without detection. Several times she had been shaken up by depth charges, and all hands wondered at the mysterious
ability of the Japs to detect the submarine.

How

did they

Did the enemy have such superior sonar and radar equipment? Then it was discovered that the bombings suffered from the United States Navy planes had caused the
do
it?

leaks that

the boat trailing a telltale spoor of oil wherever she went. Only a combination of luck and Japanese overconleft

fidence enabled the

Pompano

to return intact to Pearl

Harbor

with the information vital to Halsey's success.

The information she collected proved invaluable during the carrier raid. She had also demonstrated that a submarine
could do an excellent photographic job through her periscope.
precise equipment, much greater and more detailed information than even Parks's priceless haul of equipment

With

could be had.

Camera work was not the only unanticipated chore to which the versatile submarines were assigned. One was
the unlikely task of weather forecasting. Five United States subs in the Atlantic (Shad, Barb, Gunnel, Herring, and Blackfish) were used not only for reconnaissance in preparation for the North African invasion in November, 1942, but -they furnished valuable weather reports and acted as beacon
ships off the

Moroccan ports
off

of Casablanca, Fedala, Safi,

and

Mehdia, and

Dakar.

And

in the Pacific the Thresher (Lieutenant

Commander

RECONNAISSANCE

51

W.

L. Anderson) checked up on the weather off the Empire Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April, 1942, and the prior to the

Paddle (Commander Robert H. Rice)

1943, off

did the same in

the Gilberts before Operation Galvanic. November, The Thresher and Paddle were the only ones used just to
report the weather. Usually these reports were gathered while carrying out a reconnaissance, either by periscope or

by landing party.
There were three main types of reconnaissance by landing
party: of landing party, by quesand sometimes a combination of both. In the last year of the war, when our planes were roaming all over the war zone, some of them reported strange doings on Woody Island, one of the Paracels in the South China Sea. The French tricolor had been seen flying from one of the buildings on the island. A French flag there didn't make sense. But it was so odd that the authorities decided the matter should be investigated. Was it some deviously devised enemy trap or a defiant outpost of French resistance? The Fargo (Lieutenant Commander D. B. Bell) was as-

by personal observation

tioning natives,

signed the job of carrying a reconnaissance party to solve the problem. If there were really some French patriots

stranded there, she would attempt to evacuate them. If it was a ruse well, the Pargo didn't need to have anyone to

draw a diagram of action for her! The reconnaissance party consisted

of the ace Australian

I. Jinkins, AIF, and Warrant AIF. These two Chew, busy Commandos were not unfamiliar with submarines. Both had just finished an intelligence job from which they were being returned aboard the J7.S.S. Flounder, so a rendezvous was made at sea and a transfer from one sub to another effected.

Commando, Major William

Officer Alec

February
naissance of

4,

was spent making a submerged reconA number of buildings, old and Woody
1945,
Island.

52

BATTLE SUBMERGED

new, were sighted, among them a radio tower and weather station. A score of men were counted along the beach, but the submarine could not go close enough to identify them racially. One fact was definitely established. The aviators had really seen the French tricolor. The flag now stood out in bold relief from a flagpole in front of a large building. The surf was so heavy that night that a landing was out of the question, so the next day was spent in further reconnaissance which heightened the suspicion there was something definitely phony about the setup. By midnight the seas had abated enough to permit a landing. Jinkins and

Chew shoved off for the beach in their rubber canoe. Communication was to be maintained by walkie-talkie. At 0620, following the break of day, the shore reconnaissance commenced. The
first

indication the Australian

was enemy-occupied was the Robinson Crusoe fashion, of footprints made by discovery, Jap split-toed sandals on the beach. Dog prints were now discovered, and just to prove it was no figment of their imagination the dog itself whirled into view. Crisis! The newcomer, a cross between an Alsatian and an Airedale, was as welcome as a Bengal tiger. But fortunately he was neither
island

team found that the

suspicious nor belligerent. He approached to within fifty yards of the flustered Commandos, and stood there, one

paw

he eyed them for a second a bloody long second, Jinkins reported it to have been. His mild curiosity overcome by more important business, the dog then scampered down to the jetty to a man who had appeared and join was preparing to tend fish lines. Binoculars were focused on him at a distance of 150 yards. It didn't require a second
lifted, sniffing as

glance to guess his identity

a Japanese marine!

That unquestionably answered the query about the reason, if not the propriety, of flying French colors, decided Jinkins! It was a trap, and not an artful one. As soon as the Com-

mandos regained the Pargo the skipper

called the

gun crews.

RECONNAISSANCE

53

Then and
again.

there they

made

certain that
fly

French or otherwise, would

no colors, imitation from any of those buildings

When the Hawkbill (Commander Frank W. Scanland, Jr.) was given the assignment of bringing out natives from Tanhelan, Anambas, and Natuna Island in the South China Sea to question them about enemy installations, the redoubtable Australian Jinkins again headed the landing detail. With him were three more Aussies and one British officer. Jinkins and his men cluttered the topside of the Hawkbill
with about thirty assorted natives collected at Terampah Town, the center of population of the Anambas. This motley crowd was composed of dirty, ragged men, women, and children, many suffering from advanced cases of yaws and
pharmacist's mate rendered

engendered by malnutrition. While the all aid and comfort possible, interpreters tried to elicit information from them, which all
other
ailments

boiled
officers

down

to the fact that the naval garrison of seventy

and men had hightailed to the hills that morning when the disturbing word had been received that near-by Jenga had been shelled by an American warship (the Hawkbill's own passing handiwork ) This simplified things considerably and the submarine steamed into the harbor. Augmented by ten bluejackets, the Jinkins party set to work ashore. After firing 300 drums of gasoline and confiscating quantities of documents, equipment, and the inevitable souvenirs, the party raised the Stars and Stripes over the Jap compound at 3:00 P.M. One Indian prisoner of war from the 215 Punjab Regiment, captured at Singapore in 1942, was liberated and taken
.

aboard.
native population of 3,000 persons had not been idle during the absence of their former masters, either. They

The

had been doing more than a

little

"evacuating" on their own.

54

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Apparently the Japs had left in a hurry, judging from the half-consumed breakfast setup in the mess halls. At 4:00 P.M. Skipper Scanland decided that there was no point in pushing luck too far. "Acting on intuition and a lucky hunch we sounded the ship's whistle/' he related. "This was the prearranged signal for the immediate return of the landing party. Put an end to swimming call (we had been swimming over the side in the crystal clear water all day) and by 1610 all hands were aboard and we started out of
the harbor."

Then,

just thirty

three Jakes over

later, he recorded. "Sighted Harbor heading for us. SubTerampah

minutes

merged. What guardian angel looks after submarines?" When they arrived once more in Brunei, Borneo (where
the expedition had started), who should the Indian prisoner of war meet ashore but his long-lost brother whom he had not seen since the fall of Singapore. He had been a prisoner
until the liberation of Brunei.

Commander Submarines had proposed to explore further the possibilities of periscope photography as soon as a submarine was available for the experiment.
His eyes soon settled on the Nautilus, that submarine "of many parts" which had already embarked on a career of
special missions and was to complete eighteen of the extraordinary tasks before the war's end. These ranged from carrying Carlson's Raiders to Makin, to landing supplies for
guerrillas,

and evacuating civilians from enemy-held territory.

Her

men and

large size lent itself admirably to the transportation of supplies above and beyond the normal demands of

most submarines. The Nautilus and Narwhal dated back to the late '20s when the Navy was experimenting with fleettype submarines and these two boats had almost twice the tonnage of, say, the Barb class of 1944, which carried four torpedoes forward and two aft, which made the later type a

RECONNAISSANCE

55

considerably better armed ship. It was logical, then, to use the larger boat yet lesser armed, for the special missions.

was blond, curly-haired Commander William D. Irvin. That he was a hard-working, conscientious and painstaking officer goes without saying; he balanced his

The

Nautilus' skipper

serious qualities with a well-exercised sense of humor, a trait always useful and sometimes indispensable to the man solely

the

and personally responsible for a submarine on war patrol with enemy fleet between him and home. It might be set forth

right here as a truism that all outstandingly successful submariners possess the ability to keep their spirits high and in-

comrades likewise. Tall, enthusiastic Lieutenant Commander Richard B. (Ozzie) Lynch was an excellent choice for executive officer of the Nautilus because when Lynch's thoughts were not on submarines you could be sure they were on photography. The Nautilus' sixth war patrol was to be devoted primarily
fect their corked-up
to obtaining a good set of pictures of the Gilbert Islands, which lay about 2,000 miles to the southwest of Pearl Harbor on almost a north and south line across the Equator. The Nautilus had carried part of Carlson's Raiders there a year before to raise a little hell in what had been the Micronesian paradise of Makin before the Japanese wrested the Gilberts from Great Britain. This time she was responsible for obtaining pictures of Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama. When the Nautilus left Pearl Harbor on September 16, 1943, she was rigged for periscope photography, thanks to the ingenuity of Bill Irvin and Ozzie Lynch. Like Lew Parks, the trail blazer in submarine photography, they had to make shift for what Washington could not furnish. Not one of the cameras provided for them to utilize was adequate. One was a National Graflex, Series 11, recommended by the photographer for the Navy Yard, Mare Island, and the other was an Eastman 35; good cameras both but inadequate to the specialized job. The third was a Medalist, a camera without a

56

BATTLE SUBMERGED
useful as if it just as

view finder and consequently

shutter because the photographer could not see trying to picture six fathoms overhead.

had no what he was

feet long which periscope is a tube forty transmits an image of the surface world, and light to see it had through a system of prisms and lenses. The ideal camera the in the from to take a to be able eyepiece image picture to be submerged hull that would be clear and sharp enough to many times its original size so all details could blown

The submarine

up

be

identified

and

studied. It didn't take

many

pictures to

prove the inadequacy of these first cameras. Ozzie Lynch saved the mission with his
Primarflex. It

own

camera, a

produced a sharp negative

number 120 roll film, and its

an
one.

single lens a action-stopping focal plane shutter made the job simpler

by 2% inches on reflex view finder and

234

So Ozzie's personal camera was officially pressed into service, and a hurry call sent out for more of the same type so that other subs could be equipped with them. But this was one request that had the boys really stymied. The Primarflex was a German camera, and at the time all we were trading with Germany were bombs and bullets. On the theory if not hope that there might be other people in the United States with Ozzie Lynches affection for Primarflex, advertisements were run in camera trade papers, but only ten more of the costly German cameras were enlisted by this means.

On

September

25, in the tenth

month

of the war, the

The tactical problems that had to be solved were scarcely less worrisome than the photographic ones. Among them were the presence of reefs around the atolls which prevented the submarine from
easing up to the shoreline to short ranges but did not minimize the danger of detection by enemy lookouts, which in turn

Nautilus started work on the Tarawa group.

prevented them from exposing more than six feet of periscope. Just to make it all the more sporting, a mental hazard was

RECONNAISSANCE

57

fensive

introduced by the possibility that the enemy had laid demine fields along the islands' coast line since the Raiders' visit.

However,

this

hazard had to be accepted as a

calculated risk

a phrase altogether too familiar to the sub-

mariner.

The beaches were photographed by taking a group of pictures in one continuous sweep. One officer turned the periscope between each exposure. Another took the pictures. The
average time used to take a under two minutes.
roll of

twelve pictures was a

little

was no Sunday afternoon snapshooting the hazards were spray on the lens and vibrajaunt. Among tion. An unexpected roll of the ship spoiled a number of shots.
course, this

Of

The pictures were developed each day, and those that did not approximate perfection had to be made over again. No sinister-looking installations of note were seen on
Tarawa except Bititu (Betio on the Marine's battle roster). There the Nautilus recorded visual evidence of many preparations for the Americans' return.

An

that the charts

to

were wrong, and be rotated 11 degrees counterclockwise

incidental discovery that the compass rose

to

was had

make* it read

correctly.

moved down
really

After completing the first survey of Tarawa, the Nautilus to the small island of Abemama. What the

Nautilus couldn't

know at working for her own

the time was that here she was

future: the information gathered

on that visit came in handily when she took part in Operation Galvanic the following November. Abemama was not as interesting as Bititu in the Tarawa atoll, where the defenses were the strongest and most complete. So that no detail would be overlooked, Irvin took the
submarine up to Bititu for a second scrutiny. While making an observation here one day he recorded: "After observing beach swung periscope in high power to take a look at the observation tower on the southwest corner of

58
Bititu.

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Came face to face, it appeared to me,

with two excited

their gestures I Japs doing sentry duty in the tower. From it was time to end the observations ( and get the hell gathered

out).

."

The Nautilus then headed up

to Makin,

and there on the

beach where the Marines had landed

imposing Three radio towers had replaced the one the Marines had erected. destroyed, and heavy cross-island defenses had been The enemy had learned a costly lesson and had no intention
of being caught off guard again.

in August, 1942, was an lookout tower, very like a monument to the Raiders.

On

October 9 the mission was completed,

so,

having noth-

ing to do until nightfall, the Nautilus eased over to the lagoon, Irvin hoping to expend a few torpedoes profitably. He expended them on a small island tanker for lack of better shoot-

but nearly had his teeth kicked back down his throat when eight depth charges rained down from an escort destroyer that had been lurking behind the target plus three bombs from a plane that came out of nowhere. It would have been too bad, Ozzie remarked, had all those lovely pictures been sent to the bottom with the Nautilus. The work done by the Nautilus on this mission not only solved the problem of technique and procedure for photo reconnaissance but it also unquestionably established the value of this type of reconnaissance. Her pictures were clear and contained excellent detail and scope. Thereafter every
ing,

amphibious operation in the Pacific was preceded and based on submarine photo reconnaissance. There is an interesting postscript for the Nautilus after this expedition which occurred during Operation Galvanic. The Fifth Fleet, under command of Admiral Spruance, descended with great force on the Gilberts in November, The Marines wrested Tarawa from the enemy during a bloody battle and the Army took Makin. It was not mentioned in the dispatches released to the

RECONNAISSANCE

59

public then, but the Nautilus had her own little island to capture with her Marines. Before leaving Pearl Harbor on Novem-

ber 8 a detachment of seventy-eight Marines

and seventy men) under command USMCR, came aboard, and Irvin was

eight officers of Captain J. L. Jones,

(

told that the sub

had

another extra duty to perform. As soon as a few odd jobs had been polished off prior to the big landing day, Nautilus was to take the Marines to capture

and to cover the landing if necessary. Not much was expected, was the word passed before Bill left opposition Pearl Harbor. But a correction came through after a few days at sea. Opposition could be expected. Pardon the error. On November 18 the Nautilus was off Bititu, Tarawa, on lifeguard duty. "From about dawn," recorded the skipper, "until now ( 1019 ) there has been an almost continuous parade of aircraft from the southwest ( ours ) to Bititu and return. Jap air appears to be nonexistent and we have been unnoticed

Abemama

for his

except for a curious photographer who evidently wants one Brownie album. The radar operators are hoarse from

reporting plane contacts." Once on November 19 the Nautilus let curiosity get the better of judgment. The submarine was moved in on the
surface to watch the spectacular bombardment. All interest died an instantaneous death when the shore batteries opened
shells landed just 150 yards over. All hands could agreed they really learn just as much from a description furnished by the officer at the periscope.

up and three

P.M.

But that was only the prelude to the day's trouble. At 9:54 two destroyers and a cruiser wheeled in her direction. Bill Irwin picks up the story: "Generally speaking we were in a bad way. We believed the ships were friendly, even though they were acting very belligerent. Our battery was low and so was our air supply. We were four to five thousand yards off a reef on which the current was setting us at about 2 knots. If we went down, we were in for a nasty time. If we didn't, we

60

BATTLE SUBMERGED

would be detected and might have difficulty identifying ourselves. That they were Japs was considered unlikely. So recognition signals

were gotten in hand. fire. "Ship which was closing us was seen to open

[It

was the

destroyer

J7.S.S. Ringgold, Commander Thomas F. Conley, the Fired green recognition comet. The salvo landed. PerJr.] fect shooting (straddle). The Executive Officer has had the us under constant observation since 2140 and

this vessel. We absolutely no attempt was made to challenge were in our assigned area. This was a clear case of shooting first and asking questions later. The Executive Officer, who was the last to leave the bridge, saw another salvo fired. One fashion just as we closed projectile hit and exploded in some and we forgot disturbed the hatch. Our routine diving was to close the outer voice tube valve. The projectile hit the conning tower and the concussion damaged the inboard voice tube valve so that it leaked. Sparks squirted from the conning tower bilges but no fires started. Salvos could be heard landing as we went deep. One close explosion near the motor room ruptured a water line to the port main motor water cooling and caused considerable leaking in the bilges." On the surface the cruiser Santa Fe had joined in the shelling. When the destroyer's projectile was observed to strike the target and the submarine disappeared, the task force commander sent an enthusiastic "Well done!" to the Ringgold. It was an insult added to the injury, but happily unheard by the deep-diving Nautilus, whose troubles were increasing.

ship closing

The skipper took his submarine down to test depth,

as

deep

as safety permitted, and called all hands to depth-charge stations. It took six degrees at full up-angle speed, he learned,

to barely hold the boat up. In other words, she had to "climb like hell" in order to stand still. Water poured in through the

voice tube valve, which grounded out both periscope motors, and streamed down the conning tower hatch. At that depth, the water was being forced into the boat at

damaged

BECONNAISSANCE

61

tremendous pressure, and every pump was strained to send it back where it came from. Motors every place were getting wet and being shorted out. A leak started in the pressure hull but it was covered in time to prevent disaster. The main induction was flooded and the drains leaked and the engine room was awash. That one American 5-inch projectile caused the Nautilus more trouble than all the Japanese explosives showered upon
her.

But the Nautilus had evaded the Jap vessels which had tried to depth charge her into oblivion, so now use of some of the same tactics on the vessels above her was indicated. By this time the skipper had his doubts that the warships were overeager Americans. Such nasty behavior made him think, perhaps wishfully, that perhaps they were Japs after all. Fortunately they were saving their depth charges, probably convinced that the submarine was destroyed. "By keeping track of the bearings on the surf on our starboard hand," recorded the skipper, "we decided we could work around slowly to the south and get some component in our favor, which is what we did. "We knew that time was running out fast. We had an important date at Abemama and we were going to keep it even if we had to surface and fight our way through the horde that was molesting us/' Now, remember that through all this Nautilus was carrying
seventy-eight passengers. How did the Marines feel about the situation? Let the skipper tell you. "The seventy-eight Marines

we had aboard were stoic but they unanimously claimed that they would much prefer a rubber boat on a very hostile beach
to their present predicament. they would get their boat ride

We

managed
is

to assure

them

but there

Not one

of

them

will hesitate to leave the ship

one thing certain. when landing

time comes!"

At 0040, November 20

(forty minutes after midnight,

Navy

62

BATTLE SUBMERGED

time), there was a happier tone in the skippers diary. "PeriEverything is beginning to look rosy scope depth.
.
.
.

again."

A few minutes more and they were on the surface heading

south

and radar reported

that all

was

clear.

Late that afternoon the skipper wrote, "Off the beach selected for landing. The Marine officers observed the beach.

They seem anxious to get off the submarine and they made no bones about their reason. They have all agreed that a torpedo room makes a most unsatisfactory foxhole!"

By midnight the Marines were safely and gratefully ashore,

where they could
back at anybody. The submarine, according to plan, lay back and waited for developments. They were slow in coming, but with the morning well advanced the Marine captain was rowed out to the submarine to report .trouble. The advance had been halted by enemy strongpoints. He pointed them out on a chart. Bill Irvin promptly replied, "Have your boys move back some, and well clear the Japs out with our guns." Captain Jones was a little apprehensive. The flat trajectory would bring the shells very close to the heads of his men. If one fell short well, it was bad enough being shot at once by an American warship. But Bill assured him there would be no shorts. He suggested that the Marines mark the limit of their advance with something easily seen bedsheets would do, he jocularly sugat least shoot

gested.

He promised faithfully that the Nautilus shells would

drop beyond them, into Jap-held terrain. He kept his promise. At 0810 the 6-inch guns of the Nautilus opened up. After seventy-five rounds had been lobbed into the area a message was received from Captain Jones.
CEASE FIRE. SITUATION IN HAND. THANK YOU.

The Nautilus had completed her

the Gilberts!

third

and

final

mission in

Carlson's Raiders

THE WORDS Commando, Raider, or Ranger always conjure

to our imaginations a colorful picture of tough, daring men with blackened faces, armed to the teeth, landing stealthily

on the enemy's coast and striking in savage surprise. They kill, smash radio installations, blast ammunition stores, fire buildings, throw the whole enemy establishment into a turmoil and
.then,

loaded with priceless information, they vanish into the protecting darkness before the adversary can recover his wits.
picture produced is pallid beside the reality. To pertheir perilous tasks the Raiders, meticulously selected in the first place, had to graduate with distinction from a long,

The

form

strenuous, exacting course of training. There

their ranks for

was no place in

an average man. Early in August, 1942, the Marines expected to attempt to establish a beachhead at Guadalcanal, first way station on the long road back. Hoping to divert enemy attention from this

maneuver, a raid was planned on Makin, strategic atoll in the Gilberts. It came as no surprise that Lieutenant Colonel Evans
63

64
F. Carlson

BATTLE SUBMERGED
was
told that

two companies from his famous Second Raider Battalion had been selected to try to convince the Japs that a full-scale operation was being planned for the Gilberts. Our High Command knew that under his brilliant
Marines would, by leadership those tougher-than-ordinary the convince their Japanese that each tearing tactics,
ripping, a whole squad.

man was

the bottom at Pearl Harbor. Of course,

types needed.

we had even finished raising our ships from we were rushing new still far short of numbers and ships to completion but we were
This was before

We

didn't even

cruiser protection to permit our carriers to perform

have enough destroyer and more than

large well-

hit-and-run raids.
force of

The day when we could employ a two battleships, cruisers, and carriers to give

separated islands a good going over before attempting a landing was still months away. The landing at Guadalcanal alone would tax our reserves to the utmost. And the balance of

power
throw
it

still

remained with the enemy,

if

he should decide to

his full strength into the Solomons area. That was why was so extremely important to convince the Japanese we

were making a similar thrust at the Gilberts in the hope they would divert some of their strength to that area, or at least confuse them long enough to enable our Marines to become
established on Guadalcanal,
Yes, the

Makin

raid

was

of

tremendous importance to the

island invasion. Perhaps vital. However, the business of transporting 211 officers and men to the island
first

success of our

that lay about 2,000 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor, without the knowledge of a vigilant and suspicious enemy, posed a real

problem.

was sugmost the ably provide necessary transportation. Suggestion became conviction and two of our largest and most heavily armed undersea craft were selected for the risk-laden mission: the
It

Then the Silent Service offered to fill the breach.

High Command

gested to the

that submarines could

CARLSON'S RAIDERS
Nautilus (Lieutenant

65

Commander William H. Brockman), 387 feet long and carrying two 6-inch deck guns; the Argonaut
(Lieutenant Commander John R. Pierce), originally built as a mine layer, and of approximately the same size and arma-

ment. Captain John M. Haines, veteran submariner, was the

group commander. Both skippers had years of wide experience in subs behind them. Jack Pierce had operated the Argonaut most creditably
in the fog-bound, treacherous waters of the Aleutians. Bill Brockman had ridden Nautilus into the Battle of Midway. It

was there that he had proved that he would soon become one of the ace skippers of the Silent Service. By the time he brought his boat back to Pearl Harbor after that historic battle in June, Nautilus' conning tower was grimly gay with miniature Japanese flags, one for each kill. His most conspicuous accomplishment had been a brilliantly executed attack, in the face of strong enemy anti-submarine measures, which sank the aircraft carrier Soryu, damaged by bombs from Navy carrier planes. Jap cruisers were trying desperately to guard the ship as she limped toward safety but she was doomed when Bill Brockman charged in and gave her the coup de
grace with
torpedoes. After that affair the Nautilus' operations had been extended to Empire waters, where she had definitely made her presence known. Incessant depth-charge attacks had wrinkled hull plates to washboard corrugations,
six

and there was a noticeable weeping

of rivets throughout the

hull when she sailed proudly into Pearl Harbor. Efficient Navy Yard workers soon remedied these battle damages and further

prepared the submarine for her daring trip to Makin. For such a trip, many extra preparations were necessary. Of course the submarine is not like the ordinary ship. Space, always at a premium in any ship, is even more precious in

needed and

undersea craft. Just about every square inch of space is always utilized by the crew that normally lives aboard. It therefore followed that when a hundred extra men and their

66
equipment are
to

BATTLE SUBMERGED

be taken aboard for a 2,000-mile trip, many extra provisions must be made. To accommodate them all below decks meant that many things had first to come out. Nautilus and Argonaut had to be stripped down to less than
bare essentials. Of course, neither passengers nor dunnage could be carried on deck, as with surface ships, because the submarines had to be prepared to submerge on a moment's notice. This would be particularly true when nearing enemy
waters.
in the forward and after Triple racks of spare torpedoes the of most compartments' space. This torpedo. rooms took up

was a mission when sinking ships would only be a defensive measure, so out came the torpedoes to provide more room. Only those in the tubes remained. With so many extra men of oxygen, addiliving below decks absorbing great quantities tional air-conditioning units had to be installed. These would prove even more necessary when tropical waters were reached where the air was soppily humid. The submarines not only had to get the Raiders to their destination but it was essential that they arrive in the best of physical shape. An athlete below par doesn't win a race. Bill Brockman and Jack Pierce were good choices to carry the equally daring Marines on a raid where the odds were tipped heavily against them. But submariners and Marines have never been ones to count the odds when the reward is
so great or a mission so important. Once the submarines were clear of Pearl

Harbor they pro-

ceeded independently. The Nautilus, being speedier, led the way. This was done for several reasons. If Japanese reconnaissance planes saw two submarines cruising together it might breed suspicion of something greater in the wind than a routine patrol, for these were the days before the Wolf Packs. Another reason, of even greater importance, was the
desire to "case the joint." Nautilus had been assigned the further task of making a periscope reconnaissance of the island

CARLSON'S RAIDERS

67

before landing day, to observe any preparations the Japanese might have made to resist a landing. Moreover, a study of the tides and currents about the atoll was a very important factor
in deciding where the landing would be made. The Hydrographic Office had been unable to provide such information

had the Japs been in denying any information on the Mandates to the outside world. When Admiral Halsey made his raid on the Marshalls and Gilberts in January and February he had caught the enemy off guard. Apparently the devastating attack at Pearl Harbor had given them a complete sense of security. But it was unlikely that the Makin garrison had forgotten the visit of nine Yorktown bombers to its apparently safe little island. The Navy flyers had shown complete disregard for the beauty and quiet of the atoll, destroying both and a few hundred Japanese
on the
island, so careful

500-pound bombs. So this time there was little hope that the Japs would be found dozing over their
to boot with fiendish

sake cups.

Despite the extra air-conditioning units temperature and humidity inside the submarines climbed to 90 and tried to

reach 100

tropical waters of the surface within the boats Every To water. the was that dripped say extremely uncomvoyage fortable is like saying it is unpleasant to be cooked alive. But

when they entered the warm

Equator-straddling Gilberts.

the closely packed, sweating men voiced no complaint. They felt that the sheer novelty of traveling over 2,000 miles in a

submarine placed them in a uniquely favored class. It would really be something to talk about later. And besides, the chow was swell in these boats! Although the tiny galley had to be kept in constant operation, it provided two full meals a day for all hands and passengers plus soup and crackers at noon. Once the Nautilus was traveling southwest at her best speed Bill Brockman inspected his boat and was satisfied with what he saw. The morale of the men was high. With good weather it was possible to get the passengers up on deck in relays for

68

BATTLE SUBMERGED

and setting-up exercises. To break the monotperiodic airings that enabled them to move about. In ony drills were held were a part of the ship's addition, to make them feel that they the Marines were assigned watches. A Marine is
company, a most versatile person and
fits

a strange quite easily into

quite the engines periodically to get rid of the old atmosphere was the only expedient possible. It did help some and the men were grateful for the little good it did. A little after 3:00 A.M. on August 16 the navigator pointed

routine. If only something could have been done to keep the the forward torpedo room below 90 degrees temperature in and to lower the terrific humidity, everyone would have been comfortable. However, pulling air through the boat with

out a dark blob that had popped up off the starboard.bow, The Nautilus had made her first landfall, Little Makin Island The skipper set a course (north of Makin) Now for a look-see. one and a half miles Makin of coast to pass the northeast abeam to starboard. She submerged and two hours later the
.

submarine was in position. The periscope reconnaissance was most thorough. Prominent objects shown on* the chart were set of the currents was carefully sought and checked, the noted, a note made of coral reefs that would interfere with
the passage of landing

wanted

to go around

After circling the island Bill Ukiangong Point and reconnoiter the
craft.

had been creeping lagoon entrance at Flink Point. But they in mind that he was to along at snails pace, and, bearing rendezvous with the Argonaut at nine that night, plus the the skipper abannecessity of recharging his storage battery,
doned the idea. It wasn't too important. The information he had was more than sufficient for tbeir needs. It was as dark as a whale's stomach when the Nautilus surfaced and set a course for the rendezvous. From all appearances the garrison on Makin was blissfully unaware of the blow that was about to befall it. The island seemed to be
enjoying a peaceful tropical routine
just taking it easy.

CARLSON'S RAIDERS

69

A shadow a little
right direction

darker than the others loomed

it

and they hoped

up in the would materialize into the

Argonaut. But just then one of those heavy tropical rains suddenly hit and visibility shut down to zero. The squall moved
on, the darker spot reappeared, more distinct; a few minutes later the two submarines lay close to each other, Bill and Jack,

Captain Haines and Colonel Carlson, discussing

.for

final

plans

the landing. The Nautilus led the

the embarkation point. They had planned to have the buoyant rubber landing boats

way to

assemble alongside the Nautilus, then shove off simultaneously for the two designated beaches. For many weeks, at Midway and in the Hawaiian Islands, the Raiders had trained

how

intensively in night landings from submarines, especially on to handle and land the unwieldy rubber boats in the
surf.

So

this

was old business

to

them now. But despite the

careful training, several unexpected difficulties arose to pester them. First the weather refused to cooperate. The sea swells made it difficult to keep the rubber boats alongside, and the

outboard motors chose

this

moment, of

temperamental. The wash

all times, to become of the sea going through the

Nautilus' drain holes in the superstructure, mingled with the roar of the surf, caused a cacophony of noises that all but

drowned out orders to the boats. It was fortunate that the enemy was not maintaining a beach patrol. Colonel Carlson swarmed all over the submarine getting his landing boats into the two prearranged groups. But with a number of his boats soon immobilized because of wet motors the Colonel made a quick change in plans and directed those in movable boats to form a single group and land at only one beach. This word got to all the rubber craft except one which
second beach, in the rear of the Japs according The Colonel remarked ruefully that there doesn't get the word. But it turned out who is someone always to be a very fortunate mistake for, despite the paucity in

landed

at the

to the original plan.

70

BATTLE SUBMEBGED

number, this boatload, under the command of Lieutenant Oscar F. Peatross, made the Japs think they were a whole battalion, which aided materially in the major attack. They more than lived up to the traditions of the Raiders by their fury and savagery and the volume of terrifying yells. Then an embarrassing situation developed. During the rush of getting the boats started from the Nautilus no one noticed that Colonel Carlson's own boat had drifted off, its crew cursing futilely at the drowned motor. The Colonel bellowed to
the full extent of his lung power for his boat to come alongside, but his best was not good enough. No one could hear him

above the surging of the sea. Captain Haines saved the day by grabbing a megaphone and calling another boat alongside to
take care of the fuming, immobilized leader of the Raiders. Eventually, at 4:21 A.M., the last difficulty had been licked

and the
shore.

final

boatload of Raiders headed for the shadowy

to their station four miles

The two submarines then moved

off

the beach and waited for the

via voice radio communication

first report of the landing the walkie-talkie.

At 5:45 the first message was received. Dripping with pessimism, it was short and to the point, EVERYTHING LOUSY! But the next one a little later sounded more hopeful and more the type expected of a true Marine. It said, SITU-

ATION EXPECTED TO BE WELL IN HAND SHORTLY.

The well-trained Marines had quickly overcome the initial confusion caused by the rubber boats and wet engines, and the landing had proceeded quietly and quickly. This
certainly

was no drill! Not a human sound broke the utter stillness, until an overeager lad decided to test his gun to be sure it would work and of course it did, with a report that sounded to the Raiders as if it could be heard in Tokyo. Colonel Carlson knew he could delay the attack no longer. There was no use hoping that the Japs would think that bang was caused by a falling
coconut.

CARLSON'S RAIDERS

71

The Nautilus followed the attack by the intermittent messages received. About six o'clock an indistinct message indicated that the Marines desired gun-fire support on the Ukiangong Point Lake area where the Japanese reserves were

supposed

be located. More information was requested but the ailing walkie-talkie had really gone sour. Of apparently course, Jap snipers could have aggravated its illness. In any
to

was pretty obvious that the Marines wanted some support. Fortunately, the Nautilus* skipper had enough imagination to fill in the gaps and sufficient initiative to do something about it. The first salvo from the 6-inch guns went whizzing toward the Ukiangong Lake area a few seconds later. Wham! Too short! Up 200 yards! Wham! Almost on! Up some more. Wham! The cloud of smoke and debris that showered skyward was followed by an excited report from the now operating walkie-talkie. They were on! Oh boy and howl
event
it

fire

When

Then followed a methodical pounding of the reserve area. it had been reduced to a smoking rubble the walkie-

talkie suggested a new target a merchant vessel lay in the harbor out from the government pier. From all appearances it was getting up steam to get out. If the Nautilus worked fast

the sailing could be delayed permanently. given the submarine.

location

was

A check showed that trees screened the target from the submarine but that obstacle only added zest to the problem. It wouldn't have bothered a cruiser or battleship, and they weren't going to let it bother a submarine either. Use indirect fire. Quite simple: select a tree as a reference point and, with the help of the walkie-talkie operator, waft a few experimental shots for range and deflection. Well, that was it! When smoke and fire sprouted above the waters of the lagoon the operator
were
ashore gleefully reported that a transport and a patrol yacht resting at the bottom of the lagoon.

"Name

another target, son." This shelling of the reserve area and the shipping in the

72

BATTLE SUBMERGED

harbor turned the tide of battle for the Marines, it was learned afterwards. But despite the help from the Nautilus the Marines were finding the going difficult The Japs were fighting desperately, to the last man. The snipers who had lashed themselves in the treetops had to be sought out and killed one by one. A little before noon two Japanese Navy reconnais-

sance planes flew over Makin and dropped two bombs, forcing the Nautilus and Argonaut to dive. Scarcely had they surfaced when they were forced down again by twelve shore-based

bombers. They had to remain submerged for the

day.

rest of the

The Japanese attempted to reinforce the garrison by sending two planes carrying thirty-five men. The planes landed
in the lagoon but

were promptly destroyed by Marine

machine-gun fire. At one time the situation had its assuaging touch of humor, macabre as it was for the enemy. When the Marines withdrew about 200 yards to catch breath after repelling three banzai charges, the ground they had occupied soon overflowed with the enemy. The Japs were so happy at retrieving lost ground that they failed to notify their bombers, who were grimly returning to attempt what the ground troops had been unable to accomplish wipe out the hated Marines. Their bombs were accurately dropped, all right, but on the Japanese now
occupying the terrain. It had been arranged that the Marines would withdraw to the submarines some time after 6:30 and before 11:00 that
night, to take full advantage of darkness darkness existed as predicted but the surf

and high tide. The was in an ugly and

uncooperative mood. Consequently the exhausted men experienced great difficulty in launching their boats and getting them through the rollers with the engines still running, and
the herculean efforts of the

many men and much equipment went into the water. Despite men to get away from the beach
about 120 of the exhausted Raiders, practically naked and

CARLSON'S RAIDERS

73

almost unarmed, had to remain ashore that night. They had reached, as Colonel Carlson understated his emotions later,
"the spiritual low point of the expedition." take it.

But a Raider could

urre-

The group commander, Captain Haines, sized up the gency of the situation in early morning and manned two

serve landing boats with volunteers and all available arms to help evacuate the men on the beach. He also sent a message to

assure Colonel Carlson that the

Navy would remain

in-

definitely to get the men off. Of course, they might be forced to submerge during the day, but they'd be there just the same.

The relief boats passed four boats wearily making their way back to the submarines. One of them carried the executive
the Raiders, the son of the President, bald, bespectacled Major Jimmie Roosevelt.
officer of

Captain Haines described

how

close they

came

to not

making the submarines. "Roosevelt was the last man out of the boat and had just barely got his tail feathers down when the first Jap plane came over and the Argonaut had to go under. If that plane had appeared fifteen or twenty seconds earlier I'm afraid Major Jimmie would have been swimming
around in the Pacific." But the same Jap plane got in his innings on the tiny volunteer relief expedition, strafing until the boats were cut to pieces. Only one volunteer managed to swim ashore. It was

he who carried the message to Colonel Carlson: the subs

would stand by.

aircraft buzzed about like angry hornets the entire and day again the submarines were forced to remain sub-

Enemy

merged. Although his Marines were stranded ashore, Colonel Carlson realized that they were being subjected to practically no molestation and he began to take stock of the situation. This was not like the enemy. Why had there been no harassing? Cautiously a few Marines were sent out on a probing trip. To

74
their surprise they

BATTLE SUBMERGED

found very few Japanese alive. Between the Jap bombers and the Marine guns a very thorough job of extermination had been done. Eighty-three dead were counted, which could account for most of the garrison. The
bodies were searched for papers and their weapons approthe castaway priated to rearm the Marines. Emboldened, still structures to such fire Marines ventured farther, setting

remaining on the
stores.

island, gasoline supplies

and other usable

Then, acting on a request from Colonel Carlson, the submarines moved over to the lagoon entrance to evacuate the Raiders. By midnight the Marines were aboard and headed for Pearl Harbor, the swirling flames from the installations burning redly in their wake. Although the expedition had been costly for the Marines thirty dead and many badly wounded, the results more than

outweighed the cost. In addition to annihilating the garrison and destroying the installations there, the over-all effect was tremendous. It caused the Japs enough concern to divert a task force of cruisers and destroyers and transports to the Gilbert Islands instead of reinforcing the Japanese on Guadalcanal where the Marines were grimly hanging on. The Makin raid also demonstrated that it was perfectly
feasible to use submarines to transport troops for long dis-

The round trip made by the submarines had covered over 4,000 miles. Colonel Carlson declared that the success of the Makin expedition resulted from the unity of mind and effort that welded the personnel of the submarines and Raidtances.

an effective fighting team. To this Captain Haines "To added, me, the most gratifying feature of this expedition was the spirit of cooperation between the Raiders and the naval personnel. We trained the Marines to be lookouts. We gave them diving stations, and the crews of the submarines
ers into

way with the launching of the craft and rer assembly, re-embarkation of the Marines.
assisted in every
,

CARLSON'S RAIDERS
Yes, the submarines

75
in the success of

had aided materially

the expedition and gained invaluable experience for future island landings, They had qualified to give the Raider call,

Gung Ho!

Mine Laying

seagoing booby traps have been planted in enemy waters designed to catch the most wary. Every modern maritime nation that has ever engaged in war is fully

FOR CENTURIES

aware of the probability that mines will be sown off her coasts, harbors, and bases, in tidal reaches of rivers and even the channels. Mining and countermining are contests of ingenuity of which little is heard, and less understood, in public annals of warfare. Each side endeavors to outsmart the other on the type of mine used, the agent causing it to detonate, and the anti-mine devices preventing it from being effective. If mines
are planted in waters

deemed

inviolate

such as Japan's sa-

cred Inland Sea, for example a decided advantage is naturally gained. Of course, a nation at war also lays mines to
protect her

own

waters from penetration by

enemy

ships.

days mines were simply a heavy charge of explosive anchored a certain distance under water and exploded by contact with a ship's hull. These mines were

During

Civil

War

sometimes called torpedoes.

When
76

Farragut uttered his im~

MINE LAYING
mortal words at Mobile Bay, ahead!" he meant mines.

77

"Damn the torpedoes, full speed

Despite the many kinds of mines inaugurated during the two World Wars, the contact mine is still used most effectively,

although the simple type which instantly explodes upon first collision has been supplanted by those detonated by induced

magnetism, pressure or chemical action. The majority of the mines the Japs planted to trap our submarines were of the simple contact types. Mine fields were stretched across the harbor and channel entrances and coastal sea lanes of the Empire, and the shallow waters of the East China Sea, the Straits of Tsushima and La Perouse. Only three American submarines are known definitely to have been lost to mines. There may have been others, for the causes of some of our losses have never been learned. Mines
probably took their percentage. The toll would unquestionably have been much greater had we not contrived to learn the location of many of Japan's deeven our fensively mined areas. Of course, many mine fields own were automatically suspected because it is usually quite obvious to the experts where they should be planted. Naturally channels have to be established in protectively mined waters to permit the defender's warships and merchant
vessels safe passage.

Such channels, although periodically changed, are carefully charted. It was not too uncommon for

our submarines to find charts of such fields among the surface debris left where a torpedoed ship had gone down. Such information was quickly passed on to the other submarine commanders.
Fishing junks and schooners along the China Coast always appeared to know where the mines were, either by instinct or instruction. By following the fishing fleets, our submarines

were guided through the coastal mazes. By pooling all such knowledge that we acquired from the different sources, we were able to keep a pretty good tab on the mine fields, al-

78
though always
kept planting
just

BATTLE SUBMERGED
a little behind the facts because the
fields.

enemy

new

War I was great North Sea mine barrage of World of history. unquestionably the greatest mine-laying project Mines at varying depths were laid across the North Sea thick
The
as dandelions

on a suburban lawn
waters. It

to prevent the deadly

was very effective, but U-boats from leaving home such a project in the vast Pacific was well beyond the capacity
mine-laying instruments. I U-boats laid a number of mines along our Atlantic seaboard, one of which caused the loss of the United
of
all

In

World War

States cruiser San

mer
the

Diego off Fire Island, New York, in the sumof 1917. Another struck the old battleship Minnesota off
the U-boats were very

New Jersey coast.

From the very start of World War II

active planting mines in all English maritime channels which took a heavy toll of ships regardless of nationality entering

or leaving British ports. It wasn't that the British didn't know about the work going on the sinkings told them only too

The extraordinary losses were due to ingenious new methods devised by the German scientists in detonating mines and making them invulnerable to standard sweeping
pointedly.

or neutralization techniques.

With British doggedness their trawlers, augmented by Dutch and Norwegians, were out every morning to sweep or detonate the mines they knew the U-boats had laid during the night, a routine that recalls a story told in London by a British Admiral. It seems that this procedure had become a daily grind off Southampton. The U-boats planted their mines at night; the British carefully swept them up in the morning. Then one day the radio was filled with guttural imprecations. The day before, the British, knowing how the Germans conform to habit, neglected to do their half of the chore and that night the U-boats had run afoul of their own mines and blown
up!

MINE LAYING
The United
offensive
States

79

submarine service had never devoted

much time or thought to mine laying, even though the value of

in theory at the capacious Argonaut, was deany rate. signed for use as a mine layer, and, not long before World

and defensive mining was recognized,

One submarine,

War

II

a technique was evolved to

fit

any submarine

to lay

mines.

The main reason mine

laying didn't rate highly

its

was

the understandable desire

and

sympathetic reception

of the submarine skippers to shoot their game on the wing, not just set traps and snares. In the gentlemanly days before

undeclared and unrestricted warfare, mine laying smacked

however well-recognized was the worth of strategically placed mines. If they could be planted where the enemy took it for granted that a submarine would not dare approach, such as inshore waters, he would probably send his ships barging through to their doom. A few exercises
of the unsporting,

might cause the enemy to take it for granted that all inshore waters were a potential danger, forcing a diversion of his strength to regular sweeps to protect his coastal traffic. It would also tend to induce him to run his ships outside the belt in deep, nonminable waters where attacking submarines would be waiting with unlimited freedom of action. There were practical reasons, too, why we didn't use submarines for mine laying as soon as we knew we were in a war for survival. First, we didn't have nearly enough submarines to perform their primary job a lack which at this writing has become even more hazardously great. The second reason was that everyone in the Service had a job on his hands wrestling with the torpedo problem earlier described. With our submarine crews taking underwater depth-charge beatings to get into an attack position only to have the torpedoes bounce
like this

harmlessly against the enemy's hulls, the major effort was to get better torpedoes and not to bone up on the neglected
lessons

on mining.
it

Paradoxically, however,

was the torpedo problem that

80

BATTLE SUBMERGED

permitted our first submarine mine planting in the fall of 1942. Actually we had more submarines available than torpedoes,
so

Commander Submarines thought

to put the idle boats to

war work on

a mining experiment. Six submarines, Thresher, Tambor, Gar, Tautog, Whale,

in

and Grenadier, were dispatched

1942, to inaugurate the
first

October and November,

sions. They should have were laboratory experiments

of thirty-seven mine-planting misall been named Guinea Pig, for they

in fact.

The

experts

had figured

as well as they could in theory but there were still swarms of tc bugs" that would have to be worked out in actual practice.

Five of the boats were sent down to the southwest to lay their mines in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, the Gulf of Siam, and off French Indo-China. This remote region seemed to offer the best possibility of an element of surprise with the least possible danger. The enemy could be expected to believe that inasmuch as our boats had been quite active in Empire waters, our mining efforts would be directed there also. To
inspire this idea, just in case the Japanese didn't think of it unassisted, the sixth boat, the Whale, was sent to lay her eggs in the sound between Honshu and Shikoku, the heavily

traveled southern exit from the Inland Sea.

The

boats ex-

perienced some technical difficulties but all managed to plant their mines without damage to themselves. Just what embarrassment the enemy experienced from this first crop of mines was never learned. Mines usually reap a

very indeterminate return, for it is not practical to maintain a watch to count the enemy ships destroyed, if any. It's rather like giving money to a stranger to invest for you. It may pay
off,

and sometimes you may even hear that

just

it

has, but mainly

you can

hope.

point of view there is a much faster, safer, greater return guaranteed from the expenditure of the
torpedo.

From the submariner's

He knows where

he's putting

it

and he can get im-

MINE LAYING

81

mediate returns on the investment, Commander Submarines wasn't unconcerned about sending his boats on mine-laying missions either, because of the greater hazards involved in
such submarine operations. The boats had to operate in shallow waters deep in enemy territory, and on top of that the laying of the mines themselves held some danger to the boats. For these reasons submarine mine planting was not
extensively employed, although ciously placed in various strategic

enough mines were judiEmpire waters throughout

in his

enemy did not dare to become negligent mine sweeping. And, mine sweeping required the use of boats and fuel and skillful sailors from his fast dwindling supply that otherwise would have been used against our
the war so that the
forces.

However, one boat was

right at the cashier's

window a

mine

couple of times when the enemy ships blundered into her plant. This was the Trigger, commanded by Lieutenant

Commander Roy

S.

Benson.

Trigger was one of three submarines sent out to southern Empire waters in the second mining group; the others were the Sunfish and the Drum. The Triggers area was Inubo Saki, about sixty miles east of Tokyo. Roy Benson had taken command of the Trigger just before her second war patrol,, and started her on the career of fame that continued to mount

with each of her succeeding skippers until cut short by enemy action during her twelfth war patrol.

On December

5,

Harbor on her third war

1942, the Trigger departed from Pearl patrol, her skipper's second. Their

special mission meant, of course, that the submarine's favorite weapon, the torpedoes, had to give way to mines. But not

few of the lethal fish on board to been planted. The restriction was a nice, fat target steamed by, begging very trying; suppose for a torpedo, but first lay your mines was the order. Of course,
exclusively; there were a use, after the mines had

82
if

BATTLE SUBMERGED
a sub found herself in a jam she wouldn't be expected to the mine layers weren't supposed to it sitting down, but

take

incite action.

16 the Trigger arrived at her objective off Inubo Saki, and, of course, just as expected, that big, fat as unconcernedly freighter really did appear, steaming along
as if her skipper didn't have a fear or care in the world, which, as far as United States submarines went, he didn't have at

On December

the moment.

Even though it made him unhappy to miss any opportunity to knock over a few easy targets and it seemed to him the sea was full of Jap ships, Roy Benson still found them valuable. They helped him map out the location for the two mine plants that he expected to lay. After a few days' observation, he was
able to identify accurately the courses preferred by the merchantmen. That was one consolation for having to let

them go unmolested. It was on December 20 that Benson decided he had enough

information to carry out the operation. Also, the strain of just
sitting
tell

and watching enemy

ships sail past

was beginning

to

on

merged shimmered over the waters where the submarine was busily at work. Rehearsals had been held many times and the crew went to work efficiently. The first plant was laid on a line perpendicular to one of the routes that the skipper had observed used by ships passing Inubo Saki. Without mishap or accident the operation went off smoothly, quickly. Within half an hour the second plant was in the process of being laid. Then a report from the sound operator caused the skipper to take a careful look to the southward. There had to
light

everyone's nerves. That night, at 8:58, the Trigger suband slipped into her first selected area. Bright moon-

be a slight interruption in their work, for a very cogent reason. Roy Benson tells why: "Sighted a ship approaching from southward heading al-

MINE LAYING
most exactly for
this vessel.

83

Ceased laying mines. Intended to go by and then resume laying mines. permit Vessel was now identified as a large freighter with a small escort vessel inshore from it. They passed under our stern, this vessel on course 090 at that time. Position would have been perfect for a torpedo attack with stern tubes but considered completion of mine plant as the immediate objective. A bit
this vessel to

over five minutes after the freighter passed our stern there

The freighter is 90 degrees from her former course lying in the trough of the seas rolling in the heavy swells violently while the escort vessel is circling her.
was a violent explosion.
.

An excellent view of the freighter was now had. Her back had
been broken. Amidships the main deck was awash. About 10 feet of her stem was above water and the bow was high out of
water.

The

Thus

." freighter sank rapidly. the Trigger obtained first-hand confirmation of the
.

success of her

planting, within the hour! It had been almost as expeditious as a torpedoing. The Boss wouldn't have

mine

were using and the technique employed was satisfactory. Yes, quite satisfactory indeed.
to wait very long to learn that the mines they

Now that the first burst of excitement was over, the Trigger
and went back to work completing the second mine plant. It was while they were getting clear of the second plant that another explosion was heard in the direction of the first mine field. They hopefully suspected that the patrol vessel, which had continued whirling about the stricken freighter in a dither of fright and anxiety, had whirled just a little too far and run afoul of another of the charges. But having no desire to chance going through their own mine field to check up, the question of what had caused the second blast or its consequence had to remain forever unanswered. Now that the mine planting business was completed, Roy Benson felt that he was free to devote the remaining time of
laid aside her role of spectator

84

BATTLE SUBMERGED

the patrol to expending his torpedoes profitably. He planned to return for a look a little later to see if any more enemy ships

had been

snared.

days later a freighter was sighted coming down the coast zigzagging madly that is, until a Trigger torpedo crashed into her just forward of the bridge. Although settling by the bow she began to toot her whistle wildly and turned

Two

away.
his plan quickly. He disliked letting a bird winged get away, but the Trigger was already in shallow water about two miles off shore, with a current setting them

Roy Benson made

in

not the most enviable position, to be sure. The fathometer showed that the submarine was about to go aground, so the
skipper swung her about to bring her stern tubes to bear* The her screws were nearly out target's main deck was awash and

The chances were that she would sink anyway, but Roy knew that very badly damaged ships had managed in the past to limp home and be patched up to sail again, so,
of the water.

not desiring to have such an eventuality take place

six

and

also,

sea planes that were hurrying perhaps in defiance of the out) he sent a torpedo tearing into the freighter's stern. It immediately removed all doubt about the ship's future useful-

ness to Japan.

passed quietly in the submarine. Running submerged during the day, en route to observe their mine plants, nothing happened to interrupt a full turkey dinner.

Christmas

Day

The crew exchanged simple

played records of Christmas

gifts

and warm greetings and

not that a single

carols,

member

would have objected

to foregoing the

homely

celebration for

a chance at a big target. The gift they wanted put in their stockings was a 10,000-ton ammunition ship. They didn't

know that Santa was reserving that present until the following
day.

four columns of

During that midafternoon of December 26 they watched smoke approaching Inubo Said and the Trig-

MINE LAYING

85

ger moved in to collect her belated Christinas present. Then, to the pop-eyed surprise of Benson and Co., it happened again!

"At this instant," related Roy Benson, "the leading ship, which reached the exact bearing of our mine plants, commenced smoking at least five times as great as before and the
three other ships scattered to the northward. The smoke off our mine plant lasted only a few minutes." Four ships had come up to the mines, only three had left. And for the second

time the Trigger had the unique experience of observing the efficacy of her own mines. After this the enemy must have begun to suspect that his
ships weren't blowing up without some good reason, because no more ships tried to negotiate the waters of the Trigger mine
field.

It was the end of December now and Trigger decided she wanted to end up the old year with a sinking. Late that afternoon this wish came true. But it wasn't a walkover by any means. "The seas," said Roy Benson, "had picked up late this afternoon and were now mountainous. Even with 10 feet of periscope out, the seas spilled over the sight and the target could be seen only momentarily. Depth control was precarious. Use of high speed, trimming heavy, and the excellent performance of duty of the planesmen and the diving officer, Lieutenant S. H. Gimber, USN, were the only reasons why an undetected attack was at all possible. The target was large and zigzagging on courses about 60 degrees apart. She had a cargo of planes on her stern." With all of those planes aboard her value to the Japs was too great to ignore and Trigger had no intention of doing so, bad weather or no weather. The range was closed to 700 yards before the first torpedo went swishing out. A glimpse of the target a little later proved that she would never reach port nor would her cargo drop bombs on American troops. The Trigger was now willing to let the old year take its

departure without complaint. Optimistically revisiting her old

86

BATTLE SUBMERGED

mine plant twice only proved the enemy wasn't sending any more ships through that area at all. Hunting all of the time, it
took Trigger ten days to find something suitable to dedicate
to a
,

Happier

New Year.
10,

with her patrol drawing to a close, the Triggers search was rewarded. The skipper and his navigator
January

On

were sweeping the periscope about, taking bearings to establish their noon position when a ship was sighted heading for them at high speed. She was throwing out a bow wave as only a destroyer can do. Wherever she was going she was in a big hurry. But the Trigger changed the destroyer's direction and destination. Three torpedoes sent the Okikaze, all 1,300 tons
of her, to the bottom, but not in one piece.

Submarine Versus Submarine

IT IS

NOT

ciated, that submarines

generally realized, and less frequently apprecan be killers of their own kind. The
it

United States submarines in the Pacific proved

by

their

score of twenty-five confirmed sinkings of enemy undersea craft. They actually became the nemesis of the Japanese submersibles.

Submarine against submarine is an event of sudden contact, snap decision and quick attack. One submarine becomes vulnerable to another when caught on the surface by an opponent submerged or otherwise unseen, such as by possessing the better radar during darkness. Once the subs are both submerged the battle becomes stalemated except for the very remote
possibility of

ramming.

With our subs operating in Empire waters from the very beginning of the war the enemy's logical retaliation would have
been to have his subs lurking on submerged patrol, exacting a heavy entrance fee from us for venturing into Japanese waters. Actually, only one definite sinking of an American submarine

was ever credited

to Japanese undersea craft. 87

88
and

BATTLE SUBMERGED
others during the long war.

The Japs started the war with eighty-three fleet submarines,

of course constructed

many

However, there

was too much

Japanese High Command submarine ever to be exploited for

as the

difference of opinion in the over their best employment for the

maximum

results.

war progress reversed and we started up the Then, long road back, Japanese subs were mainly employed for evacuation and transportation, or to carry badly needed supOur own submarines plies to islands besieged by sea and air. had destroyed so much Japanese shipping they dared not risk the remnant. Submarines were often used to evacuate key personnel or even a whole garrison, as in the daring evacuation of Kiska, under our very noses. This was a remarkable feat that left our faces very red indeed. But such employment permitted no use of the submarine's offensive weapon the torpedo. In February, 1945, the United States submarine Batfish,

commanded by Commander

J.

K. (Jake) Fyfe,

made

that

form of evacuation highly unpopular by sinking three Japanese undersea boats, bulging with V.I.P/s, in four days.
Lieutenant
eon,

Commander Elton

(Joe) Grenfell, in the

Gudg-

started the sub vs. sub dueling as early as January 27, 1942, by catching the Japanese 1-17S on the surface a few hundred miles west of Midway and expertly subtracting it

had

from the enemy's

for four

fleet roster.

The

Silent Service

accounted

that year. The 1943 score was three; 1944 was with better, eight in the bag. It remained for the Batfish to set the all-time individual

more

record with her bag of three on one patrol, accounting for a full one-third of the subs sunk in 1945.

Jake Fyfe had taken

fourth

command of the Batfish just before her

war patrol, which was conducted in the area around Palau from August 1 to September 12, 1944. There was a reason for die dearth of targets that the Batfish
found
there. It

had been well blasted by the heavy

carrier

SUBMARINE VERSUS SUBMARINE

strikes of July

89

25 to 28, preliminary to attacks on Yap, Palau and the Japs were giving the area a wide berth. Nevertheless, by braving navigational hazards in the inadequately charted waters near Velasco and Ngaruangl Reefs, the Batfish managed to sink two destroyers. But Jake had his heart set on bagging an enemy sub. On two occasions, August 5 and August 11, he thought his wish was about to be gratified. Targets were discovered, the tedious maneuver of approach executed. Then, blinko, each sub dove and stayed out of sight. There was nothing Jake could do

and

Ulithi,

about
to

it

except mutter in his beard.

On September 3 the Batfish set out for Fremantle, Australia,

Of course, she could boast of a couple of destroyers and some small fry; but Jake still wanted to bag a submarine. The crew had become infected with the same ambition.
refit.

Skee, the gunner's mate, stood in front of a pinup picture whose curvaceous image a wistful member of the crew ( under

had pasted the Lucky Strike slogan, "So round, so firm, so fully packed") and shook a reproving finger. "You ain't doing right by us, honey. You wanna stay on here, yuh bettah get in the
game." On October 8 the Batfish was en route to her new area in the Sulu Sea and South China Sea. She had many miles to go before finally poking her nose into San Fernando Harbor on western Luzon to make her first kill a lowly freighter. But, despite the fact that he added another ship to the bag the next day, Jake felt that he was increasingly plagued with bad luck. Another submarine had sat on the surface looking
inert as Fujiyama itself, until the panting, eager raced in for the kill. Same old story: the Jap chose a Batfish submarine's safest refuge, down, out, and away. Then the Batfish had to proceed to Pearl Harbor.
as big

and

Three surfaced jinx was getting Jake down. them! As they at a shot not even contacted and submarines

The submarine

stood in toward the entrance buoys at Pearl Harbor on Decem-

90
ber
1,

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Skee, the gunner's mate, gave the pinup girl a final warning. 'It's either this time, honey, or we're getting another
girl See?" The sixth

war patrol which was conducted in the South China Sea-Luzon Straits area "Convoy College" from December 30, 1944 to March 3, 1945, was to be Jake Fyfe's last patrol in the Batfish. On this patrol the Batfish was a member of "J oe?s Jugheads," as the three-ship pack was called
in

honor of the skipper of the pack

Enright. The
third

flag boat, Archerfish,

member of the division was Blackfish, Lieutenant Commander W. L. Kitch. Joe Enright had made an inspiring record for himself in his

Commander Joe F.

a subprevious patrol by sinking the biggest ship to fall to marine during the war, the giant 62,000-ton carrier, Shinano,

with

torpedo hits. Joe Enright could continue to carry his luck to his pack, perhaps Jake Fyfe would achieve his fondest dream. The pack spent the early part of their patrol west of Hong Kong in the vicinity of Hainan Island. So far as the Batfish was
Well,
if

six

concerned, the Jughead's luck had run out. About the only one aboard who profited by the time spent in the area was the
pharmacist's mate,

who found opportunity to practice the factor chief petty officer examination by patchof his practical
ing some shot-up fishermen from a Chinese junk.

just when Jake thought he had figured out all the the movements of an elusive freighter with which on angles had been they playing hide and seek from Gaalong Bay to YuHn, Hainan, the skipper had to log with a tinge of regret, "Received orders changing our patrol area. Hate to leave here now that we have 'cased the joint' so -well and feel that nothing

Then

could get by us again. Headed for Luzon Straits, ." But they had been sent there for a very good reason. The
. .

Japs were busy evacuating some of their key personnel from Aparri in northern Luzon. Their control of the Philippine Archipelago was fast becoming a memory a bitter memory

SUBMARINE VERSUS SUBMARINE

of

91

what the Japanese had dreamed would be a new empire for them. Most exits from the Philippines had been closed, and there now was no way to get the personnel out in any But our head man in great numbers except by submarine.
subs proposed to slam that door in their faces, too. There would be no more pulling troops out from under our very
noses as they had in the Aleutians, So he added the Plaice and Scabbardfish to Joe's Jugheads to make the exit route from Luzon too tight a squeeze even for the agile Nipponese. Batfish
.

was directed
Islands.

to plug the passage

between Babuyan and

Calayan And then it happened! At 10:50 on the night of February 9 radar reported a good contact at 11,000 yards and there was every evidence that it

was a submarine.
the
kill.

Swiftly, silently the Batfish

moved

in for

Thirty minutes later the command that makes every submariner's heart beat faster sounded through the boat. "Stand by!" "It's a submarine," called Jake jubilantly, when the range

was closed

to 1,850 yards.

spread whipped out toward the target. All hands waited breathlessly for the explosions, mentally ticking
off

A four-torpedo
the seconds.

Nothing! The inen relaxed, every face somber with disappointment. Jake had missed. Hard luck still dogged them. His voice choking with disappointment, the skipper gave orders to pull out to the right. He refused to admit defeat yet. He would do an end around and try again. That is, if the Jap

sub remained on the surface. The moonless night was further darkened by a heavy overcast. So far the target had only been sighted by radar. But on this attempt Jake decided to move in close enough for a visual
contact and that would be plenty close.

At exactly one minute after midnight the Batfish was again in a firing position, at a range of 1,000 yards. There it was!

92

BATTLE SUBMERGED
a Japa-

Black against black, but unmistakably silhouetted nese I-class submarine.

Jake was in the position for which he had prayed all during two previous patrols. Below decks, every article that bore any resemblance to a good-luck charm was reverently rubbed and cajoled by an expectant and hopeful crew.

The second torpedo did the trick. A brilliant orange-red explosion lit up half the sky, and the 1-41 took her last dive. Jake had a yen to salvage some Nip submariners not for
humanitarian purposes alone but the night was so very dark that a searchlight would be necessary for the rescue. Such a blatant advertisement of his presence in the neighborhood would be far from prudent, so Jake decided to wait until daylight

But with dawn the

oil slick

and debris proved only

all

to

be

over the place magnets for our own planes, like wasps to a honey pot. Whenever Batfish tried to lift her head for a look-see, the enthusiastic aviators greeted her with

who swarmed

TNT

mained submerged home.

bouquets. So, by courtesy of our planes, Batfish reuntil darkness and the zoomies had to go

Now that Batfish had finally broken the jinx and bagged a submarine Jake began to take a new interest in life. Japanese water was a pretty good place to be after all. What he didn't suspect was that the Batfish's shower of luck was going to turn
into a veritable deluge. At 7:51 that night radar signals again indicated the presence of the same type of target as the night before. The Batfish drooled at the prospect of chalking off another Jap submarine.

was even darker than the one before, Jake decided to chance an ineffective enemy yadar and get in on the surface close enough to identify the target by class. Then at 1,200 yards, after the Stand By had sounded, the enemy
Since the night

sub suddenly dove, leaving unbelieving eyes on the Batfish bridge gaping at an empty ocean.

SUBMARINE VERSUS SUBMARINE

93

The Bat-fish was now in a vulnerable position. It could happen to her too! The skipper lost no time in pulling clear, cursing himself for waiting too long for the perfect setup. Waited
until

he had been spotted, he thought

bitterly as

he gave

orders to dive.
didn't I realize those fellows have eyes too. Now never show himself again tonight!" But just one half-hour later Sound reported the cheering news of a swishing noise from the direction of the target. This swishing noise contained all the beauty of a wonderful symphony for Jake and his crew. There is no other like it to a submariner's ears and nothing else can duplicate it. A submarine was blowing her ballast tanks to surface!

"Why

he'll

It

now seemed

contact was an

likely that the Jap was convinced that his error and he had decided to be on his way

again. This time, Jake vowed, he was not going to give him a chance to suspect anyone. He was going to shoot from a submerged position, dark as the night was. At 10:00 P.M. from a 880-yard range Jake fired his first torpedo, then sent three others in the combing spread. But it was a needless precaution, for the first one literally blew the target apart. In addition to the regular explosion there were two loud internal explosions from the target. "Maybe this guy was carrying ammunition to General Yamashita," remarked the skipper. Number two Jap submarine (RO-112) for the Batfish and Skee gave the pinup girl one of his most approving glances. But there was still more to come. Radar electrified everyone at 1:55 A.M. on February 13 by

reporting another contact and again bearing a very close resemblance to the previous submarine contacts. It seemed
too good to be true; but Jake was perfectly willing to prove himself wrong. The bow torpedoes had been expended, but the stern tubes were loaded and ready to go.

A little later Jake was

convinced. "Looks like another Nip

94

BATTLE SUBMERGED

sub/' he announced exultantly, and a through the boat.

muted cheer rang

one was a wary fellow and proved a bit For while the range was still outside of the torpedo limit the enemy suddenly dove. Something had disturbed him. The Batfish hoped she hadn't been responsible and patiently waited. Before long radar reported that the sub was on the surface again. Once more the Batfish rolled up her sleeves. Then when the range was being closed radar lost the target for about forty minutes. Cold sweat slowly.began to gather on Jake's brows when the horrible suspicion assailed him that the Batfish might have become the target. Then when the bad
this third
skittish.

But

moments of waiting inspired the urge for a change of position, radar brought sunshine back into their lives by reporting contact again. It was a beautiful world after all! By 4:30 A.M. the Batfish had made an end-around and was in a submerged attack position. This had to be it. No more horsing around; the dawn would come awfully early.
long can this streak of luck keep up? Please, long muttered Jake, crossing his fingers over enough the periscope handles. When the first torpedo brought a large yellow ball of fire, followed by an explosion, the Batfish knew that she had chalked off another sub. This time it was the RO-113, as proved by a wooden box containing Japanese navigational equipment and a book of tables the Batfish recovered at dayfor this one,"

"How

break.

"From the positions listed in the work book," said Jake Fyfe, looks like this guy went from Nagoya to Formosa before he headed down toward Luzon to join his ancestors." The Archerfish made it a fourth for the pack the next day,
"it

They Chose Death

ALTHOUGH

the stories of Captain John P. Cromwell and

Commander Howard Gilmore can

hardly be classified as

describing missions normally performed by the submarine fleet, their selfless courage symbolizes the spirit of the Service.

captain who felt he knew too much to risk bea coming Japanese prisoner and chose to die rather than risk betraying his country under drugs and tortures; the other,
a skipper who elected death rather than endanger his submarine and crew. Because men of this caliber manned our submarines, the Silent Service never faltered no matter how tough the going became. Nor did the Navy have a monopoly on the breed of patriot who, like Nathan Hale, would regret having only one life to sacrifice for his countrymen. Their spiritual kinsmen flew the Army Air Force's planes, guided tanks into battle and toted guns or blood plasma past the front
lines.

One was a

Because he was commander of a wolf pack, Captain Crom95

96

BATTLE SUBMERGED

well was given complete information about the strategy to be used in the central Pacific area, in case his pack should be

needed

dubbed with the code name Galvanic. Before Captain Cromwell left Pearl Harbor, Commander Submarines called him privately into his office for a thorough briefing on all of our pending plans. Ironically enough, Admiral Lockwood told Cromwell he was sorry to be forced to give him such dangerous information. Neither could know or expect that the knowledge would be
in the forthcoming offensive operation

Cromwell's self-signed death warrant.

The

5, 1943, in

captain left Pearl Harbor in the Sculpin on November company with the Searaven and Apogon, for an

November 19 the skipper of the Commander Fred Connaway, intercepted a small but well-guarded convoy near Truk in the Carolines, and moved
Sculpin.,

operational patrol. During the forenoon of

in to a successful attack, despite the vigilance of the escorting

destroyers.

He must have made

a very important

kill,

the

way the

de-

stroyers swarmed down upon him. The veteran skipper tried every evasive tactic he knew but the sea wasps refused to be shaken off. By noon, accurately placed depth charges had the Sculpin practically out of control. The strong-pressure hull had been badly distorted by the heavy explosions that still were shaking the submarine. Water was pouring into the boat alarmingly fast from many leaks. Diving and steering gears were deranged, and the outboard doors of the torpedo tubes were jammed rendering Sculpin incapable of back
fighting

with her only submerged weapon. As the savage mauling continued without abatement the crew found it
difficult to

increasingly

keep the submarine from plunging out of control to a depth too great to survive. And, to add to their distress, the storage batteries were almost exhausted. If any of the crew were to be saved they had no choice but
to surface.

Through tightened

lips

Fred Connaway reported

THEY CHOSE DEATH

to the
is

97

pack commander, Captain Cromwell: "Our only chance and fight our way clear/' Cromwell silently nodded his agreement. Captain The courageous gesture made by the men pouring out on deck to man the 3-inch deck gun and the two 20-millimeter guns after the Sculpin surfaced was as futile as the Charge of
to surface

the Light Brigade.

destroyer immediately turned her overwhelming gun power against the obviously distressed boat They knew no submarine would elect to use a small deck gun instead of her torpedoes
of the destroyer until he realized
entire
as
if she had any choice. Fred Connaway watched the superior speed and gun power

A Japanese

making a shambles of the Sculpin s topside it was only a question of seconds before his crew would be annihilated. Connaway decided to save
as possible

many of his men

by scuttling the

Sculpin. After

abandon ship, and with the men going over the side, Connaway was killed when one of the destroyer's shells struck the conning tower. The same burst instantly took the
his order to

gunnery officer, Lieutenant Joseph R. Defrees, Jr., and Lieutenant N. J. Allen. That holocaust put Lieutenant George E. Brown in command. He was the one who had gone below to tell Captain Cromwell that it was time to leave the Sculpin. But the pack commander had already made his irrevocable decision. He knew that the Japanese had ways of extracting information from prisoners by torture and drugs. Since he was a senior officer he was sure that the enemy would use every device in the Book of the Damned to learn something, anything, about the next American move in the bewildering
lives of the

island-hopping technique being employed by the Allies. He realized that, no matter how great his determination to remain
silent, it

was possible he might be forced to tell what he knew.

responsible for the death of a single Ameri-

He refused to be
can.

98

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Cromwell took a deep breath, twisted his lips into a forced smile, and extended his hand. "Go ahead, Brown. I know too much to go with you. Good luck, and goodbye/' Aghast, Brown stammered his protests, but the hand that grasped his shoved him violently toward his duty to give orders for the Sculpins final dive. The broken, leaking craft went down, carrying with her the gallant officer who had
elected to die with the submarine rather than endanger his

country. An incredible account of the

men who

left

been gathered from postwar

is

sources. Unhappily,

the Sculpin has it contains

a cruelly ironic twist that proves again the old adage that truth
stranger than fiction. After the Sculpin had taken her final dive, the destroyer Yokohama drew near the men struggling in the water, strafing

After killing several the Japs ceased fire and began to rescue the remainder that is, the unwounded ones. Those who needed medical attention were
fire.

them with machine-gun

thrown overboard. One of them, John Paul Rourke, had a

difficult

time avoiding

this treatment.

vince his captors that his slight

health.

He managed to conwound would not affect his

secretly

While en route

to Truk,

Torpedoman Thomas

briefed the forty-one survivors on the story he had told their captors. Before long the Japs were digging out charts from
as far back as 1820 in a vain attempt to locate the secret island between the Gilberts and Truk where the captives had with

feigned reluctance admitted the American subs were refueling. The Japs were still eagerly searching for the mythical island when the destroyer arrived at Truk.

Here the prisoners were divided into two groups and transferred to two escort carriers, the and Chuyo Unyo, for transto These two carriers were part of a task force portation Japan, which included the carrier Zuiho, a cruiser, Maya, and two destroyers, Sazanami and Urakaze. This would have com-

THEY CHOSE DEATH

99

pleted the saga of the Sculpin survivors if the Sailfish, commanded by Commander Robert E. M. Ward, had not taken a

hand in their fate.

Soon
after sunset

on December 2, 1943, the

its

Sailfish sighted

the Japanese task force on

way Empire. Despite storm-churned seas and driving rain, Bob Ward headed the Sailfish through jet-black darkness to make a surface attack.

to the

Soon after midnight two torpedoes were sent crashing into the hull of the carrier Chuyo. The escorting destroyers came racing up to protect the
badly wounded ship from further onslaught and began salting the sea for miles around with depth charges. Their accuracy

was much

inferior to their zeal.

The

Sailfish

was only

briefly

shaken up, but the attack did nothing to diminish her desire to continue the fight. So, when the convoy moved on, the submarine surfaced to pursue the wounded carrier. It was
against principle to let a winged bird go. Shortly before dawn the submarine attained another attack
position, and the she floated.

Chuyo absorbed two more

torpedoes.

Still

Ward was annoyed. In the murky dawn he submerged and ran in to take a look at the carrier through his periscope.
he could place a few more damaged Chuyo, but what he could not see were twenty-one Sculpin survivors penned on deck. Nor could those men guess, let alone know, the identity of the submarine that was preparing to deliver the coup de gr&ce to the carrier and so complete their own doom. Such coincidences shatter the laws of probability, because the submarine was the one that their Sculpin had stood by in rescue attempt when she lay helpless on the sea bottom off
closer range he saw where torpedoes to finish off the badly

At

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in May, 1939. At that time the Sailfish was known as the Squalus! George Rocqk was the only American survivor, after three

more torpedoes from the

Sailfish

sank the blazing Chuyo.

He

100

BATTLE SUBMERGED
to the copper mines in Japan,

was sent

where he joined the

other carrier. twenty prisoners One February day in 1943 a badly battered American submarine, the Growler, crawled home from her fourth war patrol in the western Solomons near the Rabaul traffic lanes. The
battle-scarred hull represented only her material condition; the human element of the team of ship and men was passionately eager to return to battle. They had an awesome revenge
to exact for their skipper who, helplessly

who had been aboard the

bridge, and crew, and remained on the submarine's bridge was forced to dive.

had commanded

his

wounded on the second-in-command to save ship

when she

The Growler had won an

self

extraordinary reputation for her-

under the command of Commander Howard Gilmore

of the sub-

on her four excursions against the Japanese fleet. Prior to her first war patrol, she had been one

marines patrolling the probable avenues of approach by Admiral Yamamoto's task force making its fatal rendezvous at

Midway.

Once the Battle of Midway was history the Growler took off for the Aleutians. This was June 20, 1942. The enemy had
landed and occupied the western Aleutians at Kiska and Attu. On June 3, Rear Admiral Kakuda, commander of the occupying force, had sent thirty-six bombers and twenty-nine Zeros from his two carriers to make a diversionary attack on our base at Dutch Harbor, the first bombs to be dropped on the North

American continent.

With the enemy fleet fully prepared

to try to hold all

it

had

grabbed, the targets promised to be abundant if one could see through the interminable fog and live through the foul
weather. But the Growler saw through two destroyers in Kiska Harbor.
it

well enough to get

The next patrol netted four

Itukushima.

ships,

one of them a tanker, the

for throughout the

The

third patrol

was disappointing,

THEY CHOSE DEATH

Growler seemed
to

101
to herself.

have the whole ocean

But on

the fourth patrol, in January, 1943, the Growler was scarcely on station before she picked off a freighter in a convoy and two days later sank another. Then, during the early hours of

February 7, occurred the heroic tragedy. One hour after midnight, Gilmore detected a ship about 2,000 yards off his starboard bow. The torpedo tubes weren't quite ready, so Gilmore swung the Growler away to allow time to prepare, then turned back toward the target. It was so dark he couldn't see the enemy ship reverse course and head
straight for him. Not until radar warned that the target was very close could the skipper see what had happened.

moment later the screen showed

that the target was to attack with torpedoes they wouldn't have time to arm. Without hesitation Gilmore chose the only course left to

too close

damage the enemy vessel. He gave the order

recognized gunboat. "Full left rudder!"

to

ram the now-

Then he sounded the

collision alarm. It

was only seconds

before the Growler plowed into the enemy ship at seventeen knots. The sub heeled over about 50 degrees, then righted.

Before the ships could draw apart, the gunboat began to sweep the submarine with machine guns at point-blank range.
the bridge!"

command came with the first burst: "Clear The officer of the deck, the quartermaster and two wounded men slid down the hatch. The executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Arnold F. Schade, peered anxiously up toward the bridge where the din of machine-gun fire still resounded. The skipper should have been easing his body down by then but, instead, came his clear-voiced command:
The
skipper's

"Take her down!" Schade hesitated even though the order

doubt.

left

no room for

"Take her down!"

102

BATTLE SUBMERGED

It was definite, decisive. The hatch was still open but no one was coming down through it. Further delay would mean the loss of the boat and all hands below. Sick at heart and stomach Schade closed the hatch and sounded the diving alarm. How close the call was was measured by a bullet that pierced through the conning tower, through which water streamed into the submerging boat. Dead on the bridge beside the mortally wounded skipper were Ensign W. W. William and Petty Officer W. F. Kelley. Howard Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Congres-

sional

Medal

of Honor.

The

inspiring personal heroism as he lay wounded on deck,

citation, in part, read, "For his in ordering his ship submerged

knowing he would be
the
first

lost,

Comof the

mander Howard W. Gilmore became

member

Submarine Force to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Through his splendid spirit of self-sacrifice his ship, though seriously wounded, lived to fight again and to take an honored place in the fight against the enemy before her own
loss in

November, 1944."

Operation Appendectomy

Submerged

MOST THINGS in normal life are automatically regulated by law and order. But through the ages some things have successfully resisted all efforts of man-made laws to control, and chief among them are the weather and the vermiform appendix. When the appendix becomes seriously inflamed, there is only one thing to do remove it without delay. Unfortunately we can't do the same with unpleasant weather.
Ordinarily the health of our submariners was excellent. However, before starting a war patrol, which usually averaged

about sixty days away from the base, each member of the crew was given an especially thorough examination to detect any incipient disease. This was of utmost importance, for, from the very start of the war, submarines operated deep in enemy waters, beyond plane range even from our bases. They never
carried medical officers.

Each

thoroughly grounded in first

carried a pharmacist's mate aid. Of course, in the event of the

103

104

BATTLE SUBMERGED

unpredictable he and the skipper could fall back on the old submarine formula: "If you can see it, paint it with iodine. If not, give salts." Occasionally that formula didn't apply.

In prewar days most of the submarines didn't even carry a pharmacist's mate. The skipper doubled for doctor and drugdid not occasion too much concern. gist. But this deficiency The tenders were usually not too far away and a plane or destroyer could reach the position of the sub in time enough to take care of any emergency. But the time came when, under

compulsion of war, the submarines ventured where no other

craft
air or surface

could follow.

Since there were not enough doctors available to supply each ship with one, let alone each submarine, the undersea boys could only hope that nothing would happen that they could not handle themselves. It turned out that even in cases
of inflamed appendices they were not found wanting, as was demonstrated when, in September, 1942, the Seadragon (Lieutenant Commander William E. Fen-all) left Darwin,
Australia,

on her fourth war patrol.

Bali.

A dark night was chosen to transit Lombok Strait between

Java and
Indies like a tidal

The enemy had just overrun the Dutch East wave and was keeping a sharp lookout for
making
their

Allied subs, who were already in the Japanese supply line.

deadly bite

felt

For a week the Seadragon assiduously plied her trade without

much remuneration. Then

soaring by reporting that inactivity pearing on the screen!

the radar operator sent spirits was ended. Pips were ap-

But at the skipper's side First Class Pharmacist's Mate Wheeler B. Lipes, his forehead wrinkled with worry, was also

making a report. The skipper listened with concern because he knew that Lipes was not one to worry needlessly. Some of the crew, related Lipes, had been "off their feed" for a few days but a little of the standard old remedy was
straightening them out. So

when Darrell Dean Rector, seaman

OPERATION APPENDECTOMY
first class,

SUBMERGED!

105

his

began to complain of pains in the lower regions of stomach "Doc" had at first relegated the seaman to the "off the feed" category. But the pain persisted, and appeared to be confined to the right side. After a second and more thorough examination, Lipes said, he had decided that this was no ordinary case of bellyache or trots. So he thumbed through his medical books for symptoms that matched. When he had closed the books no doubt remained. Rector had acute appendicitis and needed an immediate operation. Bill Ferrall scratched his head thoughtfully. It was all very well to talk about operations, but being on war patrol in the Java Sea without a medical officer did not jibe very well with the suggestion. A rendezvous with Allied destroyers or planes in these waters was out of the question and it was a long way back to Australia, too long. Furthermore, it was doubtful that the Japs would heed the sanctity of a submarine charging across the sea with hospital markings on it, and even if they
still a long way to the nearest Allied port. The possiof recourse to a surgeon had to be ruled out immediately. bility The skipper looked questioningly at slender, soft-spoken

did it was

Pharmacist's
"It's

Mate

Lipes.

about

six of one,

tain," said Lipes. "But I think I can

and half a dozen of the do the job."

other,

Cap-

"You?" ejaculated the skipper.

been present as an assistant when many an was removed. There's nothing to the operation if appendix no complications set in, such as a rupture. With a steady platform, a few people to help, another gander at my medical books, a few improvised instruments, and a fair J-factor, I can bring him through. With your permission, Captain, 111 assume the full responsibility. At least, it'll give Rector a chance. Without it, he's as good as dead anyhow." The skipper nodded his head slowly. The pharmacist's mate enjoyed the respect and confidence of the entire crew. "It's my responsibility and I have confidence in you, Lipes. If
"Yes,
Sir. I've

106

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Rector agrees to the operation, so will I. I'll give you a steady and I will platform, my officers will act as your assistants,

pray for a good J-factor. Good luck." When the situation was explained to the ailing seaman he cocked an eyebrow at the confident Lipes. "Go to it, Doc. It ain't doing me any good where it is." The growing pips on the radar screen were forgotten at
10:45 A.M., September 11, 1942,

when

the Seadragon left the

war behind and planed down to 120 feet. The motors were slowed until no motion was perceptible. The wardroom table on which the patient was stretched could not have been more steady if it had been alongside the dock or in a hospital. Everything was all set. Lipes's improvised instruments were ready, and the electricians had rigged floodlights. Then Wheeler Lipes went confidently to work. The requests that he made of his amateur assistants ship's
,

officers

were not

in the technical

a hospital operating table, but it stood and obeyed with alacrity. At 1:22 P.M. Wheeler Lipes slowly pulled off his rubber surgical gloves. With a final look at the neat stitching he

language heard around was a language they under-

nodded to his assistants, a satisfied smile on his face. "Thanks, gentlemen. Our J-factor was good." The offending appendix had been removed and the patient was resting easy. Two weeks later Darrell Dean Rector was
back on duty. Thus was performed the first submerged appendectomy in submarine history. The courageous pharmacist's mate was
to warrant officer. Before the year was out two other submarines were confronted with the same serious condition. They, too, were

promoted

handled
cist's

efficiently

and

successfully.

On December

13, in

the

Grayback (Lieutenant

Commander

E. C. Stephan) Pharma-

Mate First Class Harry B. Roby performed an appendectomy on Torpedoman's Mate W. R. Jones, with the same

OPERATION APPENDECTOMY
efficiency

SUBMERGED!

107

and success displayed by Wheeler Lipes. Then on December 22, Pharmacist's Mate First Class Thomas Moore did the same for Fireman First Class George Platter in the Siluersides (Lieutenant Commander Creed Burlingame).
Both patients recovered in a short time. The record shows that there were eleven cases of acute apthe war with not a single pendicitis aboard submarines during in the Navy's Bureau of in Washington fatality. But back Medicine and Surgery, the doctors wondered whether no submarine pharmacist's mate thought he had earned his stripes until he had removed somebody's appendix with a steak knife
while
six

fathoms deep.

Wolf

Packs

WE HAD A total of 117 wolf packs in the Pacific from October, 1943, until the close of the war. They usually consisted of three boats; for special missions they had as many as seven, and once even nine boats.

Most

ers could

of the colorful titles given the packs by the submarinbe traced to some characteristic of the leader or

handy

alliteration or

inspirations for

maybe a pun on his name, as were the Commander Fenno's "Fennomints," Com-

mander Hiram Cassedy's "Hiram's Hecklers," Commander E. R. Swinburne's "Ed's Eradicators," Commander Moseley's
"Moseley's Maulers."

proved to be the most enemy supply line from the south. Some of the larger bags of enemy vessels were contributed by packs commanded by Commander Lewis S. Parks, "Parks's Pirates," Captain L. N. Blair, "Blair's Blasters," Capof attack
effective in our efforts to sever the

The wolf-pack method

V. (Mickey) O'Regan, "Mickey Finns," Commander G. R. Donaho, "Donk's Devils" (thirteen ships on one patrol,
tain
108

W.

WOLF PACKS

109

record for a three-boat pack), Commander Clarey, "Clarey's Crushers," Commander J. B. Oakley, Jr., "Ben's Busters." The
largest

nine boats in

pack was formed when three were merged into one, all, under Commander E. T. Hydeman. In June, 1945, they traversed the entire Sea of Japan from the mined Strait of Tsushima to La Perouse Strait between Hokkaido and
Sakhalin.

The

score racked

up by "Hydeman's Hepcats" dur-

ing their twelve days in waters considered sacredly inviolate, the Emperor's private ocean, was twenty-eight ships. On the
debit side of the books for the Hepcats was the loss by depth charges of the Bonefish (Commander L. L. Edge), the last

submarine to be

lost in the

war.
to

The term wolf pack has always brought

mind

a picture

of gaunt, fierce, four-footed wolves tenaciously hanging on the flanks of a drove of cattle or sheep, darting in to snatch

an unwary or lagging animal or, if hungry enough, even attacking a whole herd. Early in the war the name was very aptly applied to the U-boat flotillas in the Atlantic. They were a more than reasonable facsimile of the old fur-coated marauders of cattle-trail days. Patiently the pack would trail a convoy during daylight hours, always staying just below the horizon. Then under the protection of the gathering dusk
off
it

would move up to position for the kill. The tactics employed were simple but extremely effective. Average Atlantic convoys were composed of sixty or more
ships, ordinarily

steaming in ten columns of six ships each. Such a formation would extend over an area of about five

miles wide and three miles long, but larger ones carrying troops and supplies for an invasion would cover the whole
horizon. In the

years of the war, usually only six escorts could be provided as watch dogs for the whole convoy: one astern, two on each flank and one ahead! It's easy to see that
first

with such inadequate protection the door was left wide open for an aggressor. There was more than enough room in that

110

BATTLE SUBMERGED

vast sea area for a submarine running almost awash to knife in undetected, line up desirable targets and pump out all tor-

pedoes. In the ensuing

of exploding, burning the U-boat to race off ships, it was no difficult problem for into the dusk again very like a wolf indeed who had stam-

pandemonium

peded a herd of sheep and made his kill. If an escort happened to loom up, the U-boat raider could always submerge and sneak out that way. It was practically a one-way game in those days of too few escorts, and even these few seldom had speed enough for effective pursuit. Radar, of course, was not yet
standard equipment. Only the scarcity of operating U-boats there were, on the average, fewer than forty operating at any ( one time) versus the high number of Allied convoys kept the

Nazis from effectively stopping our flow of supplies across the Atlantic. The million-ton-per-month mark of sinkings,
could the Germans have sustained it, would have prolonged the war indefinitely, if not won it for Hitler. But the problem facing our subs in the Pacific differed en-

from the Germans' in the Atlantic, both in the size of convoys and the number of escorting vessels they had to evade. Out there, an eight-ship convoy was considered large by both adversaries and if the ships were valuable they would be thoroughly hedged about by escorts under an umbrella of aircraft, sometimes as many as one warship for each merchantman. Compare that to the one to ten ratio in the Atlantic!
tirely

Now, the idea of coordinated attack groups, or wolf packs, had been tried out by our submarine service, too. In the middle '20s they experimented with what was called the section attack formation. In this early forerunner of the pack technique a section of three boats maneuvered as a single unit. But it was an unwieldy procedure, since underwater com-

munications are always unreliable. The boats were required to attain their attack positions in approximately the same line

and

communications before

to fire their torpedoes simultaneously. Due to uncertain firing as well as when directing a

WOLF PACKS

111

lision,

countermarch, and with the consequent possibility of colthe section attack soon became known familiarly as
It

"the suicide attack."

was not long before the experiment was abandoned, not only because of the danger to our personnel and the small promise of success but primarily because it has always been
recognized that the submarine skipper is an individualist. More so than any other type of commanding officer, he
achieves his greatest successes when he is left free to attain his own attack position and "point his own gun."
Nevertheless, the idea of wolf packs remained. Submariners

were confident that it had merit. And the Nazis proved it for them in the excellent results they achieved in the Atlantic, although the Germans used tactics that only vaguely resembled the old section attack. Apparently they, too, had
recognized the advisability of giving their skippers a free rein. However, it was not until October, 1943, that we had

enough submarines
first

available in the Pacific to warrant our

experiment in coordinated attacks. Captain Charles B. Momsen, one of our most experienced submarine officers, led
first American wolf pack. It consisted of the Cero, Shad and Grayback. The selected operating area was the East China Sea.

the

Although no coordinated attacks as envisioned by doctrine were made, three ships were sunk by independent action. One valuable fact was learned and brought home. The pack was able to transmit information on convoys to each of its members as to speed, course, location, and make-up. This, Momsen felt, was the essential element to provide the hitherto missing teamwork. Captain Momsen's recommendation was succinct and concise. Inaugurate a doctrine, he counseled, whereby the pack commander remains on the beach, collects information on convoy movements and gets it out to his boats. The ,subs, at almost double radar distance from each other, can then fan

112
out on a search line.

BATTLE SUBMERGED

When a convoy is located, the good word can be spread to the others. The packs should contain at least three boats. One can be restricted to each flank, the other trail. The flankers can do an end around and make attacks from ahead and the trailer finish off the cripples, or become a flanker if the convoy should zigzag enough. But don't direct the skipLeave to the cappers' approach for them, Momsen begged. tain the necessary latitude and independence that he must
have
to attain his

own

attack position.

This recommendation was not immediately adopted. Other packs had to be tried out first, to get other points of view. But
of the pack commanders soon came to the same conclusion, the particularly regarding the independence of action. By
all

summer

of 1944 the packs were efficient, well-handled teams of convoy annihilators, progressing rapidly in their aim to strangle the Japanese supply line from the south. The only

modification

made

in Captain

Momsen's

original

recom-

mendation was that the pack commander accompanied his boats. In some cases he was a separate officer riding in one of the boats, but more often he was the senior skipper. By the summer of 1944 it was an accepted doctrine that the pack commander collected and disseminated the information

among the group, made the decisions regarding

the pursuit of

convoys, and assigned his boats their positions on the convoy under consideration. But from there on the play belonged to
the skippers.

When TParks's Pirates" left Pearl Harbor in June,

avowed purpose was
to

1944, their

major in enemy

attrition at

Convoy

College. This lucrative campus stretched south from Formosa to Luzon and was the converging point for several Japanese

convoy

routes.

The

Pirate

commander, Lewis

S.

Parks,

was

the veteran skipper of the Pompano during her early pioneering photo reconnaissance patrol of the Marshalls prior to

Admiral Halsey's
flagship

raid.

He was

particularly pleased that his

was the Parche,

for her skipper

was Commander

WOLF PACKS
Lawson

113

P. Ramage. This flaming-haired officer had already established a reputation for himself in command of the Trout during some hectic patrols in the southwest Pacific. Lew Parks

felt

he could have made no better choice. Glancing at the other two pack members who steamed along astern he felt
his little team.

even greater satisfaction in

The

Steelhead,

commanded by Commander Dave

some

L. Whelchel,

fine patrols under her daring, efficient one of those people endowed with the happy faculty of not only seeing every opportunity when it appeared but being able to grasp it without ado. For instance, just a little over six months before, Whelchel had been given the not too spectacular assignment of planting some mines off Hokkaido. The mission having been completed without interference, Whelchel decided to let the Japs in on the news

had made skipper. He was

was hunting in their neighborhood, just someone wanted to try to chase him out and perhaps unwittingly run afoul of his mines. But no Japanese wanted
that the Steelhead
in case
little.

to play, so the skipper decided to stir up the neighborhood a He piloted his boat to within two miles of the beach off

the industrial town of Mororon, where he proceeded to make the night hideous for the inhabitants by lobbing shells from the deck gun into the Nihon Steel Works until it had been well-plastered. Then the Wanishi Iron Works were accorded

the same treatment, before the Steelhead called it a day. He managed to do a lot of serious damage to Jap installations

but as an invitation to the Japs to play squat-tag in the

it

mine fields

was a failure.

The Hammerhead, commanded by Commander John C. Martin, had a fine record too and, although Lew couldn't
foresee

campus of Back and seemed to be a vacation. Convoy College enjoying forth they steamed in Luzon Strait., using lots of valuable fuel oil but keeping their torpedoes in their tubes. In spite of the

To

then, an even greater one ahead. the intense disappointment of the Pirates the
it

114

BATTLE SUBMERGED
they had been told regarding the
fertility of

many stories
College
as a

the

wonder if
back
marine.

hunting ground the Pirates were beginning to they were going to be forced to take their torpedoes

to Pearl Harbor, a

most

distasteful task for

any sub-

Two different single prizes had been dangled tantaliz-

ingly in front of the target-hungry pack, but constant air harassing and long-range, radar-controlled gun attacks had

stepped on their eager, clutching fingers. At dawn on July 30 the Hammerhead reported barely enough fuel on board to make her way back to the base so Parks directed her to return. There was not too much oil left in the remaining two but they decided they could stick it out
another day or
ing

were crossed that morning. Then during the forenoon the Steelhead sighted smoke rollso.

Many

fingers

up over the horizon. A little later, when the myriad masts poked up like a side view of an asparagus patch, it required no high-powered glass to observe that the convoy had a good air umbrella, which only enhanced the convoy's value in the submariners eyes, although it prevented the Steelhead from surfacing and doing an end-around for position. She was
7

pinned down for the day.

When the covering darkness finally came the Steelhead was

oflF

in hot pursuit

Parche.

On the bridge of the

ing his eyes to

and with a yoicks and view-halloo for the Parche Red Ramage was strainsight the reported quarry. Meantime the radar

operator was fervently being enjoined to verify the Steelhead's contact. This was what they had been praying for. Red Ramage was unhappily aware that the sun has no re-

gard for the plans of man and continues to pop up over the horizon at the scheduled time willy-nilly. This was going to be a close race with time. "Where are they? Where are they?"

he kept muttering under

his

breath to the pack commander,

who

stood looking over his shoulder.

Then

his heart

leaped

into his mouth, for

two rockets had suddenly streaked across the dark overcast skies ahead of them. It could mean only one

WOLF PACKS
thing!

115

ring up for all four radar the operator breathlessly reported that pips engines were splattered all over his board. This was all the skipper

The convoy! Even before he could

had to hear to confirm his hopes completely. The Steelhead had flushed the convoy first and sent six torpedoes crashing into a tanker and a freighter. First blood for the Pirates! That was what had evoked the convoy alarm
sighted

by the Parche.

time the convoy was completely alerted and, knowthe ing prevalence of American wolf packs, all enemy eyes and radars were sweeping the fuzzy horizon to detect any

By

this

other interloper in their midst. Ramage found that an escort was steaming between him and the convoy and decided to adopt a little strategy to re-

move him from

his annoying station. Believing that he possessed the faster ship, the skipper steered the Parche up to the quarter of the escort until he felt sure that he must have been

started to swing about in a wide circle, inviting the escort to chase him. If it could just be drawn away from the formation, the gunboat would leave the way open for
sighted.

Then he

the faster Parche to cut back and plow in through the gap. But the escort wouldn't play, and continued doggedly on his
course, ignoring the afluring bait. When the submarine pulled up to a position astern, but inside the second escort, and found

ignored, the Parche began to suspect that it was a low period for the lookouts and they didn't see her. Just then the convoy executed a zig so wide that it almost became a
herself
still

countermarch, and suddenly the radar showed that all ships were heading straight for the Parche. Talk about luck! The very targets the submarine had been straining every nerve to overtake were piling right into her arms.
"Well," grinned the skipper to Lew Parks, "I asked for targets, and, boy, are they here!" Although the escorts had belatedly spotted her and were now striving to draw a bead on the Parche with their guns, Ramage gave the orders that

116

BATTLE SUBMERGED

would deal out the Sunday punches that had been dormant so long in the tubes and racks. It wasn't difficult to line up targets. What really became difficult was for the Parche to avoid being rammed by the
to keep clear of each milling ships that were frantically trying other and at the same time pepper die killer in their midst. It

soon became a wild melee with bullets coming from

tions.

all

direc-

A torpedo from the Parche's stern tubes lashed out and laid
open the side of a freighter. Quickly the skipper darted about on the bridge lining up targets and sending out torpedoes from both bow and stern tubes. The targets were in such profusion that instead of trying to find one, the harder task was to select one from the many. Then an unforeseen danger reared its head. The boat had become so completely surrounded by the convoy that there remained no avenue of escape. Ramage was
forced
literally to start trying to

shoot a

way out of the cordon

closing about the submarine. Some of the escorts were as close as 200 yards. By this time the leading tanker had sunk and a

second had begun to burn brilliantly, and bullets and shells were whizzing over the Parches bridge with increasing intensity. Lew Parks told us that he believed the only reason the Parche wasn't blown out of the water by the rain of shells was because the range was so short the guns on the highdecked Japanese ships could not be depressed sufficiently to bear on the low-freeboard submarine. The most nerve-racking part of the entire battle came when they had expended all except two of their first load of torpedoes, and the skipper and commodore had to sweat out long minutes until a torpedo tube would be reported reloaded by the men below decks. They felt like sitting ducks lying
there waiting, without even the deck gun manned because, to minimize the chances of casualties, the skipper had the

bridge cleared of

all

except himself, the pack

commander and

Seen through the periscope of the U.S.S. Drum, a merchant ship

goes

down

quickly after a successful attack by the sub. (Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)

The bow of the U. S. S. Sea Dragon surfaces as the raider approaches the flaming Jap ship she has just attacked. ( Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)

The two periscopes and radar antenna, "eyes of the submarine/

The bridge watch and lookouts.

Searching for targets.

Rockets

away!

(Official

photograph,

U.S. Navy.)

[7.S.S. Parche entering Pearl Harbor submarine base after second war patrol.
(

A messenger buoy which can be released

chambers. A reel in the center carries a wire cable connected to the submarine's escape hatch and unreels automatically as buoy rises. The rescue chamber is then covered on this cabin to effect the rescue.
(Official

Official

photograph, U. S. Navy. )

from a disabled U.S. submarine. The ball-shaped sections are buoyancy

photograph, U.S. Navy.)

A U. S. Pacific fleet submarine approaches downed air crew in their rubber raft to effect their rescue in the East China Sea. U.S. Navy.)
(

Official

photograph,

Crewmen

of the U.S.S. Tang help aboard Navy fliers shot down during the air strike on Truk. (Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)

Stand by to fire! The compactness and complexity of a submarine mechanism are seen in this torpedo room. The breech doors of two torpedo tubes can be seen behind the two men in the foreground. (Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)
.

In the torpedo test shop at the Submarine Base, after

body

is

tested before

delivering torpedo to submarine. (Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)

Submarine crew, reprovisioning fish" below decks.

at an
(

Official

advanced base, are stowing an U. S. Navy. ) photograph,

electric "tin

U.S.S. Perch, converted to a troop transport. The large cylindrical chamber abaft the conning tower is a watertight compartment for stowing amphibious landing U.S. Navy.) gear. ( Official photograph,
1

wNjjfivfP

U.S.S. Gubera, a

new Guppy-type submarine, plowing through a choppy sea under normal cruising conditions. (Official photograph, U.S. Navy.)

Periscope depth with only periscope and schnorkel showing above water. photograph, U. S. Navy. )
1
l

Official

<

il'n fft'' f

"

''

";*V'*!i|

*'t^
'

*'
'

fitP^P^Mj&fy
'
i)f

'

"

U; ^ '''r'btW t 5w
'

I(t>

'

'

The

streamlining of the Guppy-type submarine adds speed. Official ( photograph, U. S. Navy. )

The

U.S.S. Clamagore.

17S.S. Requin leaving Submarine Base, New London. U.S. Navy.)

(Official

photograph

Central operating compartment. The diving officer hovers over planesman and watches depth gauge while the skipper makes periscope observation. Note: Most Official photograph, U. S. Navy, ) skippers used the conning tower periscope. (

"Air king keeps watchful eye on air supply." Air manifold in central operating compartment. All tanks in boat can be blown from this manifold. U. S. Navy. ) ( Official photograph,

Torpedo room. Torpedomen sleep with their torpedoes.

WOLF PACKS
a quartermaster

117
(torpedo

who

volunteered to

man the T.B.T,

bearing transmitter).

The last man had just scampered down when the torpedo room forward reported
tubes had been reloaded.

the bridge hatch

that

two

of then-

Ramage quickly allocated them, he the two had in to a large tanker filled with held reserve, plus which meant more the Japanese than human to petroleum,
lives.

The oiler simply disintegrated under the terrific impact of the four loads of torpex. More Jap ships would not put to sea and fewer airplanes would fly.
In the terse diction of his profession, here's

how Ramage

described the wild and woolly fight here. "First torpedo disintegrated bow while the other three piled into his bridge,
quarter and stern respectively. Tanker sank almost immediThe escorts ately leaving only a small oil fire on surf ace.
.

now

started to

machine gun
target,

fire

become a problem with their indiscriminate and flares. However, along came another

[cargo or transport] with a sizable superstructure just asking for trouble. All set to fire on him when an AO [oil tanker] intervened causing even more trouble. ... At 800 yards range fired three stern tubes at
or

medium

AK

AP

menace (the tanker was spraying the Parche very generously with 20-millimeter and 40-miUiineter stuff). All hit the gunfire from that quarter was effectively silenced and with five torpedoes in her the big tanker gave up and went down
this

Two leaving only a small oil fire as did the first one. escorts on the port quarter were now concentrating their machine gun fire on us and we were about to come right to put
.

them

astern

and head for the prize

of the evening, a

huge AP,

when we

spotted a small fast job similar to the Kaiho Maru coming up sharp on the starboard bow, intent on ramming us.

Called the engine house to pour in all the oil they had the other fellow had the right of way but we were in a hurry.

When halfway across his bow, put the rudder right swinging

118
our stern
clear.

BATTLE SUBMERGED

The Japs were screaming like a bunch of wild than 50 feet. Mutual pigs as we cleared all around by less ." cheers and jeers were exchanged by all hands. The submarine was now left surrounded by smoking and
.
.

bullets from all guns at sinking ships and destroyers spouting the resembled that even deadly steel hunter in their anything

midst.

on both sides/* continued ourselves boxed the "and big transport ahead with a zero angle Ramage, for them]. This left no alternative but to fire [headed directly The big AP down his throat, ... It was a bull's-eye. was stopped and down by the bow but showed no further used signs of going down so we decided [the skippers always the deliver back and of to we instead I] go coupde grace. But the big AP suddenly disappeared from sight and radar in one big blurb as the stern came up and went straight down, head first. Set course 330 to put a little distance between us

"We found

and

this hornets' nest as

dawn was beginning

to break.

of the escorts challenged us with by searchlight; this appeared to be rather unusual until one of the quarter-

One

AA AA

masters, Courtland Stanton, explained, 'These Japs probably " have a lot of forms to fill out too/ This referred no doubt to

the voluminous reports that had to be submitted by each submarine after an attack, a necessary yet tedious requirement.
forty-six-minute thrill-packed action "that was eminently outstanding in the annals of submarine warfare/' to quote the Board of Awards, the Parche fired nineteen tor-

In

this

pedoes and obtained fifteen hits. As the Parche raced for the safety of the horizon she could hear the explosions of the torpedoes that the Steelhead had fired at the remnants of the convoy fleeing blindly in her direc-

Two more ships, a tanker and a freighter, were never to be of use to the Empire again. The night's work was not yet done. A Japanese patrol vessel offered to contest Parches way. This time the gun crews were
tion.

WOLF PACKS
invited topside to prove their prowess enemy vessel out of the water.

119

by quickly blasting the

But the pinkish gun flashes were sighted in the murky dawn by an enemy cruiser-destroyer task force, belatedly coming up to aid the convoy, and their accurate gun fire forced the submarine to submerge to "get the hell out of the neighborhood," for there were not enough torpedoes remaining aboard to conduct another fight with so husky a gang of opponents.
In recommending the skipper for the highest of all awards, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Board said: "The counterattacks of the enemy against the Parche during her series of aggressive surface torpedo attacks upon the convoy on 31 July, 1944, were probably the most intensive

and thorough counterattacks ever encountered by a submarine engaged in surface approaches and attacks against the enemy. Only exceptional seamanship, outstanding personal heroism and extreme bravery of Parches Commanding
from serious damage, if not total by enemy gunfire and ramming. "The Commanding Officer's courageous and fearless actions in remaining on the bridge of his submarine during intense and accurate enemy gunfire in order to maintain the offensive
Officer saved this submarine

destruction

at all times, enabled

efficiently,

him

to control his ship skillfully

."

and

launch his torpedoes effectively and evade the

efforts to destroy Parche.
.

enemy's vigorous

Commenting

later

on his decision to remain in the midst of

the convoy and slug it out, Ramage said with a grin, "They crowded me too much and made me mad."
illustration of how calmly the submarine crews took events in their stride, even such a vicious battle, Lew Parks relates that as soon as they were clear of the cruiser-destroyer

As an

all

group he sauntered

aft to the galley.

There was the cook

serenely arranging the dessert for the day.

And

the dessert?

Cream puffs! The Board

also took full cognizance of the

work

of the

120
officer

BATTLE SUBMERGED

who had planned, then led the Pirates to, an eminently successful pack attack. He had remained on the bridge of the
Parche
during her epoc battle as an inspiration and example to her skipper. A Gold Star was presented to Lew Parks
all

in lieu of a third

Navy

Cross.

He
as

received

it

with the followof a Coordi-

ing citation:

"For extraordinary heroism

Commander
Luzon

nated Attack Group of Submarines, during operations against

enemy Japanese shipping

off

the

Straits

and

in the

South China Sea, from June 17 to August 17, 1944. Coordinating the submarines under his command into an efficient attack
group, Captain Parks contributed materially to the success of attacks in which seven enemy ships and two armed patrol
craft totalling 57,000 tons

ships totalling

were sunk and five additional enemy 33,930 tons were damaged. By his skillful ship

handling and leadership in the face of severe enemy countermeasures he was directly responsible for the outstanding
record of his attack group. His professional skill, courage, and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions
of the United States Naval Service."

Lifeguards*

IF only cold-bloodedly regarded, with no humanitarian considerations at all, a military aviator's life is worth taking trained and seasoned pilot represents a trouble to preserve.

EVEN

capital investment of tens of thousands of dollars. He cannot be easily replaced. But no nation on earth is more concerned

with the comfort and safety of its fighting men than the United
States, and it was more than pragmatic utilitarianism that caused our military leaders to demand maximum security for
self-sealing gasoline tanks, pilots: bullet-proof cockpits, reliable parachutes.

Self-inflating rubber boats, radio-equipped and stocked with provisions and devices to make sea water potable were provided every plane, to keep aviators downed over the ocean
alive.

The

biggest problem of

all

was how

to rescue the

men,

* Five hundred and four airmen were rescued in the Pacific by eighty-six submarines. Those rescuing ten or more were: Fogy, 10; Ronquil, 10; Tinosa, 10; Trepang, 10; Seafox, 11; Peto, 12; Pintado, 12; Sailfish, 12; Scabbardfish, 12; Goto, 13; Guavina, 13; Queenftsh, 13; Seadevil, 15; Whale, 15; Mingo, 18; Gabtian, 17; Ray, 21; Tang, 22; Tigrone, 31.

121

122

BATTLE SUBMERGED

some means of plucking the pilot out of the sea in the very shadow of an enemy island with Zeros vindictively searching for the American flyers. It was a dismaying sight to a downed
aviator in his rubber bubble to see no shelter but the island

he and

his

squadron mates had

just

been trying

to

make un-

inhabitable, against the empty horizon over which his shipmates had disappeared to report to the carrier that one of their

messmates would not be back, It was disheartening to the squadron, too, that they were helpless to render aid. Neither the carrier nor her escorts could risk coming under the guns and bombs of the island in search of the missing man. Nothing could be done for luckless Jim: nothing except hope that he would survive the tortures to which he would be subjected if he were taken prisoner. Better that a Zero fighter had finished off many an aviator later killed piecemeal by enemy
inquisitors in Japanese prison camps.

So the admirals and the generals who had the whole worldwide war to worry about, fretted over the preservation of

The Japanese, in their mystic dedication to the principle of "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," who taught their soldiers that immediate sainthood awaited the
individual lives.

man killed in battle, had no such concern, until suddenly they found themselves deprived of their first-team pilots. It was Rear Admiral Charles A, (Baldy) Pownall, commanding a
carrier task force,

who

first

opened discussions

vicinity of islands slated for carrier strikes to "sort of keep an eye open for downed aviators/' It would bolster their he

with Commander Submarines Pacific, Admiral C. A. Lockwood, on the possibility of having submarines in the
morale,
said,

was some possibility of being picked up, that their chances would not be limited to capture or starvation once they were forced to take to the life rafts.
to

know that

there

What the aviation admiral didn't know was that Commander Submarines already had firm plans for just such a rescue service and that he was only waiting for the final details

LIFEGUARDS
to

123

be ironed out before offering it to the Fleet. The elated Baldy was told that the submariners had no intention of just sitting around on their ditty boxes waiting for aviators to find their way to them. When an aviator was forced down on the sea, Admiral Lockwood wanted him to know that the submarine was going to do most of the finding. Proximity of enemy islands, blazing guns, or strafing planes would not deter them in their work either, he promised, and the aviators soon learned that Admiral Lockwood's was not empty talk. In fact, they became quite confident that even if their 'chute landed them in the maw of a volcano a submarine would poke her snoutish nose through the fire and brimstone and pull them out. Or, as the late Ernie Pyle succinctly put it, in Life on a Carrier: "Even if you were shot down in Tokyo Harbor the Navy would be in to get you." The boost to the morale of the pilots was noticeable at once and their confidence in the submarines was incalculable. In fact, the two branches of the service achieved a profound and
sentimental respect for each other. Admiral Pownall broached the air-rescue subject in August, 1943. One month later when his planes descended like a tor-

nado on unsuspecting Marcus Island the Snook, commanded by Lieutenant Commander C. O. Triebel, was standing by in the island area. The surprise was so complete that little opposition was offered the planes, so there was no opportunity
to test the
carriers.

new

technique. All pilots returned safely to their

But the plans drawn up by Admiral Lockwood were subjected to a severe test the following month. Six pilots were
picked up

who warmly,

if

the plans. All were

members

wetly, attested to the soundness of of Rear Admiral A. E. Mont-

gomery's pilot group who started the first of a long string of attacks that were to descend on Wake. The tiny island was to

become a living hell for

the enemy, who had thrown an overwhelming force against a Marine contingent there in Decem-

124
ber, 1941,

BATTLE SUBMERGED
Every carrier, cruiser, or battleship passing near share toward making their life unbearable. Before the was over the Japanese garrison was praying for us to land

did

its

war and take the island back. Anything to stop the deadly tornados
being visited upon them!

But enemy confidence was still high when the first strike was made on October 6 and 7, 1943. Their planes offered the most violent kind of opposition to having the Skate, com-

manded by Commander Eugene B. McKinney, effect the rescue of those six downed pilots. Machine-gun fire seriously wounded Lieutenant (jg) W. E. Maxon, and one screaming
dive
side.

bomber achieved a noncrippling hit on the Skate's topBut the lifeguard work continued throughout the twostrike.

day

The technique

of locating the

downed

pilots

developed

during the following months. Over the Navy's traditional coffee cups, submariners and aviators together discussed plans

and results; suggestions were freely exchanged and appreciated in mutual confidence.
sending their pilots in for a strike from many miles below the horizon and with only a limited number of submarines available for lifeguarding, it was recognized that
carriers

With

a positive method had to be developed for giving the position of the downed plane to the submarine either by the injured plane or by one in the squadron, or both. The use of a "refer-

ence point" was therefore devised. Some outstanding land or navigational mark easily recognizable by the submarine was selected in advance of the strike and this information
given to the duty submarine. Here
is

how it worked.

a pilot suddenly discovered that he was Naturally to have to bail out he couldn't take time out to encode his going
distress call. It

when

had

to

be a voice

call in plain
it

inasmuch
effective

as the

enemy

could also pick

language and up a simple yet

code had to be devised. The lifeguard subs were asnames of comic signed strip characters as a voice call. We'll

LIFEGUABDS

125

say, for example, that it was Moon Mullins. If the submarine received the voice message, 20 MULLINS 180, the that a pilot was down would kno^ immediately skipper

MOON

twenty miles from the landmark on a true bearing of 180. But the Japs caught on to the method. In an attempt to lure our submarines within range of their guns and planes they would send out voice calls indicating that a pilot was down
at the target point.

No submarines were lost by this sabotage of our system but contained potential elements of danger. These cries of wolf were taking our boats on too many unnecessary chases where there were no downed pilots, but plenty of Zero pilots waiting
it

hopefully

no call could be neglected. found to combat this nuisance. Some solution had to be That called for another huddle. Finally it was a Japanese linguist who came up with the right answer. Don't destroy the simplicity of our code, he advised. That is not the solution. Why not capitalize on the difficulty the Japanese tongue has with the letter L? Once the lifeguarding submarine was given a name where the L's predominated, such as Flabby Flanks or Flashy Lassie, the voice calls from the Nips for "Frabby Franks" and "Frashy Rassie" only provided amusement to the listening sub. The remedy was as simple as that! The Harder, captained by one of the outstanding skippers
aloft.

Nevertheless,

of the Silent Service, Commander Sam Dealey, was assigned the job of doing a reconnoitering job of Woleai Island, about 500 miles west of Truk in the western Carolines. It was sus-

pected that the enemy was doing a lot of construction there in the way of air strips and storage warehouses. Before the carrier boys put an end to that real-estate development they wanted verification of the suspicion, without in turn revealing their curiosity to the Japs. So the Harder was directed to play
the role of Peeping Tom and to find out what was going on. By sunset on March 29, 1944, the Harder had. Slowly circling the island throughout the

day Sam Dealey saw plenty

126

BATTLE SUBMEBGED

And he took picthrough his periscope to tell the fly-fly boys. tures to prove it: planes taking off, their characteristics, location of strategic targets, all were carefully noted. All of this information went out on the Harder radio that night. On April 1 ("April Fool's Day but they weren't fooling,"
chuckled Dealey ) the carrier planes gave the carefully reconnoitered island the works and the Harder squatted dutifully
,

waiting for a lifeguard call. It came early in the raid, at 8:40 A.M., to be exact. "Planes recorded the skipper. "Contacted sighted headed for Woleai," aircraft by voice and learned of downed pilot drifting toward
reefs off the second island west of Woleai.

Made full speed on four engines. "From here on the picture in the skies looked like a gigantic Cleveland Air Show. With dozens of fighters forming a comfortable umbrella above us, we watched a show that made Hollywood 'Colossals* seem tame. We rounded the southeast coast of Woleai one to two miles off the beach and had a that the airmen gave this perfect ringside seat. The plastering terrific! Bombs of all sizes rained on every strucbase was Jap ture on the island. Several buildings seemed lifted and thrown
.
.

." high in the air. Sam's description as he drove on toward the reported plane indicated that the airmen were having a real field day, with the enemy fighting back gamely. "Fighter now zoomed the Harder one mile off the northeast corner of Woleai and guided us toward the downed pilot. He was finally sighted on the northwest tip of the second island to the west of Woleai. Battle stations, surface, were

manned, the ship flooded down, and maneuvered into a spot about 1,500 yards off the beach. White water was breaking over the shoals only twenty yards in front of the ship and the fathometer had ceased to record. Planes now advised us that if rescue looked too difficult from here (and it did), a better approach might be made from another direction."

LIFEGUARDS

127

The skipper goes on casually to

ing for daring

describe a rescue outstand-

and seamanship. "Backed off to make approach from another angle. The aviator had been standing on the beach and was now observed to fall and lie there outstretched on the sand. His collapse was undoubtedly due mainly to
physical exhaustion, but also to the disappointment at seeing were then advised by the his chances of rescue fade away.

We

plane that further air reconnaissance showed the first approach best after all. Reversed course and headed back at full
speed. Made ready the rubber boats (no paddles aboard), selected Lieutenant Sam Logan, J. W. Thomason, SC Ic, and Francis X. Ryan, Ic, from a large group of volunteers

MoMM

and maneuvered the ship

in for a second attempt at rescue.

room reported "Bottom scraping forward' [soundings at zero fathoms] and worked both screws to keep the bow against the reef while preventing the ship from getting broadside to the waves.
in again until the forward torpedo

Moved

[Authors' note:

A most difficult feat of seamanship as well as

being extremely dangerous with the prevailing flood tide.] "The three volunteers dove over the side and commenced pushing and towing their rubber boat toward the beach about 1,200 yards away. A line was payed out from the sub to the

rubber raft in order to pull it back from the beach. Meanwhile one of the planes had dropped another rubber boat to the
got in that and commenced feebly trying to paddle to sea against the tide. When the rescue party reached a spot where they could stand up, Thomason was

stranded aviator,

who

directed to remain with the rubber boat while Lieutenant

toward the aviator. Both were in the breakers now most of the time and their feet and legs were badly cut by the coral reefs. After about half an hour, Logan and Ryan, alternately swimming and wading, reached the aviator, whose raft had meanwhile drifted farther away. By this time he was thoroughly exin through the surf

Logan and Ryan waded

hausted.

128

BATTLE SUBMERGED

"They kept him in the raft and by alternately pushing and swimming headed back toward their rubber boat from which a line led to the submarine about 500 yards away. Meanwhile
a float plane (also attempting the rescue) taxied over the line to the raft an3 it parted! The entire rescue party was now
stranded.

Thomason was then recalled and managed

to

swim

back to the sub after a hard battle against the tide. Another volunteer swimmer, Freeman Paquet, Jr., Ic, then dove

GM

over the side and finally managed to swim a line to the three men standing just inshore of the heavy breakers. This line

was made fast to the raft and, little by little, the four men were pulled through the breakers and brought back to the
ship.

"Throughout the entire rescue the cooperation of the aviators was superb. They kept up a continuous pounding of the islands by bombs and flew in low to strafe the Japs and divert their attention from the rescue. In spite of this Jap snipers concealed in the trees along the beach commenced shooting at the ship and the rescue party and bullets whined over the bridge uncomfortably close. The rescue could never have been

much

attempted without the protection afforded by the planes. Too praise cannot be given the officer and three men who
effected the rescue. [All four

were

later

awarded the Navy

daring execution, under the noses of the Japs and to subject sniper fire from the beach can be classified as a truly courageous accomplishment and the rescued aviator, Ensign
Cross.] Its

John R. Galvin, USNR, though physically exhausted, showed a character that refused to admit defeat. It is a privilege to serve with men such as these.
"This account," explained the skipper, "has been written in considerable detail partly to portray the spectacular air smashing of a Jap base, and partly in sheer pride of the volunteers who carried out the rescue/'
Later,

Commander Submarines noted that

"the rescue

LIFEGUARDS
effected only through the superb seamanship of the

129

Com-

manding

Officer."

On March

16, 1944, the

Tang,

Commander Richard H. O'Kane,

commanded by Lieutenant left Midway for Palau for

a lifeguarding station. It was her second war patrol. She had earned her Combat Insignia Award during her first patrol by sinking five enemy ships in the Marianas, a good start for a ship that was to earn a reputation as a great fighting ship. The

Tangs company was none too happy over her new assignment but admitted philosophically that all of the boats had to take their turn at it. Besides, they would be able to expend a few
torpedoes after the strike was over.
Just to reassure his crew that they were still in the game of doing damage to the enemy whenever the opportunity arose,

O'Kane nosed in through the late twilight on April 24 to a position on the west side of Fais Island ( east of Ulithi Island ) Gun emplacements had been reported on the east side of Fais. Also, a phosphorite refinery was reported in full operation there, Dick O'Kane planned to give his gun crews a chance to knock it out of commission with the 4-inch deck gun. Thirtythree rounds were lobbed into the factory until the target was blazing and the skipper saw no point in waiting around only to draw the wrath of avenging planes. Besides, he had a date for lifeguard duty off Truk Atoll. They arrived there at 4:00 A.M. on April 30. It was about
.

forty miles east of Truk, the too

islands that dotted the atoll.

much publicized Japanese but well within easy gun range of some of the stronghold,
The
skipper relates the early

minutes of the
arrival

first

day's strike that

came soon

after their
.
.

on station. "Sighted first plane on SD [radar] watched plane go down in flames over Dublon Island. Dived for thirteen minutes and avoided a group of possibly planes which closed rapidly to two miles.
.
.

130

BATTLE SUBMERGED
surfacing, flights

up to fifty planes were continuously Truk and the southwest. With the possible between shuttling a Maru of this was the most encouraging sinking exception Sighted tops, sight we've witnessed in the war to date. then the superstructure of our task force [famous Task Force 58]. ... 1025 received first report of downed plane and headed for reported position two miles off Fourup Island at emergency speed. Bombers working over Faleu and Ollan islands were most reassuring, and with numerous fighters to
.
.

On

guide us, located the life raft promptly about four miles west of reported position." A little later Lieutenant (jg) S. Scamnxell, USNR, J. D. Gendron, 2c, and H. B. Gemmell, 2c, were pulled aboard safely, and the Tang pulled out of island gun range and awaited the next call. No more came that day but the night was devoted to looking for a reported raft. The Tang, even though it might bring the enemy down on her, made her presence known by firing green Very stars, but no reply was received, from either friend or foe. One of the pilots recovered the following day turned out to be the

AMM

ARM

man they had been searching for. He said that he had sighted
the Very stars but was afraid to answer them. Before daylight the next day the Tang was back on station awaiting the second day's strike.

6:00 A.M. a new menace entered the picture. The conning tower of a Japanese submarine was sighted proceeding south around Kuop from Otta Pass. The Tang quickly "pulled the and started an to remove the menace but our plug" approach and bombers started over and the fighters Jap submerged, and

At

that

was

that! It

is

strictly

stalemate

subs

commence groping

for each other.

had other business

guard
deck.
station,

when two submerged Anyhow the Tang

to attend to, and the Jap could wait. Surthe submarine facing, skipper hurried to his designated life-

He had

spreading conspicuous identification colors on reported the presence of the Jap sub to the
his

taskforce

commander, who directed

boys to keep their

LIFEGUABDS

131

eyes open for it, but, at the same time, to "remember that one of our own subs is there waiting to pick you up in
case."

description of a very busy day, picking up downed pilots at 8:28 A.M. "Headed at emergency speed for life raft reported two and
is

Here

the skipper's

own

Island [he had taken time out the day before to lob a few 4-inch shells into it]. Before we reached the scene a float plane from the U.S.S.

a half miles southwest of our favorite

OUan

North Carolina capsized in the cross chop in an attempt to Another North Carolina plane had made a precarious landing and when we arrived was towing both raft and fellowpilot clear of the island. This action was most helpful, for we expected competition from Ollan, although nearby fighters were already strafing her gun emplacements for us After
rescue.
.

Lieutenant
for

J. J.

Dowdle, USNR, Lieutenant

(jg)

K Kanze,

ARM
this

searched the night before, and R. E. Hill, 2c, were on board, and the second plane from the North Carolina had somehow gotten into the air again, we proto sink the capsized plane

whom we had

ceeded

with 20-millimeter

fire.

At

time a smoking torpedo bomber was spotted hitting the water about seven miles to the east. Proceeded down the bearing at emergency speed and opened fire on nearby Ollan as
passed."

we

The skipper was firing on Ollan mainly to keep attention from the downed pilot, and also because he hoped a little offensive action might keep them from hammering at him and
forcing

him

to submerge.

skipper's narrative continues: "The Japs removed the trees intended to camouflage their position evidently feeling

The

they were a hindrance since it was no longer a secret. It gave us an unobstructed point of aim, however, and our hitting 4-inch H. E. [high explosive], with a few common sandwiched supported by strafing fighters and topped off with two bombers must have discouraged them for they did not return
in,

132

BATTLE SUBMERGED
fire.
.
.
.

any

Sighted

life raft

and survivors ahead under

A. R. Matter,

circling fighters."

In a few minutes

Commander

USN,

and H. A. Thompson, AOM 2c, were the submarine was off again at emerThen aboard. pulled to round Kuop where three life rafts had been gency speed
Lenahan,

J.

J.

ARM

2c,

reported off the eastern reef. "As our track took us close by our submarine contact of the morning, requested and rolled through this spot promptly got good air coverage at 21 knots fairly confident that the Jap would get no more than a fleeting glance. As Lieutenant ( jg) Burns had landed
.

his

North Carolina plane off the eastern reef, requested that he attempt to tow the rafts clear. He was a big jump ahead of us though having taken all seven men from three rafts on board and taxied with them to seaward. They were now in no immediate danger, so followed our escorting planes to a raft just off Mesegon Island in the bight between Kuop and Truk. As we thoroughly expected to be driven down, rigged a free running line and life ring to the SD mast for towing the
raft clear while

submerged, but our

.
.
.

strafing escorts evidently

Recovered H. L. Hill, discouraged any opposition. USNR, then headed back for a fighter pilot reported in water just off the eastern reef of Kuop. By the time of our arrival planes had dropped a rubber boat to him, but he was too weak to do more than climb aboard it. ... After pulling perhaps our most grateful passenger aboard, Lieutenant J. G.
(jg)

Cole, USNR, backed up wind clear of the reef and headed for the waiting float plane at emergency speed. She was well clear about three miles east of Salat Island and no difficulty was

experienced in bringing the following aboard, Lieutenant S. Nelson, USNR, Lieutenant (jg) R. Barber, USNR, Lieutenant (jg) Burns, USNR, Ensign C. L. Farrell, USNR,
R.

O. F, Tabru, 2c. The 2c, and R. E. Hill, action of Lieutenant (jg) John Burns in making the rescue possible by deliberately placing himself in as precarious a
?

ARM 2c

Livingston,

ARM

lc, R.

W.

AMM

Gruebel,

AMM

J.

2c,

J.

Haranek,

ARM

LIFEGUABDS

133

position as any of the downed personnel, will be made the subject of a special report. [Authors' note. This officer was

awarded the Navy Cross.] Sank the float plane which had a flooded battered tail, with 20-millimeter fire, and proceeded at emergency speed to round Kuop to the last reported raft south of Ollan Island. As all planes were recalled as of 1630 and we could not reach the raft until sunset, requested two night fighters to assist in locating it. Our passage through the area of the morning contact was not quite as comfortable
later

without
hurry.

air coverage,

but again 21 knots took us through in a

The night

proaching south of Ollan, and immediately commenced their search. Fifteen minutes later one of the fighters circled then fired several red Very stars four miles northwest of us. Closed at

fighters joined us at sunset as we were apthe last reported position three and a half miles

emergency speed, spotted the raft from atop the shears, as it was now too dark for periscopes." Lieutenant D. Kirkpatrick, USNR, and R. L. Bentley, AOM 2c, were picked up, then a thank you and a dismissal given the
efficient planes. After that the Tang commenced a slow-speed search west of the atoll just in case someone had been missed.

In this two-day strike the carrier force had lost twenty-seven

planes in action.

Of

forty-six pilots

and

air

crewmen making

water landings, twenty-eight were rescued. The Tang, with

the splendid cooperation of the carrier aircraft and seaplanes picked up twenty-two of the twenty-eight.
Fighter-plane cover had

made

it

possible for the

Tang

to

remain on the surface during the lifeguarding, had located the downed pilots for her, had given her ample protection against enemy island guns and ambitious Zero fighters. After this convincing example of mutual support, fighter cover for lifeguarding submarines was included in all operation orders. It should also be mentioned that when the B-29 strikes commenced against the Empire, submarines were placed along the water routes over which they flew to be on hand for rescue work, for which scores of B-29 crews were very grateful.

Mission of Mercy

DURING their initial attacks the Japanese took a great number of prisoners; Americans on Guam, Wake, the Philippines, and British., Canadian, Australian, and Dutch in Hong Kong, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. While riding on the crest
of conquest/ the

enemy kept many

of the prisoners in the

locality where they had been captured partly to save the time and expense of transporting them back to Japan and

partly

for psychological reasons.

They served

as

prima

facie evi-

proverbial writing began to appear on the wall, and the Japs had to begin at scraping the bottom of the barrel for man
started shipping Allied prisoners to Japan
134

dence to support the propaganda-fed native populations that the much-vaunted power of the white man was an exploded myth, that the real master was the Asiatic. To exploit that idea even further, the captives were forced to labor on tasks formerly performed by the Melanesian and Indonesian islanders when the white man had been their overseer, But when the first faint etchings of the hand-

power home, they from every corner

MISSION OF

MERCY

135

of their crumbling empire. Prisoners of war were packed into the holds of their cargo ships and transports like the slave ships of old, to provide labor in the Japanese mines, factories

and on the highways.

From

tunate time to

the Allied point of view they chose a very unforcommence the export of prisoners, because in
last the

1944 the Silent Service had at

operating boats
it

number and
For the

quality of
first

had dreamed of

in 1941.

time

we had enough boats equipped with reliable Mark

18 electric

torpedoes with large torpex war heads and superior radar to cut the vital Japanese supply line with the south. Not only were our submarines well-equipped but they were now

manned by experienced personnel who were neglecting no part of the many lessons learned during two years of operating
Far Eastern waters. By international law a combatant can request safe conduct for any ship exclusively carrying prisoners of war, but our submarines had removed so many ships from the Japanese merchant marine roster that the Nipponese refused to send any of their precious ships to Japan without carrying vitally needed loot to their factories and food queues. Perhaps they hoped that when the sentimental Americans learned our targets often carried a hold crammed full of Allied prisoners in addition to oil and supplies, we would spare them the loot rather than chance killing our own men. Actually this was not such a wild assumption. No doubt we would have spared any
in

ship we definitely knew had prisoners aboard. But, of course, we couldn't give all ships safe conduct just because there was

a possibility they might be carrying captive friends. It was just another example of the enemy taking advantage of what

they considered our weak-willed concern for human life. Under such circumstances it was inevitable that some enemy prison ships would fall victim to our torpedoes, especially since they were supplied with an extra heavy escort. To the skippers of our submarine gauntlet the more a convoy was

136
protected the more
tection

BATTLE SUBMERGED
it was enhanced in their eyes. Potent promeant cargoes vitally material to Japan's emaciating

war

effort.

It wasn't until after the

war that we learned that the

Sailfish

had sent

to their deaths

of the submarine Sculpin Chuyo in December, 1943.

twenty of the twenty-one survivors when she sank the escort carrier

Whenever a submarine discovered that the target she had sunk carried prisoners of war the word was immediately broadcast to other subs and a careful search was instituted and continued until every possibility of finding survivors alive had been exhausted.
Eighty-two prisoners finally managed to reach Sindangan Bay in northwest Mindanao, Philippine Islands, after the Shinyo Maru was torpedoed by the Paddle on December 7, 1944. Filipino guerrillas sent word to Commander Submarines,

dispatched the Narwhal (Commander J. C. Titus) to evacuate them on September 29, 1944. It was earlier in that same month that the greatest toll was

who immediately

taken of any convoy carrying prisoners. With hundreds of

flotilla

Australian and British captives aboard, the heavily guarded was en route to the Empire from Singapore. It carried,
too, a capacity load of rubber, tin, and rice. The convoy was almost annihilated by the torpedoes of Ben's Busters, consist-

(Commander Eli T. Reich), Growler (Commander T. B. Oakley, Jr.), and the Pampanito (Commander P. E. Summers). Two days after the slaughter it was learned that many war prisoners were adrift in the convoy's
ing of the Sealion
graveyard. Forthwith the Sealion and Pampanito ran back to conduct rescue operations to the capacity of their boats, and called another pack, the Barb and Queenfish to continue the

work of human salvage. The Busters were working in the South China Sea from Luzon Strait westward to Hainan Island when they made a shambles of the Singapore convoy. The patrol had started on

MISSION OF

MERCY

137

August

17, 1944,

but

it

wasn't until September that pickings

really became good. The attack, as seen through the eyes of the Sealion, exemplifies the ferocity and tenacity with which the packs were strik-

ing at convoys.

On her first patrol, conducted in the East China and Yellow

had given ample evidence that she fully intended to avenge the loss of the ship whose namesake she was, the old Sealion that had been wrecked by Jap bombers at Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941. With four ships to her credit and the proud recipient of the Combat Insignia Award, Sealion was off to a good start. Her career reached its
Seas, the Sealion

highest point on her third patrol when she gained the distinction of being the only submarine ever to sink a modem battleship. She not only sank the Kongo but put a couple of tor-

pedoes into the Yamato too! But on this second patrol the torpedo business was pretty slack until the pack ganged up during the early hours of September 12 on a north-bound convoy of nine large ships, wellprotected by escorts. Here was something really worth sinking their teeth into and they tore into it like famished wolves. During her first attack on the surface the vigilant escorts scorched the Sealion and curbed her ambitions momentarily, but not her enthusiasm. In two hours she was back, having done a quick end-around. This time Eli Reich decided to do it the hard way a submerged attack in darkness. This would at least prevent the escorts from picking him up on their efficient radars. It was pretty dark when he peered through the periscope but light enough to see four big ships steaming along like ducks in a row. Dawn was too close for Eli to dawdle around. This would be his last chance to shoot before daylight. So he gave them the works. The first three torpedoes

went lashing out toward the sub's favorite target, a tanker, then three each at two armored transports. Without waiting to observe the results the Sealion went

138

BATTLE SUBMERGED

deep and rigged for the inevitable depth-charge attack. The escorts had already displayed their efficiency, so the submarine had no illusions that her attack would go unpunished. But when they heard three heavy explosions signaling the destruction of all their targets the Sealioris crew felt that they could grin and bear whatever it cost to make a triple kill! Unbeknownst to the Sealion one of the large transports was the Rakuyo Maru, crammed with prisoners of war from Singapore.

That night the Growler had made her kill and left the area, leaving the Pampanito to pursue and clean up all she could of what was left. Seven of her torpedoes found marks in two enemy ships. It was not until September 14, two days after
the Sealion attack, that the Pampanito, while picking her way through the oil-strewn, debris-cluttered seas, discovered the
first

of the prisoners hanging on a raft. Letting the battered convoy flee to Hong Kong without further molestation, the

submarine commenced looking for other prisoners, meanwhile sending a dispatch to the Sealion asking for assistance in the rescue. The Sealion, too, promptly forgot the grim business of completing the job she had started and made flank speed to the scene. Eli Reich relates what they found. "Sighted life raft with several men aboard. Commenced

maneuvering to effect rescue. The first survivor was hauled aboard and sent below for medical treatment. Continued rescue of survivors from Rakuyo Mam which had been torpedoed about 0530 on September 12, 1944. The survivors were English and Australian prisoners of war from the Malayan Peninsula. All were suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beri beri, pellagra, exposure, thirst, and all were coated with a thick layer of crude oil. A total of fifty-four men were recovered until darkness and space limitations on board Sealion
prohibited
further
. .
.

rescue.

seventy-three].

Came

to course

[Pampanito picked up 090 and headed for

Balintang Channel [north of Luzon]. It was heartbreaking

MISSION OF MERCY
to leave so

139
.

many dying men

behind.
.

One

the sur-

vivors died of shock

services for

and exposure. Conducted burial the deceased survivor and committed his body to
.
.

the deep." [The skipper doubles as a chaplain in a submarine.] "Received ComSubPac despatch ordering Sealion to Saipan at
best possible speed." Pampanito received the same orders. In the meantime ComSubPac sent the pack in the adjoining area to continue the search for survivors.

Three more of the survivors in the Sealion died and were buried at sea before she could reach Tanapog Harbor, Saipan. Terrence Patrick Johnson, Australian, Michael Degaura, 3rd Indian Corps, William Henry Fuller, British, and R. E.
Laws, Australian, gave a combined synopsis of the horrible experience of being torpedoed by one of our own submarines.
Unedited,
lated.
it

reads:

sleeping topside on the Rakuyo Maru" they re"At about 0200 a two-funneled destroyer with horizontal bands around the after funnel was evidently struck by a

"We were

lot of gunfire

torpedo and blew up [the Hirado by Growler]. There was a and flares [Growler first target; Sealion later, on their first pass at the convoy] but after a while everything was quiet once more. About 0500 or 0600 a red flare went up along

the port side of the tanker which was right ahead of us. Then two torpedoes struck the tanker and it burst into flames [Sealion attack], literally

blew up, throwing flaming

oil

high in

the

air.

Then we saw the ship which had been on the port bow
almost collided,
It

of the tanker swerve in close to the tanker

the other ship had been disabled, for they just seemed to drift into each other. Then the second ship caught fire aft and in a moment there was a puff of smoke

we'd say.

looked to us as

if

up around his bridge and she was ablaze forward. Then there was a thud up forward on our ship followed by another aft [Sealion torpedoes] and the Rakuyo began to settle in the water. The Japs took to the boats and, about five minutes later, we went into the water too, and climbed aboard some

140
rafts.

BATTLE SUBMERGED

The tanker was burning fiercely. We feared an oil fire on

the water so
Just after down, stern

we tried to keep as far away from her as possible. dawn the ship which collided with the tanker went
first,

[Sealions first AP, Nankai Mam]. Half an hour or so later the tanker sank. The oil burned on the water
for a little while
to starboard but

and then went out. The Rakuyo now had a list it looked as if she wouldn't go under for a

while.

Some

of us started back, but before

we

got to her she

and settle some more. So we changed our began minds about going back for provisions and water. At about
to keel over

1800 the Rakuyo sank [Sealions second AP]. "Shortly after we were in the water a destroyer picked up the Japs in the long boats. We were held off with revolvers.
In the afternoon another destroyer came up, escorting a passenger-freighter. These ships rescued the remaining Japs.

Then

all

three ships steamed

off.

Rakuyo was hit we didn't notice what happened other to any ships in the convoy except the tanker and the ship which collided with her. The rest just disappeared. That ship was bigger than the Rakuyo, she had a clipper bow and several decks. When she joined the convoy off Luzon a sailor said she looked foreign like a Scandinavian and was supposed to be loaded with raw rubber." Thus we heard about the unhappy aftermath of the brilliant
"After the attack by the Sealion.

Ed's Eradicators, ordered by Commander Submarines to assist in the rescue, ordinarily consisted of the Rarb,

Tunny

and Queenfish, but only two boats were still operating in Luzon Strait. The Tunny had suffered a pretty rough goingover by depth charges and had been sent to the Yard for repairs. However, the Barb (Commander Eugene B. Fluckey) and Queenfish (Commander Charles E. Loughlin) reversed their roles from killers to rescuers.

On the night of September 16 the Rarb received word from

MISSION OF

MERCY

141

the Queenfish that a convoy of five ships and six escorts was headed her way. There was only one effective means of clearing the way for the rescue and Barb did just that. She ended up with a tanker and an escort carrier to her credit. Feeling that no more time could be lost before proceeding to the area where they hoped to locate more survivors, Gene Fluckey recorded, "Received orders from ComWolfPack to proceed to survivor area. I heartily agree. As an afterthought inserted here, having seen the piteous plight of the fourteen survivors we rescued, I can say that I would forego the pleasure of an attack on a Jap Task Force to rescue any one of them. There is little room for sentiment in Submarine Warfare, but the measure of saving one Ally's life against sinking a Jap ship is one which leaves no

on to the next Donk's and were off once more. Devils, pack, It was almost ten o'clock on the morning of September 17 when they encountered the first wreckage. During the ensuing six hours the two submarines picked their way carefully
through the flotsam that by now had spread over many square
miles. Despite the heavy seas all living survivors were rescued, fourteen in the Barb, eighteen in the Queenfish.

question, once experienced." So they passed the word about the convoy

Gene Fluckey found the

ful physical shape.

survivors to
first

be in the same

fear-

dubious, then amazed, and thankful look on their faces, from the time finally hysterically they first sighted us approaching them, is one we shall never
at
forget. Several of

"The

them were too weak to take the lines thrown them. These were rescued by the valiant efforts of Lieutenant Commander R. W. McNitt, USN, Lieutenant (D-V[G]) G. Lanier, USNR, and C. S. Houston, 2c, who dove J.

MoMM

in after them.

Too much

credit cannot

be given to the crew

for their superb performance and willing efforts in the production line we had formed from the deck party who picked them

142
up, stripped

BATTLE SUBMERGED

them and passed them on to the transportation gang to get them below, where they were received by the cleaners who removed the oil and grease, then on to the doctors and nurses for treatment, thence to the feeders, and them off and tucked them finally to the sleepers who carried
in their bunks.
.
.

"By separate correspondence a recommendation for commendation is being forwarded in the case of W, E. Donnelly, PhM Ic. Through his untiring efforts working day and night these men were brought over the hump without loss of a
single
life.

"On the amusing side the following remarks were recorded

as the survivors "
*I

were being carried to

all I

their bunks.

take back

'Three bloody years without a drink of brandy. Please me another/ give " 'Turn me loose, 111 run to that bunk/
**

"

ever said about you Yanks/

*Be sure to
"

wake me up for chow/

"

*As soon as I can I'm going to write

my wife

to kick the

Yankee out

I'm coming home!'

an insertion added even later, the skipper said, "As a matter of record I wish to express my appreciation to the officers and crew for their splendid contribution of over
as

Then

$500 as a stake for the survivors. After a refit at Pearl Harbor this included practically every cent aboard ship."
All during the daylight hours the next day the two submarines continued to search for survivors but no more were

found.

Fluckey recorded, "Surface patrolling searching for surviWe are now in the tail end of a typhoon, the wind has picked up to 35 knots and the seas are very heavy. Believe it will be impossible for any survivors on rafts to last through
vors.

the night/' At seven that night they set a course for Saipan where they

MISSION OF MERCY

143

were welcomed alongside the U.S.S. Fulton on September 25 and the grateful survivors moved to a hospital. Thus 159 prisoners of war were saved (seven died later)

by the same source

that almost caused their deaths.

Submarine Versus Destroyer

DESTROYERS

their essential duties

are the prime enemy of submarines. One of is to screen larger vessels from sub-

marine attacks, wherefore they are of shallow draft; light, fast and agile; hard to hit with a torpedo and quickly maneuverable to avoid attack. They can "spin around on a dime/' They all carry depth charges and the newest listening gear. At the beginning of the war there wasn't a Jap destroyer afloat that didn't consider herself more than a match for any number
of submarines, and,
factor of

by

all

the rules except the incalculable

human intelligence, they should have been. But this

confidence began to ooze a bit after the hunted turned hunter and we started cutting them down. Of fifty-two American subs lost during the war, Japanese
surface forces definitely only accounted for sixteen. Counting all the "possibles," they certainly did not sink more than

twenty-four, mines probably accounting for most of the balance. On the other side of the ledger, Japanese anti-submarine forces lost forty-two destroyers and one hun-

approximately

144

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

145

dred lesser escort vessels to our submarines. The light vessels of the Japanese Navy not only failed fully to protect the heavy ships and the convoys, but they themselves took disproportionate losses in their war with the submarines.

The Japanese ships were and well-trained, by Japanese standards. They just weren't smart enough. They fought an orthodox war whereas the Americans used ingenuity and initiative. It was the old story of the Indian fighter versus the

They were worthy

adversaries.

good, and

their crews brave

classically trained Redcoat.

of the submarine was to slip past escorting deand, undetected, get to the valuable tankers and stroyers cargo ships. Normally, a sub didn't even consider attacking a destroyer unless it was found alone, or the submarine was

The duty

backed into a corner and had to fight her way out There were a few cases when the submarine, having been balked in an
reach the convoy, picked off the destroyers just to get even, but this was very rare. A tanker sunk meant that more than one ship couldn't go to sea for lack of the fuel of which
effort to

Japan had to import every drop. Better to save a torpedo for a second chance at an oiler or munitions ship than to sink an
escort.

There came a time, though, when the old feeling about destroyers was reversed. By April, 1944, when Jap tankers were rarer than destroyers and the mobility of the Japanese fleet was threatened, the Joint Chiefs in Washington decreed that, to maintain this condition and aggravate it, submarines were to give enemy destroyers high priority. They were made number two on the list, right after the much sought-for but

by now rarer tankers. Only one Jap destroyer, the Sagiri, was sunk by subs in 1941, and she was torpedoed off Borneo by a Dutch submarine. It was not until February 8, 1942, that an American submarine started the ball rolling and then only out of necesThe ancient S-37, commanded by Lieutenant John C. sity.

146

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Dempsey, was completing an eventless daylight submerged to surface patrol off eastern Borneo and was just preparing for the night to charge batteries when several ships were
sighted through the periscope. Gearing the S-STs croupy Diesels into high to wring out her full ten and a half knots, Dempsey followed in the darkness. It was almost eight o'clock

when he had drawn

enough to see that hopes were parreally was a Japanese convoy, but a tially realized in that column formation of four enemy destroyers was interposed between the S-S7 and the cargo ships. Breaking through this there was no satistight defense posed a problem for which factory answer, A run around end by the plodding S-boat was as out of the question as a Percheron coming from behind to win the Derby. After pondering the situation for a few minutes vainly hoping for inspirational angle of attack on the convoy, Dempsey decided to take on all four destroyers! Later submarines were equipped with from four to six tubes forward, and four aft. What Dempsey proposed to do was
close
it

rather like hunting a herd of lions with a single-barreled shot-

gun.

With four targets and four torpedoes he simply parceled one out to each destroyer in the column. That he got one out of the four was almost a seagoing miracle.
third destroyer in the column caught its torpedo solar plexus. The amidships section rose twenty feet above the bow

The

and stern ends and the Natsushio went down,

first

of the

two

concept of submarine attacks on destroyers. Dempsey wouldn't have considered using a single torpedo on any larger type ship, but a was not to be worth a full salvo. A subdestroyer thought

score plus that finally fell to American submarines. This attack brings into sharp focus the prewar

marine that had fired four torpedoes at a single destroyer then, even though sinking it, would have been more likely to receive
censure for wastefulness than praise for sinking an

enemy

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

ship.

147

In 1944, almost any sub would pick one ship and let a fly four-torpedo salvo if presented with the same target. In 1941 an average of 1.8 torpedoes were fired at each destroyer target. In 1944 it was 3.3 per attack. Of course the scarcity of torpedoes in 1941, as compared to the unlimited

number
on

available in 1944, probably

had considerable bearing

this trend.

bear

The directive from the Commander in Chief for the subs to down on destroyers came long after Sam Dealey had

given the Harder her baptism of blood and a reputation that made her name a most descriptive one. The short, cheerful,

tooth-brush-mustached officer was the second of six submarine skippers to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The

heaviest

whole Naval Service, suffered one of its and most saddening losses when the Harder failed to return from her sixth patrol. The long string of vicious attacks that had all but blasted the Harder out depth-charge of the water during five previous patrols finally caught up with
Service, the
off

her

western Luzon.
arrived at Pearl Harbor on
first

Sam Dealey
mistically

May

23, 1943, to

take the Harder out for his

war patrol in command. Opti-

maybe, proved eventually, Rising Sun stencils had surreptitiously been taken aboard to ornament the conning tower with the symbols of her Trills. She looked far too bare among the grizzled veterans that were returning to the Base with a broom at the yardarm. The operating area for her first patrol was in Empire waters south of Honshu. On the night of June 22 the Harder made her first tackle and brought down a large freighter. Three well-placed torpedoes insured the first Rising Sun a place on her conning tower. She also received her baptismal depthcharge attack, prolonged and savage. Now the Harder was a veteran too! When she arrived at Midway on July 7, returning to Pearl Harbor, there was a new

realistically as it

148

BATTLE SUBMERGED

light in the eyes of every jauntiness in their walk.

man aboard, and a new swagger and

For there was more than one scalp the on conning tower and one stood for the exdepicted "hot" seaplane tender Sagara Mam. Sam Dealey had become a skipper on his first patrol. On August 24 Harder headed back to her old area south of Honshu on her second patrol, to take up where she had left off. The hunting was still good, and the stenciled flags now accounted for an additional four cargo ships and one tanker. On October 30, 1943, she started her third patrol as a member of Commander Freddie Warder's ( of Seawolf fame ) pack, accompanied by the Snook and Pargo. The hunting this time was conducted in the Marianas area. On this cruise the Harder s torpedoes bagged three big freighters, insuring that some 20,000 tons of stores and supplies would never reach their destination on Saipan except as litter on the beaches. When she returned from this patrol the Harder was sent
to the coast for a "face-lifting" treatment during a

month

at

the

Mare Island Navy Yard, and a well-earned

shore leave for

the crew.

Early in March, 1944, she was back at Pearl Harbor, ready,

as the skipper

phrased

it,

to "ride the Pacific

off for

again."

And on March

16 she took

merry-go-round her new area of

operations in the western Carolines, in the immediate vicinity of Woleai Island 500 miles west of Truk. It was there that she
participated in a dramatic rescue of one of our pilots

who

had been forced down, which is described in Chapter 11. And it was there that she intercepted the new directive making enemy destroyers a primary target. It may have been coincidence, but she had no sooner received the changed order of things than the Harder showed
strict

compliance by summarily removing a destroyer from the Imperial Navy. The target obligingly provided was the Ikazuchi, of the 1,850-ton Fubuki class.

To fit the Harder for her fifth and memorable war patrol she

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

149

was sent alongside the tender at Fremantle, Australia. In addition to the usual refurbishing there was always a little extra
patching up required
attacks.

when

this

submarine hit port. She

al-

ways seemed to undergo more than her share

of depth-charge

May 26, 1944. Her assigned the northeast coast of Borneo, in the Sulu Sea, and in addition to sinking ships, she had two other assignments. One was to remove some Intellileft

The Harder

Fremantle on
off

area was in the Celebes Sea

gence operators from the northeast coast of Borneo. couple of other subs had failed in their attempts to rescue them, but

was mandatory for the Harder because the increasingly desperate Japs were closing in on our people. Evidence of the mission's importance was the presence of the Australian Ace Commando, Major William Jinkins, loaned to give aid
success
in this rescue attempt.

Their other assignment was extremely important too. The heavy naval forces of the Japanese were known to be concentrated at

Tawi Tawi anchorage

in the Sulu Archipelago

(northeast of Borneo). When we delivered our first blow at the gates of what the Japs considered their inner defense line,

High Command expected the reaction at Tawi Tawi to resemble a disturbed hornets* nest. So the Harder and Redfish (Lieutenant Commander Marshall H. Austin) were sent to hang around that vicinity and catch the first movement of the enemy. They were given permission to
the Marianas, our
to find out in

do any damage they could but they were especially directed which direction the Japs would jump.
Captain Murray Tichenor, operations officer for Submarines Southwest Pacific, went along on the Harder as an observer.

the operation scribbling for the boats. It's sometimes difficult to understand every facet of an operation
orders were that he

He wanted to see at first hand how practicable

had been

from a seat on the tender. Furthermore, he also wished to observe at first hand the conditions under which the subs oper-

150

BATTLE SUBMERGED

ated. Finally, and perhaps compellingly, he loved the submarine service and when a man attains four stripes it is rare

that he gets a chance to see the

enemy through a periscope. In fact, there were this an on eyeful trip. certainly got times when he even hinted that Sam Dealey was putting on a

He

show

for his special benefit.

After doing considerable broken field running through fleets of fishing boats the Harder arrived off Cape Mangkalibat, which thrusts from eastern Borneo into the Strait of Makassar,
at

dawn on June
The

5.

of the sailboats

skipper strongly suspected by their actions that some were a little out of character for fishing vessels.

They behaved more

like wolves in sheep's clothing spotters for the Japs, but Dealey *s tight schedule didn't permit time to prove it. Anyway, it didn't matter too much if the boats

were on picket duty because the enemy already had the grimmest sort of evidence that United States subs continually haunted those waters. It wasn't their presence, which they were impotent to prevent, but catching them that bothered
the Japs most.

Rain squalls are often a great nuisance and source of discomfort but those the Harder encountered this cruise were an undisguised blessing. They permitted her to arrive undetected at the southern entrance of Sibutu Passage. This is the channel that lies between Sibutu Island on Borneo's northeast coast, and Tawi Tawi, the Japanese anchorage between Borneo and the Philippines. Inasmuch as this is the only deep-water channel between the Celebes and Sulu Seas, the Japs knew that our subs had to use the passage, and they had no intention of letting any

go through.
until after darkness before giving the Japanese the opportunity to try and stop her. As the affair

The Harder waited

it

turned out,

would have been a

lot

cheaper for them

if

they

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

had given the submarine a
personal escorts. Just as the Harder
safe conduct passage

151
including

was getting all wound up to start her dash the radar operator brought the proceedings to a halt by reporting that a convoy was barging down the pass. "We're not in such a big hurry after all/' grinned the skipper.
"Besides, this
is

business that can't wait.

The other

job can,

within reason."
first encounter thus: "The moon was and almost overhead during the latter part of full, brilliant, the run, but was shielded intermittently by low cumulus clouds. Our intent was to dive ahead of the convoy and to maneuver into a position between the flank escorts and the tankers from which an almost simultaneous attack could be made on the destroyer and the three closly grouped ships of the convoy. This optimistic intention was later frustrated." And for a very good reason. The moon suddenly broke through the clouds, floodlighted the surfaced sub and made all on deck feel as self-consciously prominent as Lady Godiva at a ball game. The nearest destroyer wasn't slow to take ad-

Sam

described this

vantage.

was immediately apparent/ said Sam Dealey, "that he was headed hellbent for the Harder, smoking heavily and showing a prominent bow wave/'
"It

Two choices remained. She could dive or "We turned tail toward the destroyer, made flank speed and
hoped the Jap would get discouraged and return to his convoy but he had other intentions (none of them friendly). His speed increased to 24 knots and the range was gradually whittled down to 9,000 yards as he followed down our wake. (At 19 knots we left a wake that looked like a broad avenue
for five miles astern). "It was painfully evident that our business with the

convoy
of/'

would have

to wait until the destroyer

was taken care

152

BATTLE SUBMERGED

The Harder decided she had run far enough. Now, she had
only one thing in mind: Get that fellow! She submerged to periscope depth, twisted around to bring the stern tubes to bear, and waited for the destroyer, racing down her wake, to come within torpedo range. And at twenty-four knots it
couldn't take long! The Japanese was steering a straight course, charging after the sub which he apparently thought was still fleeing on the surface. It was a poor guess.

"At a range of 1,150 yards," related the skipper, "we sent a to the war-head explosive) triple dose of torpex (referring toward the Jap. The first shot missed ahead, the second and third shots were observed to hit near the bow and under the
bridge respectively. The target was immediately enveloped in flame and smoke, the tail rose straight in the air and half
a dozen of his depth charges going off. "Surfaced at 1,000 yards distant, watched the destroyer go under, and headed back toward the spot where it had been. One Franklin buoy (or one of similar design) burned lone-

somely over a large oil slick but there was no ship and there were no survivors to be seen. The last moments of the destroyer were observed by the commanding officer, most of the fire control party, by Captain Tichenor and the bridge lookouts."

Japanese records indicate that

Minatsuki.

this

was the destroyer

of handily.

The

first

pressing problem

had been disposed

Now to take the convoy under consideration. Full speed ahead

on four engines! "From here," observed the skipper, "it would be a race to see who could get to Tarakan first." But another destroyer popped into sight to offer strenuous
opposition to any attempted liberties with the three precious tankers. Again the Harder prepared to square away for a

passage at arms, but this time the target was wide awake and watchful. When the submarine let fly with her punch, the
destroyer neatly sidestepped and countered savagely with

SUBMAKINE VERSUS DESTROYER

153

heavy depth charges that battered and buffeted the Harder for the next hour and a half. As Sam Dealey admitted, "That fellow was on their varsity!" When the weary destroyer drew away from her rather groggy opponent, the Harder took cognizance of the time element that had inexorably crept into the problem. It was
too late to try for another pass at the fast-stepping convoy, so the submarine headed for Sibutu and rescue for the trapped

observation party. At dawn the Harder sighted what was believed to be the mast of a ship, and the submarine slithered down for an attack

below the surface just in case a plane sitting around overhead. After an hour and happened a half Sam figured that it was about time to take a look at the traffic and tried to come up to periscope depth. Then the most
position from well
to

be

sickening sensation a submariner can feel, more dismaying than the jolt of depth charges, jarred all hands the grate of the keel on a submerged obstacle. No one had suspected that

the heavy set of the uncharted current during the night had taken them near the reef on which they were now in danger of

being hung. Dealey gave the immediate order to blow main ballast tanks, then backed full speed and miraculously managed to clear the reef without apparent damage. But all hands sprouted goose bumps at the thought of what might have happened, if the skipper hadivt had the hunch to plane up for a look-see when he did. The Jap base was much too close for any Americans to be stranded on a reef, if they were lucky

enough to get that much fresh air before extinction. But the target? To top it all off, the "ship" was still where a small island! it had first been seen, and where it still is Shortly before noon the Harder submerged again to wait out an aircraft contact when a destroyer suddenly loomed up on the periscope, coming at a fast clip and only about 4,000 yards away. No one suggested that this might be an island when the Harder turned toward her. A minute later

154
the two
killers

BATTLE SUBMERGED
were headed
for each other

and

closing fast.

the periscope. That was made as plain by his belligerent approach as if he had flown a flag hoist. "Stood by with four tubes forward to fire down his throat, if

The Jap had seen

necessary," related Sam in his war diary later. "At that stage there wasn't much choice. Angle on the bow changed from zero to 10 degrees starboard, then quickly back to 15 degrees The situation was growing more tense every second.
port."

What would the destroyer do next? If he would only stay on a

steady course for just a few minutes! At this rate it looked as though it might surely have to be a head-on "down the throat" shot, with the target practically crawling over the submarine
the next moment.

At a range of 650 yards the angle on the bow had opened

to

20 degrees port. The skipper filled his lungs to expel a sigh of relief, and then the destroyer perversely but cannily began to swing back. Sam Dealey, his forehead bathed in sweat, waited no longer; he couldn't, unless he wanted the fellow coming
through his conning tower. "Fired one-two-three in rapid succession. Number four
wasn't necessary! Fifteen seconds after the
it

first

shot

was

fired

struck the destroyer squarely amidships. Number two hit number three missed ahead. Ordered right full rudjust aft

der and ahead full to get clear. At range of 300 yards we were rocked by a terrific explosion believed to have been the destroyer magazine. Less than one minute after the first hit, and nine minutes after it was sighted, the destroyer [later identified as the

Hayanami] sank

manding

Officer,

tail first, observed by the ComExecutive Officer, and, of course, Captain

Tichenor."

But a lot of other equally interested persons had seen it go down. Sound reported fast screws racing up from all directions. So the sub went deep and philosophically rigged for while the depth charging, yeoman broke out the forms on which to record each explosion.

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

155

They weren't long in coming

ing hours.

and continued for two gruel-

At 3:30 that afternoon the Harder had crawled from under and was again at periscope depth, tubes reloaded, looking for and trouble. Two FwZmfa-class destroyers came steaming up the Harder prepared to make someone pay for the depthcharge drubbing, but at 4,000 yards the destroyers suddenly wheeled about and quit the neighborhood. However, it was still a busy area. Later in the afternoon an
investigating committee of six destroyers

headed

for the sub-

marine.
here," observed Sam.

though the Harder had worn out her welcome "We felt as if we had a monopoly on the whole Pacific war this date. ( Such popularity must be pre-

"Looked

as

served. )"

The temptation was

to further deplete the Imperial

Navy's dwindling forces but the skipper "Made a quick review of the whole picture
discretion here

and decided that

was definitely the better part of valor. The was air in the boat was none too good, the crew low, battery was fatigued, and our navigational position in a narrow strait, with strong and variable currents, was not well known. I really believe that we might have gotten .one or two of the enemy but under the above listed conditions, a persistent and ships, already humiliated enemy (after two sinkings within twentyfour hours just off a fleet base) would probably have developed an attack from which the Harder might not have pulled through. No apologies are made for my withdrawal The gamble would have been taken at too great a risk/' The skipper having made his decision, the Harder began evading to the north to lose the destroyers and get on with her assigned task. The navigator was unable to fix the ship's position due to a "fuzzy" horizon, but it appeared they were headed up the center of Sibutu Passage. A tiny blip suddenly blossomed on the radar screen, dead ahead at 1,500 yards. It was sighted immediately from the bridge by moonlight, a

156

BATTLE SUBMERGED

small boat by all appearances. At 1,200 yards it was discovered to be a low rock pinnacle sticking straight up out of the sea,

with white foam breaking around it. Dealey ordered full right rudder, and "within 400 yards of grounding on this pinnacle as we reversed course/' he noted in his diary. "Special credit is

due Wilbur Lee Clark RT

alert watchstanding.

[radio technician] 3c,

USNR for his

a grounding

He undoubtedly prevented

which might well have been disastrous." The navigator was able to check his position a little later on Sibutu Island light and by midnight the submarine was heading north again. At ten o'clock on the morning of June 8 the Harder was submerged off the northeast tip of Borneo below Cape Unsang. She was two days late for the rendezvous; Sam
of apologetically explained later that the compulsory sinking

two destroyers had delayed them.

Late that night the submarine crept in to keep her rendezvous with the Intelligence operators. With nothing to break the stillness of the night except the muffled paddling of the rubber boat, Major Jinkins pulled off his little miracle and got the operators aboard safely. There was a silent hand
shake and a low

murmur of thanks before they disappeared down the hatch. Sam lost no time clearing the neighborhood. The Japs had

been ready to spring their trap on the operators at dawn, and when it became obvious that the prey had escaped, they wouldn't have any trouble guessing how it had been managed. Sam wanted deep water under him before the investigating
planes inevitably arrived. At 5:32 A.M. the expected snooper came diving in. The Japs hadn't waited until dawn to find out that the agents they had hunted so long and persistently had been snatched away.

"Bridge lookout sighted float type plane close/' related the skipper. "Made quick dive. Bomb exploded as we passed 75 feet also close! The sub was thoroughly shaken and re-

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

suited in an early and prompt reveille for damage of a serious nature was sustained/'
all

157
hands, but no

The new passengers were

that
if

already getting a quick initiation

into routine life aboard the Harder.

One

of

them vowed later

he had suspected what they were going to have to go through before he reached Australia nothing could have dragged him off Borneo. He would have insisted upon waiting for the next boat.
skipper didn't doubt that the plane had sent a hurry call to the destroyers at Tawi Tawi. They could be expected

The

come swarming out in a few hours, looking for trouble and the Harder. Conditions to receive them properly were not auspicious from the Hardens point of view. "The smooth glassy sea/' explained Sam, "with aircraft
to

overhead precluded a successful attack at periscope depth, so it was decided to swing to the northeast and not attempt a

southward transit of Sibutu until nightfall. However, the longer we remained undetected., the more convinced that Jap aviator would be that his bomb hit the mark. Such an assumption wouldn't have been far wrong/* At 11:00 A.M. "sound picked up propeller noises of two destroyers approaching from the westward [direction of Tawi Tawi. The advance guard!]. A periscope attack in the glassy sea against alerted destroyers with air support was not considered to be 'good ball/ Increased depth and rigged for silent running. Both destroyers passed overhead and nearby several
times/*

By early afternoon

the searchers had been shaken

off.

Sam

returned to periscope depth to find that the seas had picked up enough to ruffle the surface, so now they could make a attack. He headed directly for the northern entrance
periscope
to Sibutu, ready to do battle once more. Soon after sunset the Harder was on the surface speeding down the pass. Radar picked up a few patrol vessels but they

158 were
far

BATTLE SUBMERGED
enough abaft the beam
for the

Harder to show them her heels. Nevertheless it indicated that the enemy was going to make his best attempt to prevent the submarine from going
through. At 9:00 P.M. the skipper recorded, "Entered northern bottleneck of Sibutu Passage with the Jap fleet base at Tawi Tawi beam. Trouble was expected here just six miles away on port

and did we

find

it!"

Just a minute later radar reported a destroyer ahead. saw it at the same time. It didn't worry him because by

Sam now

he felt competent to handle the destroyer situation. Another was sighted almost immediately near the first, but Dealey still felt confident that he would be able to handle both of
them.

The

actions of the destroyers

seemed

to indicate that they

had no suspicion patrolling the narrows, and that a stranger was entering their midst. If they could just be kept in ignorance a few minutes longer! Sam picked out the
were simply
one to "gun" first the larger one. "At 3,000 yards both destroyers zigged SO degrees to their right (with the first presenting a 30-degree port track) and
logical

the picture became just what the doctor ordered/ At a range of 1,000 yards on the nearest target, both destroyers were overlapping, with a 100-degree track showing, so without
firing the bow tubes. No. 1 apthe first destroyer, No. 2 struck it ahead of peared near the bow, No. 3 hit just under the destroyer bridge, and No. 4 passed astern of the near target. The sub was swinging hard right to avoid hitting the first destroyer and fire was withheld on remaining tubes until a new setup could be put into the T.D.C. [target data computer] for an attack on the second destroyer. About 30 seconds after turning the second destroyer came into view just astern of what was left of the first one which was burning furiously. Just then No. 4 torpedo, which had passed astern of the first target, was heard and

further delay

commenced

to pass just

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

159

observed to hit the second target (no more torpedoes were

needed

for either).

"Meanwhile, a heavy explosion, believed to be caused by an exploding boiler on the first destroyer, went off and the sub (then about 400 yards away) was heeled over by the concussion. At almost the same time a blinding explosion took place on the second destroyer (probably his ammunition going off) and it took a quick nose dive.- When last observed by
the

Commanding

Officer

and Executive

Officer

eager Captain Tichenor, naturally) the tail stroyer was straight in the air. And the first destroyer had dis-

(and the of the second de-

appeared." The Harder, so far in her one-ship war,

had whittled down

Admiral Ozawa's badly needed light forces by four destroyers and the patrol wasn't even over. The submarine surfaced to see the damage and to make a
rapid shift to a more quiet neighborhood. Only a large cloud of steam and heavy vapor hung over the spot where the first
destroyer had been.

A lighted buoy marked the spot where the

second ship had taken her last plunge. At flank speed the Harder tore along to the south before the night flyers could arrive. Half an hour later she had to duck under for a while to let one go by, but she was soon up and
off again.

so simple. "Sighted aircraft float type plane, flying at height of 100 feet, coming in off our starboard quarter and almost on top of us. It is believed

At 11:05, however, things weren't

that he sighted us just as the rudder was shifted hard left. He whizzed by the starboard beam at a range of 100 yards!

Submerged.

First aerial bomb not so close,

second aerial bomb

damned close! Increased depth." Then the bombs became more

distant.

"Sound contact on approaching ship. Rigged for silent running. Remained deep for remainder of night to rest a weary
crew/'

160

BATTLE SUBMERGED

all

At 0445, "Surfaced to change air in the boat before another day dive, and to cram more 'amps' in the battery/' Before dawn she was once more submerged and heading for a point south of Tawi Tawi for her reconnoitering duty.
Destroyers were observed on apparently routine patrol but none came close to the lurking submarine. The passengers became wistful for the comparatively quiet life of dodging

Jap patrols in the jungle. At 5:00 P.M. the next afternoon, June 10, excitement surged through the Harder like a tidal wave when Sound reported a

movement of ships, light and heavy screws. The very thing they had come to witness! The passengers now began
large
to ask, "Is this trip necessary?"

observation disclosed a large task force three battleships, four or more cruisers, and six or eight destroyers. Float-type planes circled overhead. The first move-

A quick periscope

ment of Ozawa's force was coming out! The skipper describes what happened: "Sea was glassy smooth and events which followed quickly showed that our periscope was sighted.
"While watching and identifying the nearest of the battleships (which was definitely of the Musashi class) it was suddenly .enveloped in a heavy black smoke and Sound reported
hearing three positive explosions. The first assumption (and hope still remained) was another of our subs [Sam knew the Redfin was on watch] had put three torpedoes in the battleship, but a reconstructed version of the affray shows that the
following was more
likely.

"Immediately after the smoke and explosions around the battleship, a destroyer, which until then had blended in with the big ship, headed directly for us belching black smoke. It is believed that one of the float-type planes had spotted our and a smoke float near it. periscope dropped Whereupon the laid down a quick smoke battleship's escorting destroyer
screen between us and the battleship and dropped three 'scare'

SUBMARINE VERSUS DESTROYER

161

charges as he headed our way." But there was no guessing about the destroyer that was heading for the Harder with a

bone in

his teeth

and

fire in his eyes.

"The sound
it!

tained a 'turn count' for 35 knots on the destroyer.

man obHis bow

wave and

rapidly closing range verified

"With the idea that we were now scheduled for another working over anyhow, it was decided to have a crack at the destroyer first. The bow was swung toward him for another 'down the throat' shot. ( Maybe recent events have just gotten us too much in the habit of shooting destroyers anyhow? ) At the angle on the bow still zero a range of 4,000 yards and the destroyer echo ranging right on us steadily! The picture had reached the stage where we had to hit him or else." When the range was 1,500 yards Sam calmly fired three torpedoes. With the destroyer knifing directly down on them the "fish" wouldn't have far to run that is, to hit. "Sound had now picked up other fast screws moving in from the starboard beam but this was no time to look; the Harder went deep. "Fifty-five and sixty seconds respectively after the first shot, two torpedoes struck with a detonation that was far worse than depth charging. By this time we were just passing 80 feet and were soon beneath the destroyer. Then all Hell broke' loose! It was not from his depth charges for if they had been dropped at that time this report would not have been com.

pleted, but a deafening series of progressive rumblings that seemed to blend with each other. Either his boilers or maga-

had exploded and it's a lucky thing that ship upward and not down. "The previously reported sound on the starboard beam was now reported moving in for his share of the fun and started laying his barrages as we were going deep. It is believed that they fell astern. They were loud and close and added their bit to the jolting around but none compared in intensity to the exploding destroyer we had just passed beneath.
zines, or both,

explosions are vented

162

BATTLE SUBMERGED

"Other explosions, believed to be aerial bombs, began to land nearby, and all added up to make the most uncomfortable five minutes yet experienced during the Harder s five war distinct depth patrols. Something between twenty or thirty charges or bombs were counted but no one was interested in
numerical number at the time/'
Finally the Harder pulled clear of the bombed area and once more all hands, including the passengers, drew a deep breath. When they again raised their periscope in the darkness, a lone lighted

buoy was burning forlornly over the spot where the attack had taken place. For the extraordinary exploit of sinking five destroyers in a matter of almost four days, Sam Dealey was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

After surfacing, the Harder sent a contact report by radio announcing that the first of the heavy forces had left Tawi

Tawi anchorage. At dawn she was back counting noses

in the

anchorage. After a few days more the Redfin was told to take over and the Harder returned to Australia to discharge her thankful
passengers and to get a few more torpedoes so she could continue her patrol.

She never returned from the

sixth patrol.

Penetrating

Enemy Harbors

THE DARING submarine skipper, whose adventurous spirit

him to deeds above and beyond the demands of ordinary duty, was just the type to challenge the boasted impregnability of an enemy harbor. From the first weeks of the war
carried
till its end, submarines were piloted past or through deadly barricades designed by the enemy to deny entry to all except their own. But any enemy harbor that was considered a safe

haven drew the submarine skippers with irresistible fascination. They were always positive that if they could only slip in among that bunch of nice, fat prizes they would have a bang-up clambake. Of course, the real catch to that was always, "If they could slip in!" Invariably when a submarine did successfully penetrate defenses to unload her torpedoes against ships whose vigilance was complacently relaxed, no great difficulty was ever experienced in making an exit during the ensuing confusion. Sometimes there was even a complete absence of countermeasures. Of course, mines and nets were always an ever-

and crack-proof

ship's

163

164

BATTLE SUBMERGED

present danger, even though they had been marked on the submarine's chart as they were detected on the way in. During the earliest part of the war in Europe, on October
14, 1939, the Nazis dramatically demonstrated that no harbored vessel was out of reach of the submarine, regardless of

and sound detectors. Under the superbly skillful U-47 achieved what piloting of Lieutenant Gunther Prien the the British harbor defense experts would have bet their lives to be an impossibility. He made a daylight submerged entrance into the "impregnable" Scapa Flow and sank the British
nets, mines,

battleship Royal Oak. Only because the rest of his torpedoes were defective and bounced harmlessly against the hulls of

even more important targets was the loss limited to just one was the impotence ship. But what was even more distressing
of British anti-submarine countermeasures to prevent Prien's escape to the North Sea after the attack. A few days later John
Bull's face really burned when, with the Fiihrer standing exultantly at his side, Prien not only described how he had

British

entered the Fleet Base but proved by his presence that the had been completely unable to prevent his escape. Despite this event, and the boast voiced at the same time
that other ports

would be visited, the

British

were

still

unable

to completely protect their harbors. For a U-boat got into the Firth of Forth and torpedoed H.M.S. Belfast, and later, the

battleship Nelson found herself

on the receiving end

of a tor-

lessons to profit by, the United States learned on the very first day of the war in the Pacific that the enemy not only was able to torpedo and bomb our ships in

Loch Eue. pedo With two years'

at

the harbor with his airplanes, but that his midget submarines were capable of successfully negotiating our supposedly impregnable Pearl Harbor Channel. Unopposed and undetected,
far as

one midget got as far as Ford Island which is just about as one can get where she launched her load of two tor-

pedoes.

With the holocaust

that

had already descended on

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

165

our fleet, these two torpedoes could not have added much more to our woes even if they had hit their targets, which fortunately they didn't. One gushed in between the seaplane tender Curtiss and the old cruiser Raleigh. The other burrowed into the bank on the island before the midget was
blasted to oblivion by the Curtiss.

The Japs told us later that they had five

ing off the Harbor on the Emperor.

of the midgets waitthat fateful morning to do their bit for

One of them was sunk early that morning by the destroyer Ward and another foundered on a reef southeast of Kaneohe Bay where it was captured and taken to the beach as a war trophy. The fate of the remaining midgets was never learned.
It

was enough, though,

to demonstrate

what we had ample

opportunity to learn at others' expense, not only that we were in a war with a daring ruthless enemy, but that submarines

could upset the best laid plains for the defense of ships in harbor. It was a lesson our submarine skippers took to heart

and put to superlative use throughout the war. On January 7, 1942, during his first war patrol, Lieutenant

Commander
submerged

attack on a freighter

Stan Moseley, in the Pollack, made a daylight and sank it with two tor-

pedoes. Moseley simply reported the location as Lat. 34-27 N, Long. 139-59 E. In his endorsement of the patrol report,

Commander Submarines added, "In case anyone is interested, the latitude and longitude of this sinking is Tokyo BayP Later that same month, somewhere around noon on January 24, Liuetenant Commander Chester C. Smith squeezed the Swordfish through the narrow channel at Kema (northeast Celebes) and torpedoed a freighter that lay in the roadstead.

Harbor penetration was popular from the start. Targethungry subs probed any harbor or roadstead that appeared
to contain

merged

shipping. This daring type of daylight subharbor penetration continued until the boats were

enemy

166

BATTLE SUBMERGED

equipped with dependable radar, which opened up a new

field to the skippers
:

the night surface entrance.

Here was something that tried their daring even more than the daylight attacks, with greater fascination and excitement in nosing past the patrols on a dark night, letting loose a load

Sunday punches against smugly complacent shipping and then breaking for the open sea. When, month after month, the toll of ships continued to mount from this method of attack the Japanese began to
of

suspect that only the lack of wheels prevented the appearance of our subs on the Ginza in Tokyo. Certainly no spot in the Empire with water deep enough for subs remained inviolate.

Take, for example, the exploits of two of our submarines: the 'Barb, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Eugene B.
Fluckey,
into the harbor of

who culminated her eleventh war patrol by steaming Namkwan, China, on the East China Sea,
of January 23, 1945;

on the night

and the

Tirante,

com-

manded by Lieutenant Commander George L. Street, III, who topped her first war patrol with a visit to a harbor of Quelpart Island (south of Korea) on April 14, 1945. These attacks were so outstanding and paid off so richly that the two skippers were each awarded the Congressional

Medal

of Honor.

a signal example of how positively a submarine reflects the personality and, well, call it the luck of her
officer. Lieutenant Commander Eugene B. took command of her on Fluckey April 28, 1944, prior to her eighth war patrol. Under this slender, red-haired

The Barb was

commanding

slight,

and forever smiling

events leading

officer,

greater luster
is

reputation with each patrol, as

to her about to be related in the

was added

up to the night-hawking foray on Namkwan. Her eighth war patrol was conducted in the "Polar Circuit"
and the Sea of Okhotsk. Five ships were

area, the Kuriles

credited to the Barb's torpedoes. On the ninth patrol she was a

mander

member of a pack, ComE. R, Swinburne's Ed's Eradicators. The other two

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

167

members were the Tunny and Queenfish and they operated in the popular Convoy College area, south of Formosa. Their
large

bag this time included a carrier of the Otaka class. During her tenth patrol, the Barb, with the Queenfish and Tunny, worked as a pack known as "Loughlin's Loopers," after the pack commander and skipper of the Queenfish, Commander Loughlin. The pack assiduously combed the waters off the west coast of Kyushu and southeast Korea. The Barb's score was still high: five ships, three schooners, plus three ships badly damaged, one of which was a carrier. Gene Fluckey was unquestionably a "hot" skipper. When the Barb left Guam on December 27, 1944, on her eleventh patrol it was still as a member of Loughlin's Loopers, although the Picuda (Commander E. T. Shepard) had been substituted for the Tunny, whose battle damage required Navy Yard repairs. Their assigned area was in the East China Sea, in the vicinity of Formosa. On January 4 the Barb was in the area, eager to see what it had to offer. Each boat in the
pack operated independently, within a prescribed area, until the tocsin call went out to gang up on a convoy. At three in the afternoon China aircraft sent their hopes soaring when they reported a convoy in Formosa Strait (north and west of Formosa), heading for Shanghai. With the bone in her teeth, Barb was off at the receipt of the word. No one was going to leave her at the post. But the skipper was doomed to disappointment. For when, in spite of a heavy rain squall, a fair attack position was attained, the convoy zigged away. His only consolation was that
at least the zig should carry the convoy into spitting distance of either the Queenfish or Picuda. little later seven explo-

He learned afterward that they had been caused by Picuda torpedoes. Well, this brush beating was fine, Fluckey thought, but the Barb had some torpedoes that she wanted to exercise besides
sions confirmed his hopes.

her engines.

168

BATTLE SUBMERGED

During the next afternoon the chances for giving them some of that exercise began to look good. Contact was made with a convoy heading toward Takao in southwest Formosa, Again the Barb lost no time racing in pursuit, spreading the good

word to the pack. Gene planned to make a

daylight submerged attack from tend to either slow the convoy This would the coastal flank. or turn them toward the Queenfish and Picuda, a procedure

that usually reaped rich rewards for a pack while beating the convoy back and forth like a tennis ball.

The second

torpedoes shook the submarine violently as a slipper in a terrier pup's "was forced sideways jaws. "The Barb" logged the skipper,

ship of the convoy falling victim to the Barb's went up with such a tremendous explosion that it

and down. Personnel grabbed the nearest support to keep from being thrown off their feet, cases of canned goods burst open in the forward torpedo room later we found a section ." of deck grating ripped out of the superstructure. No wonder. They had blown up an ammunition ship! Then, when no escorts attempted a depth-charge attack on them the skipper continued, "Amazingly we appear to have leprosy. All escorts have scampered over to the unattached
. .

side of the formation.

through
are.

my

Can feel aggressiveness surging escorts are more scared than we since the veins,
.
. .

Commenced reload forward. Heading for convoy." P.M. the 8:00 on the surface Barb, now, was inching her By flank the starboard the in on of convoy, where two exway
.
.
.

plosions signaled that the Picuda

was

at

work

again. Since

Gene Fluckey was concerned about the position of the Queenfish he decided he would attack the convoy from the quarter to avoid fouling the rest of the pack. Then he decided to test out a new theory. Figuring that since the convoy would be expecting attacks from ahead or the beam the escorts would be bunched up there, Fluckey deduced he would encounter no opposition by coming up from astern to attack the last ship

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

in the formation,

169

and from there working his way up the line.

red-haired, freckle-faced skipper was a person of imagination and he liked to try out his ideas.

The

The idea was good. Good?

It

was

perfect!

Without opposition, he torpedoed the last ship and moved up to pump three "fish" into the next one ahead, a large ship resembling a tanker. Let him describe the result: "Three hits timed and observed followed by a stupendous, earth-shaking eruption. This far surpasses Hollywood and was one of the biggest explosions of the war. The rarefaction following the first pressure wave was breath taking. A high

vacuum

resulted in the boat. Personnel in the control

room

said they felt as if they were being sucked up the hatch. Personnel in the conning tower, wearing shortened shirts not tucked in at the belt had their shirts pulled up over their heads.

On the bridge the air was wrenched from my lungs. Somehow

formed the words, "All ahead flank/ The target now resembled a gigantic phosphorous bomb. At first glance as the torpedoes hit all we could ascertain was that the target had a long superstructure and a funnel amidships. The volcanic spectacle was awe inspiring. Shrapnel flew all around us, splashing on the water in a splattering pattern as far as 4,000 yards ahead of us. Topside we alternately ducked and gawked. The horizon was lighted as bright as day. A quick binocular sweep showed only one ship remaining and a few scattered escorts. None of the escorts close to the ammunition ship could be seen. These were probably blown up and we could claim them as probably sunk except that I figure that four ships sunk, one probably sunk, and one damaged, is about all the
it

bear for a twelve-torpedo expenditure. In aftermath the forward torpedo room reported several missiles
traffic will

struck the hull, but no apparent damage was sustained. "At this stage of the game I was ready to haul ashes. However, the Engineering Officer who had never seen a shot fired or ship sunk from his diving station in five runs, really had his

170
guns

BATTLE SUBMERGED
out. Frantically

he pleaded that

we

couldn't let the last

the thump, thump, thump, ship go. Besides he loved to hear millions of bucks going see and to of the torpedoes, thump talk." (Although no sales talk was ever sales Good sky high. needed by the skipper, so long as there were torpedoes and
targets available.
)

But the engineering officer had to postpone seeing the spectacle after all. While the discussion was held, the wounded
vessel gave a momentarily startling imitation of a submarine and vanished bow first under the water.

And then occurred an incident that gave the skipper a cold sweat. Having checked on the position of the rest of the pack he took off after a single ship and raced around for a position from ahead. He saw what appeared to be an escort coming
up, but he decided to wait in his attack position for the range to close anyway. The skipper counted the seconds until that

time arrived
culations.

when two violent explosions interrupted his calThen Gene Fluckey realized that the "escort" he
as
if

had spotted coming up

earlier,

his pack-mate, Queenfish,

to protect the target was actually making an attack. Had he fired

the Barb's torpedoes would have cut her down! Gene decided that the shooting was over for the night. As

he pulled out of the area, he prayerfully murmured thanks again and again for the hunch that had made him delay, thus
miraculously averting gruesome tragedy. Slowly the Barb proceeded to the lifeguard station she had been assigned for an impending B-29 strike. Many days followed when nothing worth shooting appeared. Apparently the word had gotten around that no convoy was safe in that neighborhood and they just weren't moving. Allied air reconnaissance reported sighting convoys, but broke every time Barb raced up to ambush position, no
ships

the horizon's rim. Either the aviators were "seeing things," or else or else, Gene Fluckey's hunch told him the convoys were holing up in one or two of the harbors along the coast and

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

171

would not move until the weather was foul enough to enable them to slip past the killers lying in wait for them. If the hunch was valid, there was just one way to handle this situation, Gene decided: find out where they are hiding and go in after
them!

The Bar b still had half of her torpedoes left twelve. The water along the China Coast is shallow and the bottom
gently shelving. That meant he would have to go inside the ten-fathom curve to conduct his search. It also meant that if

planes discovered him, there would not be enough water in which to submerge for evasion. That was a risk that

enemy

no submariner took lightly but, the skipper believed, well worth taking regardless. Then, working along a string of
small islands

commencing with Tungyung

(off

Foochow) the

Barb proceeded up past Piseang Island, Seven Stars, and Namki. At seven o'clock the evening of January 22 after another
day's fruitless search the skipper narrated in his war diary. "Passed edge of Junk fleet. Approaching 10 fathom curve.

Sorry to leave Junks even though they provide an obstacle race, for we depend upon their routes to keep us clear of minefields/'

A little later:

"Quartermaster tugged at
.

my sleeve and
. .

confidentially said, 'Don't look now, but

we just passed a mine

10 yards abeam to port/ Probably garbage. Picked up Junk. Joined him in 9 fathoms of water. Commenced patrolling to

seaward on his quarter, using him for a mine sweeper/' that night Gene came to the conclusion that the 9:20 By ships he was seeking must have anchored so he decided to search the coast. The lack of junks between the coast and

Piseang Islands could indicate a mine field, so the Barb decided to ease around Piseang Islands and close the coast north
of them.

Soon after midnight the Barb began to hug the shore toward Namkwan, about seventy miles up the China coast from Foochow, where juncture was made with another junk fleet. An

172
hour

BATTLE SUBMERGED
later the radar officer

and operator insisted that the even though it apsplatter of pips on the scope were ships peared unlikely at such a range. Nevertheless, it was worth while investigating. What was there to lose? So Fluckey continued along with the entourage of several hundred darkened the revealing moonjunks, which acted as a good shield in screen. But once the radar light besides confusing any enemy moon had set at 1:37 the Barb pulled out of the formation and headed for Incog Light, about nine miles off Namkwan Harbor.

was at 3:00 A.M. when the Barb nosed around Incog Light and Gene Fluckey slowed the ship to take stock of the situation. The radar was glowing like a convention of lightning bugs. A big convoy had anchored in the lower reaches of Namkwan Harbor! The skipper's hunch had paid off again, and he had vowed that when and where they found *em, he'd
It

go in after them. Fluckey consulted with

First, there

was

his executive officer over plans. the possible mine field location. "Fully realize

wrote the skipper in his diary, "and the potential dangers involved. Estimate the situation as follows: (a) Recent unknown mining in this vicinity is a known fact. Mines could be laid from Incog Island to Tae Island. Howour
critical situation,"

ever, a more effective mine field would be from Incog Island to Ping Fong, the eastern entrance to Namkwan Harbor which

would provide a protected anchorage behind

it.

Since the

position of the anchored convoys is too close to this line, assume the latter mine field does not exist. (I hope!) The

former, though doubtful, must remain a possibility, particularly in view of the absence of Junks, (b) Jap radar interferis One escort appears to be patrolling showing up. several thousand yards northeast and a second escort to the east of the anchored ships covering the logical position for entry and attack, third escort is working close to Incog

ence

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

173

Light apparently more concerned with using his radar to keep himself off the rocks. Visibility is very poor." The two officers then carefully prepared a plan of attack

and retirement. Taking into consideration the location of what he believed to be a mine field and the known location of the escorts, Fluckey planned to go in from the southeast. This would give him the maximum advantage of the prevailing low he planned to retire visibility. Keeping this visibility in mind an area marked through "unexplored," "rocks awash/' and "rocks, position doubtful" With his efficient radar he was
confident that they could clear the navigational hazards; on the other hand he was betting that the Jap escorts would hesitate to pursue them through the danger area. Once clear he

planned to join the fleet of friendly junks and become the proverbial needle in the haystack.

never entered the skipper's mind that his plan could fail. There was a time element which had to be considered also. The attack position would be twenty-five miles from the twenty-fathom curve: an hour's run before it would be safe to dive. Therefore the attack would have to be a complete surprise and the force of the attack sufficient to throw the enemy completely off balance. It must be a speedy, darting knife thrust, concluded the skipper, who was calmly preparing to stick his head in the dragon's mouth with every intention not only to withdraw it safely, but to bring along all its teeth. He added, "Figure the odds are ten to one in our favor*
It

Man

battle stations, torpedoes! Let's go!"

The radar operator and the skipper kept a vigilant watch on the escorts when the Barb pointed in. "Seriously considered
placing the crew in life jackets," said Gene, "but the atmosphere throughout the boat is electric. The men are more tense

than Tve ever seen them.

an occasional report of
the Control

be wondered?) Save for 'Single ping sounding, six fathoms/

(Is it to

Room

is

so quiet that the proverbial pin

would

174
sound

BATTLE SUBMERGED

like a depth charge. Discarded the idea of life jackets as definitely alarmist, with so many hearts doing flipflops. Made ready all tubes." He only had four torpedoes forward,
.

eight

aft,

four of the latter in the tubes.

the Barb passed the first escort unchallenged and there was only the swish-swish of water gurgling in and out of

Now

the superstructure to break the utter stillness of the night. They could have been alone on the ocean. The harbor was
really

sound asleep. Presently they were close enough for black smudges to become detached from the dark mass in the

form of silhouettes of ships. It was a perfect setup! "Ships are anchored in three columns/' noted the skipper, "about 500 yards apart with a few scattered ships farther inshore. Frankly this must be the most beautiful target of the war. Actual measurement of the target length is 4,200 yards. Ships are banked three deep. Even an erratic torpedo can't miss. Radar officer counts twelve ships on one bearing. Estimated at least thirty ships present. Our biggest job will be to prevent too

many torpedoes hitting one ship."

"Stand by!" The low-voiced word through the submarine was what the crew was waiting for. Paradoxically, all hands relaxed in relief. The great strain was really over for them. They were in. What a skipper! Not one man doubted that he could get them out again as safely. There was a pause a hundred heartbeats long, and then the
boat lurched as the first bow torpedo belched forth, quickly followed by the three others in the forward tubes. The Barb heeled slightly as the rudder was put hard over to twist the boat about so that the stern tubes could go into action. ( How the boat turned. What's slowly sluggish Hurry,
hurry, hurry!

holding us back?) "Stand by aft!" Again that lurch when four torpedoes lunged out one after the other. All hot and straight! Then, "All engines ahead, flank! We're getting out!" Now would come the race for the twenty-fathom curve,

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

twenty-five miles away.

175

produce every ounce

of them.

of

four engines were straining to power the engineers could coax out

The

Back of them torpedoes could be seen exploding against the thickly massed ships in geysers of red flames. The skipper's prediction had been right. Targets were too closely bunched to miss. All eight torpedoes had scored hits! While the skipper, with a prayer for a good J-f actor, guided
his ship over the "unexplored

only refuge

ground" toward the submarine's one water hour away the engineers were deep

"pouring on the oil" and the torpedomen aft were cramming the remaining four torpedoes in their tubes. Meanwhile every
pair of eyes on the bridge lookout stations played their binoculars over the long line of blazing and exploding ships to assess

damage and to watch for pursuers. The whole anchorage was

brilliantly alight, like a wholesale fireworks display with the aurora borealis and a couple of sunsets to boot. The engineer-

ing officer finally got his glimpse of what a few million bucks going up in the air resembled that time.

having been hit by the eight torpedoes. Even as they gaped at the nightmarish picture in Namkwan Harbor, the whole side of one 'ship in the second column blew out in a sheet of flame one more ammunition ship! Seconds later another ship in the third column blew up with a tremendous explosion another shipload of shells that would never find a target in American troops. The Barb had certainly been partial to ammunition ships on this patrol, with four so far. Four ships in the harbor were unquestionably destroyed and two others so badly damaged they would have been better off on the bottom.
Six ships

were counted

as

This

is

harbor:

how the skipper himself described the exit from the "The Barb is now highballing it for the twenty fathom
bow
wildly maneuvering when some of the Junks

curve at 21.6 knots, broken field running through the Junk fleet, with the radar sweeping rapidly thirty degrees either
side of the

176

BATTLE SUBMERGED

are inside the sea return. [Maneuvering among and trying to is outguess a fleet of Junks., even under normal conditions, an experience that puts a strain on the best of seamen.] Expect Gun fire to see a Junk piled up on the bow any second. form of it. Some from well astern. Some poor Junks getting
. . .

to aid the navigational light lighted on Tae Island. Probably ." Sent contact report to Picuda. escorts' navigation,
. .

after the first torpedoes were fired he adds grate"the Galloping Ghost of the China Coast crossed the fully, twenty-fathom curve with a sigh. Never realized how much water that was before. However, life begins at forty fathoms!

One hour

Kept going.

Slowed

to 19 knots.

Dawn. Assume

the Japs will expect us to submerge, so will stay on the surface." But at 6:33 radar warned that a plane was coming in
fast

toward them. "A C.O.'s privilege

to

change

his

mind.

Dived," the skipper added.

Tirante didn't emerge from the Portsmouth Navy Yard construction pier until the fall of 1944. Her skipper was Lieu-

The

Commander George L. Street, III. Although he had been on nine previous war patrols, this was his first command. Both skipper and ship were getting away to a late start. Due to the time involved in training a new crew and the long trip
tenant
to the Pacific
it

wasn't until

March 3,

1945, that Tirante, in full

Harbor. She accompanied two other the Tinosa and Spadefish, to operate in the members, pack East China and Yellow seas.
regalia, left Pearl

war

Pickings

had become pretty

slim this late in the war;

skippers were gobbling up prizes that they would have disdained in the lush year of 1944. Japan's merchant marine had been done for by the combination of Allied submarines and air power. The Empire's warships had fuel enough only for one more desperate sortie. Factories and populace were starving, deprived of the materials they needed by the submarines' elimination of Nippon's sea-borne commerce.

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

177

blood-red sun had sunk below the western horizon, its reflection glowing like a bonfire, when the Tirante surfaced

and shook the waters of the Pacific from her rounded hull. transit of Tokara Strait had to be made in order to enter the East China Sea. That is unless a single engine plane had ripped down almost over the bridge. The skipper recorded:

"Diving time a

little

faster than that of a rock."

Next day,

in the western

approach of Van Diemen

Strait

(southwest Kyushu) the skipper was able to record with a touch of enthusiasm: "First blood for the Tiranter The prize

was a

freighter

which disintegrated from the impact of a

torpedo.

A few
made

days later Tirante was able to carry out a promise

Westinghouse Factory at Sharon, Pennsylvania, who were manufacturing their Mark 18 (electric) torpedoes. The workers had collected the funds to pay for a torpedo which they asked to have delivered in their name to the Japs. To Tirante had been given the honor of making the delivery, and on March 28, George Street happily wrote in his log that he had sent the Pennsylvanians' torpedo crashing squarely into the middle of a large cargo ship. It took just that one "fish" to deprive Hirohito's starveling forces of the food, ammunition, and other supplies needed to stiffen their resistance to the ever-advancing Americans.

to the employees of the

However, the Japanese escorts returned that unasked-for gift with marked enthusiasm by a string of depth charges on the Tirante. Fortunately for Street's merry men the results were not as positive as that of the gift torpedo. The submariners swept up the shattered light bulbs and flakes of paint and moved on. Their good deed for the day had been done. But the ship-sinking business was pretty slack for the next

few

days. Skipper Street recorded rather plaintively, "No activity of any kind. Our carrier based fighters must have scoured

the water front"

178

BATTLE SUBMERGED

It wasn't until Tirante reached the Korean coast on April 8 that her luck changed for the better. A brand-new tanker, loaded with oil, fell victim to their torpedoes.

Optimism again began to rise in the boat. Two days later in the Yellow Sea Tirante worked her way into a two-ship convoy. A transport loaded with troops, the Nikko Maru, took the
full

count with three torpedoes. Her consort, the Ramb II, squirmed clear and made a dash for the horizon while the escorts kept the Tirante pinned down with depth charges. The skipper's comment for April IS as he patrolled the
Shanghai-Saisho route
brief.
off

Saisho To (Quelpart Island) was dived for day. Upon surfacing and very "Sighted plane heard the melancholy news of the death of our Commander

Intend to make investiin Chief (President Roosevelt). gation of a reported anchorage on the north shore of Quelpart
. . .

this

during darkness. Our six torpedoes forward will be ideal for work." All torpedoes aft had been expended. George Street had been toying with this idea for some time.

Since the targets wouldn't get them the hard way.

Island's northwestern coast.

come

to him,

he determined to

At midnight the surfaced Tirante crept toward Quelpart

On the bridge, Street's thoughts ran something like this, as sometimes uttered aloud to his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Edward L. Beach: "This island was one solid black wall. But there must be patrols. Wait a minute! What's that long, low, black blob suddenly cause

we

stirring off to port? patrol, evidently suspicious beare coming too close. He's stopped again. Must be

and he's gone to sleep again. A swell Radar says there's another patrol to starboard. Wouldn't know it was there without radar. Bet you he's pinging too. That fellow could be a nuisance. He's heading our way. What suspicious people, these damn Japs. Hold your breath. We are almost inshore of him now and he's getting doubtful whether he saw us or not. We must be merging
satisfied that we're a junk

night for sleeping.

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

179

with the land pips; he's gone back to his routine patrol. Man, good to draw a deep breath again. He's not completely satisfied yet. Keep an eye on him, Ed; he is always a mental hazard and, potentially, a real one. If only we had another chart instead of this damn Jap zoomie one. Not an asteriskdash-blank sounding inside the ten-fathom curve, and that's where we are. Maybe the 'zoomies' don't need them but we could certainly use a couple. Hope this place isn't mined.
it's

Hope none
time.

of those five shore-based radar are working over-

They could certainly raise hell if they are. "Battle stations! Only 1,200 yards from the beach and can't see a thing. Whew! Get a whiff of cattle from the beach.
if

Wonder

perfume gives some of the boys a touch of homesickness. Ill take Chanel No. 5 for mine any time and not off a cow either. A couple of spots over there in this early morning mist look a little darker might be promisThose two boats aren't ing. certainly patrol working here just for their health. There must be ships, even if there isn't enough visibility to shoot. We'll scoot around that little island to port and see what the other side of the anchorage has to offer. Hugging this island like a fraternity brother. That patrol vessel is still not overly suspicious, but he's restless and unsure of himself. Something is wrong and he hasn't quite figured it out yet. But he sure is annoying. This northern side is much better. These dark shadows have detached themselves from the island background and have become ships. How quiet it is. That patrol is heading this way again. The current is setting us on the beach. We'd better get in closer and have it over with. It's 3:40 and these Nips get up early. Tell radar to give
that barnyard
.
.

me

the range to the largest ship ahead.

.
.
.

Twenty-five

hundred yards?
sides. Patrol still

Land looming

close aboard

on both

not overly alerted. Pinging loudly outboard wonders what in hell a junk is doing going to the anchorage. We'll save him from guessing if he just gives us a few more minutes of grace. This land background is really
of us. Probably

180

BATTLE SUBMERGED

our savior. Secure the soundings! If those ships can get in here so can we. Both 40-millimeter guns are loaded and ready with gun crews, because well have to shoot our way out if boxed
in.

Too shallow to

dive. Don't

want the gunners'

fingers to get

too itchy, though. Exec says he's got three targets picked out and is sighted on the largest and ready to let fly when I give Wait until we back her down and lay to. the word.
.

O.K., Ed, fire one torpedo as a sighting in shot to get the dope on the current/* George Street at 3:55 A.M. continues his narrative when he
is

unable to curb his curiosity from his control spot in the

conning tower. "Captain went to the bridge to get in on the fun up there. Missed to the right. Torpedo hit the beach and exploded, proving there was no torpedo net/' he added with
self -consoling philosophy.

"Fired one torpedo aimed at

to correct for current effect.
get.
.

left

edge of the largest target

straight for the taras previous one.

Wake aimed

Fired another torpedo aimed same

Straight as a die. Exec's keen shooting eye looked right-on tremendous explosion. great mushroom of tonight ...

white blinding flame shot 2,000 feet into the air. Not a sound was heard for a moment, but then a thunderous roar flattened
our ears against our heads. The jackpot and no mistake! In this
shattering convulsion we had no idea how many hits we had made but sincerely believe it was two. In the glare the Tirante

stood out, in her light camouflage, like a snowman in a coal more important, silhouetted against the flame, were pit. But, two escort vessels, both instantly obvious as fine new frigates
of the
full

Mikura

class.

The captain

instinctively ordered, 'Right

ahead flank!' and as quickly belayed it." He remembered he still had torpedoes in his forward tubes.
rudder,
all

"Steadied to 'pick off' the two frigates. Bearing and seem about now. Fired one range right torpedo at the
.

left

hand

frigate.

Another torpedo
. .

a?">

same

target.

Shifted to the other one.

Last torpedo at the right hand

PENETRATING ENEMY HARBORS

frigate.
let's
.

181
left.

That's

all

left hand frigate. The ship literally stern rising out of the water, and the center disappeared in a sheet of fire. Must have hit her magazines. Very satisfactory to watch, though not the equal of the

really get out of here. "One beautiful hit in the

the calling cards we have No unfinished business!

Now

exploded, her

bow and

previous explosion, of course. Possibly two hits in him. A hit on the other Patrol Frigate also right amidships. No flames this time, other than explosion, but a great cloud of
.
.

smoke immediately enveloped her and she disappeared.

jubilantly credit ourselves with three ships " four, probably five hits for six 'fish.'
sional

We

sunk with at least

George Street was the only skipper to ever get a CongresMedal of Honor on his first war patrol.

A
THE

Strange Target

Bowfin, commanded by Lieutenant Commander John Corbus, introduced something unique in submarine warfare
for a concrete dock during her sixth war patrol by accounting and a bus loaded with a Japanese liberty party, Not that the

rest of the patrol was not more orthodoxly remunerative. An entire three-ship convoy escorted by two destroyers was tor-

pedoed, and then en route

tion.

home

rare exercise while shelling three

the gun crews had a little more freighters to destruc-

Giving credits for ships sunk was routine for the Award Board. But the concrete dock and a liberty bus! Of course both

dock and the busload

of sailors

were creditable blows to the

Sunk, one bus? No! The prosaicminded Board adjourned without arriving at a satisfactory answer. So this story is not official.

enemy but

how credit them?

During early August, 1944, Johnny Corbus was guiding his submarine in and out of that long string of islands slanting

down

southwest from Kyushu and extending almost to For182

A STRANGE TARGET

183

mosa, They are known as the Nansei Shoto group. Famed Okinawa is in the middle of the chain. August 9 had been spent by the Botofin in making a sub-

merged reconnaissance "casing the joint," as they liked to term it of Minami Daito and Mitai Daito. The sub was on the western side of Minami Daito when Johnny Corbus had
his first glimpse of the new concrete dock with a ramp leading down to the water. This initial look only evoked the* skipper's academic interest though, because what he was really inter-

ested in seeing

was

ships tied up to it. However, today it as bare as a bird's nest in December, so the skipper had

was the

an opportunity to observe the precipitous cliffs surrounding the island, a typographical condition to be noted and reported upon to those planning landings in this group of islands. The
tion

Okinawa campaign was still almost a year off but all informaon any Japanese island structure was in demand by the

Joint Chiefs looking ahead to the final invasion. The Bowfin pulled out from the islands before sunset.
for the next day, provided there

more intimate acquaintance with the anchorage was planned

were ships there. At 7: 15 next morning the Bowfin felt her way back into the shallow bay barely submerged. The second look at the dock was disappointing. The nest was still bare. But the day's prospects began to take on a brighter aspect when a trawler escort and a merchant ship were sighted approaching, trailed by
still

another ship.

The course the ships were steering indicated that they were heading for the new dock on Minami Daito so Johnny Corbus discontinued the approach he had started on the last ship. Another more ambitious plan had occurred to him. Why not
wait until the ships moored at the dock, then get all three? So the Bowfin quietly slithered in to post herself opposite the
landing.

cargo ship was moored the trawler disappointed Corbus by turning out of the landing area, but the
After the
first

184
second ship lay

BATTLE SUBMERGED

to, apparently waiting for the word to go the dock. Okay, two out of three, then! The plan of alongside destruction was quite simple. Torpedo the ship lying to, then

give the works to the moored one. Simple? Not even a periscope angle had to be computed. The bow was just pointed at the target and that was that. The

second torpedo from the

ship apart.

bow tubes really blew the unmoored

The skipper swung the Bowfin for a shot. The three remainat the second target. ing torpedoes from the bow tubes leaped "All three torpedoes ran true as a die/' recorded Corbus,

"and all hit where aimed. The resultant explosions were tremendous. The debris was thrown at least 200 feet in the air. A large automobile bus on the dock was being loaded with
personnel just before we fired. When the debris had settled the bus was just a tangled mass of wreckage. The dock was of course there was no sign of the practically obliterated and

merchant

three torpedoes hitting it this was ship. [With understandable.] The decision to fire three torpedoes was based on the desire to not only sink the ship but to wreck the
as well. Both objectives were accomplished. Had now closed the beach to 850 yards. Came left with full rudder, ." twisting, starboard ahead two thirds, port backing full. the in of on Tori Shima, vicinity August 22, During daylight

dock

the Bowfin attempted to get in a submerged attack on a threeship convoy escorted by two destroyers, but the enemy's
listening devices detected the submarine

and the cargo ships

sound of

took

off.

Johnny Corbus

him and then surfaced and sped

an end-around position.

let the ships get out of sight and after them at flank

speed, for

At 8:30 that night the Bowfin radar picked up the convoy. They were still in their original formation, but now a new factor entered the problem. The Bowfin would have to get in
her attack before the targets reached the sanctuary of the

A STRANGE TARGET

185

narrow channel between Taira Jima and Suwanose Jima, but a bright quarter moon, not due to set until 9:30, might as well have been a searchlight. There wasn't much choice left to Johnny Corbus. "We'll attack now/' he announced, "and we'll try for the whole convoy/' He had it all figured out. The six bow torpedoes would be distributed evenly between two ships and an escort; the stern tubes, two at the remaining ship, and two at her escort. It was as simple as that in the plan, that is. Johnny Corbus describes how the plan worked out. "Point of aim was nearest overlapping ship [Argun Mam]. Could see escort just astern of ships. Came right with full rudder and flank speed for stern shots. Observed first hit in the leading overlapping ship [Lima Maru] about one third of way back to bridge. Torpedo #1. Observed second hit in this ship
. . .

The first hit partially tore her bow off and the second one broke her back. Stern rose high in the air and she disappeared. This was #2 torpedo. Observed first hit in the trailing overlapping ship [Argun Maru] just about at her bridge. Torpedo #4. Observed second hit in this ship about
just abaft the bridge.

one quarter of a length inside her stern. Great clouds of black smoke and fire were observed and she commenced settling by the stern. Torpedo #5. Observed hit in the destroyer. The

word 'hit' does not fully describe the effect complete disintegration would more adequately cover the result of #6 torpedo. There was a violent explosion and a blinding flash that illuminated that sector of the horizon and the destroyer could

no longer be

menced
Maru].
.

seen. Suspected magazine explosion. firing stern tubes at the remaining ship
.

Com[Nana

Just after firing

#8 torpedo saw

escort a little

to the left of the He turned on three vertical blue lights target. and they appeared to grow larger and draw to the left keeping

about in

Thought but this was even more

line with big target that the explosion of the

so.

first

The same

destroyer exploded. destroyer was violent type of violent flash oc-

curred accompanied by a roar, the three lights went out and he

186

BATTLE SUBMERGED
.
. .

could no longer be seen.

.

Observed one hit in the big tarThis get [Nana Mam}. appeared to be well aft and a red glow of fire was observed. While opening range to the west. .

damaged freighter [Argun Maru] much black smoke as if she were carrying with burning fiercely fuel. She was down the stern with her bow high in the air. Freighter [Argun Maru] disappeared. Heard three muffled
.

ward

to reload, observed

heavy explosions as if her boilers were exploding." The entire convoy had been destroyed within half an hour's
on September 4 could only be anticlimactic when a small convoy consisting of two small merchantmen and a larger one was overtaken. That was when the gun crews on the Bowfin had their innings. Everybody was happy except the ship's painter. How in the hell would you picture a dock and a bus amid all the trophy flags painted on the conning tower? But for a really painful dilemma, consider the Gate's.
sailing distance of safety. The attack en route to Midway

The submarine service spent a lot of time preparing for the war they knew was coming in the Pacific and tried to provide for all possible eventualities. Even actual experiments with live depth charges were conducted to see what would happen to the various instruments on the bulkheads in the compartments when the depth charges began to explode and the submarine was shaken like a rat in a mastiffs jaws. Of course they had to play it a little more conservatively than the Japs did later, but nevertheless it was very realistic. Yet in spite of all the planning and experiments, one little possibility was overlooked which can be forgiven, for it only happened to one
submarine during the entire war. But on that particular boat the Gato, the skipper, Lieutenant Commander Robert J.
Foley, spent quite a few bad moments trying to figure out what the answer in the book should have been. It was late afternoon on December 20, 1943. A two-ship escorted convoy was attacked and one sunk, one hit, when a

A STRANGE TARGET

187

couple of destroyers raced up and Foley had to submerge to sit out the ensuing depth-charging.
"This was the worst depth-charging we had ever received/* related Bob Foley. "Practically all of the charges seemed right

on top of us and the ship was shaken violently with each. However, the Goto took it very well. These new escorts were too proficient. They spotted us accurately and stayed on. Although we were at all times about 70 feet below our test depth none of our T^ag of tricks' was effective in shaking them, until after about two hours, when a slow gradual turn seemed
.
.

to leave

them astern." Groggy and battered though she was, there was

still

plenty

of fight left in the Goto. Shaking off the water like a

mean-

tempered whale, the Goto surfaced and sped along in the

wake

of the escorts to locate the freighter,

if still afloat.

moments after surfacing Bob Foley was intent on accomplishing two things: locating and destroying the freighter, and clearing up the woozy feeling in his head induced by the savage pounding of the depth charges. The skipper was grateful for a fresh western breeze coming in over
During the early
the deck and clearing his head. Mechanically he peered over the bridge in the lowering visibility of first dusk to see if any

damage had been done forward. In a moment he stepped his head dubiously. Maybe that pounding was causing him to see things, he muttered to himself. Something like that had happened once during his boxing days at the
back shaking

Academy. Surely that must have been an apparition out there on deck. Bob rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was still
there!

Catching the quartermaster by the arm the skipper pointed

down

over the bridge.

it's

"Gawd, Cap'n,

The quartermaster's one of them things!"

eyes bulged.

Even

before the executive officer had poked his head

the bridge hatch after the skipper's hasty invitation, the had flashed through the boat with the speed of scandal.

up word

They

188

BATTLE SUBMERGED

a very unwelcome one, indeed. A on can metal deck, an unexploded depth charge! lay large rid of it to How get posed a very neat question. Submarines naturally have no way to launch such projectiles. They are

had a new shipmate and

always on the receiving end of that particular type of missile.

The Gato carried no bomb-disposal experts who could quickly

render the charge harmless, so the suggestion to roll it overboard was dismissed. It would explode, surer than shootku

Things were beginning to build up to an impasse when the youngest ensign on board darkly suggested they return the bomb to its donor. At first his remark was met with incredulous stares but the skipper soon grinned and nodded his head in
approval when the plan was explained. Quickly the preparations were made. The Goto was brought to a stop and the lethal charge which seemed to have the Gatos "number'* inscribed on it was gingerly and very tenderly lifted up and lashed into one of the inflated rubber boats with .a slow leak in it, and set adrift. When last seen in the
gathering dusk it was bobbing along merrily in their wake and squarely in the path of the now pursuing destroyers. Life isn't perfect, so there is no way of telling whether the "ash can" was ever received by the Japanese. But no member of the crew can be convinced of that.

unusual and the unpreceas when Lieutenant way Commander William B. (Barney) Sieglaff learned about
attract the

Of course, submarines

dented the

a bald head lures

flies,

Mohammedans. Barney had the Tautog, a

who had earned her

apiece,

and he

"hot" submarine, a lucky ship several skippers at least one Navy Cross didn't like making his seventh war patrol a

nonshooting excursion cruise for a couple of Japanese-looking guys the High Command thought more important to put ashore in occupied territory than sinking enemy tankers.

The passengers were

Javanese, one of

them a

*liaj,"

who

A STRANGE TARGET

189

had made not one but seventeen pilgrimages to Mecca. They were a couple of big wheels in the Mohammedan world and they were going on a precarious journey throughout enemyheld areas to raise the native resistance.
Sieglaff

& Co. were drilled in the etiquette o

in

entertaining

ways calculated to avoid any affront to practitioners of that complex religion. They had to have a special diet. Barney had to point the Tautogs nose to the East
at prayer time, thrice daily.

Mohammedan guests

At meal times protocol was rigidly observed at the tiny mess table in the wardroom and the older Javanese gravely
thanked the skipper for the meticulous courtesy being extended them. Well, thought Barney philosophically one night, after his guests asked if they could be excused after the evening meal to go topside for a walk in the starlight, they're not such bad But we'll land them on Kabaena Island without regrets joes. and go about our business. And then he lighted a cigarette
while waiting for the executive
daily cribbage tussle for the
officer to

show up

for their

Tautog championship. Leaning back against the bulkhead the skipper lazily blew smoke rings and wondered what was delaying the executive officer. From out in the compartment he could hear the crew's radio blaring out selections from a popular music program. This must be rather startling to our sober-faced guests, he thought, when boogie-woogie and jive saturated the air of
the compartments, drowning out
all

other sounds.

In self-defense together with his inability to hear the news

broadcast on the wardroom radio above the cacophony of trumpets and traps. Barney turned the dial to that of the

music he was not conscious at first that his two guests had returned and quietly slipped into the long seat across from his with a quiet request
crew's station.

Above the crescendo

of the

in faultless English:

"To be

sure,

join you, Captain?" gentlemen. Please do," Barney said and

"May we

190

BATTLE SUBMERGED
is

itself to

reached for the radio dial. "That orchestra death, I'll tune it down a little."

trying to beat

"Please don't, Captain/* entreated the Javanese who had beat a path to Mecca so often and who had already been tagged with the name of "Allah" by the crew. "We find it very

than the exhilarating and even more beautiful and enjoyable dream of me "It makes love, home, night on deck," he sighed.

and freedom."
Barney laughed. "You amaze me. I didn't know you had this type of music on Java. Somehow I thought your tunes were more like the Hawaiian variety." A grin overspread "Allah's" face. "You see, Captain, after our escape from Java iny colleague and I lived in Australia in

camp with your wonderful Marines. From them we learned to appreciate your fine American music. Our names were kept
a

a secret from them

also,

but they called us Butch and Joe. I'm

all

Butch. We would feel flattered if you called us that also. They

taught us a song they said

mission, Captain,

Americans
sing
it

sing.

With your per-

we would like to

for you."

immediately the Oriental pair gave out lustily with the Marine Hymn, with a few variations of Navy bluejacket and Army doughboy invention that will never appear in print. From then on the Mohammedan holy men were accepted as
full-fledged

And

members

of the

crew

they were simply Butch

and Joe to everyone. It was with the genuine regret of all hands that on the night of May 25, 1943, Barney put them ashore on Kabaena Island. "You know," said Barney, turning to his executive officer, "I like those boys. I thought at first we were stuck with a couple of stuffed shirts. I was sort of planning a couple of
emergency drills in the dark just to break down their reserve. I couldn't have been more wrong about them." "Yes, they were good joes, captain," agreed the executive
officer.

"But you know something I think maybe we missed a good bet. Those fellows probably would have been ame-

A STRANGE TARGET
nable to a
rines/'
little

191

crap game, after having lived with the

Ma-

Barney shook
fellows

learned those songs,

would

his head. "If they took to craps like they it's lucky you didn't bring it up. Those have had not only your shirt but your pants as

well"

"^fc.

Periscope Spies

AFTER THE

Solomons campaign in 1942 and the Midway disaster the Japanese High Command decided that perhaps discretion was not only the better part of valor, but very much the best part, and so the fleet was held in readiness until the

opportune moment should arrive when a devastating blow could be struck at the American forces rolling across the Pacific. It had been a costly lesson but well-learned: the fleet

would best be used in waters where fuel and land-based planes were available to their own forces but denied the
enemy, meaning us. By early summer, 1944, it was quite obvious to the Japanese High Command that the next major Allied effort would be
against either Palau or the Marianas, in what the Japanese considered their inner defense ring. Either was the occasion

powerful Japanese fleet had been held in would commit the biggest concentration of force the United States could afford, and if the Japanese could in that be not able to win the war battle, they might triumph but they would certainly not lose it.
for
still

which the

reserve. Either

192

PERISCOPE SPIES
So when the

193

first of the Marianas, Saipan, was attacked in the 1944, Japanese Navy prepared to smash the Allied June, shaft and head, with an all-out -effort. However, spear thrust,

the Allied High

reasoning had
it

Command, fully aware of what the enemy's to be, expected the Japanese to oppose the

all strength by land, sea, and air. But was one thing to guess however accurately what the enemy was going to do and quite another to find out how he was going to do it. Admiral Spruance and his Fifth Fleet had the job of supporting the landings on Saipan and protecting the amphibious forces. This itself was a full-time job and could not be com-

Marianas' invasion with

bined with the highly important task of watching for the expected sorties by the enemy fleet, without weakening the force necessary to protect the beachhead on Saipan. True, the Fifth Fleet contained Admiral Mitscher's strong carrier force, but to send carrier units westward to the Philippine area to scout the bases where the Jap naval forces lay would only create a double jeopardy: first, because the operation at Saipan needed
the planes almost hourly to consolidate landings; second, because no fast battleships or cruisers could be spared to supply
the carriers with their curtain of fire against the enemy's landbased planes. Yet if Admiral Spruance was going to be able to withdraw his fleet from the Saipan area at the critical njoment to inter-

cept and frustrate the Japanese counterattack, accurate information would have to be made available to him well in

advance.
of the

He had to know positively the time of the departure

fleet

enemy from
and

Japanese This truly grave responsibility was given to the one force that had carried the offensive into Empire waters from the
first

its

his base or bases, the composition of the route to the Marianas area.

day of the war onward, the fleet arm that was sinking ( and

would continue
other military

more enemy tonnage than all of the agencies combined the submarines.
to sink)

194

BATTLE SUBMERGED

assigned twenty-eight of his boats to the network that was to keep the necessary information

Commander Submarines

flowing to Admiral Spruance up to the very hour his would have to assemble to checkmate the enemy.

fleet

Submarines had already informed their boss that the main enemy units had left Singapore and Brunei, Borneo, and were
concentrated at the Tawi Tawi anchorage in the Sulu Archipelago between Borneo and the Philippines. The Japanese had

good reasons

for selecting this anchorage. It

was

close to their

own

supply on Borneo, and equally handy surmised the Allies would strike next, Palau or the Marianas. Moreover it was out of the reach of troublesome carrier planes,
oil

to the sites they

which had already made the Truk area untenable

ships.

for their

As a first step in the information network, three submarines were sent to prowl the vicinity of Tawi Tawi; three others to the southeast of Mindanao, on the route to Palau or the Marianas; three more were in Luzon Straits (between Luzon and Formosa); and one each in San Bernardino and Surigao
Straits

the only passages for large ships to the Philippine

Sea. Thus, all avenues of

approach by enemy

fleets

were

watched.
obtain and transmit information on the course, speed, composition, and disposition of the anticipated enemy fleet,

To

watchdog network not much privacy or secrecy was probable for any enemy fleet trying to slip in and smash the Saipan The Fifth Fleet was landing. provided with a story-book

submarines were placed north and west of the Marianas. They were also to watch for war ships from the Empire's homeland bases. Patrolling the lanes west of the Marianas were the other craft assigned to the detail.
five other

With

this

setup.

observed on June 10 by the Harder,

The movement of the first enemy force from Tawi Tawi was commanded by Com-

PERISCOPE SPIES

195

mander Dealey. Through the

sub's periscope the skipper obor three four more cruisers, and six or more served battleships, destroyers heading south, probably for Sibutu Passage (between Sibutu and Tawi Tawi) Before diving deep to escape a
.

destroyer that headed for him belligerently at high speed Sam Dealey coolly fired three Mown the throat" torpedoes

and damaged

it

enough

to take the sting out of the depth-

charge attack that followed.

That night the Harder sent in her report that the first enemy contingent was on the move. At the time it appeared headed
for

Halmahera, western New Guinea. Actually, it turned north several days later and passed to the east of Mindanao where it came under the surveillance of other subs.

The Redfin (Commander M. H. Austin) took over the

Harder s vigil when she returned to Darwin for more torpedoes and fuel. On June 13 the Redfin observed the main Japanese Fleet striking force sortie from the anchorage: four battleships, eight cruisers, six carriers with planes on deck, and eleven destroyers, a formidable fleet. The submarine was not quite able to see without being seen, and the Japanese destroyers laid down a heavy depth-charge curtain which prevented the Redfin from getting a torpedo in a major ship, but Austin was able to send in the contact report of the enemy's composition and its course toward the coast of Borneo.

To
Fleet

it

the self-appointed welcoming committee of the Fifth was now evident that this force would transit either

Surigao or San Bernardino Strait to reach the Philippine Sea. There was a chance it would choose the much longer route via Luzon Strait, but the possibility was ruled out considering
the fuel and time the longer but safer route would require, and

time and fuel was what the Japanese were running out of. So the Flying Fish and Growler, guarding the San Bernardino and Surigao Straits, were alerted. The question Admiral

196

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Spruance wanted answered now was: where and when would the enemy striking force, under the command of Vice-Admiral
Sea? Jisaburo Ozawa, enter the Philippine commanded On June 15 the Flying Fish,

by Commander

Robert D. Risser, patrolling in San Bernardino Strait, answered that question. During the early morning of that day

Bob

Risser

knew something important was impending, when

he sighted several patrol planes and two carrier-based aircraft sweeping back and forth over the Strait. Later that morning the sight that presaged the real story was revealed. "Sighted two small unidentified (possibly
carrier-based) planes to the southeast/' the skipper logged. the east channel "Sighted masts they are coming through

and are hugging the beach. Came to normal approach at standard speed. It was soon apparent that our chances for attack were zero but we continued in at high speed to develop the contact. Even this was difficult for the closest range attained was approximately 22,000 yards. It was a large task force, however, and I estimated three carriers, three battlecruisers and destroyers. The only one definitely ships, several identified was a Nagato-class battleship." The Flying Fish was too far away to see all the ships Redfin had reported, but it was obviously the same force that had sortied from Tawi Tawi on June 13. Admiral Ozawa and his in the Philippine Sea. Everyone knew he striking force were would probably be joined by the ships reported by Sam Dealey in the Harder. But where was that force now? The answer was given the same day by Slade Cutter in the
Seahorse: TASK FORCE IN POSITION 10-11 S 129-35 E COURSE NORTHEAST SPEED 16.5 KNOTS SEAHORSE TRAILING.
.
.
.

The two enemy task forces were now in the Philippine Sea and evidently spoiling for trouble. It was equally evident that the two forces would unite before their big strike. When and where would this take place?

PERISCOPE SPIES

197

Again the submarines furnished the answer, while disposing of two of the enemy carriers.

The Caualla (Lieutenant Commander Herman J. Kossler, making his first war patrol, in command) supplied Admiral
Spruance with the required information and, with the primary job done, then attacked and sank a large carrier, the Shokaku. The Cavalla was en route to San Bernardino to relieve the Flying Fish, who was very low on fuel, when Kossler was told about that submarine's June 13 contact. An area on the suspected track of the enemy fleet was assigned her. The Flying Fish's relief could wait a while.

Late that night the Cavalla made a long-range contact on

a small task force consisting of a large and a

medium

tanker

and three

escorts.

Kossler immediately started an. approach on the, high-speed, zigzagging ships but he was sighted by the alert

Herman

and driven down. On surfacing, the Cavalla got off its contact report to the Big Boss and then prepared to carry out his original job of replacing the Flying Fish, for his own fuel
escorts

supply was inadequate to pursue the tanker group, which was

making high speed. But Commander Submarines knew something about the
over-all picture that Herman Kossler didn't. These tankers were vitally important! They were en route to rendezvous with and to refuel the Jap Striking Force and that rendezvous would answer another of Admiral Spruance's burning questions: where were the two Japanese fleets meeting? So Com-

mander Submarines told the Cavalla that the destruction of the tankers was of priority importance. TRAIL, ATTACK, REPORT, he directed the Cavalla, and gave the same instructions to the Seahorse, "Pipefish, and Muskallunge. If the tankers could be destroyed, the dearth of fuel would seriously
handicap the enemy striking force. But if they could not be sunk, at least they would lead the submarines to the enemy
fleet.

198

BATTLE SUBMERGED
second thought Commander Submarines realized that

On

the race might prove too long for the Cavallas fuel supply. He therefore amended his original orders, instructing Kossler to follow the enemy's track at normal two-engine speed, con-

cluding his message with the dubiously encouraging words,

KEEP YOUR CHIN UP.

From
the several submarine
contact

Spruance estimated that the enemy Marianas area before June 17, so early that day he led his fleet westward to meet the Japanese, counting on the subs to give him the enemy's exact position. Again they did not let him

reports Admiral could not arrive in the

down, for that same night the Caualla, tailing the convoy, saw blobs sprout on the radar screen as thickly as freckles on
a red-headed boy's nose. "Following was estimate of the situation," wrote Herman Kossler. "Our contact was a large task force, zigzagging between 060 and 100, speed 19 knots. Seven good size pips were

showing, indicating a very large ship, probably a carrier on the starboard flank, flanked on the port quarter by two col-

two ships each. Probably battleships or cruisers. Range to carrier, which was closest ship, 15,000 yards. Although the night was fairly dark, this ship could be seen and looked mighty big. We were in position on the track ahead of the formation ... it was apparent that we were on the track of a large fast task force, heading some place in a
of ships of
.
.

umns

pretty big hurry." Herman Kossler was right. His submarine was spang in the middle of Admiral Ozawa's force, and in a position that

every submarine skipper dreams of a real chance at a large combat ship. But something of greater importance than making a dream come true stayed the hand of the young skipper. The primary mission of the subs was to get the word of the

enemy's disposition to Admiral Spruance, so his ships of the Fifth Fleet could prevent the Japanese from piling into the

amphibious force putting 8,000

men ashore

at Saipan.

PERISCOPE SPIES
It

199
in the Cavalla

was not easy to obey orders; everyone

was
of a

anxious to

make

the

first kill,

but they

all

knew

Kossler could

make only one

decision. "Since

we had no knowledge

previous contact report on this force/* as Kossler himself logged it, "it was decided to abandon the attack and surface

quickly as possible in order to send in a contact report. This was a tough decision to make, because the carrier tracked very nicely up to the time it passed us by. Went to 100 feet and tried
as

keep count of the ships as they passed/' took almost an hour for the Cavalla to get clear of the two destroyers covering the rear of the formation and get off her report to Commander Submarines and Admiral Spruance,
to
It

concluding with, "Chasing task force at four-engine speed!" Admiral Spruance informed Commander Submarines that

he and his Task Force 58 now had all the information they needed and would carry the ball from there out. The next suecint word sent to the subs was the welcome order, "Shoot first

and report afterward."

The

along on the

skipper of the Cavalla smiled happily as his boat sped trail of the enemy with all the power the

engineers could coax from the four engines, but their best was not good enough. At 1:00 A.M. on June 19 he reluctantly dis-

continued the chase and changed course to head for the submarine's previously assigned area. Commander Submarines, upon receiving the report, ordered the Cavalla back into the
race.

The Jap ships were in front of the submarine, not behind the Cavalla, rejuvenated in spirit, swung about and so her, continued the chase. There was always a chance, all hands
thought hopefully, of overtaking a laggard. At 3:45 A.M. the roar of an airplane's engine roused

Herman

Kossler from needed sleep, and he hustled into the control room just as the Cavalla was submerging, and a white-faced

and almost speechless officer of the deck stammered the report that a plane had dived low over the ship. "A plane, hey?" mused the skipper. "Let's see. The closest

200

BATTLE SUBMERGED

enemy base

is Yap, 180 miles off. This fellow must belong to a carrier. That's worth taking a look at/'

surfaced, another plane dove on them so Kossler decided to watch for further developments through his periscope.

But when they

At 10:39 A.M. four small planes were

skipper tensed with excitement.

By

sighted. Crew and all the signs a carrier must

be near.
planes were tracked back to the horizon, and then, right under them, the superstructure of a ship appeared. "Shoot first and report afterwards, ComSubs said, didn't he?"
Kossler repeated happily.

The

The word sending

all

hands to battle stations was

antici-

pated well in advance. Magazines, crossword puzzles, aceydeucey boards and even the time-honored morning coffee cups had already been put aside. The big moment for which all had prayed their first kill had arrived!

"When I raised my periscope this time," related the skipper, "the picture was too good to be true. I could see four ships, a large carrier with two cruisers ahead on the port bow, and a destroyer about 1,000 yards on the starboard beam. The
carrier was later identified as Shokaku class (it was the Shokaku itself) and the cruisers as Atago class. ... I could see the destroyer on the cruisers' starboard beam might give me trouble but the problem was developing so fast that I had to concentrate on the carrier and take my chances with the ... I let the Executive Officer and Gunnery Offidestroyer.

cer take a quick look at target for identification purposes

aircraft
left in
. .

when sighted and during attack she was in the act of taking^on
at the time of the attack only one plane was seen the air and the forward part of the flight deck was
.

jammed with

planes. My guess at least thirty, maybe more." At 11:18 A.M. the low-voiced "Stand by" sounded through the Cavalla. Only quickened breaths could be heard in the

compartments. Then: "Fire One!"

PERISCOPE SPIES

201

The submarine lurched as the first torpedo left the tube, to be followed quickly by five others. Before the Cavalla could reach deep submergence, the first three torpedoes were heard to explode on the target. Then another type of explosion was not only heard but felt. For three unrelenting hours the Cavalla was buffeted by a furious
depth-charge attack; three destroyers blindly rained tons of explosive into the depths in search of revenge for the mortal blow that had been dealt one of their best carriers. After dropping 106 depth charges the destroyers withdrew, leaving
the battered submarine badly leaking, her crew glassy-eyed and groggy, but happy twice over. For what had caused the
destroyers to break off the engagement

was signaled by a

different kind of explosion. Their carrier had blown up! For Kossler, who had to sacrifice the earlier opportunity to

sink the carrier,

nificent a first

it

was a

fitting

reward to deliver so mag-

blow

at the Japanese fleet that

had finally come

to

out of hiding. But the Silent Service added

much more

Admiral

grief before he finally came to grips with Task Force 58. Some hours before the Shokaku was stricken from his fleet

Ozawa's

the Admiral stood on the bridge of his flagship, the carrier Taiho, to watch seventy planes take off for the first strike against the American fleet. For more than six months the pilots

had been training for this moment, and Ozawa knew they were good. And they were, but just not good enough, nor numerous enough, to contend with Admiral Mitscher's carrier boys, What followed, then, was what in naval history will forever be known as the famed "Marianas Turkey Shoot." Some planes of the first Japanese wave did manage to break through
Admiral Lee's force of battleships and cruisers, registering bomb hits on the South Dakota and Indiana, but when the
to
fight

was finished, so was

still

Japan's naval air power.

however, when he shockingly had to take an unanticipated boat ride. Scarcely had the

Ozawa was

optimistic,

202
planes taken
off,

BATTLE SUBMERGED

trained eyes saw by the action of a that a submarine had been detected tryscreening destroyer the raised his binoculars, which to Ozawa screen. ing penetrate

when his

were immediately jarred from his grasp as the Taifao shook convulsively. There was no doubt that a submarine was in their midst, nor which target the submarine had selected. It was the Albacore, commanded by Commander James W. Blanchard, that had bitten savagely into Ozawa's flagship. Upon sighting the enemy task force, big Jim Blanchard had maneuvered the Albacore in position to attack the fast-moving carrier as she steamed into the wind to discharge her planes. Then, when the submarine was ready to fire, the skipper was
computer for giving the correct periscope angle had suddenly gone sour and with a twentyseven-knot target there could be no second chance. He had to make the best of a bad situation. So with a "by guess and by God" periscope angle, Jim Blanchard crossed his fingers and sent six torpedoes lunging toward the target. The first five missed astern, but the sixth struck home and started a fire that doomed the ship. An hour later, above the din of depth charge explosions against the submarine's hull the Albacore crew heard three heavy explosions that signaled success. They learned afterward that when the Taiho had foundered they had knocked the Japanese fleet's flagship from under the feet of the Empire's most distinguished admiral, and the unhappy Ozawa had been forced ignominiously to transfer to the carrier Zuikaku sister ship of the Cavallas victim, the Shokaku. At the crucial moment for both fleets, the United States submarines destroyed two of the enemy's best carriers. It was the second major contribution of the Silent Service to the conhorrified to discover that the

quest of the Marianas, although history inadequately records them in relating the battles for Guam, Saipan and Tinian.
Earlier in the month, prior to the first American landing made on Saipan, the Pintado, Shark, and Flier sank eight troop and

cargo ships carrying food, supplies, and about half a division

PEKISCOPE SPIES

203

much this meant to the of troops to the garrison there. in that bloody battle no one can estimate, and only those who were there can appreciate.
United States assault force
All of this

How

was the prelude to the First Battle of the Philipwhich Admiral Mitscher's airmen practically denuded Ozawa's remaining carriers of pilots and sent the broken fleet to refuge in Empire waters minus one more carrier, the Hiyo (also called the Hitaka). Four others were damaged, but not so seriously that they could not be patched up for Japan's last try, four months later, in the Second Battle
pine Sea, in
of the Philippine Sea. In that battle the submarines again provided the fleet's best eyes. They gave the first warning that the powerful forces of

Admirals Kurita and Nishimura were on their way, and once more a setup was provided for our two fleets, the Third and
Seventh. But this time, at a very critical stage the ball was fumbled and only merciful Providence prevented stark tragedy from being visited upon the hundreds of defenseless cargo and troop ships in Leyte Gulf.

the Japanese fleet left Tawi Tawi anchorage for Philippine waters in June, 1944, hopes of smashing our fleet

When

were high. After the First Philippine Sea Battle, when only headlong flight had saved the Japanese, the senior officers of the Imperial Navy realized that the American Navy was too much for them and only desperate measures could, at best, achieve face-saving retaliation: But what could they do with Admiral Kurita's potentially powerful fleet, licking
still

its

wounds far to the south in the Lingaa-Singapore

area,

with

the full array of the American sea power between it and Ozawa's carrier force frantically 'endeavoring in Empire waters to replace the pilots lost in the disastrous Marianas cam-

paign?
violating one of the cardinal thus to of naval warfare principles separate the fleet. But there were compelling reasons for the Japanese decision to leave

The Japanese knew they were

204

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Kurita's force in Lingaa and Ozawa's in Empire waters, until the day arrived for their last desperate thrust against the

enemy, and the most compelling of the

submarines.

list

was the American

Since the beginning of the war the submarines had been biting deep into the arteries of the Empire. The Imperial

supply line to the south had become but a broken thread since
the submarines, selecting tankers as their favorite targets, had bled the Japanese fleet of its life-giving fluids. After the toll

they had taken, and were continuing to take,

it would have been impossible to fuel Kurita's fleet if it had been moved to Empire waters. Since this was true it might have been easy enough to balance Kurita's force with the necessary carriers by moving Ozawa's fleet south. But Ozawa was confronted with the all but insurmountable task of replacing the pilots he had lost, and Singapore was no place to achieve that. The task could only be accomplished in Empire waters, at the source of supply, rather than in an area hundreds of miles to the south. So the problem which devolved upon the shoulders of Admiral Toyoda, the Navy High Commander in Tokyo, was how to make the most use of his ships in face of the double dilemma. Certainly it would not benefit the Empire to have

them. just

sit

out the rest of the war. All illusions about over-

powering the United States fleet in conventional battle

had

been dissipated. The only ambition now was to make the Americans pay extravagantly for anything they got. The striking force that had streamed for the Marianas in June charged like a lion, although it had to run like a hare. Now Toyoda determined to employ a different approach. This time he' decided
they would use the tactics of the fox. The next Allied move pointed to the Philippines. The Japanese were certain that we would want to make good MacArthur's publicized promise, "I will return," nor did the United States conceal that intent.

PERISCOPE SPIES

205

Toyoda's plan Plan Sho-Go for the defense of the Philippines was extremely daring and no wonder, since it was born of desperation. Time was running out fast for the Nipponese.
If disaster

to

was ever to be visited upon the Allies it would have come when their forces descended upon the Philippines,

the Imperial planners figured, and so they decided that if they could compute the psychological moment to bring up their

powerful

fleet from the south, separate it into two groups to attack the Americans from two directions, they could divide

the Allied strength and then unite their two forces to crush the Allied transport and cargo ships wherever we had chosen
to land.

force under Vice- Admiral Shoji Nishimura, consisting of two battleships, one heavy cruiser and four destroyers,

One

termed the Southern Fleet, would go in through Surigao Strait. The main or Central Fleet of five battleships, ten heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, fifteen destroyers, under Admiral Kurita, would slip in through San Bernardino Strait. And if Ozawa's carriers were only good to bait the trap, that was honorable enough a job if it meant the humiliation of the
incredible Americans.

Of

course, Admiral

Toyoda was

perfectly aware that

Ad-

miral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet could be overwhelming obstacles to the success of their
plan, but the Japanese Admiral had confidence at least hope in the efficacy of the fox's skin. Mentally, he had written

Admiral Nishimura's small force. It would probably be lost, but it would serve its purpose if it divided the Allies and kept their full force from joining the main battle. It was Halsey's powerful Third Fleet of fast, large battleships and carriers that had to be taken out of the play until Kurita could
off

complete his work of destruction. On this gamble Toyoda was agreeable to hazarding some of his best blue chips. He guessed
that Halsey's fliers were itching to get the carriers that had slipped out of their grasp at the Marianas, and that the Bull

206

BATTLE SUBMERGED
at anything that looked like carriers on how far could Halsey be lured away? That

would quickly charge

the rampage. But was the dominating question in Toyoda's thoughts. Ozawa was accomplishing a near miracle in remanning his

denuded
the

with pilots, but time was too short to give the necessary training and experience needed to challenge the American naval aviators. However, they would have to do, training or no, and it must be admitted that the
carriers
fliers

Japanese aviators were willing and eager. The plan, therefore, called for Admiral Ozawa and his carriers,

augmented by two

battleships, three light cruisers

and

ten destroyers, to sail boldly down from home waters and practically dare Admiral Halsey to come up and meet the Japanese "Main Fleet." If the Third Fleet Commander should
fall for

the tempting bait and leave San Bernardino Strait unguarded long enough for Kurita to get through to his ob-

jective, the Philippine invasion could become the war's greatest debacle for the Allies. The success of the plan

depended and how on for could be fooled whether, entirely long, Halsey illusion. the "Main Fleet" by
It is interesting to

note

how

well their strategy worked.

the Lingaa area on October 18, off fuel with at Brunei, Borneo, and on October 22 set topped
left

Kurita and Nishimura

off for their respective straits. They were supposed to sweep into Leyte Gulf three days later to commence their annihilation of Allied landing forces.

But the American submarines were the incalculable factor

in materially upsetting the execution of this beautifully con-

ceived plan. Specifically, the Darter and the Dace, working as a wolf pack, showed up the seams in Toyoda's foxy disguise.

The value
of the

of the Darters contact report of the movement enemy forces can best be judged by the remarks of

Admiral Kinkaid, the Seventh Fleet Commander, upon whose

PERISCOPE SPIES
shoulders
fell

207

the brunt of the blow from the Japanese forces. "The Fourth War Patrol of the L7SS Darter" said Admiral

Kinkaid, "embraces one of the most outstanding contributions by submarines to the ultimate defeat of the Japanese Navy.

On

23 October the Darter intercepted in Palawan Passage a

task force composed of heavy cruisers and which was bound for Leyte Gulf, bent on destroybattleships ing our forces. As the result of a brilliantly executed dawn attack the Darter stopped two heavy cruisers, sending one to the bottom and seriously damaging the other. The selection of the time for the attack is considered well advised in view of the difficulty in attacking radar-equipped war vessels at night and considering the intelligence desired on the composition of the enemy forces. This intelligence, which was promptly transmitted, was the first tangible evidence of the size and magnitude of the forces which the enemy was as-

strong

enemy

sembling to dislodge our position in Leyte. The early receipt of this information enabled our forces to formulate and put
into execution the countermeasures
disaster for the Japanese in the Sea/'

which resulted in major Second Battle of the Philippine

The important role the Darter and Dace played in the prelude to the subsequent battle was not accidental. Commander Submarines had placed them where they were in conf ormance
with the general plan of supplying our High Command with information on enemy movements. Figuring that a movement
of Japanese naval forces was probable, if not inevitable, in view of the Philippine invasion, Commander Submarines stationed submarines where task forces would be most likely to travel en route to the Philippine Sea. During the latter part of September, 1944, the Darter, commanded by Commander David H. McClintock, and the Dace (Commander Bladen D. Claggett) shifted their reconnaissance duty from the Celebes Sea northward to the South

208
China
Sea.

BATTLE SUBMERGED
During the
entire period culminating in the his-

toric contact

with the main Japanese task force the two held frequent conferences to plan their work. Radio skippers

intercepts indicated that there was a big movement of ships afoot and both subs carefully patrolled their assigned end of the Palawan Passage, the Darter taking the southern end

near Balibac Island between Palawan and Borneo.

fleet

coming up from Lingaa via Brunei, Borneo, would have to steam through the channel. It was just a question of waiting
for
it.

On October

12 the Darter

made

a daylight attack on seven

destroyers,

large cargo ships, escorted damaged two of them.

by two

and badly

the Darter as a pack, joined next night in a combined surface attack on a convoy, sinking two ships and damaging others. But this was not the big game the

The Dace, working with

two were

seeking.

After the Darter picked up a broadcast on the night of October 20 reporting the Philippine invasion in Leyte, all small fry were ignored by the submarines. The remaining tor-

pedoes were now reserved for the big fellows, for it would be now or never for the Japanese fleet to attempt to smash
the invasion.

Saturday night, October 21, the Darter made a radar contact on a group of ships that appeared to contain heavy cruisers. While she was getting off contact reports to her own task force commander and the Dace, the Darter took off in pursuit, but though she cut corners by going through the
treacherous Dangerous Ground, the targets were making too much speed to be overtaken. However, this presaged the

On

movement

of the

enemy toward

Leyte.

At midnight on the twenty-second with the subs surfaced within speaking distance, the two skippers discussed plans rather disconsolately. It seemed likely that the enemy had in some manner slipped by unnoticed, they agreed, when the

PERISCOPE SPIES

209

Darter's radar operator sauntered up to his dapper skipper. "A rain squall contact on the radar screen, Captain/' he re-

ported casually. Acting on a hunch the skipper quickly took a look. "Squall, hell! Those are ships and plenty of them!" And they were coming up from the west of Borneo! Just what they

had been waiting

for!

McClintock grabbed a megaphone and called over to the Dace. "We have radar contacts. Let's go!" He heard the immediate and enthusiastic response: "Roger!

What are we waiting

The long wait was

for?"
over. This

was

it!

Keeping ahead of the formation by employing their highest speed, the two subs carefully studied the enemy ships. There were eleven heavy ships in two columns with numerous destroyers acting as screens. This was no doubt one of the expected heavy enemy forces, perhaps even the largest one. Before dawn the Darter had gotten off three contact reports to the Boss, each one confirming and expanding on the others, describing the make-up of the enemy formation and its speed.
Their intelligence work

now

being completed, the subs

for the surface forces.

were

free to lessen the

problem

The

Darter gave the word to the Dace., "Let's get 'em!" The Dace had already selected her target.

Admiral Kurita, in his flagship, the heavy cruiser Atago, was having early morning tea in his sea cabin with his chief of staff, Rear Admiral Koyanagi, when the first of five Darter torpedoes struck the cruiser. He had only a few minutes to leap into his barge and make speed for the destroyer Kishinami before his proud flagship slid under the water bow first and in flames. Before he could clamber aboard the destroyer Kurita gloomily watched another cruiser, the Takao, belching smoke, fire and steam and calling for help. The stern tubes of the Darter had accounted for her grievous condition. Two destroyers were detailed to escort her back to Brunei.

210

BATTLE SUBMERGED

The swirls of the sinking Atago were still in evidence when the Admiral watched a heavy cruiser on the other flank, the Maya, disintegrate and disappear under the impact of four
torpedoes from the Dace. On the same day, off Luzon, the Bream, commanded by Commander Wreford G. (Moon) Chappie, caught one of the heavy cruisers, the Aoba, coming down from the Empire to
join up,

and put

it

out of action.

And Commander Tommy

Wogan, in the Besugo, reported Ozawa's carrier force streaming down from the Inland Sea. Positive information of the
approach of the enemy and of the composition of his forces had now been sent to our High Command, That was the submarines' mission. Subtracting four heavy cruisers from the enemy's fleets was sheer cumshaw, but it was now up to the

commanders
ball.

of the Third

and Seventh Fleets

to carry the

Admiral Kinkaid sent his tactical commander, Vice-Admiral Oldendorf, to handle the situation at Surigao Strait, and during the early hours of October 25 his units quickly annihilated the force of Vice-Admiral Shoji Nishimura, the American battleships executing another dream-book tactic, "crossing the T" of, the Japanese battle line. So much for the Southern Fleet. The burden of success for the Japanese scheme rode on Admiral Kurita's Central Fleet. Kurita's confidence was somewhat shaken in the Palawan Passage when he saw three of his heavy cruisers taken from his fleet by the Darter and Dace. It could be an omen of things to come, he thought, as he sipped bitter tea in his sea cabin on the battleship Yamato, the "unsinkable" battleship whose 18-inch guns were the heaviest ordnance anywhere afloat. The next morning Kurita drank his tea in more tranquility. From all appearances, everything was going well, and it looked as if his ships would have a field day in Leyte Gulf. That would make up for a lot of past disasters, the admiral thought with grim anticipation.

PERISCOPE SPIES

211

Soon after ten that morning his complacency was rudely shaken when radar reported the approach of a large flight of first wave of United States planes. A few minutes later the
carrier dive

bombers and torpedo planes were screaming

down in a savage attack, and when the skies were cleared another cruiser commenced limping back to Brunei. The giant
battleship Musashi
hit registered

showed no bad

effect from the

one torpedo

on

her.

In the early afternoon the second wave of planes from the Intrepid, Cabot and Independence came down and concentrated their fury on the Musashi, and three more torpedoes
hit that battleship. This time Kurita

glumly watched the sister Yamato slow down and circle, badly hurt. Why fighter planes had not come out from the Manila fields according to plan had Kurita worried. Not that it would have eased his mind any, but he couldn't know that the Manila fighters were having plenty to occupy their attention from
ship of the

Admiral Sherman's

carriers off

Luzon/
with

The

carrier attacks against Kurita's ships continued

increasing fury and volume. By four that afternoon five waves of planes had reduced the Jap fighting power considerably. The huge Musashi was definitely unable to proceed to Leyte and was told to retire. The four remaining battleships had been bombed but not enough to impare their fighting power. It takes torpedoes to get a battleship. No battleship was sunk

by bombs alone during the war.

By this time Kurita was

convinced that the

Ozawa plan had

failed completely in view of the continuous carrier attacks and that it would be wiser for him to retire beyond the range

of carriers, particularly as he had no air coverage or any. Kurita therefore reversed his course.

hope of

The blood-red sun was hanging low in the western sky when
planes from the Intrepid, Cabot and Independence swooped down for a final performance, giving the coup de grd.ce to the

badly damaged Musashi, the battleship sinking in the twilight

212
off

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Sibuyan Island due north of Panay. Her executive officer, Captain Kenkichi Kaot, later testified that the ship had received thirty bombs and twenty-six torpedoes no ship is unsinkable under such punishment. Kurita duly reported his westward flight to the Navy High Command in Tokyo, Admiral Toyoda, but even before he

received the answer, "With confidence in heavenly guidance the entire force will attack," Kurita's courage had returned

under the protecting cloak of darkness and his force was again steaming eastward to carry out the original plan. His fleet had now been reduced to four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eleven destroyers, still a very formidable
force.

At 1:00 A.M. on October 25 he expected to complete his passage of San Bernardino Strait. The course would then be along the east coast of Samar. At 11:00 A.M. they would arrive
at

Leyte Gulf!

people received the news of Kurita's appearance on October 25 with mingled emotions and considerable concern:

Two

Admiral Kinkaid, whose heavy forces under Admiral Oldendorf were at Surigao Strait where they had smashed the Jap Southern Fleet that morning but who in consequence were out of ammunition; and Rear Admiral C. A. F. Sprague, com-

mander of the escort "jeep" carriers, upon which Kurita's big ships were descending. Both confidently expected Admiral Halsey's Task Force 34 to contain any force appearing at the Strait. But the Ozawa lure was finally working and Task Force 34 was hot after Ozawa's ships, believing that it was the enemy main force. It was just what the Japs had hoped and gambled on. That morning Leyte's prospects looked pretty grim. Kinkaid's battleships and cruisers could not get back in time to defend it even if they had anything to shoot with, and
Sprague's "jeep" carriers, their planes providing
all

the air

PERISCOPE SPIES

213

support the ground forces on Leyte possessed, would be

wholly

At

transports appeared doomed. 7:00 A.M. that fateful day Admiral Sprague and his six
ineffective.

The

small carriers and seven escorts bravely prepared to put themselves in the way of the onrushing Japanese. It was one of those "magnificent but futile" actions, cousin-german to the Charge of the Light Brigade, that men will do just to be doing

something in a hopeless situation. For two hours Kurita's heavy cruisers and battleships

peppered the "jeeps" and

their destroyer-escorts at will.

The

escorts delivered desperate torpedo attacks but the Japanese tide rolled on unchecked. The Gambier Bay was ripped to

pieces by shell fire; then the Kitkun Bay and Saint Lo came in for the same treatment, the latter sinking. Three escorts, the Johnson, Samuel B. Roberts, and Ho el were sunk.
in his headquarters ship, Wasatch, at followed the course of the battle off Samar. Leyte, anxiously Ship after ship was put out of battle, and still no Task Force

Admiral Kinkaid,

The troop

34, fully capable of handling the situation once it arrived. ships and cargo-carriers in Leyte Gulf were

doomed, sure as shooting fish in a barrel. Then an inexplicable thing occurred and saved Leyte and
the invasion forces.

Kurita was a troubled man. He simply couldn't believe what he saw. Everything was too easy. His ships just couldn't go on picking off the escort carriers and their escorts one by one indefinitely, without more show of resistance. The savage carrier attacks the day before were proof to him that Halsey had not been fooled. Kurita was certain that the Americans were deliberately sacrificing the escort carriers and destroyers just to lure him into a trap of their own. Any minute now waves of planes would come screaming down on him as on the previous day, and that would be the end of the Japanese Navy. So, with the destruction of the escort carriers within his

214

BATTLE SUBMERGED

he ordered his fleet to grasp and Leyte only two hours away, Strait at full Bernardino San reverse course and head for
after the war for an explanaspeed! He was questioned closely tion regarding his sudden withdrawal when he had all the

trump cards in his hand, but he could give none except that he feared another deluge of carrier planes. Once the jittery Kurita regained confidence again and reversed course to resume his work of destruction. -But his

courage quickly oozed again, and, this time for good, once more he raced for the Strait, leaving Admiral Sprague gazing
after

him with puzzled but

grateful eyes.

17
Shore Bombardment

of deck guns on submarines has ranged over many years and through two world wars. In the First World War the U-boats used them to great

THE CONTROVERSY over the value

advantage, sinking smaller unarmed vessels. It was cheaper than expending any of their limited supply of torpedoes and
their scope of activities. Then the British conbombardment submarine, called the M-boat This submersible was equipped with a 12-inch gun and designed

broadened
structed a

primarily to slip undetected close to the Belgian coast, emerge, lob shells into the surprised Germans, then submerge and
get clear before retaliatory measures could be effected. In theory, the idea was very good. In actual practice it ? didn't pan out. For one thing, the M-boat s constructors didn't

take enough time to solve

wieldiness.

its

The

result

was that a couple

inherent diving trouble unof the dual-purpose

submarines could not move as fast as the indignant enemy and

were sunk. After these

cided to concentrate

casualties, the British

its efforts

elsewhere. There

Admiralty deis no doubt

215

216
that
if

BATTLE SUBMERGED

time enough had been taken to study its fairly obvious problems, the M-boat would have been extremely effective as a bombardment weapon. At least the designers of the old
of World War I were men of vision and imagination, and they might have accomplished a great deal if they had received more support and allowed more patience. Between the two wars the subject of guns still kept submarine officers divided into two irreconcilable schools of

M-boats

thought, and both schools inevitably developed into extremists. It was either plenty of guns, or none at all, and advocates
as many convincing arguments as the others. the first few years after World War I our Navy built During no new submarines. Our main operating craft were the R- and S-boat type, the best that had come out of the war for us, al-

of either

had

though

air-conditioned, multiplethat emerged in World War II torpedo-tubed, speedy jobs as a Model T Ford from the 1951 model. But there was more
sleek,

as

far

from the

than the usual peace-time scarcity of money and the Navy had to do the best it could with what was allowed it. The Rright for training purposes, and quite habitable except in tropical waters, which, after all, was all anybody could want after a "war to end wars."
all

and the S-boats were

The R-boats had a

boats a 4-inch gun.

3-inch

Two gunnery

gun mounted forward. The Spractices were assigned

them each

year. First, the Short

Range

Battle Practice that

every naval ship fires to qualify its Pointers and Trainers. Second, Long Range Battle Practice Battle Surface! This was a spectacular affair, and as realistic as could be
simulated in peace time. The exercise called for a surprise gun attack on a merchant vessel, or perhaps a picket boat not too well-armed. The submarine approached the target a target

mounted on a towed

raft

and submerged

depth. When a specified bearing was

to periscope the submarine attained,

sounded "Battle Surface" and came topside as quickly as possible, going ahead at the top speed that could be extracted

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

217

from her engines. With the water still streaming off the bridge, the hatch was flung open, the gun crew swarmed over the top of the bridge and quickly made the deck gun ready to fire, fifteen shells were fired at the target, the gun secured; and down the hatch tumbled the gun crew. When the skipper was sure that the last man was back on the bridge he gave the diving alarm, and in less than a minute (theoretically) the submarine was out of sight again. Later, a torpedo practice was combined with "Battle Surface," which practice was sufficiently realistic and practicable to be used many times
during World

War II. When the giant Nautilus and Narwhal were built the school
and

that believed in large subs with big guns had the "say so," these subs each had two 6-inch deck guns.

When, shortly before World War II, we started building our first long-range submarines in quantity, the pendulum had swung the other way. No guns. The theory was that the natural
for submarines was torpedoes and deck guns an unnecessary ornament and excess weight. Acjust neither the big-gun advocates nor the no-gun experts tually, were able to visualize the operations that submarines would be called upon to perform in a war with Japan. Of course, no one even dreamed of a Pearl Harbor and the destruction our surface craft would suffer that December 7 either, which would leave the submarines virtually alone to contest the

weapon

were

Pacific against the Japanese Navy. The result of this disagreement

was that most of the

first

boats to start the war, of the Pompano class, for instance, only had a 3-inch gun, augmented by a fifty-caliber machine gun, in a compromise between the two factions. Like most com-

promises this turned out to be a poor one. Before the war had been in progress for very long submarines returning from patrols in Empire waters reported that their little 3-inch pea shooters did nothing but cause a few
splinters to
fly.

The

best they could do with the

gun was

to

218

BATTLE SUBMERGED

force the crews to dive overboard from coastal craft they attacked, while their inability to sink them necessitated a board-

ing party to place bombs below decks in the enemy craft. This method, the submarines complained, was just downright tedi-

ous and unhealthy, besides giving the Service a bad name on the Oriental waterfront. The fifty-caliber machine gun was also given "thumbs down" by the sub skippers. It was unreliable

and

ineffective.

The submarine High Command had

absolute faith in the

the boats the kind of test the skippers, who were giving theorists hadn't been able to imagine, and consultations were
initiated to choose a
ticular bill.
finally decided upon a satisfactory results. Whenever a

gun

that

would

fill

the submarine's par-

They

4-inch gun which gave very submarine went to the Yard

for a "face lifting" the old

4-inch gun. gun even before that.

pea shooter was replaced with a 20-millimeter had augmented the fifty-caliber

In 1943 a 40-millimeter gun was added to the armament, for the boats were finding more and more opportunities to use
their

deck guns. As a matter of record, a number of subs came and slugged it out against patrol vessels with their deck guns instead of staying down and being subjected to depth charges. And certainly the hundreds of luggers, schooners and junks sunk while attempting to cany food supto the surface
plies to a slowly

dying Empire settled the issue until the snorkel came along after the war. Snorkel-type submarines are gunless again, on the theory that a submarine designed to stay under water all of the time obviously doesn't need them.

latter part of the war a special 5-inch gun was for submarines and installed the on of latest designed many boats. few even carried two of them, to sweep up picket

Toward the

boats in close Empire waters. It remained for the fabulous Barb to add

still

another refine-

ment to the submarine's armament

a rocket launcher!

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

219

The

installation of the rocket launcher

difficult

had been an

ex-

concession to gain. But the red-haired skipper tremely of the Barb, Commander Fluckey, had a record that had earned him favorable consideration on any request he submitted. In each of his previous command patrols, now four in number, the submarine had been awarded the Presidential

Unit Citation and her skipper had received

the
first

Navy
of

Crosses for
for the

three,

and a Congressional Medal

Honor

fourth.

After returning from that patrol the Barb had been sent to the Coast for an extensive "face-lifting" job, which included

one of the

new 5-inch

guns.

When they went back to Pearl Harbor for refresher training

before going out on their twelfth patrol, the final round of the war in the Pacific was in progress. Iwo Jima had been taken

and on April 1 our forces moved to the doorstep of the Empire by landing on Okinawa. Six days later planes from Admiral Spruance's fast carrier force swarmed over an enemy task force in the East China Sea off Kyushu and with torpedoes and bombs sank the world's biggest gunned battleship, the Yamato (her sister ship, the Musashi, had suffered a similar fate the previous October in the Strait of San Bernardino) and then sent the cruiser Yahagi and four destroyers down to keep her company.

Not only had the subs all but obliterated the Jap shipping, but fighter sweeps on the southern Empire coastal regions were making targets even more scarce. The planes were combing the Empire, seeking out the bases for the deadliest weapon produced by the enemy air force so far the suicide plane, the kamikaze.
in the Polar Circuit

Fluckey learned that the Barb would operate on her twelfth patrol he took stock of the situation. From skippers who had recently been there he heard many gripes about the dearth of targets. Since the carrier

When Gene

220
fighters

BATTLE SUBMERGED

had been extending their activities to that area there simply weren't enough targets to go around. The torpedoes were put in the tubes, pulled out for checking and returned. But few were being fired the only way a submariner likes to
see a torpedo leave its tube. But the Barb's skipper was a very adaptable officer as well as possessing a great deal of imagination. If the planes were
getting sub targets, there was no reason why he shouldn't get a few carrier targets. But how? Gene Fluckey began to mull

over that question: "The Barb has a nice new 5-inch gun. It ought to have a great many uses but it has limitations too.

No, that

isn't

the complete answer. Wait a second. I saw

some

spare rocket launchers the other day. Now if we could snag off one of these. Why not? No one can blame a fellow for try-

ing"
did, because Admiral Lockwood said yes. In he became fact, very interested in the young skipper's unique idea and decided it might prove to be worth while. It could be an experiment that contained extraordinary potentialities.

And no one

After

all,

in spite of all our hopes this wasn't necessarily the

war

would end all wars. There might be others, and rockets were beginning to receive more attention all of the time. The sooner their possibility for use on subs was tested
that

the better.

So when the Barb departed from Pearl Harbor on June

8,

1945, she had a rocket launcher tucked away. On June 21 the Barb arrived in her area off the northeast coast of Kunashiri,

nearest of the Kuriles to Hokkaido. Within three hours she

was

testing out the effectiveness of the 5-inch gun, using two sturdy luggers for guinea pigs. The rapidity with which they
all

were smashed and sunk bore out been made for 5-inch guns.

of the claims that

had

After testing out their new gun Gene and his crew became even more anxious to use their rockets. But they weren't quite sure just which target to select for the experiment.

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

221

Early that evening, while the sun was still shining brightly, (there are only four hours of summer darkness in that latitude) a plane came out from Shari on the north coast of Hokkaido and gave the Barb an uncomfortable harassing with its bombs. The skipper's blue eyes narrowed, At last they had a satisfactory target. Shari would have the honor of being the
recipient of their first rockets. At 1:50 A.M. on June 22 the submarine

manned

new

battle station, rockets. Eagerly the rocket launcher was set up while the submarine took station off the fog-shrouded industrial city of 20,000. At 2:34 A.M. everything was ready. They were all set to launch the first rocket assault ever made

by an American submarine. The skipper

describes the

mo-

mentous event: "Rockets away! An inspiring sight. C.O. wore polaroid goggles at darkest setting for launching to maintain
left in five seconds and their trail about feet above the deck. Rockets obtwenty disappeared served to fall in an area estimated at 500 yards in diameter in the center of town. Explosions were seen, heard and felt. No fires were started. Reversed course and withdrew at high Shore-based air search speed as dawn was breaking. radar was turned on. Evidently the Japs think they were

night adaption. All rockets

being bombed." To help maintain that illusion the Barb headed for Karafuto (southeast Sakhalin Island) to search for ships from Taraika Bay (southern Sakhalin), sometimes called Patience Bay* While they were steaming northward the skipper told the
officers

new

to the submarine that in this part of the

world

things often aren't

what they seem. "It was just about a year he said. "We had worked in an<^ out down the coast of ago," on the Karafuto edge of an ice field. It was good maneuvering

practice for the O.O.D. [officer of the deck]. After sun-up but with the sun obscured we sighted a solid pack of ice thirty feet high at 6,000 yards. A kaleidoscopic color was being remaneuvered the ship to parallel it. After flected off its side.

We

222
passing along
its

BATTLE SUBMERGED

side for twenty minutes, all hands on the the masts and funnels of four trawlers apparbridge sighted Our ice-bound. lookouts even reported smoke from one ently

funnel.
at

We decided to close for a gun shoot, to lob over a few

some really fast ships from the edge of the field. Imagine our surprise when the ice field just backed rapidly away from us and then it and the trawlers disappeared! It was an unbelievable mirage. The O.O.D. said he must have been on
patrol too long and requested a relief. I laughed and asked if he were serious and he said he sure was so I told him O.K.

Well, the new O.O.D. arrived on the bridge thinking we were a bit touched. In a little while he too reported an ice field on the opposite bow. Of course by now I felt like a grizzled Arctic

veteran

who knew

through

my
him

took a good look binoculars and ascertained it to be another

all

about mirages so

mirage. The O.O.D, immediately wagered a quart of whisky that it wasn't. Considering the scarcity at the time and also

took him up on it. We approached the was the real McCoy. I decided it was mirage time for me to go below too." The skipper smiled. "Ill skip the mirages this time. But I'd give a quart of that same whisky for a prisoner. I want to find out something about things ashore." Their opportunity to grant his wish showed up the next morning. It was a large two-decked, two-masted Diesel
to teach

a lesson

confidently. It

wooden trawler. During the early part of the attack the new 40-millimeter guns with their telescopic sights were tried out with much success. But it required three shots in the hull from
the 5-inch to stop her. In order to conserve 5-inch ammunition the skipper had decided to board the trawler but a fire began

sweep through her, so the idea was quickly abandoned. But they still had to get a prisoner. "The Japs forward," related the skipper, "seemed content to be fried, rather than come out of hiding and risk survival in the icy water. Consequently, since we wanted a prisoner and did not want to leave a blazing mark
to

of our presence, determined to sink Trawler

by a high-speed

SHORE BOMBARDMENT
sweep
close aboard in order to

223
water through

wash

sufficient

a large 5-inch hole in the waterline."

Another example of
nality!

this skipper's

imagination and origi-

"Opened out, speeded up to sixteen knots and swept by about ten yards off his port beam. Target filled and sank. Took aboard one prisoner. Five others volunteered (i.e., drowned deliberately) and another committed hara-kiri by
.

slitting his throat.

."

christened the prisoner Kamikaze. A few days were spent futilely chasing a convoy which persisted in remaining close inshore while her escorts made life
of the depth-charge attacks was so severe that the skipper admitted it was miraculous that the sub didn't give at the seams.

The crew

miserable for the Barb.

One

the finally able to surface at 7:50 P.M., skipper records, "All clear. Sun still up. Surfaced, plotting all
kinds of foul deeds." But the

When

they were

enemy had gone by. Since radar couldn't seem to pick up any more ships they decided to devote part of a morning to bombarding Kaihyo

To, most southern Sakhalin. "This island," said

Gene Fluckey,

"contains large government-operated seal rookery on the eastern side. plan to land and take it. A prisoner will be valuable to check routing and frequency of Kurile convoys/*

We

At5:00 A.M. on July2: "Sighted Kaihyo To. Large stockades

of the seal rookery were in evidence on the eastern side, two beacons, radio antenna, and an observation post were on the
flat

top of the island. Eased around south of the island, on the edge of visibility circle, trusting to our camouflage for nonthe island/*

detection before the bombardment. Reefs and shoals extend

off

At 6:25: "Headed in for bombardment. Was a bit surprised to find twenty or more large barracks, warehouses and buildings on the western side. Looks like business has expanded beyond our expectations and those of the pilot and chart.
. .
.

224

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Manned battle stations,

Guns. Noticed people madly running around the island." They had sighted them and knew that this wasn't a good-will visit. "Our presence is known. Range 1,100
yards.

Commenced firing 40-millimeter. Simultaneously island

personnel opened up on us with machine guns which walked across us without hitting. Immediately returned their fire with

our twin 20-millimeter, two

caliber,

fifty-caliber,

and two

thirty-

concentrating 40-millimeter on an exposed fiftycaliber mount which the enemy had mounted on top of the

this side of the fifty-foot cliff overhanging the buildings on island. Opposition ceased. Range 900 yards. Commenced fir-

ing 5-inch gun, systematically destroying all buildings. Spotted in 75-millimeter field piece unmanned on the cliff.

Turned the 40-millimeter gun onto it, and their fourth shot hit it, knocking a wheel off ... leaving it on its side. Reversed course to remain in close. ... At range of 800
.
. .

yards stopped to let the guns literally tear the place to pieces. The 40-millimeter destroyed the observation post, three sam-

pans close to the beach, and an oil dump of about thirty drums. These drums must have contained seal oil for the automatic
fire striking

the

oil

pouring
it

down

the beaches, gave off large

flashes,

but never set

on

fire.

A fire broke out in one of the

and

large buildings near the center of the concentration

quickly spread to other buildings. Really a wonderful sight and the ideal submarine bombardment huge fires burning,
air, sampans destroyed, drums tumbled and split, a field piece overturned, and a machine gun hanging loose, unattended. Too much praise cannot be given the gun crews. We have emphasized thrifty use of our limited ammunition, almost to the danger point, and not a bullet or shell was wasted. To really appreciate this bombardment one must see the results." At 7:24, "Ceased fire. Opened out to observe results. Se-

sections of buildings flying tip in the

oil

cured guns. Island is a shambles with fires spreading. Stopped and lay to 3,500 yards to observe results and give the planes a

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

225

couple o hours to arrive in case a transmission had been sent before we silenced their transmitters. This is a precaution
preparatory to our intended landing/' There were only five fathoms of water where the Barb had steamed during the

bombardment, not enough to get her bridge under. At 10:30 the skipper notes, "No planes yet ... so assume bombardment is still a private matter. Flooded forward and inflated rubber boats. Called away Assault Force [the Barb carried her own home-trained Commandos] and briefed them. Plan to land on northwest side of island with 40-millimeter laying a barrage 200 yards ahead of party. Stopped 650 yards from beach in five fathoms of water. Looked every bit of island over for possible unknown fortifications. Fires burning merabout one third of buildings having now been conrily
sumed."
Fifteen minutes later, as the assault party was preparing to their boats amidst encouraging advice of the others to

man

fetch back a geisha or two, something was spotted on the beach that had escaped everyone's attention before fortifications. "To our amazement/' said Gene, "the C.O. and O.O.D. spotted four pill boxes along the top of this barren
island protecting this side. Commenced firing 40-millimeter at one large pillbox from which an antenna led." Up to this

time the enemy had not revealed the presence of his pillboxes. But it didn't tax the imagination of the Commandos to guess when they had planned to do so. "Fire was immediately returned by machine guns and rifles. Opened up with all automatic guns which silenced the opposition. After eighteen shots

from the 40-millimeter put one in the slit of the pillbox and blew open part of front side. Real accuracy. Gave up the idea of landing as too risky. The result to be obtained was only project No. 3. (Take a prisoner. Kamikaze would have to do for the time being. ) Withdrew. At about 4,000 yards the Japs again opened up with machine guns in a face-saving attempt.

On

losing sight of the island,

now

rechristened Little Iwo,

226
fires

BATTLE SUBMERGED

were still burning. As an interesting sidelight members of the Assault Party had refused offers of $200 to swap places with other members of the crew prior to the discovery of the was best expressed by one of the pillboxes. Afterwards, price Commandos: "You can buy me for a nickel/
"Set course to investigate the town of Shiritori where 'more been planned." dirty work at the crossroads' had

before 6:00 P.M. the next day the Barb dove and closed the beach for a closer observation. "Shiritori is a greatly
little

enlarged, thriving
trains scuttling

town with numerous factories. Spotted back and forth for future references/
7

At 9:26 that evening, "Surfaced. Set course for Shikuka. in Patience Bay will be a sore subject to the Japs tomorrow so decided to give Shikuka a rocket massage. Shikuka is another large town in the northwestern part of Patience Bay which has really grown up. It has many factories and land and seaplane air bases. Ten-fathom curve is five miles off the beach/' The skipper had studied these places very thoroughly when he had patrolled there the year before.

Our presence

at 1:00 A.M. July 3, "Sighted range lights of Shikuka Perfect for Harbor. Heavy overcast and a light drizzle.
. .
.

Then

rocketeering. Set up rocket launcher and checked circuits, Manned battle stations, rockets. Loaded twelve rockets.
.

Target to be center of town with drift going into factories. Put on polaroid goggles to watch fun. Rockets away!!! Nothing happened. After a few frantic minutes found a loose
.

Backed down and regained firing Rockets away!!! This time the system worked position. and the 5-inch rockets went swishing out. Rockets landed with their usual thunder and explosions amongst a mass of buildconnection in the
.

circuit.

Scampered for deep water. No fires started. Lights blinked on and off in town for a few minutes, then darkness. Set course down middle of Patience Bay en route to Otomari
ings.

in

Aniwa Wan [most southern bay of Sakhalin] This area will

.

need cooling

off/'

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

227
routine,
if it

Then followed a

fortnight of

monotonous

can

ever be monotonous navigating a submarine in icy, shallow water, with the hunter frequently becoming the hunted. Two
freighters, a lugger

Targets were most

and a Diesel sampan were their total bag. certainly getting scarce even in Japan's

home

waters.

For variety they had a box seat at a carrier-plane raid on the Japanese coastal city of Nemuro. As Gene describes it: "Closed beach to watch the fun. The first wave quickly set Nemuro afire and knocked out all important targets. Then a search began for something to strike. About fifty fighters scoured the area. We spotted a few radio stations for them which they immediately set ablaze. This section of Hokkaido
appears very soft. Thought we might join in the sport by a shore bombardment but neither our cover nor ourselves could
find anything worth wasting 40-millimeter on after scout along the shore. There were only a few impoverished villages
left.

VHF

The high point

of the strike came when the following conversation was overhead. Ambitious Pilot to Section

Leader: 'There's a horse. I'm going after him/ Section Leader sternly, 'You leave that poor horse alone/ We noticed five or six horses grazing in a field. The last of the opposition. Secured from lifeguard. Requested a week's extension to cover area time we had absorbed in lifeguard and en route. Extension granted/' After all, his Commandos had spent a lot of time practicing and they still hadn't had their innings. The skipper didn't want to disappoint them. On July 18 the Barb was off the southeast coast of Sakhalin where she managed to get in a torpedo attack on a large armored cargo carrier and its escort, a frigate. This used up Took a quick peek as frigate the last of their torpedoes. ". passed at 300 yards, staring into the ends of half a dozen binoculars with which their lookouts were sweeping. Noticed the Jap O.O.D. berating one port lookout and men fiddling
.

228

BATTLE SUBMERGED

racks. ... To complicate matters the elevator handle of the periscope picked this opportune moment to come off, much to my surprise. Couldn't resist the

around the depth charge

exclamation, 'See no hands!' However, soon returned to the serious business of consummating a one-armed approach/'

depth and with scot-free came off the other but nothing ship charges, left in her tubes the Barb could do nothing to stop the AK zigfrigate

The

blew up when a torpedo

set off his

zagging away at top speed.

skipper still had some days left to his extension and them profitdespite his lack of torpedoes he planned to spend There was still that railway train! And he still had a lot ably.

The

of rockets

left.

plant

plan/' revealed the skipper, "is to locate a suitable coastal position of the railways, land our saboteur force and a fifty-five pound demolition charge under the tracks.

"Our

train passing over and the microswitch." closing Now to find the spot: "Sighted the regular north-bound train. Located a fairly good position, we had previously lo-

Then this charge will be exploded by a

cated two good landing spots north of Shireturi/' But the

operation was off for that night
clouds.

bright moonlight and no

evening, July 20, the skipper's log recorded, "Sighted regular train. Previous observations have given us their timetables now. Selected optimum position for landing while we coasted with two fathoms beneath the keel. Sandy

The next

beach, no houses within 700 yards of spot and submarine could approach to 1,000 yards from beach without grounding. Our plans have been laid for three long weeks, every detail

checked, the waterproof firing system made up now all we await is four hours of darkness with the moon covered and a

calm
less/'

sea/'

are fouled

to glumly record, "Sea calm, but we a up by perfect lover's night, bright moon. Cloud-

But he had

SHORE BOMBABDMENT

229
.

The next

night, "Another lover's night. Patience.

."

But by noon the next day, July 22, the boat became much more optimistic about their chances that night. "Southerly breezes brought a stratus. At last the weather is right. Passed word that saboteurs will land tonight. After days of patiently waiting and observing, the undercurrent of expected action that ran through the boat made everyone's spine tingle. Even our prisoner, Kamikaze, was swept away with it and asked to be permitted to join the party. Not an escapist; he has supplied information on dogs and beach patrols when questioned.
Briefly the outline of our project is as follows: "To blow up a train at a vital point in the Karafuto East

Coast railway system. Under overcast to approach beach on batteries at slack water, flooded until two fathoms of water remains under the keel, as checked by leadsman. Here, approximately 1,000 yards offshore, the two rubber boats, containing eight men and equipment will be launched. Navigation to be by radar. Hoped-for landing point to be 800 yards

from nearest house. Upon beaching, signalman and guard remain with boats. Other six men will proceed across highway to track. At suitable position for planting charge the party will
divide.

One guard proceeding

fifty

yards

up

track near the

road. Another fifty yards down track, and a third twenty yards inland. The remaining three will dig under the tracks, plant
recall the

the battery and charge, test and adjust the firing circuits, men, make final hookup and return to the ship. All

men will carry red flashlights, watches, knives, two *D* rations,
lifejacket, cigarette lighter

and

pistol.

Other equipment in

the boats consists of radar corners, carbines, tommy guns, hand grenades, demolition charges, electrical equipment,

home manufactured shovels and pick, signal gun, Very pistol,

binoculars, line

return prior to 0230. Twilight

and wedges. Party should land at 2330 and commences about 0245. "Communications were to be simple: (1) Alert two bobwhippoorwill whistles; (3)

white whistles; (2) Assemble

230
Mechanical whistle
stars

BATTLE SUBMERGED

emergency dash for the boats; (4) two in are trouble, lay a barrage in direction indiVery cated; (5) one Very star from submarine we are in trouble. on blinker gun party is reWill return every night; (6)

we

star at fifteen-minute intervals turning to boat; (7) one Very after thirty minutes paddling submarine locate unable to

from beach/' He then lists the party with Lieutenant William W. Walker in charge. There were Francis N. Sever, James E. Richard, John Markuson, Paul G. Saunders, Billy R. Hatfield, Lawrence W. Newland, and Edward Klinglesmith. The skipper would have given his right arm to have been able to place his own name on the list and so would every
other

member

of the crew.

"Trains at this point have varied from seven to thirty-two

train consists of twelve freight cars, two mail and baggage car. Though narrow and one passenger gauge the engines are large and of the European type rather
cars.

The average
cars

than the Oahu type." At ten the Barb was ready to stand in for the beach and the saboteur party. Headed in. The atgreat adventure. "Briefed mosphere is charged with excitement. Rubber boats are being inflated, equipment is being gathered and last minute joshing
is

well in progress. The night is perfect with a moderate overcast hiding a three-quarter moon, so that we have just enough
light,

is calm and the tide is slack. SJ contact at down coast. two on 4,500 yards Probably spitkits coming luggers or sampans. Lay to and tracked them across our bow

the sea

at five knots /*

Finally,

when

it

looked as

if

the whole

show would be

spoiled by the spitkits who most irritatingly zigged their way, radar reported the way clear and again the saboteurs were

by now. and forth back Commenced closing beach, wiggling adjusting for Planned landmarks indefinite/' position.

subjected to offers of heavy bribes for a swap. "Lost valuable time with those spitkits. They are

SHORE BOMBARDMENT
At zero hour, actually
at

231

0000 July 23. "Saboteur attack #1. In position at last. Two fathoms under the keel. Shore line 950 yards. We can do no better. Launched rubber boats. As boats shoved off had planned to say something apropos to such an operation as 'Synchronize your watches/ however, all I could think of was, 'Boys, if you get stuck head for Siberia 130 miles north, follow the mountain range. Good luck.' Watched the boats all the way in and radar easily tracked them by their
radar corners. I imagine the Barb is easily sighted from the beach, but, I hope, hard to identify." Then at 0035, "Party landed on the beach. Seconds dragging by. Feel positive that

made, unopposed, the rest will go off smoothly. Momentarily expecting shots, flares, and a general
initial

once

landing

is

clamor, but the blackness of the night has engulfed us

challenging silence." Then at 0047 he had

all

in a

an awful moment. "An unscheduled

north-bound train coming up the tracks. No lights except from the firebox, while smoke swirling back. The boys ashore must be in the middle of their job now. Crossed my fingers and held

my breath. Imagination running rampant.

Train passing

by successfully. Heaved a sigh of relief and shifted that horseshoe around again." At 0132 he softly murmured, "Thank God. At last the boats are leaving the beach. Muffled cheers from our side. Their blinking becomes insistent. Perhaps they mistake us for a patrol vessel. Gave them a short dash and darkness settled." Then at 0145. "Ye Gods! Another north-bound train coming up the tracks. Broke the silence to yell to the boats, 'Paddle like the devil!' Entirely wasted, the boats have spotted the
is

and the paddles are churning like egg beaters. The train getting closer and closer. Any second now. What a moment! Even the boats have stopped to look. Everyone is awestricken
train
.
.

Wham! with the expectancy of momentary destruction. What a thrill! What a beautiful sight! The charge made a much greater explosion than we expected, the engine's boilers

232

BATTLE SUBMERGED

blew, wreckage flew 200 feet in the air in a flash of flame and smoke, cars piled up and rolled off the tracks in a writhing,
twisting mass of wreckage. Cheers!

aboard

backed

clear

Hauled the boats ahead and hauled out to kicked

. .

proud

flickered alongside the tracks and, of car a dashing along the road. Feel more shortly, lights what over and happy my lads have done than I would

deep water.

small

fire

hundred ships. Their stories are priceless. Bear with me while I give you the highlights briefly as heard over the medicinal libation. "Our navigation, though chosen for such a coastline, was about 500 yards off to the north. Haze covered the two close peaks the party was to work in on, and the boat compass was erratic. Consequently when the party landed they found themselves in somebody's backyard, fifty yards from a house. Fortunately, no dogs put in an appearance though dog tracks with human barefoot prints alongside were noticed on the beach. After a short period of huddled reconnaissance, the main party left the boat guards and proceeded cautiously inland, skirting the houses. At this point what had appeared to be grass, from our offshore view, turned out to be waist-high bulrushes, which crumbled and crackled with every move,
in sinking a

shrieking out their presence. All shapes took on human form. About 200 yards inland they came to the highway. Another huddled reconnaissance. All clear, so Lieutenant Walker arose starting a dash across the road and immediately fell head first into a four-foot ditch. Picking himself up, he cautioned the rest to watch out for the ditch, then made a dash across the highway and immediately fell head first into the ditch on the other side. A hundred yards farther and they arrived at the track, reconnoitered and selected their spot. Having noticed

a peculiarly shaped object a short way down the tracks, Markuson, a guard, was told to check on it and the guards were sent out. Digging commenced, but soon stopped when

some one came running up the

tracks. It

was Markuson, who

SHORE BOMBABDMENT
f

233

reported, ]eepers, that thing is a lookout tower/ When questioned as to why he didn't give the alert to warn them of his

approach, he replied, 1 tried to whistle, but when I saw that tower my mouth dried up.' Quiet continuing, he was again sent out. Digging recommenced, but the picks and shovels
shattered the night with loud ringing sounds. They were laid aside and excavation continued dog fashion. A flickering light

was spotted down the tracks. A train? Work ceased. In proper frontier fashion all ears were pinned to the rails. No sound. Turn to again.
"Suddenly at an estimated range of 75 to 100 yards a train

loomed up, roaring down on them. Nearly the entire party made a dive for the nearest foxhole, the few remaining
squeezed themselves into hiding behind bushes six inches high and two inches wide. The train blared past with the engineer hanging far out of his cab and looking each of the
party over personally. "When the initial foxhole crash dive was made, Hatfield, the electrician, landed in such a fashion that both carbon
dioxide cartridges attached to his lifejacket went off. He was sure he was shot, yet soon found that he was merely approach-

ing maternity as his Mae West inflated. "The train by, the project hurried along with no untoward
occurrences, other than the boys' decreasing the microswitch clearance to the rail well below what had been assigned just to be sure it would work. Circuits were checked, the charge

hooked up, the digging disguised, and then the night filled with whippoor wills. (A rather incongruous bird in that latitude.) A little difficulty was encountered in launching the
boats through the light surf with everyone getting a bit soaked. About two-thirds of the way back they sighted the train and thoroughly enjoyed watching the fruits of their
efforts

being explosively plucked." they might. Perhaps Mountbatten's Commandos or Carlson's Raiders might have done it differently. But no one

And well

234

BATTLE SUBMERGED

could have bettered the complete success of the Barb's Commandos. The next day the irrepressible Barb planned further destruction. After all, they still had a collection of rockets aboard, so why not present them to Shiritori on southeast Karafuto. At noon on July 24 the submarine started "casing
the joint" submerged. "Planning a rocket massage tonight. It is necessary to locate targets. This is a large factory town, one

chimney disappeared
400 feet high.
.

in the clouds,

measured

at better

than

Shiritori looks so

a triple rocket massage, two When they surfaced at 7:34 P.M.

promising that we plan on the district, one on the town."

it

was

to receive a

message

from the Boss telling them to depart the area. The King-fish was already there to take over. But the Barb was not to be
dismissed so lightly. Although she had to carry out her orders she was determined on this last fling. The Kingfish was at the
other end of the area. "It now becomes necessary to speed up our unfinished business/' observed the skipper. At 9:17, "Man battle stations, rockets. Poor visibility, but

we have a nice radar picture.

recovered from a sinking
.

For

this job

one of the Jap charts

proving invaluable. It has an enlarged insert of Shiritori, including the plan of the factory district. Rockets away!!! Our first batch of twelve went
is
.
.

swishing on

way toward the factory district. First batch landed with their customary heavy explosions. Reload. Rockets away!!! Second batch of eight headed for the factheir
.
. .

Twisted ship to get town in our Second batch landed. Rockets away!!! Third sights. batch "off for the town. Third batch landed. Secured battle stations, rockets. Set course for town of Kashiho, fifteen miles south, to give its factories our final rocket massage as a reminder that no town can sit and laugh at the depth charges while the Barb is getting her ears pinned back by a Temtsuki
tories.
. . .

Reload.

off shore.

Two large fires broke out at Shiritori, followed

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

235
. .

by muffled
fire started.

explosions.

Reversed course

another

Many explosions, shooting flames up into the heavy overcast. Crew came topside to enjoy the unexpected effect of our rockets, Circled while fires spread amid continuing explosions.
.
.

Head south

for

Kashiho with

fires

and

explosions increasing. "At 2:24 A.M. twelve rockets left the Barb heading for the factories in Kashiho. They landed with loud explosions."

moved
ies

After watching the result of their handiwork the Barb over to Shiri for a 5-inch bombardment of the canner-

siderable

and other buildings there. No fires were started but condamage was observed. A course was then set to take them out of the area. There was still some ammunition left aboard and the skipper

planned to expend that on the way out. On the northwest coast of Kunashiri the town of Shibetoro got the nod. A thriving sampan factory close to the beach
looked tempting.

The 40-millimeter and

it

20-millimeter

went

to

work

to break

up. When a bullet set off an oil tank the flames

soon spread

ferno.

over the mill and sampans. It quickly became a blazing inWhen they pulled out most of the factory had been
fire.

leveled with

Then they sighted a trawler roaming by just after they had used up the last of their shells! But the Barb still had one more joker in her bag of tricks. She had some hand grenades aboard which the Marines at Midway had taught the crew to use. So the Barb calmly swept back and forth under its stern and lobbed the grenades over. They exploded with a loud bang but the trawler was a little too tough to succumb until a fire broke out which the Japanese could not get under control. Two prisoners were taken before
they
left

the trawler burning.

One of the prisoners they had captured from a sampan near

236
Shiri told

BATTLE SUBMERGED
them
that he

had read in the local Japanese newspaper that their special train had been destroyed by a bomb and that 150 men had been killed. The Barb arrived at Midway on August 2. Before another
patrol could be started the murmurings of "Uncle"

by the had loud and become insistent for Hiroshima and Japanese had been blasted. Nagasaki Thus ended the war career of the incredible Barb and her skipper, who during five patrols had accounted for over 178,000 tons of enemy shipping, plus inestimable extensive damage ashore. When Admiral Nimitz was made Chief of Naval Operations in December, he appointed Gene to be his personal aide. It was an honor, of course, but it was a most abrupt transition for Gene to leave the realm of Buck Rogers and
Superman
shore.
for the desk-bound

paper-shuffling

Washington

The Submarine
In

World War HI

IN

WORLD WAR

the U-boats

II, U-boat sinkings defeating the Allies. Early in of merchant shipping reached the disastrous figure of a million tons a month. If the campaign as originally conceived by the German Submarine High Command had continued, the Allies

came World War

perilously close to

could not have paid the price exacted of convoys crossing the But internal jealousies in Hitler's General Staff and American naval ingenuity combined to lick that problem just
Atlantic.

in time to avert catastrophe.

In the Pacific, our subs sank more Jap tonnage than all of the .other services combined. That the submarines more than

any other single branch of the armed services were responsible for Japan's defeat is not a claim; it is the award of history. They
starved Japan's industries for lack of raw materials and so deprived die enemy fleet and air force of fuel that the Empire's
collapse

was only a matter

of

weeks when the atomic bomb

gave

it

the coup de grace.

237

238

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Will the submarine play a major role in a third world war? is an unequivocal yes. At the conclusion of both world wars the German submarine had features far in advance of ours or our Allies'. In

The answer

1919 and in 1946 the German submarine secrets were among The electric torpedoes we used in the last war were developed from a German torpedo of 1918. On VE-Day the Allied navies scrambled for the secret of the snorkel and the Model 21 U-boat, for they knew that both of these would revolutionize submarine warfare. If the Germans in each war of their making were so far ahead of their adversaries in submarine skills, why did they suffer such an appalling loss of subs? Mainly, perhaps, because the Germans had never been able to put their new developments into mass production; of course, too, our anti-submarine measures improved tremendously with practice in actual warthe top prizes of war.

But these are not the decisive reasons. The ultimate answer is the old Navy truism no ship is any better than its skipper and his crew. German submarines that were a generation ahead of the world's best could not
fare.

make their mechanical superiority felt because the crews were

inferior to the task.
I with only a few subs, so quickly demonstrated their ability to sink English ships almost at will that there was a belated rush to expand the

The Germans began World War

which

U-boat navy. But the Germans learned it was easier to build submarines than to provide experienced crews. There is no short cut to experience in operating submarines. It demands years spent in the boats themselves. So, although the Germans continued to increase the size of their submarine fleet and to
tremendously with the ingenuity born of desperation, the provision of experienced personnel could not keep pace. Then the essentially terrestial-minded High Command, both Imperial and Nazi, decreed that the Army and Air Force had first rights to the resources of

improve

their boats

diminishing

THE SUBMARINE IN WORLD WAH HI

critical materials

239

and human

intelligence.

The submarine

privilege of having the choice of carefully selected personnel, The result was a minimum of improved
service lost
its

submarines manned by inferior crews, facing vastly improved

Allied anti-submarine measures, which produced a rapid decline in U-boat sinkings and an increasing loss of submarines

with consequent and decisive

service.

loss of

the morale of that

if the U-boats of 1918 had been manned by the and daring personnel of 1914 and 1915 a large part of the American Expeditionary Forces would never have reached the shores of France and the complexion of the war, if not the result, would have undergone a drastic change. The United States submarine service started with the

Admittedly,

skilled

premise learned at German expense that

when World War II came we must have enough experienced skippers to fight a four-year war with full allowance for all normal battle attrition to our boats, and experienced personnel to back up the commanders. The plan worked. Skippers commanding our boats at the beginning of the war had been in the service at least ten years. At no time during the war was a submarine sent out on a patrol with a skipper who had less than six or seven years' experience. The results amply rewarded the careful training

and planning of over twenty

years.

The Germans, too, had not forgotten, and at the start of World War II they were inflicting appalling losses on the
Allied

with their U-boats. True, the Allies were sinking U-boats but the Germans were replacing them in greater numbers, and maimed by experienced personnel, according to carefully laid plans. Then, once again, the error of 1917-1918 was repeated. The U-boat boys were receiving too much acclaim for their feats, and jealous Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe
life line

leaders,

competing for the Dictator's favor, began to whisper

They insinuated that the subs were needlessly receiving more than their share of the cream of the
in the ears of their Fuhrer.

240
crop

BATTLE SUBMERGED
at the expense of the Fiihrer's
it

Could

in Africa

be a plot? The and Europe, was convinced. The result was that the flow of selected personnel to the U-boats was cut off. The Army command even went a step farther. The highly trained for Army duty, personnel of the undersea craft were taken off seen a submarine even that not had crews and replaced with before. Material needed for building more of the snorkel and 21-type submarines was diverted to tanks and planes. The U-boat ceased to be a major factor in the war. Even the vastly
improved submarines when manned by inferior, inexperienced personnel were not capable of interrupting the mounting flood of American factory and man power surging against the Fiihrer's forces. The skippers lacked both skill and daring,
Allied anti-submaespecially in the face of vastly improved rine measures. Morale deteriorated until it took only a few

pride, the Army. neurotic Hitler, frantic over reverses

own

depth charges

to explode close

by

for the

U-boat

to surface

and surrender. The sun had again set for German sea power. What if a third world war pits the Russian submarine against Allied shipping bearing the weight of American industrial production and armies overseas? What would the task
of our

That the submarine

own submarines be in such a conflict? in World War III will repeat its highly
I

and II is an assured fact. Control of the sea is still necessary to win a war, and the versatile submarine can again tip the scales for the winning power. To counterbalance any submarine menace, a nation must possess two advantages, both stemming from a powerfully efficient navy: A more effective submarine fleet than its enemy, and skillful enough anti-submarine measures and devices to neutralize the

important role of World Wars

enemy's subs

when

encountered.

Inasmuch as the Russians had access to all German submarine plans at the close of World War II, and captured as well the German constructors and naval officers to ensure proper interpretation of blueprints and plans, it must be as-

THE SUBMARINE IN WORLD WAR HI

sumed
years
that the Russian submarine of 1950
is

241
as that

as

good

o the United States. If war comes in the next two or three

probable that the submarines of both navies will possess high speed and be capable of crossing the ocean at depths from one to three hundred feet, making their detection virtually impossible with present-day devices. Their weapons
it is

will consist of electrically driven homing torpedoes of long range. They will very likely launch rockets and guided missiles

and plant mines that will defy sweeping. Where, then, will be the difference? Who wins? The decision rests with two factors: anti-submarine measures and personnel.
at land targets

With German scientists lending their aid to the very capable Russian ones, the race in anti-submarine measures will be close, but in the matter of experienced personnel we will continue to excel.

have to be done to combat the submarines that will be sent in against the United States in another war is described by Rear Admiral Charles B. Momsen, USN, foremost authority in submarine development and also in anti-submarine countermeasures. "If another war comes," said Admiral Momsen, "submarines could be used against us for mine laywill
ing, attacks against shipping

What

to give advance
carriers,

and be dealt with would be an improvement over the World War II type. This new type, which we now call the interto

and naval units, as radar pickets of air raids, as troop carriers, cargo warning The type of submarine launchers. guided-missile

mediate, caused great consternation, among naval staffs, for in one stroke the position of the submarine had been restored.

"There were not a great many of these new craft built and since it takes quite a while to build new types, we have had time to work up defenses against it. Since World War II a great deal of effort has been placed upon the solution of this
knotty problem. "Defense against submarines will be along these
lines:

242
"

BATTLE SUBMERGED

Aerial bombardment of
if

enemy submarine bases and build-

ing yards, completely effective, would be a solution. Note that this requires carriers with their supporting ships and

land-based planes with their supporting bases. Experience has taught us, however, that in spite of great effort in bombing, only a limited number will be destroyed by this means.
. .
.

"Mining harbors and channels if completely effective could prevent submarines from getting to sea. Mining requires airare not so naive as to craft, surface ships and submarines. believe that this can be entirely successful and feel certain

We

we

some would escape number will be sunk.

that

to the

open sea but a significant

could place our submarines across the passages of egress to the open sea. This would require submarines and supporting air and surface units. Again only a percentage of
"Next,

we

enemy boats would be intercepted.

"Regretfully we must face the fact that we would have submarines prowling the high seas searching out and threatening our merchant ships and fleets.
all times, making use of the would be very difficult for our aircraft and ships to discover them. Even so, extensive air power, sufficient to the submarines keep submerged, would produce important

"If

they remain submerged at

it

snorkel,

results in

reducing their mobility.

those which have overcome
all

"When
do

of these difficulties

find targets, their capability to strike effectively is very great, for the range of the modern torpedo is so great that it outranges our present detection devices.
.
. .

fleets, submarines are especially designated to evolve the best technique of destroying enemy submarines. It is well to out that submarines point operating in ambush in

"In both

fixed positions are able to remain very quiet, enemy submarine intent on reaching his

whereas the
is

hunting ground
noise.

committed

to

movement and movement means

There

results a battle of noise levels in

which the anti-submarine

THE SUBMARINE IN WORLD WAR in

243

submarine holds the high cards. We are now constructing a type of submarine called the SSK-submarine killer. It is around this type that we propose to build the submarine defense against the submarine. I can say that from my own experience there is no foe that strikes more terror in the heart of a submariner than enemy submarines operating in the same

new

waters. It
nists

is

somewhat analogous
. .

to

two blindfolded antago-

armed with baseball bats, each waiting for the other to The most difficult part of the problem that confronts us is defending ships from attack by those submarines which are able to reach their targets."
break silence.
.

Anti-submarine warfare has top priority in the Navy's preparations today. Naturally, progress in the art is in the topsecret category, but it can be said that significant advances have been made in sonar devices, in the employment of heli-

and in application of atomic enno substitute for trained intelligence. Consistently well-trained and highly experienced personnel enabled our submarines to overcome the obstacles imposed by the enemy and reach their targets. In final analysis, no machine can compensate for lack of the skill acquired through years of long, hard experience. Attack and defense techniques, submarine handling under
copters against submarines,
ergy. But equipment
is

severe service conditions, are acquired only by patiently climbing the long, arduous road of experience. There is no
short cut. Therein

we would be

lies our great advantage in any war in which involved in the next decade. Only the expert in
its

submarine warfare can expect to succeed in

anti-submarine warfare.
experience as this tentialities of the submarine in order to combat

antithesis,

One must know by experience such book has tried to relate the maximum poit

in the

hands

of an adversary. know that the least profitable area of anti-submarine warfare is on the high seas. know that the submarine is

We

We

more vulnerable when

it is

on the surface

and

logic as well

244

BATTLE SUBMERGED
it is

as naval science tells us that

therefore most vulnerable

is

when

it

cannot but remain on the surface, which

in the fitting pens.

on the

building-ways and In the only war which present prospects can involve us, die outcome will hinge wholly on the ability of the United States
to deliver

man power and industrial production at the enemy's gates. Even as we realize that the best area in which
its
is on land, the potential enemy knows that the best place to defeat our superlatively equipped armies is on the ocean, before they can reach the battlefield.

to defeat the submarine

If there is
is

any moral

finally to

be drawn from

this

book,

it

not so

rines of

much satisfaction with the superiority of the submathe United States Navy as it is appreciation of the

most versatile instrument of warfare, bar none. Herein you have read what the submarine could do, and now even better
in expert hands. It behooves us to prevent the possibility of a like book being written by our adversary in World

can do,

War III.
that prevention, the Silent Service dently dedicated.

To

is

grimly but confi-

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