The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Rear Admiral Richard H. O'Kane and the USS Tang (1944) - Nov. 22, 2004

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[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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Rear Admiral Richard H. O'Kane (1911-1994) - Nov 22nd, 2004

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Born on 2 February 1911 Durham, New Hampshire, and a member of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1934, Richard O'Kane served in two of the most successful submarines of World War II. As Mush Morton's executive officer in Wahoo, O'Kane worked the periscope while Morton ran the attack. The highly successful team was broken up when Wahoo returned to Mare Island for refit in 1943 and O'Kane was detached for new construction.

Taking command of the new Balao Class boat Tang, O'Kane returned to Pearl Harbor, departing on his first war patrol in Tang on 22 January 1944. His first attack on a small convoy was delayed while Tang was forced deep to avoid one of the escorts. After evading a depth charge attack, O'Kane returned to periscope depth, firing three torpedoes at Gyoten Maru, the first of 24 enemy ships O'Kane would sink.

Commanding Officer, USS Wahoo (SS-238), at right
With his Executive Officer, Lieutenant Richard H. O'Kane, on Wahoo's open bridge, at Pearl Harbor after her very successful third war patrol, circa 7 February 1943.

Five days later, O'Kane made a night surface attack on another convoy, sending two more freighters to the bottom. Over the next three days Tang sank two more ships, bringing her total bag for her first war patrol to five ships for a total of 21,400 tons (JANAC credit, the original wartime estimate was 42,000 tons). Having fired all of his torpedoes, O'Kane returned to Pearl Harbor.

Returning to sea after rearming, Tang took up a lifeguard position off Truk, where she rescued 22 downed American airmen.

On her third and fourth patrols, Tang sank another twelve ships, adding another 50,600 tons to her tally.


RADM W. L. Friedell, Commandant Mare Island Navy Yard, welcomes LCDR Richard O'Kane, Executive Officer, Wahoo (SS-238) back to Mare Island for an overhual on 29 May 1943. O'Kane's family are with him.

At the end of September 1944, Tang set off on her fifth war patrol. She sank two freighters on 10 October. Two weeks later O'Kane found a ten-ship convoy. Going in on the surface again, O'Kane slipped past the escorts, quickly sinking three freighters. A troop transport attempted to ram, but O'Kane evaded, remaining on the surface where he could use his speed to slip away from the escorts before submerging.


Oil painting by Commander Albert K. Murray, USNR, Official U.S. Navy Combat Artist, depicting Commander O'Kane on board the submarine Tang (SS-306) in 1944.

Another convoy was found the next night, and O'Kane again took Tang in on the surface. This time the escorts were more alert, but O'Kane stayed up, firing six torpedoes at three different ships. All six hit, taking out two transports and a tanker.

After firing three more torpedoes, hitting the tanker, and transport, and sinking an attacking destroyer, O'Kane withdrew to reload his tubes with his last two torpedoes.

Returning to finish off the transport, O'Kane fired both torpedoes. The first ran true, but the second made a circular run, hitting Tang aft and sinking her. O'Kane and the eight men on the bridge went into the water. One other officer made it out of the conning tower before the boat went under. Only O'Kane and three others were still alive by morning. Five other men managed to get to the surface alive after Tang went to the bottom. The nine survivors were picked up by the Japanese and imprisoned until the end of the war.


USS Tang (SS-563)
Sponsor and official party at the ship's launching ceremonies, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, 19 June 1951.
Present in the front row are (left to right):
Miss Marsha G. O'Kane, Maid of Honor;
Mrs. Richard H. O'Kane, Sponsor; and
Commander Richard H. O'Kane, USN, former Commanding Officer of the first USS Tang (SS-306).

RADM O'Kane was imprisoned on Formosa. He was later transferred to a secret prison camp near Tokyo, where he was not registered and was therefore listed as "Missing in Action" until the camp's liberation two weeks after V-J Day. Upon his release, RADM O'Kane weighed just 88 pounds. After his recovery, his commands included USS Pelias and USS Sperry, as well as the submarine schools in New London, Submarine Division Thirty-Two, and the Submarine Squadron Seven.

He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exemplary service on the Tang on March 27, 1947. RADM O'Kane's other military decorations include the Navy Cross with two Gold Stars, the Legion of Merit with the Combat "V," the Purple Heart, the Commendation Ribbon, and the Prisoner of War Medal. He also wrote two books based on his experiences in WWII, Clear the Bridge and Wahoo.


USS Tang (SS-306)
The submarine's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Richard H. O'Kane (center), poses with the twenty-two aircrewmen that Tang rescued off Truk during the carrier air raids there on 29 April-1 May 1944. The photograph was taken upon Tang's return to Pearl Harbor from her second war patrol, in May 1944.

He retired in 1957 as a rear admiral, and passed away in Petaluma, California on 16 February 1994. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

[SAMWolf]

Evening stand watie.

Free Dixie

[SAMWolf]

Happy Birthday, Valin.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Darksheare. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Now we have common "European" regulations.

One world order huh?

[SAMWolf]

I guess Islam just figured it was about to try again.

[snippy_about_it]

Hey, I recognize that. On our way to Sharpsburg.

[snippy_about_it]

Your minion would like to go eat dinner. ;-)

[Victoria Delsoul]

Happy

[Professional Engineer]

You could always flash a smile...

[PhilDragoo]

NWS25oct-4. Navy's newest destroyer, USS O'Kane commissioned at Pearl Harbor

NAVY WIRE SERVICE (NWS) - October 25, 1999

by Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NWS) -- The Navy's newest guided- missile destroyer officially joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet as USS O'Kane (DDG 77), commissioned into active naval service during a ceremony at Naval Station Pearl Harbor Saturday, Oct. 23.

The Arleigh Burke class destroyer, one of the most technologically advanced ships in the Navy, is named in honor of Rear Adm. Richard H. O'Kane (1911-1994), a native of Dover, N.H. O'Kane was awarded the Medal of Honor for his daring attacks on two Japanese convoys while in command of the World War II submarine USS Tang (SS 306) in 1944. After his submarine was sunk, the Japanese captured then- Cmdr. O'Kane, who spent the rest of the war in captivity.

Retired Navy Capt. Edward L. Beach, a personal friend of Rear Adm. O'Kane, was the ceremony's principal speaker. Beach recalled a visit with O'Kane after the war in a rest camp in Guam, where O'Kane was recovering from his six months in a Japanese prison camp. Beach described O'Kane's anguish when recounting his final patrol and the loss of his ship and crew. This new ship, he said, "is more than a piece of machinery, it embodies the virtues and ideals of Admiral O'Kane."

"With this wonderful ship, we honor Richard O'Kane," Beach said. "But the real fact is that it is he who is honoring us. It is we, who bask in his memory, who are truly honored by the privilege of doing so."

In time honored tradition, the ship's sponsor, Leslie Allen Berry, Rear Adm. O'Kane's granddaughter, gave the order to "man our ship and bring her to life!" Ernestine O'Kane, wife of Rear Adm. O'Kane, was the ship's Matron of Honor.

Cmdr. David C. Hulse, from Mendham, N.J., commands O'Kane and its crew of 318 officers and enlisted Sailors.

O'Kane is only the second ship in U.S. naval history to be commissioned in Hawaii. The Pearl Harbor-homeported guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), was commissioned in Pearl Harbor in July 1993. Both commissioning ceremonies were sponsored and organized by members of Hawaii's community and the Honolulu Council Navy League.

O'Kane's commissioning ceremony kicked off a series of events celebrating the centennial of the Navy's submarine force.

O'Kane will get underway for several weeks of testing and qualifications of its new combat systems equipment. The ship will do much of this testing on the ocean range off the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.

The Navy's newest ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine and is the 27th destroyer of her class and the 16th built by Bath Iron Works. The ship was built at a cost of $900 million. O'Kane's construction began with the keel laying on May 8, 1997. The ship was launched and christened in Bath, Maine, on March 28, 1998. O'Kane left Bath, Maine for her transit to Hawaii on Aug. 26, 1999 and arrived in Pearl Harbor on Oct. 15, 1999.

This multi-mission ship is equipped with the Navy's modern Aegis combat weapons system, which combines space-age communication, radar and weapons technologies in a single platform for unlimited flexibility. These versatile ships are designed to operate independently or in support of aircraft carrier and amphibious operations.

O'Kane joins 12 other ships and 15,000 other Sailors currently stationed in Hawaii.

-USN-

The USS O’Kane (DDG 77) launches an SM-2 missile during a RIMPAC 2002 live-fire event.
PHOTO BY PH1 TED BANKS, USN

In other news President Bush cut through the bureaucratic snafu at the entry to the Chile Dog BBQ:

[Valin]

Jamie Lee Curtis

Have large can of chocolate syrup will travel
Wire Valin Mpls mn.

[Valin]

I read some time ago that some Putin's advisor wrote in his book that eastern part should be incorporated by Russia and western part should be "given" to... Poland.
Of course he didn't think about the fact that they should be asked If they want to be given to anyone and If we want to "take" them.

Pretty much my thoughts also. Give it to Poland how very generous of the Russians I'm sure.

[snippy_about_it]

Hugs!!!

[snippy_about_it]

When do you get your display fixtures?

Delays, delays, delays. Grrrr. We are in a position now that if we had them we could build them and push to be open the 1st. Unfortunately the supplier has become lackadaisical and reports he is on 3/4 of the way through and the holidays are coming, yada yada yada. Grrrr.

[snippy_about_it]

rasPutin

LOL. Good one Grzegorz.

[snippy_about_it]

You could always flash a smile...M

hehehe, if only...

[Iris7]

"Deus Vincit!"


If you see John III Sobieski first give him a salute from me. I am of the previous generation, could be me first. If so, I'll ask him to look out for you and yours. And tell him of your regard. Remember the Communion of Saints.

In Heaven there are no language barriers. Nor barriers of time. The beer for old fighting men is beyond compare.

Real men require important work to be happy, so there will be work that needs doing.

Also like "Deus Vult!" Whatever Muhammad was talking to, it was not the Archangel Gabriel.

"The past is not dead. It is not even the past." - William Faulkner.

[SAMWolf]

Evening Victoria.

Is there such a thing as a happy Monday?

[SAMWolf]

Don't tempt me :-)

[SAMWolf]

Evening Phil Dragoo.

You know, President Bush could use that McClintock quote and it'd be believable coming from him.