Clear the Bridge!
Acknowledgments
I take this opportunity to express my thanks to the individuals within the Department of the Navy and the submarine forces who supplied documents and records. To Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Lawrence Savadkin, and William Leibold, I am indebted for assistance in obtaining the photographs; to artist Fred Freeman for the basic cutaway submarine drawing; to Tony Mesler for the midship cross-section drawing and end-sheet charts, and to the National Geographic Society for confirming prewar names on the charts.
In verifying the operations of other submarines, I relied on the authority of Theodore Roscoe’s United States Submarine Operations in World War II and W. J. Holmes’s Undersea Victory. For details of surface ship operations, Samuel Eliot Morison’s impeccable History of United States Naval Operations in World War II answered all questions.
For Tang’s operations, I thank Murray B. Frazee, Jr., who saved my file of expanded patrol reports, sailing lists, and detailed recommendations for awards to members of the ship’s company; and Floyd Caverly, who supplied additional information. For reviewing the manuscript, I will always be grateful to Mrs. Peggy Grey, author Paul Schubert, and Mrs. Henry Bothfeld.
Finally, I am deeply indebted to my wife, Ernestine G. O’Kane, for assisting me at many times, and without whose help the completion of this book would have been impossible.
R. H. O’K.
Forgive me for writing here to the relatives of all men who served in Tang and especially to the kin of those who sailed on her last patrol:
As you may know, I attempted to reach some parents and relatives after repatriation and later following final survey to duty in 1946. It was too early and perhaps will ever be so, for no matter how one views the loss of Tang, a thought of Titanic will always be present in a situation wherein the captain returns and shipmates are left behind.
Believe me, on that fateful night I became physically exhausted in trying to reach my ship and men, then so close ahead. Whence came the strength for the following eight hours to take me to within a stone’s throw of China’s shore will always remain a matter of wonder.
If your kin’s name is not mentioned in this chronicle, it in no way means that he was not just as important to Tang’s operations as were shipmates whose billets were nearby and whose names thus came to mind. In fact, many of the more remote battle stations require the more resourceful and reliable men, for they are on their own, with no one to advise them or correct a mistake.
For the following page, therefore, I have compiled a combined sailing list that includes every submariner who served in Tang but who had been detached prior to her last patrol. For the opposite page, I have prepared the final sailing list of old hands and new who fought her through the typhoon and in the Formosa Strait, and who understandably will always have a special place in my thoughts. In later pages you will find the citations from our presidents, one or both of which were awarded to each shipmate who patrolled and were so dearly won by so many.
As I wrote this chronicle and replotted the courses, all of the time knowing the actual fate awaiting my crew and ship, it became necessary time and again to saddle up my buckskin and ride into the hills so that, upon my return, I might continue with a clear eye. Nothing could compensate for the loss that so many of you have borne. It is my hope, however, that when you have read this true account and perhaps in spirit patrolled with us, you will always think of your kin and Tang with utmost pride, as do I.
Our Tang’s two Presidential Unit Citations have been passed to her successor, the U.S.S. Tang (SS563), now operating in the Pacific. God willing, may her commission and those to follow continue to guard the peace.
Respectfully,
Sebastopol, California
June, 1977
Served in U.S.S. Tang Prior to Fifth War Patrol
Arne I. Anderson MoMM2c
Bruce H. Anderson Lt
Ralph C. Anderson S2c
Raymond J. Aquisti BM2c
Norman F. Aufdenkamp S1c
Wilburn Barnett S1c
Calvin G. Barrick QM3c
Dallas G. Bowden EM1c
Marvin E. Breedlove CCS
Emil W. Brincken FCS1c
Cleon Bussey Ck2c
Dante N. Cacciola S1c
Frank G. Carrisalez S1c
James D. Cazola MoMM1c
Paul C. Collins MoMM2c
Charles R. Conder EM3c
Ardery J. Cooper EM3c
James F. Cross TM3c
Roy H. Crotty CMoMM
Hal A. Davis EM1c
Henry W. Dardinski FCS2c
Carl T. Dilley TM1c
Clyde R. Dotson, Jr. F3c
James Flemming S1c
Murray B. Frazee, Jr. LtCdr
Thomas P. Gannon RM3c
Robert B. Gorin TM3c
Walter H. Hallfarth CEM
George H. Hanskat EM3c
Robert L. Harding MoMM2c
Raymond R. Hardon MoMM2c
Edward E. Hinson RM1c
Calvin G. Jancik SC2c
James R. Johnston SC2c
Wm. F. Keenan, Jr. MoMM1c
Herman Kendrick StM2c
Clifford M. Kirkelie CRM
Joseph D. Kivlen CEM
Albert L. Kohlstrom CMoMM
Charles Kormanik MoMM1c
James W. Laird EM2c
Euclid H. Lambert TM3c
Robert C. Ludy QM2c
Morton H. Lytle LtCdr
Robert B. MacDonald CMoMM
Myron O. Mack, Jr. S1c
Lester Madison St3c
Arden?. Markham RT3c
James F. Marnell TM2c
Frank Maselli SC2c
Dalton E. Mathis CMoMM
Raymond D. McNally Y3c
Roy J. Miletta RM3c
Jessie R. Miller TM1c
James H. Montgomery TM1c
Franklin Nielsen RT3c
Earl W. Ogden CSM
Guy Overby, Jr. MoMM2c
Charles O. Pucket Ltjg
Rudolph K. Reidenbach S1c
Leroy C. Rowell CPhM
Edward A. Russel CMoMM
Fred Schroeder, Jr. RM1c
James W. Scott QM3c
John J. Sertich S1c
Donald R. Sharp TM2c
Everett Shearer, Jr. EM3c
James G. Smiley MoMM1c
Joseph L. Sutton StM1c
Robert Taylor, Jr. StM1c
William C. Walsh Lt
Alvin K. Warren SC3c
Don W. Watje TM2c
Clement O. Wilson TME2c
Frederick D. Wixon SC1c
Harvie E. Young CEM
John G. Accardy SM3c
Ralph F. Adams StM1c
Dwayne D. Allen MoMM2c
Phillip E. Anderson TM3c
Charles Andriolo RM2c
Homer Anthony F1c
William F. Ballinger CTM
Edwin C. Bauer Y3c
Edward H. Beaumont Lt
Edwin F. Bergman RM1c
Frederick N. Bisogno TM3c
Wilfred J. Boucher TM3c
Bernard V. Bresette QM3c
John Bush EM2c
Floyd M. Caverly RT1c
Benjamin Chiavetta Y3c
Walter J. Clark QM3c
Robert J. Coffin EM3c
James H. Culp CEM
Arthur J. Darienzo EM2c
Jesse B. Dasilva MoMM2c
Clayton O. Decker MoMM3c
Marvin V. De Lapp CMoMM
William E. Dorsey MoMM1c
Fred M. Enos, Jr. Ltjg
Lawrence H. Ericksen F1c
Daniel C. Fellicetty Y3c
Bruce H. Finckbone EM2c
Henry J. Flanagan Ltjg
John W. Fluker TM1c
John M. Foster TM1c
&n
bsp; William C. Galloway TM2c
Thomas E. Gentle F1c
George J. Gorab, Jr. EM3c
Osmer D. Gregg Cox
Howard W. Hainline QM3c
Frank G. Harms MoMM2c
Glen O. Haws MoMM2c
John F. Henry F1c
John H. Heubeck Ltjg
Albert L. Hudson CMoMM
Homer W. Ijames RM3c
Stewart S. Imwold MoMM3c
Donald M. Jenkins Y3c
Sidney W. Jones CQM
Louis C. Kaiser MoMM3c
John T. Kanagy EM1c
John T. Kassube Cox
John A. Key SC3c
Ralph B. Knapp FC3c
Richard J. Kroth Ltjg
Leroy R. Lane EM1c
Paul L. Larson CPhM
Robert P. Lee RM3c
William R. Leibold CBM
Lindley H. Llewellyn RM2c
Charles W. London F1c
Chester Loveless EM1c
Ellroy Lytton MoMM1c
Robert V. McMorrow MoMM1c
John J. McNabb F1c
Pete Narowanski TM3c
Richard H. O’Kane Comdr
John J. Parker CCS
Basil C. Pearce, Jr. Ens
Rubin M. Raiford Ck2c
Francis J. Reabuck F1c
Darrell D. Rector GM3c
Ernest Reinhardt F1c
James L. Roberts SC3c
George L. Robertson MoMM2c
Lawrence Savadkin Lt
Seymour G. Smith, Jr. QM3c
Frank H. Springer Lt
Edward F. Stepien F1c
Fred L. Sunday EM3c
Hayes O. Trukke TM2c
Paul B. Vaughn, Jr. Cox
Charles W. Wadsworth TM3c
Howard M. Walker StM1c
Leland S. Weekley CTM
Robert E. Welch QM2c
James M. White GM1c
Walter H. Williams Y2c
Paul T. Wines Ltjg
George Wukovich MoMM1c
George Zofcin MoMM1c
CONTENTS
Prologue
Part I Shakedown
MARE ISLAND TO PEARL HARBOR
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Photo Insert
Chapter 3
Part II First Patrol
IN THE CAROLINES AND MARIANAS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part III Second Patrol
LIFEGUARD AT TRUK
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Photo Insert
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Part IV Third Patrol
TO THE YELLOW SEA
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Photo Insert
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part V Fourth Patrol
OFF THE COAST OF HONSHU
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Part VI Fifth Patrol
IN THE FORMOSA STRAIT
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
APPENDICES
GLOSSARY
Charts*
Patrol Routes, U.S.S. Tang
Wake Atoll
Caroline Islands Adjacent to Western Truk
Central Marianas
Palau Islands
Truk Atoll
East China Sea
Yellow Sea
South Coast Honshu, Kii Suido to Inubo Saki
Formosa
Diagrams
Midship Cross Section
Cutaway Drawing of Submarine
Submarine Approach
Submarine Attack
* Based on charts prepared by the author
The Commandant
requests the honor of your presence
at the
Launching of The United States Ship Tang
at the
Navy Yard, Mare Island, California
Tuesday, August 17, 1943
Ceremonies three thirty-nine p.m. Launch at three fifty-nine p. m.
—
Mrs. Antonio S. Pitre, Sponsor
MIDSHIP CROSS SECTION
Prologue
She stood tall and proud, her bullnose a good 30 feet above the ground. Dignitaries had assembled on the christening platform, and launching awaited only the moments of slack between flood and ebb tide. Below, a few of us who would fight and command her mingled with the masters and leading men who had brought the submarine to this moment; all of us would have an active hand in her completion. The shipyard’s whistle sounded; the encased bottle of champagne burst on her stem, drenching the bow, and the sponsors voice was firm and clear: “I christen thee Tang.”
Tang accelerated down the ways, and her deep, streamlined hull entered the water with little more than a ripple. With snubbing anchors controlling the cradle, our submarine floated clear handsomely.
Her mission had been established on December 7, 1941, the afternoon of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, by directive of the Chief of Naval Operations:
EXECUTE UNRESTRICTED AIR AND
SUBMARINE WARFARE AGAINST JAPAN
Over a million tons of Japanese shipping had been sent to Davy Jones’s locker since then, but that was only a prelude to the task ahead. Another 5 million tons must follow, or better yet, the enemy must be convinced that sending his ships to sea was futile. It was August 17, 1943, and Tang, now coming alongside the dock, would be the 70th new American submarine to join in the battle.
She would be my first command, culminating nine consecutive years in combatant ships, for Japanese conquests in East Asia, the sinking of the U.S.S. Panay in China, and early rumblings in Europe had kept me and my contemporaries from the U.S. Naval Academy on continuous sea duty. Mine had commenced with a year in the taut cruiser Chester, followed by over two years under mild and wild skippers in the destroyer Pruitt, the last of the World War I four-pipers. She served as a demanding school in communications, commissary, gunnery, torpedoes, tactics, and in true seamanship. Pruitt also introduced navy life and the separations it can impose to my boyhood chum, Ernestine Groves, who became my wife on June 1, 1936. With the required surface ship duty well behind me, my request brought orders to U.S. Naval Submarine School in January of 1938. Together again and with our infant daughter, Marsha, Ernestine and I were off to New London, Connecticut, and from there, five months later, to Pearl Harbor, where I reported aboard the navy’s largest submarine, Argonaut.
Argonaut was a monster, a continuous challenge, with 12 torpedoes forward, 78 mines aft, and mounting two 6-inch guns that could hurl hundred-pound projectiles nearly 20 miles. Fortunately, my billets closely paralleled those in Pruitt, and knowing my way in their requirements gave me that much more time to learn my ship for qualification in submarines. The required year passed, and the board of two skippers p
ut me through my paces during a grueling day in port and another at sea; but they signed the certification, and I wore the submariner’s twin dolphins.
In September, 1939, all operations at Pearl took on a most serious air with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proclamation of Limited Emergency. Our son, James, was born the same month. Major units of the Pacific Fleet arrived in 1940, and commencing in the fall of 1941, available submarines quietly departed on patrol with their torpedo tube outer doors open for firing. My qualification for command was approved, and my promotion to lieutenant came by dispatch prior to Thanksgiving, when Argonaut departed Pearl to patrol south of Midway. A skirmish with two Japanese destroyers on the night of Pearl Harbor was our only action with the enemy; but Argonaut’s lack of air conditioning coupled with our required all-day dives resulted in ever increasing humidity and attendant electrical grounds, and fighting the ensuing small fires became almost routine. Nearly half her major machinery became inoperative, but that did not stop Argonaut from carrying out her mission to defend Midway. Little did we know, until reaching Pearl Harbor on January 22, 1942, that she had been the only ship available to oppose an expected assault. We found our families fine but all waiting on two hours’ notice for evacuation from the Islands. Waiting also were my orders to report as executive officer of Wahoo, under construction at Mare Island Navy Yard, up the bay from San Francisco, which was Argonaut’s destination for some modernization. Most fortunately, this provided me the opportunity to settle my family nearby.
I had loved my last ship, but it did not take long to transfer my affections. Of half the displacement and with twice the power, Wahoo would have twice Argonaut’s speed and maneuverability. Further, she would carry 24 instead of 12 torpedoes and had ten instead of four tubes to launch them. To me, the living spaces seemed more like a streamlined trains than a submarine’s. The control room and the conning tower each sported a radar, and in the conning tower was a torpedo data computer, too; all this equipment was new to me. Needed only was a ship’s company to match, but already a sharp nucleus of officers and petty officers who were qualified in submarines had assembled, and a few of them had patrol experience. Together we instructed the new hands. Our captain was meticulous and enjoyed an excellent reputation in torpedo fire control. He trained his ship thoroughly, and all seemed to augur well for Wahoo.