Friday, October 26, 2012

Submarines World War II History

LtCdr. Francis White was the only skipper who lost two

submarines in combat, the S-39 and the S-44.

The IJN I-176 (Cdr. KosaburoYamaguchi) was the only
Japanese boat to sink an American
submarine (Corvina) during the war.

The last Japanese submarine to be sunk in the Pacific, the
I-373, was torpedoed by Spikefish (Monaghan) on the
morning of 13 Aug. 1945, in the East China Sea.

As late as July 1945 Japanese guns on the cliffs of Lombok
Strait shelled the Loggerhead as she proceeded through the
strait on the surface.

In July 1945 Bugara (Schade) operating in the Gulf of
Siam, sank 12 junks, 24 schooners, 16 coasters, 3 sea
trucks and one naval auxiliary, all by gunfire.

In the early morning hours of June 22, 1945, Barb,
(Fluckey) fired a dozen 5-inch rockets into the town of
Hokkaido from 5000 yards off shore.

A Japanese prisoner, recovered from a wrecked aircraft by
Atule (Mauer) had the following items in his pockets: 7
packs of Jap cigarettes, 1 pack of British cigarettes,
calling cards, ration books, club tickets, diary, note
book, flight record and two magnetic detector tracers,
with notes concerning them, a thick wad of money, a vial
of perfume and a number of other personal items.

On the night of 8-9 December 1944, in a coordinated attack
with Sea Devil, Redfish heavily damaged the aircraft
carrier Hayataka; ten days later she sank the newly built
carrier Unryo.

When Robalo was sunk, presumably by a mine, on 26 July
1944, five of her crew swam ashore and were captured by
Japanese military police and jailed for guerrilla
activity. They were evacuated by a Jap destroyer on 15
August and never heard from again.

On 27 Oct. 1944 Rock fired 9 torpedoes at Darter, stranded
on Bombay Shoal.

In Feb. 1943 Tautog (Sieglaff) laid mines off Balikpapan,
Borneo. In April 1944, the Jap destroyer Amagiri struck
one of these mines and sank. This was the same destroyer
which rammed the PT-109, commanded by J.F.Kennedy.

The first boat to be equipped with QLA sonar for locating
mines, was Tinosa.

When Admiral Nimitz assumed command of the Pacific Fleet
in Jan. 1942, he raised his flag on the submarine
Grayling. Relinquishing command nearly four years later,
he lowered his flag on the submarine Menhaden.

America's first Japanese POW was sub-Lieut. Sakamaki,
captured when his midget submarine, launched from the
I-18, struck a reef in Kaneohe Bay and he swam ashore and
surrendered.

The second Japanese submarine sunk, a midget caught inside
Pearl Harbor and sunk by the seaplane tender Curtiss, was
later raised. Too badly damaged for intricate examination,
it was used as fill-in material in the construction of a
new pier at the submarine base.

During 520 war patrols in 1944, submarines fired 6,092
torpedoes, more than in 1942-43 combined (5,379).

Statistically it took 8 torpedoes to sink a ship in 1942,
11.7 in 1943, 10 in 1944.

During 1944, 117 navy and air force personnel were rescued
by U.S. Subs; The Tang (O'Kane) picked up 22 for the leader in this
category.

During 1944 Japan lost 56 submarine, 7 to U.S. Submarines.

On Nov. 21, 1944, Sealion II (Reich) fired a salvo of fish
at each of two BB's, the Kongo and Haruna. The Kongo was
hit and sunk, but the DD Urakazi intercepted the fish
meant for Haruna and was instantly sunk.

Message to all submarines on 13 April 1944: "Until further
notice give fleet destroyers priority over maru types as
targets for submarine attacks.

During 1944 U. S. submarines sank 1 BB, 7 Cvls, 2 CA's, 7
CL's, 3 DD's and 7 SS's of the Japanese navy.

So numerous were submarine attacks on the
Singapore-to-Empire trade routes in 1944 that a common
saying in Singapore was that "one could walk from
Singapore to Tokyo on American periscopes.

Emperor Hirohito, upon learning of the Bataan death march
at the conclusion of the war, stripped General Homma, the
responsible commander, of his medals and decorations.

When the loss of Saipan was announced to the Japanese
people on July 18, 1944, Prime Minister Tojo and his
entire cabinet resigned.

On Feb. 22, 1945 the Flounder fired four fish at a Jap
patrol boat. Two of the fish ran in a circle, causing
Flounder to maneuver frantically to avoid disaster. On the
following day she collided with Hoe.

The Flounder (Stevens) sank the only German U-boat that
was credited to U.S. Submarines in the Pacific.

The last of the German commerce raiders, the Michael, was
sunk by Tarpon (Wogan) on Oct. 18, 1943 while enroute to a
Japanese port.

On December 28th the Dace (Cole) torpedoed the Japanese
collier Nozaki, the last ship to be sunk in 1944.

The last large merchantman to be sunk by submarine during
WW-II was the Hokozaki Maru, sunk March 19, 1945 by Balao
(Worthington).

The last Japanese warship afloat in the South Pacific, thelight cruiser Isuzu,
was sunk by Charr (Boyle) after shewas previously hit and badly damaged by Gabilan (Parham)
The Flasher sank more tankers than any other submarine.

The largest merchant ship sunk by submarines during WWII,
the Tonan Maru #2 was sunk by Pintado (Clarey) on 22August 1944.

Except for those officers who received the Congressional
Medal of Honor, Commander Davenport was the most decorated
man of the war.

During 1944, 14% of the CO's were relieved fonon-productivity, 30% in 1942 and 14% in 1943.
A total of 7 reserve officers achieved command of a fleet
submarine in WW-II







Monday, October 22, 2012

LESTER L. MCCRACKEN: Submariner Radioman

JOPLIN, MISSOURI: Lester L. McCracken, age 75, passed away at his home Wednesday, October 10, 2012.


Mr McCracken was born December 19, 1936 at Parsons, Kansas. His parents were Ray and Ruth (Birgal) McCracken. He had lived in Joplin the past 8 years, moving from Hawaii.

Lester retired from the U S Navy after serving our country for 27 years as a submariner radioman. He was a member of First Baptist Church, Galena, KS. He was also a member of the Sub Vets Association. He was a volunteer at the VA Hospital, Mt Vernon, MO. Lester enjoyed reading.

Surviving are two sons, Michael McCracken, Joplin, MO and Lee McCracken, San Francisco, CA; three daughters, Brandi Smith, Louisville, KY, Angela Ayers, state of South Carolina, and Tammy McCracken, the country of India; one sister Carolyn (husband Frank) Tomlin, Joplin, MO; and several grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two sisters, Beth McCracken, and Kay Newsome.
Lester was taken for cremation under the care of Derfelt Funeral Home, Galena, KS. The family will hold services at a later date.

Patrick Householder
USSVI Past National Commander 2008-2010

Decklog Boats and Crews Manager

Our Purpose "To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds and supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America and it’s Constitution.”





Sunday, October 14, 2012

WW II Submarine Veterans Forced to Disband

The Chief of Naval Operations has stated that the Navy Birthday is one of the two Navy-wide dates to be celebrated annually. This page provides historical information on the birth and early years of the Navy, including bibliographies, lists of the ships, and information on the first officers of the Continental Navy, as well as texts of original documents relating to Congress and the Continental Navy, 1775-1783.


Go to link for the story... http://www.history.navy.mil/birthday.htm

FOX NEWS ...World War II submarine veterans forced to disband national group Published September 23, 2012/Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/23/world-war-ii-submarine-veterans-forced-to-disband-nati...








Monday, October 8, 2012

WWII Submarine Calendar 2013

This 2013 calendar honors the World War II U.S. submariners and their


> boats. In World War II American submarines spent 31,571 days on patrol in

> the Pacific, attacking 4,112 Japanese controlled merchant ships with

> 14,748 torpedoes, which resulted in the sinking of 1,152.5 vessels,

> totaling 4,859,634 gross tons, or an average of 329.5 tons for every

> torpedo expended. The loss dates for all U.S. submarines sunk or destroyed

> are listed in addition to other historic dates in both U.S. Submarine

> Veteran and U.S. Navy submarine history.

>

> https://www.ussvi.org/Documents/Online_Organization_2013_Calendar_Info.pdf

>

>

Thursday, October 4, 2012

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT SUBMARINES.

"Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which


shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the

submariners" Sir Winston S. Churchill



LITTLE KNOWN FACTs about submarines

The first Japanese casualty to American arms during WW-II

was an aircraft shot down on Dec. 7th, 1941 by the Tautog

(SS199)



The first submarine force casualty suffered in WW-II was

G. A. Myers, Seaman 2, shot through the right lung when

Cachalot (SS170) was strafed during the Pearl Harbor raid.



The first "live" torpedoes to be fired by a Pearl Harbor

submarine was fired by the Triton (SS 201)(Lent), 4 stern

tubes fired on the night of Dec. 10, 1941.



The first Pearl Harbor boat to be depth charged was the

Plunger(SS 179) (White) on Jan. 4, 1942 - 24 charges.



The first "down the throat" shot was fired by Pompano on

Jan. 17, 1942.



The first Japanese warship to be sunk was torpedoed by

Gudgeon (Grenfell) at 9 AM on Jan. 27, 1942, the IJN I-173

(SS).



The first major Japanese warship lost to submarines during

WW-II was the heavy cruiser Kako which fell victim to S-44

(Moore) on Aug. 10, 1942.



The first submarine to fire on a battleship was Flying

Fish (Donaho) Sept. 1942, damaging a Kongo class BB.



The first submarine to fire on an aircraft carrier was

Trout (Ramage), Damaging Taiyo, August 28, 1942.



The first Japanese ship to be sunk by gunfire was by

Triton (Kirkpatrick), near Marcus Island on Feb. 17, 1942.

At the time, Kirkpatrick was the youngest skipper to get

command at Pearl.



The first man to die in submarine gun action was Michael

Harbin, on Silversides, May 1942.



The first rest camp for submarine crews was established at

a military encampment at Malang, in the mountains of Java,

89 miles from Soerabaya. Three days were allotted to

submarine crews there in January 1942.



The first TDC (Mark 1) was installed in the Cachalot.



The Plunger was the first boat to sustain an "arduous"

depth charge attack and survive.



In September 1936, Cdr. C. A. Lockwood Jr., assumed

command of SubDiv 13 composed of the new boats Pike,

Porpoise, Shark and Tarpon.



On December 31, 1941, Captain Wilkes evacuated Corrigidor

on board the Seawolf to establish a new base at Soerabaya,

Java. Simultaneously Capt. Fife boarded Swordfish and

sailed to Darwin, Australia.



Expressing the view that Japan could not hope to be

victorious in a war with the U.S., Admiral Yamamoto was

"shanghaied" to the post of Commander of the Combined

Fleet (from the Naval Ministry) to thwart a possible

assassination at the hands of his many dissenters.



A survivor of the Jap carrier Kaga, at the Battle of

Midway, told how some of his shipmates saved themselves by

clinging to the air flask of a torpedo fired from Nautilus

which hit the carrier and failed to explode, the

concussion separating the warhead from the airflask.