Submariners remember America’s early years of the silent service

Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | Nov 13, 2005 | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

WHETSTONE — June 9, 1944, is a day Bob Strosser remembers well.

The submarine he was serving on was on war patrol off Truk Island, retrieving Army Air Force crew members from aircraft that might have been downed by Japanese gunfire.

Strosser, now 80, was one of three lookouts on the surfaced USS Snapper. The former torpedoman put that day’s harrowing experience succinctly.

“We got strafed,” he said, as he talked about that day more than 61 years ago.

A lookout and torpedoman named McKee was killed, and Strosser and the other sailor were wounded. Strosser was hit by shrapnel that stitched the left side of his body from head to foot.

There was no question that McKee was dying.

“McKee’s forehead and chest were blown out,” Strosser said.

As a torpedoman first class, McKee did not have to pull lookout duty, but he wanted to get some fresh air and volunteered. The sailor died a few hours later and was buried at sea.

“We never did pick up any downed fliers,” he said.

During the five war patrols he participated in, some of the torpedoes he loaded and help launch took a toll on Japanese ships.

Most of the sinkings were of Japanese merchant ships, although during one attack “we got a tin can (Japanese destroyer),” Strosser said.

On Saturday, Strosser joined the dwindling number of World War II submariners at a reunion at Jack Robson’s Tombstone Territories RV Park.

From once what were 50 members of the Cactus Chapter of the Submarine Veterans of World War II, only eight are still active in the organization.

Les Johnson remembers his first war patrol. Near the end of the conflict, his boat — submarines are called boats, not ships — was at the bottom of the Nagasaki harbor.

Earlier, the USS Batfish had entered the harbor, firing at a small Japanese Army enclave and receiving defensive fire from the shore.

“We were sitting in Nagasaki harbor when the bomb went off,” Johnson said.

The bomb was the second atomic device dropped on Japan. On Aug. 6, 1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Nagasaki was hit three days later.

Johnson said no one knew what was happening on the surface. The crew did not learn about the dropping of the powerful bomb until later.

The diesel subs of World War II were crowded but were larger than the training boats, he said.

When attending submarine school at New London, Conn., the boats used for training were from the World War I era, Johnson said.

“We didn’t dive too deep in them,” he said, adding the crew would probably have liked to have rain gear on because the boats leaked.

After World War II, the U.S. Navy began looking at newer sub designs for their silent service. Diesel-powered boats were soon to be replaced by nuclear powered vessels.

Before the first nuclear sub, there were seven attack fast diesel subs constructed that were test beds for the developing underwater boats.

The first was the USS Tang, which gave its name to the class of larger diesel subs.

Carle Blackwell Jr., who served on the USS Tang, said it incorporated some advance designs the Germans were working on when World War II ended.

The Tang class “was the predecessor to the nuclear boats,” he said.

A member of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc., Blackwell said the group he belongs to and the submariner group from World War II will be getting together to support one another.

A retired sailor who served aboard the USS Tucson also was at Saturday’s event.

Gary Bartlett is a native Arizona, having been raised in Santa Cruz County. He is a plank owner, an original crew member of the USS Tucson, a boat commissioned in 1995, after five years of construction.

Over the years, the amenities on submarines have gotten better, but the space still causes cramp living conditions, he said.

During World War II, sleeping areas called for three sailors to share two racks and that remains the same on today’s subs, Bartlett said. One sailor would usually be on duty and two others would be sleeping. When one of the two had duty, the other sailor crawled into the then vacant sleeping area.

Bartlett said there will always be a need for submarines. Submarines can carry the Navy’s top special forces, the SEALS to an area and get them ashore and retrieve them.

Part of Saturday’s meeting was the tolling of a bell to honor the 3,505 American submariners who went down on 52 boats during World War II.

Six bells were rung for the half dozen submarines lost during the four Novembers of that war — three each in 1943 and 1944.

The last sub sunk happened on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the first A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The boat was sunk by Japanese aircraft.

HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.

[SandRat]

SS-185 USS Snapper


USS Snapper from the air Photo provided by John Bourdage whose father Elmer Bourdage, EM2 served aboard her 1943 to 1945. Elmer Bourdage was also a member of the decommissioning crew.

SS-310 USS BATFISH


Dramatic Photo from the periscope shears of the USS Batfish looking forward during WW II.

SS-306 USS TANG



Set out from Pearl Harbor on September 24, 1944, to begin her fifth war patrol. On 27 September she topped off with fuel at Midway and left there the same day, heading for an area between the northwest coast of Formosa, and the China Coast.

[SandRat]

PING-PING-PING-PING

[Vision]

No one knows the sacrifice, God Bless the submariners

[sine_nomine]

They were brave men. The early WWII boats were called pigboats for being so small and stinky.

[jim_trent]

My father was in the Guavina during WWII. At 6'-3" tall, he would have been too tall pre-war, but standards were relaxed during the war. He came from a town of about 300 people (although there were three larger towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people in each earby). The FBI sent two agents to the towns to check his background. He said several people told him that they tried to "blend in" as locals, but everyone knew what they were and what they were there for. It was funny. Anyway, he passed the check and went to the south Pacific as a torpedoman first class.

He told many stories how things did not work (like the infamous torpedos), but they eventually found out how to make them work -- by ignoring the official instruction books. He said that when he joined the Guavina, the last torpedoman left him a book with handwritten instructions on how to make the torpedos work. That kind of thing was evidently common throughout the fleet.

[PAR35]

According to the official history, the sailor was killed by the initial bomb, not the subsequent strafing.

---

Snapper

Any of numerous carnivorous, bass like fishes, esteemed as food and as game fishes.

III

(SS-185: dp. 1,449 (surf.), 2,198 (subm.) ; l. 308'; b. 26'1"; dr. 15'11"; s. 21 k. (surf.), 9 k. (subm.); cpl. 55; a. 1 3", 8 21" tt.; cl. Salman)

The third Snapper (SS-185) was laid down by the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard on 23 July 1936; launched on 24 August 1937; sponsored by Mrs. Harold R. Stark, wife of Rear Admiral Stark, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance; and commissioned on 15 December 1937, Lt. F. O. Johnson in command.

On 10 May 1938, Snapper departed Portsmouth for her shakedown cruise; visited Cuba, the Canal Zone, Peru, and Chile; and returned to Portsmouth on 15 July. There she conducted final acceptance trials and underwent post-shakedown overhaul.

On 3 October, Snapper was assigned to Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 3 based at Balboa, Canal Zone, where she participated in training and fleet exercisesuntil 15 March 1939, when she set sail for repairs at the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard. Departing Portsmouth on 9 May, she stopped at New London, Conn., and then got underway for the west coast, arriving at San Diego on 2 June. On 1 July, the submarine set sail for Pearl Harbor and maneuvers in the Hawaiian area, followed by overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., from 1 December 1939 to 1 March 1940. Following her return to San Diego, Snapper was assigned to SubRon 6 and got underway for Hawaii on 1 April, arriving at Pearl Harbor on the 9th. Except for a brief voyage to San Diego in October and November 1940, Snapper remained in the Hawaiian area participating in training exercises and fleet tactics until 3 May 1940, when she departed for overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Upon completion, she became a unit of SubRon 2 based at San Diego. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Snapper was operating in thePhilippine Islands area.

On 19 December, Snapper departed Manila for her first war patrol, covering the shipping lanes between Hong Kong and Hainan Strait until 8 January 1942, when she set sail for Davao Gulf in the Philippines. On the 12th, she made an unsuccessful attack on a Japanese supply ship which escaped when Snapper was forced down by an escorting destroyer. While off Cape San Agustin on 24 January, she attacked another supply ship without success, again being forced deep by destroyer escorts. On 1 February, as the submarine approached Bangka Strait, she was detected by an enemy destroyer which made a fruitless depth charge attack. In return, Snapper fired two torpedoes but both failed to find the target. Snapper arrived at Soerabaja, Java, on 10 February and then continued on to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Snapper departed Fremantle on 6 March for the approaches to Tarakan, Indonesia, and her second war patrol. Finding no suitable targets there, she was directed to Davao Gulf where, on 31 March, she closed a large armed tender or auxiliary cruiser. She fired two bowtorpedoes at 600 yards and, after reversing course, came to periscope depth to observe the enemy ship dead in the water. After firing one torpedo from her stern tube, she was forced deep to evade an attacking escort ship. Later that night, she was ordered to Mactan Island to unload ammunition and take on board 46 tons of food for the besieged island of Corregidor. Arriving there on 4 April, she transferred her cargo to Pigeon (ASR-6), took on board 27 evacuees, and headed back to Fremantle, evading Japanese destroyer patrols on the way.

On 23 April, Snapper received word that Searaven (SS-196) was in trouble and reversed course to go to her aid. After towing the stricken submarine to Pre-mantle, she sailed for Albany and then returned to Fremantle.

Snapper's third war patrol was conducted in the Flores Sea, Makassar Strait, and the western Celebes Sea. Despite intensive efforts, the submarine found no worthwhile targets and returned to Fremantle from a disappointing patrol on 16 July.

On 8 August, Snapper headed for the South China Sea and her fourth war patrol. On 19 August, she fired two torpedoes at a cargo ship but lost contact when forced to evade an escort ship. The only other targets sighted during this patrol were at too great a distance or on a course and speed that prevented the submarine from closing.

Although both the fifth and sixth war patrols were also unproductive, during the seventh, conducted in the vicinity of Guam, Snapper sank her initial victim of the war. According to her war diary, she sighted two vessels moored in the extreme northeast corner of Apra Harbor, Guam, and decided to patrol submerged off the harbor until they departed. Seven days later, on 27 August, she headed to the north of the harbor, firing three torpedoes at the first target and one at the second. As she quickly departed the vicinity, Snapper observed one hit on the first target, sinking the passenger-cargo ship, Tokai Maru, stern first.

On 2 September, Snapper closed a convoy of five cargo ships and two escorts. The primary targets, the cargo ships, zigged away; and, when the port escort came into view “head on,” the submarine fired a "down-the-throat" shot at the escort, the frigate Mutsure, that blew the enemy's bow completely off and enveloped her in flames as she sank. The submarine quickly cleared the locality as the other escort commenced a depth charge attack. On the 6th, Snapper intercepted another convoy and fired three torpedoes; but all were misses. On 17 September, she terminated her seventh patrol at Pearl Harbor.

Snapper's eighth war patrol was conducted off Honshu, Japan, from 19 October to 14 December. While battling heavy seas on 29 November, the submarine sighted a convoy of five ships and two escorts and b3gan to close the range. She fired three bow torpedoes and scored two hits that set the cargo ship, Kenryu Maru, ablaze as she settled by the bow and sank.

On 14 March 1944, following overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Snapper began her ninth war patrol, conducted in the area of the Bonin Islands. Few worthwhile targets were sighted during this patrol. On 24 March, she contacted a convoy of 12 ships and fired eight torpedoes with six hits. She was. credited with damaging a freighter but, due to heavy seas, was unable to continue the attack. Enemy escorts and heavy seas continually prevented any further attacks, and Snapper returned to Midway on 29 April.

Snapper spent her tenth war patrol engaged in lifeguard duties near Truk in support of bombardment missions by the Army Air Force. On 9 June, while the submarine was patrolling on the surface, an enemy plane broke quickly from a low cloud and attacked. As Snapper quickly dove, one bomb struck directly above the hatch instantly killing one crewman and injuring several others, including the commanding officer. As the submarine continued to dive, shells were heard striking her hull. Upon surfacing, it was found that her pressure hull had not been damaged, but a heavy oil slick indicated a puncture of a fuel oil ballast tank. Minor repairs were made. Two wounded enlisted men were transferred to Bushnell (AS-15) at Majuro Atoll on 13 June, and Snapper continued her lifeguard duty until returning to Pearl Harbor on 21 July.

On 5 September, Snapper departed Pearl Harbor for her eleventh and final war patrol, conducted in the Bonin Islands area. On 1 October, the submarine encountered two enemy vessels escorted by a small patrol craft. The submarine fired her bow torpedoes at the large target, then swung for a "down-the-throat" shot at the smaller vessel. Hits were scored on both vessels resulting in the sinking of the passenger-cargo ship, Seian Maru, and the coastal minelayer, Ajiro. Snapper then took up lifeguard station off Iwo Jima until 18 October and terminated her eleventh patrol at Midway on 27 October, before continuing on to Pearl Harbor.

Snapper departed Pearl Harbor on 2 November and set sail for overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Getting underway from Mare Island on 9 March 1945, the submarine arrived at San Diego on the 11th and engaged in local training operations for several months. She transited the Panama Canal on 20 May and arrived at New London, Conn., on 27 May where she operated until decommissioned at Boston on 17 November 1945. Snapper was struck from the Navy list on 31 April 1948 and sold for scran to the Interstate Metals Corp., of New York, on 18 May 1948.

Snapper received six battle stars for World War II service.


http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s14/snapper-iii.htm

[esryle]

More Submarine News

[real saxophonist]

Good friend of mine served aboard USS BATFISH (SSN-681), namesake of the USS Batfish of WWII:

[308MBR]

Oh dookie-doo.

I was all ready to hear from a crew member who served on the CSS Hunley.

All joking aside, what about the dudes in WW1?

[real saxophonist]

Think I might have done that backwards. The first Batfish is the namesake of the second?

Majored in Music, not English...

[pickrell]

"...[Tang] Set out from Pearl Harbor on September 24, 1944, to begin her fifth war patrol. On 27 September she topped off with fuel at Midway and left there the same day, heading for an area between the northwest coast of Formosa, and the China Coast...

The Tang was sunk by one of her own torpedoes, the very last one she fired. The story wasn't known until the skipper came back, liberated from a P.O.W. camp after the surrender of Japan.

Someone in the Navy, in their wisdom, had issued orders that the anti-circular run device fitted to the fleet torpedoes be disconnected, since some bright boy had the idea that a sub, being held down by a Jap destroyer, could fire a torpedo in a circular run pattern, and "scare off" the destroyer.

The Tang fell victim to that defect in American Torpedoes, and in deskbound thinking.

Lest we forget, however, a number of other subs died because of defects in American torpedoes. They ran 15 to 30 feet deeper than set, had course keeping problems, and two separate defects in their exploders, which further compounded the issue.

It seems that Admiral Christie had helped design the magnetic exploder, (actually after carefully examining captured German exploders), and even after it was proven how this exploder would detonate prematurely, (thus disclosing the presence of a sub and inviting retaliation), ignored Admiral Lockwood's orders to have all U.S. subs discontinue the use of that wretched device, and ordered all the Australia-based U.S. subs to continue to use it.

Then they found out that the firing pin of the manual exploder would deform and fail to set off the torpex when a ship was struck at other than a glancing blow.

The Navy stubbornly refused to listen to the pleas of dozens of brave, frustrated sub captains, preferring to ascribe "sloppy execution" to innumerable torpedo failures.

We can never again send brave crews out with weapons which are not the best. This is Captain Richard O'Kanes legacy. The men of the Tang will forever be "on patrol", but we owe them. Dick O'Kane wrote a book about the Tang; it's been several decades and I can't remember the name, but that book and many others in the Bantam series should be required reading for all historians.

[pickrell]

In fact, (in case anyone is still interested), Commander Dudley "Mush" Morton was Richard O'Kanes CO aboard the Wahoo. Together they pioneered many of the techniques used later in the war to such good effect. And in a further irony, when the Wahoo met it's end, it was probably because of a premature explosion of one of it's torpedoes. That explosion drew in several Jap destroyers onto the sister boat Wahoo was operating from.

Since Wahoo became famous earlier by sinking several Jap destroyers,(and even an entire 4 boat convoy on one patrol), a man like Morton at the helm was not about to leave a fellow sub to be worked over because of one of Wahoo's defective torpedoes. He ran in to provide interference, and as things happen in war- a destroyer dropping a pattern of depth charges... got lucky.

Batfish if I recall got a Japanese submarine, and the USS Jack knocked off four (count 'em..4!) tankers in one battle!

But mostly we remember men like Gary Gilmore, who when mortally wounded in a strafing attack, called down the hatch before he closed it, sealing his fate, "Take her down!"

I have to believe, that as long as this country produces men like that, we cannot lose.

[Poundstone]

"But mostly we remember men like Gary Gilmore, who when mortally wounded in a strafing attack, called down the hatch before he closed it, sealing his fate, "Take her down!"

Uh, wrong Gilmore. Howard Gilmore said "take her down."

Gary Gilmore, in his last words before being executed by a firing squad in Utah in 1977, said "Let's do it."

[pickrell]

Your right, it was Howard.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT