Posted on 08/17/2006 2:06:15 PM PDT by knighthawk
MOSCOW - Russian divers have spotted the wreckage of a legendary U.S. submarine that was lost in the Pacific in 1943, a Russian news agency reported Thursday.
The ITAR-Tass news agency said that a diving team from the Far Eastern State Technological University in Vladivostok found the USS Wahoo in the La Perouse Strait and took pictures of it during a recent expedition. It didn't give further details.
Under the command of Dudley "Mush" Morton, the Wahoo became one of the most famous U.S. submarines of World War II. With 19 Japanese ships sunk, Morton was ranked as one of the war's top three sub skippers.
The Wahoo was sunk by the Japanese navy as it returned from its seventh patrol on Oct. 11, 1943. All 79 crewmen died.
Yes, fifty-two US subs are listed on eternal patrol. Two were sunk by friendly fire, two were lost in training accidents, one was accidentally rammed and sunk by her escort, four were lost due to grounding, and forty-three were lost due to enemy action.
Awesome! RIP. That's a great relief to their families. Here’s hoping someone runs across the USS Growler which is the final resting place of my uncle Eugene (grandfather’s brother)
http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/rothenberger-e-w.htm
Thanks for that! I had to sing along while I read it, can never remember all the verses. One of my favorite hymns. Scared the cat, but I enjoyed it! ;}
My cats start hiding as soon as I start tuning up.
La Perouse got around, there is a series of NW Hawaiian islands named after him, and a beach on Maui.
That model is unbelievable. Torpedoes? Diesel engine sounds?
One WW2 submarine officer told me that the most dangerous cruise he ever made was the one from New London to the Panama Canal.
R.I.P....
They were all just looking for someplace else to live.
Kane had the "Tang", right?
Interesting! I would also suggest the possibility that the Wahoo was deliberately running the strait on the surface. There was a US wolfpack that did just that in 1945. They figured the best way out of the Japanese ASW net was a night run @ flank speed. Every sub made it through. The commodore figured that crawling submerged on depleted batteries there was a good chance they'd be trapped.
Pictures of the wreck might suggest a cause for the sinking. We'll probably never have more than a informed guess, however.
US Navy history site on the Wahoo:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-w/ss238.htm
Hey! I recognize that boat!. I worked on the restoration of the Bowfin in the late seventies.
Their Jesuits were in a class of their own for the risks and advancements they were willing to make.
I agree. Even if there was torpedo damage, the undisputed Japanese ASW recods show that the Wahoo was worked over pretty thoroughly. I'm not sure the truth would ever be known short of raising her, which is never going to happen.
Yes. It's in my library.
Full-Power, Active Ping
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