Pips & Blips

Latta’s Lancers and the Radar Pickets

subsowespac — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:08:17 +0000

On February 7, 1945, Commander Frank D. Latta led the way as Task Group 17.13, also known as Latta’s Lancers, headed for Empire waters to take out some pesky
Japanese radar boats. Commander Latta had previously captained the USS Narwhal on seven war patrols. Each of these patrols had been designated as successful for award of the submarine combat insignia. Latta’s new boat, the Manitowoc-built USS Lagarto, would be the Task Group’s flagship. The USS Haddock and USS Sennet would follow her to the Bonin Islands and Bungo Suido to silence the enemy’s forward-stationed radar warning pickets so Admiral Halsey’s carrier-based planes could reach the Japanese mainland undetected.

http://tiny.cc/657odw

USS Harder’s Maiden Voyage

subsowespac — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:50:31 +0000

Sixty-nine years ago today, the USS Harder (SS-257) began her maiden voyage from New London, Connecticut, to Pearl Harbor with the only captain she would ever know at the helm, Commander Sam Dealey. What should have been a routine passage to the Panama Canal and thence to the Pacific Ocean, would prove to be fraught with danger. When not yet a full day out of port, the Harder found herself beneath the midst of a very large friendly convoy en route to Great Britain. The American destroyers escorting the convoy deemed Harder’s periscope a present danger and one turned and headed for her with his sonar pinging steadily and his depth charges at the ready. The Harder ran silent and deep for over two hours. An attack from the destroyer never came, possibly because he could not get a good contact and did not want to waste his depth charges. Five days later while running surfaced to Panama through the waters of the Caribbean within a designated “safety lane” a lookout spotted an incoming PBY bomber about 5000 yards distant. The Harder flashed that day’s recognition signal from her Aldis lamps. The PBY bomber responded with machine gun fire along Harder’s starboard side. Dealey pulled the plug, ordering a crash dive and hard turn to port. As the boat submerged, the PBY dropped a bomb that gave the boat a good shaking. It dropped another that was not as close. No harm was done. The Harder and her crew were destined to achieve great things and become legends of the U. S. submarine force. Everything about this great submarine was special. Even her maiden voyage was unique.

Circular Torpedo Runs

subsowespac — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:34:01 +0000

Circular or wild running torpedoes were greatly feared by American submariners during World War II. When submerged, a submarine’s sonar operator was the first person to hear the terrifying sounds from a torpedo they had just fired as it unexpectedly turned hard left or right and then began to circle back to its source. When surfaced, it was usually the bridge team who first saw the incoming wakes from these wild-running harbingers of imminent destruction. We know for a fact that two submarines were destroyed this way – Tang and Tullibee. There were probably others – possibly Triton and Growler – but there is no conclusive evidence to support this assumption. We know it was a major problem for our submariners during the Pacific war. But how big was this problem? What was its scope? How many instances of circular runs were there? In an effort to get a handle on this issue, today I published on Subsowespac.org a presentation titled Circular Torpedo Runs Reported by United States Submarines During World War II. In it I list eleven instances I have come across in my research and reading, and which I have been able to verify in the submarines’ patrol reports or in United States Submarine Losses World War II. There are without doubt many other instances of circular runs which I have not yet come across. Therefore this presentation will be updated as I discover new and verifiable instances of “wild” torpedoes. I welcome your comments on and contributions to this list. I truly hope it becomes a cooperative effort with other people who share my interest in this topic.

http://tiny.cc/cs57cw

Fourth Patrol of the USS Grenadier

subsowespac — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:07:15 +0000

The USS Grenadier’s fourth war patrol would be its first with Lieutenant Commander Bruce L. Carr in command. Carr had been Grenadier’s Executive Officer for her first three patrols. He relieved Lieutenant Commander Willis A. Lent as Grenadier’s new skipper following her third war patrol, which had ended at Fremantle. Carr would captain Grenadier on her first war patrol in the Southwest Pacific Area. Would he meet Comtaskfor 51′s expectations and high standards?

http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/grenadier-files/uss-grenadier-fourth-war-patrol.shtml

The First Guerrilla Submarine

subsowespac — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:50:07 +0000

The first guerrilla submarine stood out of Brisbane on December 27, 1942, bound for the Philippine Islands, where she would land a small group of men who would begin the groundwork for Operation Planet – the establishment of a Philippines-wide radio, intelligence, and armed resistance network. With that mission accomplished, she would later almost be destroyed by depth charges dropped by one of the tokusetsu kanshitei or specially equipped guard boats the enemy was putting into service. With numerous damages throughout the boat including ten torpedo tubes out of commission, she managed to escape and perform a critical rescue mission on her way to Fremantle.

http://tiny.cc/c3axcw

First Patrol of the USS Snook

subsowespac — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 08:20:41 +0000

The first war patrol of the USS Snook (SS-279) spanned forty-two days at sea. Her principal assignment was to plant twenty-four mines in the Yangtze River delta. She would then search for enemy shipping in the East China Sea.

http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/snook-files/uss-snook-first-war-patrol.shtml

First Patrol of the USS Trigger

subsowespac — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 06:44:22 +0000

The USS Trigger (SS-237) headed to the land of perpetual snow and fog for her first war patrol, under the captaincy of “Pigboat Benny.”

http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/trigger-files/uss-trigger-first-war-patrol.shtml

First Patrol of the USS Tullibee

subsowespac — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:57:48 +0000

Commander Charles F. Brindupke (“Brindy”) was the Tullibee’s first captain. On July 19, 1943, he conned her out of Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol. Her orders were to patrol in an area off the western Caroline Islands, where she would hunt for enemy shipping in the vital shipping lanes running between Truk Lagoon and the Mariana Islands.

http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/tullibee-files/uss-tullibee-first-war-patrol.shtml

First Patrol of the USS Kete

subsowespac — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:44:04 +0000

On October 31, 1944, the USS Kete (SS-369), departed the submarine base at Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol. As part of task unit 17.1.26, she would conduct a cooperative patrol in the East China Sea and other nearby areas with the USS Sealion (SS-315).

http://www.subsowespac.org/world_war_ii_submarines/kete-files/uss-kete-first-war-patrol.shtml

Who Sank the Kaibokan CD-219?

subsowespac — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:23:04 +0000

The Fall 2011 edition of The Submarine Review has an article by Commander John D. Alden (USN–ret.) about a kaibokan named CD-219, a submarine named USS Carp, and a torpedo code-named “DOGY.”

http://www.subsowespac.org/the-patrol-zone/who-sank-the-kaibokan-cd-219.shtml