Higher death rate than B-17 crew?
I’ve seen a claim that the attrition rate (killed or shot down and captured) of bomber crewmen in the 8th Air Force in WWII was around 70%.
Given the horrendous casualty rates (in an extreme case, Schweinfurt/Oct 43, 20%) prior to all-the-way fighter escort that’s believable.
I had an uncle that was a submariner in the war. We never actually knew what he did, he just said he was in the Navy in an aw shucks way that he had. He would take a drag on his cigarette and say, “It was boring, you don’t want to hear about it.”
Before the war he was a baker at Holsum Bread back in the day when our small town had that sort of thing. It was wonderful, you could smell the baking bread all over town.
We found out what he did when we got his military headstone.
There’s a book called “Iron Coffins” written by a former WWII German U-Boat skipper. Their attrition was unbelievably high. I know longer remember the percentage, but volunteering for that service was almost a death sentence.
the 8th Air Force might not see it that way...
especially the first year
It was my distinct pleasure to attend the “tolling of the boats” cermony at the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg TX last week. 128 members of the Silent Service Motorcycle Club rode and drove in from all over the country for our annual country wide rally. We gather and read the names of the boats, what happened to it and the number of our shipmates who were lost.
It reminds me every time at the choice I made and the profound effect it had on my life.
While my service was entirely on Nuke boats the WW2 vets who sailed our diesel counterparts have my eternal respect.
To all who have sailed with us, before us and have yet to sail, duty on a submarine is not something you plan. It is something that happens and will become part of your soul. I salute you all
1280 subs lost in action? Ridiculous. The number, I believe, is 54 on eternal patrol. Balao Class subs averaged 80-85 crewmen.
First time I went through the WWII sub at Pearl Harbor a Japanese family had entered right behind me. It was very odd hearing Japanese spoken while walking through. I thought I was in a Twilight Zone time warp.
We lost IIRC 52 boats.
Still, at just 2% of the US Navy they sank over 30% of all Japanese tonnage. The Submarine was a vulnerable but very effective weapon in WWII.
After the war a veterans group asked every state to erect a memorial to an assigned boat. NY and California were asked to erect two. All states have now done so.