Posted on 07/21/2005 10:55:20 AM PDT by robowombat
PING
It is hard to imagine any Japanese ship. let alone a tanker with heavy escorts, this far away from Japan at this late time in the war...I guess the Pacific was really still wide open in certain areas.
Domo Arigato SS Lagarto.
Small wonder we were unbeatable...
Some details of the Lagarto's last patrol:
USS LAGARTO (SS 371)
May 3, 1945 - 86 Men Lost
LAGARTO, under CDR F.D. Latta, departed Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on April 12, 1945, for her second patrol in the South China Sea. On April 27, she was directed to the outer part of Siam Gulf.
LAGARTO contacted BAYA, already patrolling in Siam Gulf on May 2, 1945, and exchanged calls with her by SJ radar. Later that day BAYA sent LAGARTO a contact report on a convoy she had contacted consisting of one tanker, one auxiliary and two destroyers. LAGARTO soon reported being in contact with the convoy, and began coming in for an attack with BAYA. However, the enemy escorts were equipped with 10cm radar, and detected BAYA and drove her off with gunfire, whereupon the two submarines decided to wait and plan a subsequent attack.
Early on the morning of May 3, 1945, LAGARTO and BAYA made a rendezvous and discussed plans. LAGARTO was to dive on the convoy's track to make a contact at 1400, while BAYA was to be ten to fifteen miles further along the track. During the day, numerous contact reports were exchanged. At 0010 on May 4, after a prolonged but unsuccessful attack, BAYA was finally driven off by the alert escorts, and no further contact was ever made with LAGARTO.
Japanese information available now records an attack on a U.S. submarine made by the minelayer HATSUTAKA, believed to be one of the two radar-equipped escorts of the convoy attacked. The attack was made in about 30 fathoms of water, and in view of the information presented above, the attack here described must be presumed to be the one which sank LAGARTO.
This vessel's first patrol was in the Nansei Shoto chain as part of an anti-picket-boat sweep made by submarines to aid Admiral Halsey's Task Force 38 in getting carrier planes to Japan undetected. She sank the Japanese submarine RO-49 on February 24, 1945, and participated in several surface gun attacks with HADDOCK and SENNET. Two small vessels were sunk and two more damaged in those attacks, and LAGARTO shared credit for the results with these submarines. Commander Latta had previously made seven patrols as Commanding Officer of NARWHAL. Every patrol made by this officer was designated successful for the award of combat insignia, a record surpassed by no commanding officer in the Submarine Force.
Japan needed fuel, and (IIRC) still had possession of oil fields in the East Indies.
Thanks!
I appreciate your posting this.
I believe that this is a grave for those 86 sailors and should be respected as such.
I'm not so sure I agree. There wasn't much comment about the Hunley being a grave, nor many of the viking ships, titanic etc. in the past.
I'm kind of on the fence on this one. Sure, it would be good to preserve as a memorial, but recovering history from sunken vessels can also prove valuable.
They do rec dives on U Boats off New Jersey and Cape
Hatteras and they for sure are war graves.
Some have brought up bones of dead German sailors on
these dives. Same thing happens at Truk Lagoon with
Japanese war graves.
You make a valid point, especially re: CSS Hunley.
At 70 meters the wreck is way too deep for sport divers, so the tourism angle is a bit overblown. Technical divers, OTOH, might attempt to enter the wreck and get some souveniers.
This is why the US government stands behind the German embassy when they issue their annual 'warning letter' to US dive shops about disturbing war graves (U-boats).
Good way to go to prison. Not worth it, plus it is ghoulish.
LOL! That popped into my head when I first saw it too.
It must be the recycled aluminum they're using in tinfoil hats nowadays.
It has a tendency to induce harmonics in the beta brainwave band when there are thunderstorms in the area.
German subs typically carried a large amount of gold in the captains safe. The reason being: not a whole lot of takers of Reichmarks for food/fuel etc. A sure way to motivate divers.
Absolutely. There is a Sub museum in Manitowoc.
I'm not exactly a maritime law expert, but I always thought that if you found a wreck, you get the rights to it.
I also understand that governments have been recently trying to use all sorts of legal maneuvering to steal the ships from their discoverers, especially over pre-20th Century ships that carried precious cargo.
Yeah, but we won, so we get to set the rules!
Seriously, unless it is guarded, it will eventually be a dive target.
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