WHis\SUB-EW.DOC

This document was provided for inclusion by AGOM, W Williams who developed an affinity for subs when they took him from Mindanao to Australia where he could enter a proper hospital. DL

Any knowledgeable World War II buff knows what it took to bring down Japan during World War II.

The Marines island hopping across the Pacific, right?

The daring mission of the Enola Gay to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, right?

The great carrier assaults against the Empire, right?

And the list goes on.

And what about the U.S. Submarine force which sank 54% of the 10,000,000 tons of Japanese shipping lost during the war?

That’s quite a record for an elite group of men who never comprised more than 1.6% of U.S. Naval personnel.

This loss by the enemy of critical shipping, merchant and naval, accounted for our ultimate victory in the war, many military analysts believe.

During this year, the TIMES will cover this daring and often overlooked story of American submarines and submariners. Working with the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II, we will honor those daring men who plied beneath Pacific waters on dangerous, highly secretive missions.

We must go back to the American Civil War to find the beginnings of the submarine. A few ingenious inventors on both sides produced several submersible torpedo boats during the war. Only one of them, the Confederate H. L. Hunley, is credited with success because it actually sank an enemy vessel in combat.

Horace L. Hunley constructed his submarine on the shores of Mobile, Alabama. It was manually operated by an eight man crew; was equipped with a barbed spike to ram; and was armed with a spar torpedo that held 90 pound of gunpowder.

On the night of February 17, 1864, the Hunley successfully rammed the U.S.S. Housatonic outside Charleston harbor. However, the sub and crew were lost too, either from the explosion or from being unable to disengage the sub from the wooden vessel.

Though the United States got the jump on submarine development, this advantage was lost by the time of World War I. The European powers surged ahead in diesel and torpedo development. Our subs were much smaller and less well armed than those of the European adversaries.

World War I did prove one thing to the U.S. Navy; the submarine had proven its worth as an offensive weapon, because of the monumental success of the German U-Boat campaign. Obviously, the submarine would be a crucial ingredient in planning for future conflicts which might involve the United States.

Once World War I was over, U.S. planners turned their attention to the Pacific, where Japan increasingly was casting a wary eye toward Western imperialism. "Plan Orange" had been developed by the United States to deal with Japan if the occasion ever arose.

Thus the production of a suitable U.S. submarine force became a vital necessity to "Orange." Fortunately, the U.S. Navy, as part of reparations, had obtained several German U-Boats of the elite U-139 class. For the next 17 years the Navy experimented with five more classes of boats before a satisfactory one was found: the Tambor class. As author Ronald H. Spector noted:

The Tambor class displaced about 1,500 tons with a top speed of close to 21 knots and a range of about 10,000 miles. Such submarines could crash-dive to periscope depth in 35 seconds, they were relatively handy and quiet, once they were submerged. With their lightweight sturdy hulls, large torpedo capacity, an excellent habitability, they were the finest submarines in the world.

Pearl Harbor's devastation, however, put the boats in a highly untenable position to establish their worth to fleet operations. For the first months of the Pacific war, they became the primary and, for a time, the only offensive weapon available to our Navy. The results were not very gratifying. The first attacks were all sonar operations from below 100 feet deep. Rarely did a skipper have the initiative to break with prewar instructions, which emphasized extreme caution in attacks against suitable targets such as capital ships and carriers. Perhaps a greater impediment to the subs was the highly defective Mark-14 torpedo. Not surprisingly, only four enemy ships were sunk in the first patrols of the 11 Pearl Harbor boats.

Meanwhile, the Japanese juggernaught was advancing across the western Pacific, causing the withdrawal of U.S. surface forces from Manila to Java. Left to defend the Phillipines were 29 submarines of the Asiatic Fleet.

SEALION became our first submarine loss of the war when she was fatally struck on December 12 while she was being refitted at the Cavite Navy Yard near Manila during the first Japanese attack.

Twenty-two of the remaining fleet submarines were immediately dispatched to confront the expected Japanese invasion of the Philippines. They made a terrible showing despite great bravery by crew and captains.

Torpedoes exploded premature or failed to explode. Most of the torpedoes ran deep, erratically, or even went in a circular course. On one occasion, the subs could only count one hit of 70 torpedoes fired at 28 targets.

There was one notable exception. Lieutenant W. G. "Moon" Chapple, Captain of the S-38, made a daring raid into Lingan Gulf on December 21 and sank a Japanese transport. This was the only recorded hit against an armada of 80 enemy ships.

With the fall of Manila, the subs retreated through Surabaya to Darwin, Australia. Throughout the spring of 1942 the subs, at General MacArthur's request, were moved back and forth to the island fortress of Corregidor, where American forces were making their final stand.

Midway Island was another cross for the submariners to bear. One sub, the NAUTILUS, under Lt. Commander William H. Brockman, came to periscope depth in the middle of the Japanese fleet and fired all four bow tubes. One torpedo failed to exit the tube, two ran too deep, and one struck a ship but failed to explode.

On a brighter note, NAUTILUS sank the destroyer YAMAKAZE on June 25.

When the Japanese feinted toward the Aleutians, seven fleet boats were dispatched immediately. The results there were somewhat better. GROWLER under Captain Howard Gilmore, sank a destroyer and damaged two others. TRITON also sank a destroyer. One boat, the GRUNION, was lost after sinking two subchasers.

Recalled to Pearl Harbor, the remaining boats faced a greater challenge - surviving the atrocious weather, tricky currents, and poor charts.

GROWLER would have another date with destiny in September 1943, and became a ledend that still lives today among submariners.

GROWLER’s target, a small gunboat named TAIKAMAIZU, managed to ram. Heavy small arms-fire immediately started spraying GROWLER’s bridge. Two men were killed and Captain Gilmore badly wounded and unable to move.

…During World War II over 20,000 men served in U.S. submarines. Approximately, 8,000 of them are members today of the "United States Submarine Veterans of World War II."

…These men form a long and noble line from crew to officers, who served the 273 U.S. submarines that patrolled against the enemy.

…Although they comprised less than 1.6 percent of the total U.S. Naval strength, they caused more than half of Japan's sea losses (54.6 percent).

…These sinkings, however, were made at a heavy price. One out of every seven American submariners died, a total of 3,505 officers and enlisted men. One out of every five submarines, 52, were lost.

…Beneath the surface of the ocean, these Americans were knit together into a single powerful unit to serve their country in time of great national peril.

…We are proud to salute them with this series of articles.

With the bridge cleared, GROWLER's executive officer waited for Gilmore to come down the ladder. Instead, the stricken officer yelled the immortal command, “Take her down.”

Gilmore’s brave order, which likely saved the lives of his remaining crew, was osthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. GROWLER fought on until September 1944.

WAHOO was destined to become perhaps the most famous submarine of the war. After two disappointing patrols, WAHOO was given a new skipper, Dudley I 'Mush" Morton, and embarked on an aggressive, almost foolhardy patrol.

Captain George Grider later remembered Morton as a commander who had done a thorough job of getting acquainted with the WAHOO and its crew during the second patrol.

"His authority was built in and never depended on sudden stiffening of tone or attitude. . . The men were not merely ready to follow him, they were eager to."

Thus, the WAHOO set out on a memorable voyage in January 1943. At Wewak Harbor, New Guinea, the boat dogged a four ship enemy convoy and sank three of them. WAHOO's fourth patrol the following March was even more impressive, when she sank U.S. submarine force, and elevated "Mush Morton to the status of most celebrated skipper in the Pacific at that time.

Unfortunately, the boat and its skipper came to an untimely end on October 11. Heading home after sinking four more ships, the boat was sunk by a Japanese plane as she tried to exit through the La Perouse Straight. At the time of his death, Morton was the leading "Ace" among submarine skippers. All told, the boat had claimed 20 sinkings.

Interestingly, TANG, the submarine which claimed the most sinkings on one patrol, was commanded by Captain Richard H. O'Kane, who had been Morton's chief executive officer.

On her third patrol in June 1944 into the East China Sea and Yellow Sea, the TANG sank 10 Japanese ships. On her fifth and last patrol the following October, she downed seven more and may have done even better had one her errant torpedoes not gone astray, circled around and struck her a fatal blow. The eight men including O’Kane, who survived, were taken prisoner by the Janpanese. TANG's total record reflected 24 sinkings.

Other boats performed outstanding feats which will be covered extensively in future articles.

SEALION's the second boat to bear that name, sank the heavy Japanese battleship KONGO off Formosa in the early morning hours of November 21, 1944. It was commanded by Eli Reich.

DACE, DART, and BREAM sank two heavy cruisers on October 23, 1944 and damaged two others so severely that they were never able to fight again.

BARB under Captain Gene Fluckey, forayed into Namkwan Harbor in January 1945, sank one freighter an damaged several others. For his heroism, Fluckey received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Today, many submariners believe, with justification, that their role in America's ultimate victory was not fully appreciated. Known frequently as the "Silent Service," their role of operating deep into enemy waters failed to capture the public's imagination when weighed against the surface vessels, particularly the great carriers of World War II.

It will be our purpose to magnify the work of these dedicated men who have borne this weight, both for themselves and their long forgotten crewmates who rest beneath the waters.