11October 1943 . . USS Wahoo.......In Rememberance

http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-wahoo-238-possible-photos.htm



Seventh patrol, September – October 1943

Morton, smarting from that last luckless patrol, asked to return to the Sea of Japan, and permission was granted. He elected to take a full load of the newly-arrived Mark 18 electric torpedo rather than chance the Mark 14 steam torpedoes might still be defective. Wahoo got underway from Pearl Harbor, topped off fuel and supplies at Midway on 13 September, and headed for La Perouse Strait. The plan was to enter the Sea of Japan first, on or about 20 September, with Sawfish following by a few days. At sunset on 21 October, Wahoo was supposed to leave her assigned area, south of the 43rd parallel, and head for home. She was instructed to report by radio after she passed through the Kurils. Nothing further was ever heard from Wahoo.

Wahoo

On 5 October, the Japanese news agency, Domei, announced to the world that a steamer, the 8,000 ton Konron Maru, was sunk by an American submarine off the west coast of Honshū near Tsushima Strait, with the loss of 544 lives. Postwar reckoning by JANAC showed Wahoo sank three other ships for 5,300 tons, making a patrol total of four ships of about 13,000 tons. Japanese records also reported, that on 11 October, the date Wahoo was due to exit through La Perouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft sighted a wake and an apparent oil slick from a submerged submarine. The Japanese initiated a combined air and sea attack with numerous depth charges throughout the day. Sawfish had been depth-charged by a patrol boat while transiting the strait two days before, and the enemy's antisubmarine forces were on the alert; their attacks apparently fatally holed Wahoo, and she sank with all hands. Despite the assertions of Dick O'Kane,<11> it is unlikely she was the victim of a circular run by one of her own torpedoes. Other speculation in some texts suggests that she may have struck a mine. She was declared overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 December 1943.

The loss of Wahoo caused profound shock in the submarine force. All further forays into the Sea of Japan ceased, and it was not breached again until June 1945, when special mine detecting equipment became available.

Wahoo earned six battle stars for World War II service.


:patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot:

Thank you for your service and ultimate sacrifice.

A month before my birth.

K&R

:patriot:

:cry:

:patriot:

April 10, 1963:

While engaged in a deep test dive approximately 200 miles off the northeast coast of the United States, THRESHER was lost at sea with all aboard:

112 Officers and Enlisted; 17 civilians

In fact, after the battery change, SEA ROBIN took THRESHER's radioman on their Med cruise, as a radioman would just get into trouble with little to do in the yard. THRESHER was announced lost the day before the ROBIN pulled into Monaco. The captain of THRESHER had been captain of SEA ROBIN, so there were a lot of ties between the two boats.

A Lounger was looking for military leaders for her child to write a paper about. One of my suggestions was Richard O'Kane, who served on Wahoo before being promoted to CO of the Tang.


I salute all our sailors still on patrol. :patriot:

2 years ago i was at Pearl Harbor, for the Wahoo memorial.....i met Dick Okane's son and grandson, and also Mush Mortons son and daughter, along with a special person Jim Allen, who served aboard the Wahoo on the first 2patrols, had dinner with him and his lovely wife. a night to remember
The whole experience was a trip of a lifetime, i will never forget it
the ringing of the bell for each of the lost crewmen, and taps on the USS Bowfin submarine
WOW

if you want have them PM me, i am a history buff, and know everything on Pacific....
:hi:

I read "Clear the Bridge!" by R.Adm O'Kane several times, as well as "Run Silent, Run Deep" by Edward Beach.

I also wasted many, many hundreds of hours playing "Destroyer Escort" and "The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal" on my Commodore 64. :-)

The relevant thread is right here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9070076

if you want to read good books

Wahoo by dick okane
and
Thunder Below by Eugene Fluckey

are the best

:hi:

...so I can find it later. Might see what Amazon has come payday. :hi:

biography of Slade Cutter. And a British one, "One Of Our Submarines...."

i have read all of those

Fluckey's Thunder Below is the best!!!

:hi: :patriot:

They were vital in our victory.

Never Forget.

:patriot:

:hi: :patriot:

will tell you that there are two types of naval craft: Submarines, and targets.

Fair winds and following seas to my fellow Sailors who've lost their lives since men went down to the sea in ships. Being in the midst of such brave men who would trust their lives to the sea made me a better man than I otherwise would have been.

(Apologies to women who go to sea on Naval Ships today. I was part of a different Navy, one where women weren't allowed at sea. I'm more than convinced that those women who would have chosen to serve on ships had they had the chance would have exhibited no less courage in the face of adversity than the men who were there with me.)

I had the privilege to serve on the WWII era Gato and Balao class submarines. An experience I will never forget, or would trade for anything.

Nearly 260 were deployed to the Pacific. During the war, 52 US submarines were lost to all causes, with 48 lost directly to hostilities; 3,505 sailors were lost, the highest percentage killed in action of any US service arm in WWII. US submarines sank 1,560 enemy vessels, a total tonnage of 5.3 million tons, including 8 aircraft carriers and over 200 warships.

We salute the brave sailors of Wahoo, still on patrol.

Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

btw what was the loss rate of the merchant marines in relation to the submariners? I thought I read that the merchant marines actually lost more as a percent than any of the services.

In time of war the Merchant Marine is an auxiliary to the Navy and Merchant Mariners are considered military personnel at these times. Of the 215,000 serving during WWII, 8,651 (1 in 24) perished. 16,000 US submariners served during the war. 3,506 of them (about 1 in 5) of them were killed in action.

The rate for airmen (pilots, gunnery, navigators, bombardiers) was about 1 to 6, I believe, 90,000 out of 600,000.

Today I honor all the brave souls lost aboard Wahoo.

He was aboard during War Patrols 9 thru 14, earning the Submarine Combat Patrol Badge six times.

to remember and honor such service and sacrifice, events like this must always be remembered and honored no matter how many decades and generations pass.