USS TANG SS 306

USS TANG SS 306 Balao Class

October 24, 1944. Sunk by own torpedo. 78 men lost.

From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Tang
Any surgeonfish, especially of the several West Indian species.

(SS-306: dp. 1,526 (surf.), 2,424 (subm.); l. 311'9"; b. 27'3"; dr. 15'3"; s. 20 k. (surf.), 9 k. (subm.); cpl. 66; a. 1 5", 1 40mm., 1 20mm., 10 21" tt.; cl. Balao)

During her fifth and final war patrol in the Formosa Strait, on the morning of October 24, 1944, Tang began patrolling at periscope level. She surfaced at dark and headed for Turnabout Island. On approaching the island, the submarine's surface search radar showed so many blips that it was almost useless. Tang soon identified a large convoy which contained tankers with planes on their decks and transports with crated planes stacked on their bows and sterns. As the submarine tracked the Japanese ships along the coast, the enemy escorts became suspicious, and the escort commander began signaling with a large searchlight. This illuminated the convoy, and Tang chose a large three-deck transport as her first target, a smaller transport as the second, and a large tanker as the third. Their ranges varied from 900 to 1,400 yards. After firing two torpedoes at each target, the submarine paralleled the convoy to choose its next victims. She launched stern torpedoes at another transport and tanker aft. As Tang poured on full speed to escape the gunfire directed at her, a destroyer passed around the stern of the transport and headed for the submarine. The tanker blew up, and a hit was seen on the transport. A few seconds later, the destroyer blew up, either from intercepting Tang's third torpedo or from shell fire of two escorts closing on the beam. Only the transport remained afloat, and it was dead in the water. The submarine cleared to 10,000 yards, rechecked the last two torpedoes which had been loaded in the bow tubes, and returned to finish off the transport. The 23d torpedo was fired at 900 yards and was observed running hot and straight. The last torpedo was fired. It broached and curved to the left in a circular run. Tang fishtailed under emergency power to clear the turning circle of the torpedo, but it struck her abreast the after torpedo room approximately 20 seconds after it was fired. Tang sank by the stern. Those who escaped the submarine were greeted in the morning with the bow of the transport sticking straight out of the water. Nine survivors, including the commanding officer, were picked up the next morning by a Japanese destroyer escort. They spent the remainder of the war in prison camps.

During her career, Tang was officially credited with sinking 24 Japanese ships which totaled 93,824 tons. Tang was struck from the Navy list on February 8, 1945. Tang received four battle stars and two Presidential Unit Citations for World War II service. Her commanding officer, Richard O'Kane, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for Tang's final action.