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Note: this topic is from 8/12/2005. |
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Posted on 08/12/2005 11:31:24 AM PDT by nickcarraway
In the ghostly blue lights of a video camera, sea snakes, squids and schools of blue and yellow fish swirl past five-inch battle guns of a World War II submarine 200 feet beneath the South China Sea.
"With all the fish and the coral covering the Lagarto, it's almost like someone put flowers on a grave," said Elizabeth Kenney-Augustine, whose grandfather, Bill Mabin of La Grange, Ill., was on the sub.
For decades, no human knew where to put flowers for the 86 men who disappeared with the U.S.S. Lagarto somewhere between Thailand and Australia shortly before World War II ended.
In May, a diving team, following the hints of fishermen telling tales of snagged nets, discovered the Lagarto in the Gulf of Thailand. Experts say this is the missing boat because it is believed to be the only American Balao class submarine sunk in the Gulf of Thailand during the war, and because Japanese records released after the war ended show Japanese sailors sank a sub in the area where the Lagarto disappeared.
"We believe the wreck to be the Lagarto," said Jamie Macleod, who, with the U.S. Navy's permission, dove down to look at the outside of the sub. Macleod and Stewart Oehl of the MV Trident dive boat in Thailand discovered the missing submarine.
Author Clive Cussler has spoken with the men about a documentary on the history of the Lagarto, as well as their discovery. U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-Ill., has called on the U.S. Navy to confirm the sub's identity.
"We've been doing what we can to relate the importance of recognizing these brave crew members to the attention of the Navy," said Chris Ganschow, Lipinski's spokesman.
After talking with the family, Macleod took Kenney-Augustine and her brother, John Kenney Jr., off the shores of Thailand last week to read letters and poems from family members in the first burial ceremony the missing men have had.
On July 31, a diver tucked a dozen white roses into the conning tower, or attack center, of the U.S.S. Lagarto. Minutes later, the flowers had disappeared.
"We thought that was nice," said Kenney-Augustine, of Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. "Like they accepted our offering."
For 60 years, Mabin's daughter, Nancy Kenney of Lake Leelanau, Mich., wondered if her father had somehow come out of the war alive. She waited for him to be released from a prisoner-of-war camp. Or to appear on a remote island. Or to pop through the front door after a top-secret mission.
She knows the families of the other 85 men on board the submarine must have wondered the same things.
"From the letters between my mother and the other wives, I can see there was great confusion," Kenney said. "They were hoping their husbands were in prison camp. Imagine that - seeing that as the best-case scenario."
Kenney was 2 when her father was lost. She said her mother, Margaret Chambers, of Glen Arbor, Mich., was pleased to hear her husband had been found.
"He was the love of her life," Kenney said. "She's been shaken by this."
The U.S.S. Lagarto was one of 28 submarines built in Manitowac, Wis., and the Wisconsin Maritime Museum has adopted the submarine and created a memorial to it. According to the museum's history of the sub, it was tested in Lake Michigan.
It left Subic Bay in the Philippines on April 12, 1945 for the Siam Gulf, now the Gulf of Thailand, for its second trip.
U.S.S. Baya officers reported at the time that they were to rendezvous with the Lagarto to discuss plans to attack a Japanese convoy on May 3, 1945. At 1 a.m. May 4, 1945, the Japanese convoy drove off the Baya, but nothing was ever heard again from the Lagarto. It was supposed to dock in Australia at the end of May, but it never arrived.
In June 1945, Mabin's family received a letter saying he was missing in action. A year later, another letter arrived describing him as "presumed dead."
"This will give you a real glimpse into World War II," Kenney said. "This is what I grew up with. That's the last correspondence any of the families had with the Navy."
After the war ended, the Japanese released records showing the minelayer Hatsutaka sunk a sub at the same time and same place the Lagarto was believed to be during the war, but there was no confirmation.
Kenney's children grew up with Mabin's ghost. Every year on Memorial Day, John Kenney has searched the Internet for some sign of his grandfather.
"This year, I did a Google search, and someone had posted that it had been found," John Kenney said. "Two divers had found it. It's considered one of the Holy Grails of Asian diving because it's one of the only U.S. subs lost anywhere near the Gulf of Thailand."
Kenney said he immediately called her mother and asked if she were sitting down. After he told her, she began to cry.
"I went through so many emotions," Nancy Kenney said. "It's an odd feeling to grieve for someone 60 years after they're gone."
She began to contact the families of the missing men.
Kelan Spalding's brother R.B. Spalding of Springfield, Mo., was also on the Lagarto.
"My wife heard about it on the news and said, `Do you suppose that could be Bobby's sub?'" Spalding said. "But I thought it would be in deeper water."
Then he got the call from Nancy Kenney.
"I was 9 years old when it went down," he said. "I'm relieved to know exactly why and how and where. I hope they allow the divers to film it."
But he doesn't want anyone to go inside the sub.
And no one will. According to the U.S. Navy, all sunken U.S. ships are considered gravesites and are off-limits.
"Even if they wanted to, the divers couldn't get inside because their tanks are too big," Kenney-Augustine explained.
But Macleod said the divers don't want to go inside the submarine.
"We have no plans to explore the wreck," Macleod said. "We hope to be able to conduct non-intrusive filming only."
For the families, seeing the outside of the submarine has provided closure.
"I thought there would be a moment when they scraped the coral off and found letters: U.S.S. Lagarto," Kenney-Augustine said. "But it wasn't like that. We just sat above as they dove beneath, and I thought, `How wonderful.' It was similar to going to a cemetery and visiting a loved one who has passed and standing over his grave."
The brother and sister team did not participate in the dive because they would need special training for deep diving. Macleod and his crewmates had air mixes that included helium, and they had to take time coming up for decompression or they would suffer from the bends, or decompression sickness.
John Kenney said the submarine is sitting upright as if it sank straight down. There are no numbers or names on the side, and research shows the only place divers could find the name of the ship is inside the captain's quarters. Instead, they used the five-inch guns - an upgrade from previous subs and a good marker for the Belao class - and the slant of the bow to determine its make.
The teak deck and outer superstructure have deteriorated and been torn away, leaving the pressure hull, the conning tower, and a perfectly preserved light.
Diver Steve Burton drew a sketch showing ruptures to the port-bow area of the pressure hull, which is probably where the Hatsutaka struck.
On the port side, the middle torpedo bow tube remains open. The torpedo is missing.
"It looks like they went down fighting," John Kenney said.
Nancy Kenney hopes to find more Lagarto families so she can relate the news. She said she finally feels as if her father has been laid to rest.
"I can't tell you how wonderful the divers have been - so sensitive to the families," Nancy Kenney said. "They even attached an American flag at the top of the tower. I thought, `God bless them for that.'"
Thanks
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h79000/h79774.jpg
I didn't want to post it because I couldn't figure out how many bytes were in the jpeg. - Tom
There was a thread recently about Marines and the Army, who took casualties, who was the bravest, etc. I recall though that the highest percentage of KIA in WWII was among the submariners -- something like 21%. Many of those lost will not be found in our lifetimes -- heroes who served so bravely and vanished without a trace. At least the families of these brave men have some closure.
Hard to read this with my eyes all blurry.
My father (who passed away in 1993) was in submarines in WWII. He was an Iowa farmboy living near a town of about 250-300 people and who had never been more than about 50 miles from home. He ended up in Australia and later, the Philippines, both a long, long way from home. He was in more than one submarine, but spent the most time in the Guavina.
He often said that he purposely chose submarines because he would either come back whole or would not come back at all. He lived his life that way. And, it could have happened to him. He told of a story of swapping duties with another sailor on a different sub who got in trouble on shore. That submarine never came back and neither did the guy who he swapped with. Of course, if that had happened to my father, I would not be here to type this.
He was very parsimonious with his stories about his service in WWII, but every one had a meaning and a moral. I believe I remember every one of them still.
"Cdr. Latta had previously made seven patrols as Commanding Officer of USS NARWHAL II (SS-167). Every patol made by this officer was designated successful for the award of combat insignia, a record surpassed by no commanding officer in the Submarine Force. "
Interesting - damn qualified officer. God bless his soul, and that of his men.
I don't know why it took so long to officially confirm that this was the Lagarto, seeing as how it was the only member of its class to be lost in that region, but I hope this might bring some measure of comfort for the families of these eighty-six men still out on eternal patrol.
Just saw your post. Thanks for sharing the information. Thoughts and prayers for the families.
This particular attack that sank the Lagarto and (I get a kick out of the phrase "chased away" that I have seen in accounts of this battle) left the Baya sitting on the bottom at silent running is one that my father related to me on more than one occasion. The truth of the matter is that the Japanese ship did achieve depth charge hits on the Lagarto, and nearly did the same with the Baya. If I recall correctly, my father told me that they had 55 depth charges within "damage range" of the Baya, and that in order to (hopefully) survive the attack, the skipper sat the old girl right down in the mud. Dad said the attack went on for hours, with everyone other than those that absolutely had to be at their duty stations lying in their bunks. Any movement within the boat was made on stocking feet only. The cook served peanut butter sandwiches because he couldn't risk making any noise in the galley. They stayed on the bottom until the attacking Japanese ship incorrectly assumed that the Baya had managed to slip out of the area. The Baya didn't leave until the "high speed screw" sounds had faded, meaning the attackers had left. Yes, the Baya left the area, but only after the attackers had moved on. She wasn't chased out of the area.
My father lost more than one friend on the Lagarto, and I think that to some extent, he carried a lot of "survivor's guilt" having been part of the altercation and then coming home after the war.
One thing I believe to be certain: (As told to me by a WW2 destroyer sailor) Being a submariner in WW2 "was the hardest way to make a living in the Navy in those days."
My dad told me that when he heard about how well the submarine sailors ate on board their boats, he jumped at the chance... He said he later realized the quality chow was probably to make up for all of the other things they had to contend with on a regular basis.
Dad left for eternal patrol 14 Oct 1993. But I know in my heart that he is in heaven and met up with a lot of old Navy buddies when he got there. We are losing our WW2 vets at a rate of 1000 per day - if you know one, or met one on the street, make sure to thank him. We owe more to that generation than we could ever repay.
Regards,
Raven6
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Note: this topic is from 8/12/2005. |
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