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Japan’s Underwater Aircraft Carriers – conclusion
American naval personnel inspect the hangar of a Japanese submarine aircraft carrier. The hangar tube was sealed by a two-inch-thick rubber gasket, and the hatch could be opened hydraulically from inside
By early 1945, the Japanese Navy had only 20 modern submarines left, including those in the Sen-toku squadron. Problems arose as the two available I-400 subs began test launching their Sieran planes. Each submarine was required to surface and get its three planes unlimbered and aloft within 30 minutes, but actual training showed that it took some 45 minutes.
Because of an increasing sense of urgency, the Japanese further modified their plans. A torpedo attack was ruled out because the pilots had not yet acquired the requisite skills. It was decided that each of the 10 planes designated for the Panama Canal mission would carry one 1,760-pound bomb, the largest in the Navy’s arsenal and similar to the one that sank the battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor
The departure date was set for mid-June. The Seiran pilots made practice bombing runs in Nanao Bay against a full-sized replica of the Gatun gates.
The fall of Iwo Jima in March 1945 and the American attack on Okinawa increased the angst among the Japanese planners as the Americans closed in on the home islands. The war had leaped ahead of the planners, and the slated attack on the Panama Canal was canceled. As noted, there were discussions about possibly using the planes in a surprise attack on San Francisco or Los Angles, but those, too, were put aside in favor of a plan to attack enemy carriers at Ulithi, a large staging area near the island of Truk in the Carolines that was used by the Americans.
Mail call on Ulithi, 1945
The two large subs were to proceed toward Ulithi independently for safety and then rendezvous near the target and launch the attack in mid-August. The I-13 never made it to Truk and was correctly presumed lost. The I-14 arrived at Truk on August 4, and its planes flew over Ulithi the following day.
Shortly thereafter word reached the submarines that an atomic bomb had destroyed Hiroshima, and on August 15 the Japanese seamen heard the broadcast from the emperor asking his warriors to lay down their arms. Subsequent orders from the homeland were confusing, with one commanding all submarine captains to execute their predetermined missions. On August 16, the underwater aircraft carriers received explicit orders that their planned attack on Ulithi had been canceled just hours before the I-401 was to launch its planes. The subs were ordered to Kure, and the I-401 turned course toward its fateful encounter with Lt. Cmdr. Johnson and the Segundo.
The Japanese eventually surrendered the I-401 and the other two remaining underwater aircraft carriers. Commander Ariizumi, the developer of the top secret subs, took his own life aboard the I-401 and was quietly buried at sea by the crew. Before encountering the Americans, Nambu had meticulously followed orders from Japan to raise the black flag of surrender and dispose of the vessel’s weapons, including the planes that were catapulted into the sea. Logbooks, code-books, and the like were loaded into weighted sacks and tossed overboard. The torpedoes were jettisoned, with one causing alarm as it circled back toward the large submarine before disappearing harmlessly into the depths.
The Japanese aircraft carrier submarines I-14, I-400, and I-401 are shown in Tokyo Bay at the end of the war. The submarines were destined to be sunk in Hawaiian waters during U.S. Navy torpedo tests.
The three submarines drew considerable attention when they made it back to Tokyo Bay. Many Americans initially believed the large hangars atop the subs had been designed to haul supplies to troops on distant islands despite the clearly observed catapults. The Americans did receive some assistance from the Japanese crews as they tried to comprehend the purpose of the extraordinary submarines, and by the end of September the Americans had taken the submarines out for cruises. However, none was taken underwater.
The submarines were then taken to Hawaii for further study. The U.S. Navy gleaned what it could from them, and then all three were deliberately sunk by early June 1946 to keep them away from the prying eyes of the inquisitive Soviets.
One of the Seirans did make it to the United States after the war and was eventually restored at an estimated cost of $1 million. It is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Although the U.S. Navy was somewhat dismissive of the massive submarines, it did take a keen interest in the sound-protective coatings used on the vessels.
There is little doubt that the I-400s were the strategic predecessors to today’s ballistic submarines, especially to the Regulus missile program begun about a decade after World War II that carried nuclear warheads inside waterproof deck hangars. In short, Yamamoto’s plan lived on with “new and improved” versions that helped the United States win the Cold War.
This has been condensed from: Phil Zimmer is a former newspaper reporter and a U.S. Army veteran. He writes on World War II topics from Jamestown, New York.
The wreck of IJN !-401 was located in March 2005.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Ronald D. Brown – Pembroke, KY; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
They stand on the line for us.
Richard E. Cole -(103) – Comfort, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Doolittle’s co-pilot, Lt. Colonel (Ret. 26 y.)
Robert Hendriks – Locust Valley, NY; USMC, Afghanistan, Cpl., 25th Marine Reg./4th Marine Division, KIA
Benjamin Hines – York, PA; USMC, Afghanistan, Sgt., 25th Marine Reg./4th Marine Division, KIA
Delmar Jones – Sesser, IL; US Army, WWII
Venizelos Lagos – Culpepper, VA; US Coast Guard, WWII
Virgil Patterson – FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Christopher Slutman – Newark, DE; USMC, Afghanistan, SSgt., 25th Marine Reg./4th Marine Division, KIA
Ly Tong – VIET; South Vietnam Air Force, Black Eagle Fighter Squadron, pilot, POW
Bryan Whitmer – Grand Rapids, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQS/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Japan’s Underwater Aircraft Carriers – part one
Lieutenant Commander Stephen L. Johnson had a problem on his hands; a very large problem. His Balao-class submarine, the Segundo, had just picked up a large radar contact on the surface about 100 miles off Honshu, one of Japan’s home islands, heading south toward Tokyo. World War II in the Pacific had just ended, and the ensuing cease fire was in its 14th day. The official peace documents would not be signed for several more days.
As Johnson closed on the other vessel, he realized it was a gigantic submarine, so large in fact that it first looked like a surface ship in the darkness. The Americans had nothing that size, so he realized that it had to be a Japanese submarine.
This was the first command for the lanky 29-year-old commander. He and his crew faced the largest and perhaps the most advanced submarine in the world. The Japanese I-401 was longer than a football field and had a surface displacement of 5,233 tons, more than three times the Segundo’s displacement. More troubling though was the sub’s bristling weaponry that included a 5.5-inch gun on her aft deck, three triple-barreled 25mm antiaircraft guns, a single 25mm gun mounted on the bridge, and eight large torpedo tubes in her bow.
During a brief ceremony aboard one of the aircraft carrier submarines, the Japanese naval ensign is lowered and replaced by the Stars and Stripes as the vessel is turned over to the control of the U.S. Navy after Japan’s surrender
The large sub displayed the mandatory black surrender flag, but when the Segundo edged forward, the Japanese vessel moved rapidly into the night. The movement and the continuing display of the Rising Sun flag caused concern. Johnson’s vessel pursued the craft that eventually slowed down as dawn approached. He brought his bow torpedo tubes to bear on the craft as the two vessels settled into a Mexican standoff.
Johnson and his crew had received permission by now to sink the reluctant Japanese vessel if necessary, but he realized he had a career-boosting and perhaps a technologically promising prize in his sights. Much depended on this untried American submarine captain and his wily opponent in the seas off Japan.
Little did Johnson know that the Japanese submarine was a part of the I-400 squadron, basically underwater aircraft carriers, and that the I-401 carried Commander Tatsunosuke Ariizumi, developer of the top-secret subs initially designed to strike the U.S. homeland in a series of surprise attacks. Ariizumi was considered the “father of the I-400 series” and a loyal follower of the emperor with years of experience in the Japanese Navy, so surrender was a disgrace he could not endure
Johnson also had to contend with Lt. Cmdr. Nobukiyo Nambu, skipper of the I-401, who traced his combat experience back to Pearl Harbor. He now commanded the world’s largest submarine designed to carry three state-of-the-art attack planes in a specially built hanger located atop the vessel. These secret Aichi M6A1 planes were initially designed for “a second Pearl Harbor” or another surprise attack, possibly even against New York City or Washington, D.C. The I-400 series submarines were themselves full of technological surprises. They were capable of traveling around the world one and a half times without refueling, had a top surface speed of 19 knots (or nearly 22 miles per hour), and could remain on patrol for four months, twice as long as the Segundo.
Neither Nambu nor Commander Ariizumi readily accepted the emperor’s surrender statement when it was broadcast on August 15. The subsequent communiqués from Tokyo were exceptionally confusing, especially Order 114, which confirmed that peace had been declared – but that all submarines were to “execute predetermined missions and attack the enemy if discovered.”
It was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of Japan’s Combined Fleet and developer of the Pearl Harbor attack, who called for the construction of the I-400 series some three weeks after Pearl Harbor. Once Japan was committed to war, he believed that submarine aircraft carriers dropping bombs “like rain” over major U.S. cities would surely cause the American people to “lose their will to fight.” A second surprise attack with even more to come would prove psychologically devastating to the Americans.
Yamamoto called for the construction of 18 of the massive submarines carrying a total of 36 attack planes. The name of the special submarine class was abbreviated to Sen-toku.
The attack planes had to be designed from scratch. The need for speed, range and a decent sized bomb payload required tradeoffs. The wings had to be foldable to fit inside the tube, or hangar, atop the submarine. The design work, testing, and building of the plane was outsourced to the Aichi Aircraft Company.
The I-400 program did have its detractors in the heavily bureaucratic Imperial Japanese Navy. After the defeat at Midway in early June 1942, Japan became more focused on defending the homeland and far less on possible attacks on the U.S. mainland using the large submarines. The death of Yamamoto in mid-April 1943, played further into the hands of conservative Japanese commanders. Cutbacks were ordered in the number of submarines to be built. .
The first test flight of the Aichi attack plane occurred on November 8, 1943. The plane, called Seiran or “storm from a clear sky,” reportedly handled fairly well as the world’s first sub-borne attack bomber. The Japanese began compiling limited available information on the heavily fortified Panama Canal. Their analysis showed that destroying the gate opening onto Gatun Lake would create a massive outpouring of water, destroying the other gates in its path while rushing toward the Caribbean Sea.
After weeks of planning, the Japanese came up with a strategy to attack the Gatun locks at dawn when the gates were closed and presumably the defenses were lax. The planners had nearly a full year to formulate the attack for early 1945. But there were problems ahead because none of the submarines were complete and the planes were not yet in the production stage.
I-400 Class submarine
The Japanese labored on, and by the end of 1944 the I-400 and the smaller I-13 were completed and turned over to the Navy. In early January 1945, the I-401 was commissioned and the I-14, the last of the underwater aircraft carriers, was put into service by mid-March 1945.
As an important aside, it should be noted that while preparations for the attack on the Panama Canal went forward, Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, vice-chief of the Naval General Staff, floated another idea for the use of the Sen-toku submarines. He suggested arming the Seiran planes with biological weapons to be unleashed against a populated area on the West Coast of the United States.
Dr. Shiro Ishii, Japan’s top virus expert and head of the Army’s notorious 731 unit in Manchuria, was consulted. He recommended that the planes drop plague-inflected fleas, something he had tested with success in China, on the United States with San Francisco, Los Angeles, or San Diego suggested as targets. The plan was discarded in late March by the head of the Army’s general staff who called it “unpardonable on humanitarian grounds.”
In effect, the Japanese Army, which had led the development of biological weapons and had tested them on Chinese and American captives, nixed the idea of using the weapons late in the war on American civilians, perhaps in the belief that the war was already lost.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Ernest Bargiel – Trafford, PA; US Army, WWII, medic
Alzena McNabb Bibb (99) – Corbin, KY; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Paul Copenhaver – Syracuse, NE; USMC, WWII, 3rd Marines
Ewell Foglemann – Dallas, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pfc, Co. C/112/5th Engineer Corps
Ada Kirk (100) – Waipukurau, NZ; RAF # 895704, WWII, Cpl.
Donald Lawson – Elgin, KS; US Navy, WWII
Meddie Mojica – Asis, Cavite, PI; Filipino guerrilla & US Navy, WWII
William T. O’Keefe – Broad Channel, NY; US Navy, WWII
Mark Smith – Indianapolis, IN; USMC, Iraq, Colonel (Ret. 32 y.)
Jesse Weber – Arvada, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot
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Submarine Warfare – July 1945
Submarine tender, USS Anthedon, Australia 1945
From: the true story of America’s “wolf packs” and “life guard” teams – “Sink ’em All”. by Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood Jr., USN. “Uncle Charlie” spent 39 years in submersibles.
My long-delayed visit to Admiral Fife’s command finally got underway in a PBM from Saipan, 20 July 1945. Cavite and Manila were pitiful to behold. These once beautiful and picturesque Spanish-built cities lay in ruins.
On the north shore of Subic Bay, 60 miles up the coast, I found Jimmie Fife building a submarine base and rest camp in jungles where, in bygone days, we hunted wild pig and deer. Two pile-built piers extended into the bay, while 2 American and 2 British tenders with submarines alongside, lay at anchor farther out.
Aboard the tender Anthedon, anchored off the Base, I found Cmdr. Dick Hawes, an old friend from earlier submarine days. Even this fine, new tender command was not big enough to absorb Dick’s energies, so he had salvaged a small Japanese freighter and had it moored alongside. Repair crews worked elbow to elbow on the decks and in machinery spaces preparing her to run rations and materials up from the Fleet Base at Leyte Gulf.
Welcome sign for Subic bay, estab. July 1945
That afternoon, I went aboard the British tender Bonaventure with Captain Fell in order to take a dive in one of the XE midget submarines. The midgets were training for a break into Singapore Harbor to lay mines and limpets under the heavy cruisers, IJN Myoko and Takao, which had taken refuge there after being heavily damaged by USS Darter and Bergall. They also intended to cut the Hong Kong-Singapore cable off Saigon.
When I arrived on Guam, Admiral Nimitz sent for me and again warned me to be prepared to divide up the Sea of Japan with Russia, as she was coming into the picture on 15 August. I took a poor view of the impending situation. We had skimmed the cream off the Sea of Japan and there would not be much of a job for anyone in those waters except to pick up dunked *zoomies, smuggle in commando troops and land secret agents. Already an OSS officer had approached me with a proposition to put agents ashore on the west coast of Korea.
British XE-Midget submarine
Cmdr. “Tiny” Lynch, during a patrol in June and July, played a dangerous game of ‘Hide and Seek’ with 2 Japanese frigates. On 1 July, on the west coast of Korea, in dense fog about noon, an enemy convoy headed for Japan headed straight for his submarine. He distributed 8 torpedoes among the 4 leading ships. The frigate passed firing “full battle practice” and somehow missed the sub.
While Tiny dove for deeper water, all 8 torpedoes were heard to hit and high periscope reported mushrooms of smoke. But the situation was far from being in hand. He had only 2 torpedoes left, and one of them was a new hush-hush weapon, this seemed an excellent opportunity to test it. It was sent on it’s way.
Time dragged by and nothing happened. Tiny was ready to head for more shallow waters, when back from the fog, came the sound of a heavy explosion, followed by depth charge explosions. The torpedo had missed the first target, but hit the second and as she sank, all her depth charges exploded. Two freighters and a frigate – not bad for 15 minutes work. The mine-detecting gear worked!
Japanese midget subs in dry dock, 1945
*zoomies – Aviator. Usually applied to USAF pilots. Stems from the USAF Academy – the “blue zoo” where civilians observe formations march to lunch daily from the chapel wall
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
‘I joined the navy to see the world and I spent four years on a submarine!’
Farewell Salutes –
George Herbert Walker Bush – CT, ME, W.TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO, youngest pilot, USS San Jacinto Avengers, D.F.C. / CIA / 41st President of the United States of America
Dominic Calabrese – Bronxville, NY; US Army, 1st Lt.
Herbert Davidson – Pittsburgh, PA; US Navy, corpsman
Troy Fultz – Green Forrest, AR; US Army, WWII, Bronze Star
Hub Gray – CAN; RC Army, Korea, LT., 6/C Co./ 2nd Batt./Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
James Harvey – New Haven, CT; US Navy, WWII / US Army, Korea
Carl King – Norwalk, OH; US Merchant Marines / US Army, WWII
Thomas (Bucky) O’Brien – Broad Channel, NY; US Army, Vietnam
Scott Stearney – Chicago, IL; US Navy, Middle East, Vice Admiral, Commander of Naval Forces Central Command
Edward Vetting – Manitowoc, WI; US Army, WWII, ETO
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Intermission Story (7) – Submarines of the Pacific War
USS Tang (SS-563) -Balao-class; sank 33 ships. Was sunk in Oct.’44, 9 survived using momsen lung, 78 lost
During the war, submarines of the United States Navy were responsible for 55% of Japan’s merchant marine losses; other Allied navies added to the toll. The war against shipping was the single most decisive factor in the collapse of the Japanese economy. Allied submarines also sank a large number of IJA troop transports, killing many thousands of Japanese soldiers and hampering the deployment of IJA reinforcements during the battles on the Pacific islands.
USS Barb – Gato-class, sank 17 enemy vessels.
They also conducted reconnaissance patrols, landed special forces and guerrilla troops and performed search and rescue tasks, especially in the Philippines. The majority of the submarines involved were from the U.S. Navy, with the British Royal Navy committing the second largest amount of boats and the Royal Netherlands Navy contributing smaller numbers of boats.
The Allied submarine campaign is one of the least-publicized feats in military history, due in large part to the efforts of Allied governments to ensure their own submarines’ actions were not reported in the media.
USS Nautilus – Narwhal-class; Asia-Pacific Medal w/ 14 battle stars.
However, the U.S. Navy was poorly prepared for a submarine war against commerce. Although a few officers had anticipated such a role, in spite of the the prize rules, the submarine service had not trained for it. U.S. submarines were plagued by defective torpedoes during the first two years of war, whose faults were due in part to the design emphasis on their use against heavily armored warships. However, once the faults were remedied, the submarines sank over half the ships of the Japanese merchant marine.
USS Bowfin (SS-287) – Balao-class; sank 18 vessels; now a museum in Hawaii.
American submarines also enjoyed significant successes against warships, accounting for six fleet carriers. three escort carriers, a battleship, twelve cruisers, over 40 destroyers, and numerous lesser warships and auxiliaries. An estimated 182,000 Japanese soldiers were lost at sea from sunken transports. This was accomplished at a relatively low cost. Of the naval powers that constructed significant submarine forces, the Americans suffered the lowest casualties in the Second World War: 52 American submarines were lost, versus 74 British submarines lost, 90 Italian submarines lost, 128 Japanese submarines lost, and nearly 800 German U-boats sunk. The 374 officers and 3131 men killed in American submarine operations constituted 13% of the submarine sailor corps, or over 1 in 7.
USS Sailfish – Sargo-class; originally the sunken USS Squalus.
During the air strikes preceding the Gilberts invasion, the Pacific Fleet experimented with deploying submarines near target atolls to rescue downed aviators. This proved so successful that the deployment of lifeguard submarines became a standard feature of carrier strike planning for the remainder of the war.
USS Wahoo (SS-238) – Gato-class; sunk by Japanese aerial bomb Oct.’43, awarded 6 battle stars
The Japanese Navy did not even establish an antisubmarine warfare school until March 1944. Convoying was adopted rather late in the war and too few ships and planes were assigned to escort duty. Japanese depth charges were too small and were usually set too shallow, at least until one of the stupidest men* to ever darken the doors of Congress blurted out in a press conference why American submarines were able to evade counterattack. The Japanese did make effective use of minefields and developed a working airborne magnetic anomaly detector (Jikitanchiki).
* Andrew Jackson May (June 24, 1875 – September 6, 1959) was a Kentucky attorney, an influential New Deal-era politician, and chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee during WWII, infamous for his rash disclosure of classified naval information that may have resulted in the losses of up to ten American submarines and up to 800 sailors, and his subsequent conviction for bribery. May was a Democratic member of the US House of representatives.
The boats shown are merely examples of the submarines we had in the Pacific. The article subject was requested by 56Packardman. Thank you for suggesting it. The information here was retrieved from the US Navy.gov, “Submarines of the World” by Robert Jackson and Wikipedia.
For those even more interested in submarines, our fellow blogger, The Lean Submariner, has many a sea going tale to tell you – ENJOY!
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Homer Buck – Mesa, AZ; US Army, WWII, 34th Infantry Div., Silver Star, Purple Heart
Benjamin Capua – Somers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII & Korea, 11th Airborne Division, Purple Heart
Paul Jarchow – IA; US Army, WWII, ETO, radioman
James Hough – Miami, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Morton West – Newton, MA; US Army, WWII, Purple Heart
The remaining six Marines to be identified from the Mississippi crash…
Robert Cox – Ventura, CA; USMC, SSgt.
Sean Elliott – San Diego, CA; USMC, Captain
Caine Michael Goyette — Waterford, CT; USMC, KC-130T Hercules Comdr., Major (22 yrs.)
Chad Jensen – Redondo Beach, CA; USMC, Sgt.
Owen Lennon – Pomona, NY; USMC, Sgt.
Collin Schaaff – Pierce County, WA; USMC, Corporal
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Tribute – Ernest V. Plantz, USN
Ernest Plantz
GROTON, Conn. (Tribune News Service) — A standing-room-only crowd of veterans, family, friends and fellow shipmates in the U.S. Navy jammed the Noank Baptist Church on Saturday to remember the life of Ernest V. Plantz, a recipient of a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and his “love, strength and courage.” Plantz, one of the first inductees to the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, died on Dec. 19 at his Gales Ferry home at age 95.
He spent three-and-a-half years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp after he and others on the crew of the USS Perch were captured. Plantz weighed just 80 pounds when he was freed and needed 10 months in a Navy hospital to recuperate, yet went on to serve for 30 years in the Navy as soon as he was able.
He retired at the rank of lieutenant as director of advanced engineering at the Naval Submarine School in Groton.
“Ernie was a bullheaded, stubborn person, yet he was filled with love for all,” Jack Gallimore, base chaplain of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Groton Base, told an overflow crowd at the church. Gallimore said he always made it a point to get a hug from Plantz whenever he could.
“I will miss that,” Gallimore said.
Two dozen submarine veterans in uniform stood in Plantz’ honor at the front of the church. Trumpeters played “Taps” and “Reveille.”
Caroline Plantz, Ernie Plantz’ wife, said she thought her husband had suffered some hard knocks in life, but “he always said that he had a good life,” she said.
Plantz’ daughter, Nancy Grant, remembered her father as a humble, thoughtful and loyal dad who loved to garden, paid homage to his southern roots while cooking and delighted in a good prank.
She recalled how his hugs let his children know they were loved, and that when things were tough, “Dad always believed that things would get better.”
The Rev. Kevin Bedford, of Progressive Baptist Church, described how Plantz touched his life. Bedford recalled he once considered resigning the Navy, and told Plantz. “I gave him my resignation, and he ripped it up and said, ‘Call me when you make commander,’” Bedford said. So Bedford did, and called Plantz.
Then, when Bedford’s father died, Plantz said to him, “I bet you didn’t know you had a second dad.”
USS Perch, first submarine sunk by the Japanese.
The Perch was on its second war patrol when a Japanese destroyer escort forced it to submerge and was joined by other Japanese ships that dropped depth charges on it.
The sub was badly damaged but not destroyed because it sank into a muddy bottom. But the attack continued.
Then later, when the sub surfaced, the crew realized it could not submerge again. Plantz found himself in the water with his 59 shipmates, McHale said.
Seeing the USS Perch sink for the final time was, in Plantz’ words, “like watching your house burn,” McHale said.
Yet even after the misery that followed Plantz’ capture, he returned to service on submarines. “The man had a huge heart,” McHale said. McHale said his oldest son interviewed Plantz for an English course once, and asked Plantz a question: Knowing he would be captured, spend three years in a POW camp and be tortured, would he still have joined the Navy?
Plantz told him absolutely.
Ernest Plantz
d.straszheim@theday.com
©2016 The Day (New London, Conn.)
Visit The Day (New London, Conn.) at http://www.theday.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Current News –
Remains of Korea War MIA to be buried
After 75 years, remains of 5 USS Oklahoma sailors are identified
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Everett Armstrong – Vona, CO; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Leslie Beck – Oklahoma City, OK; US Army, Vietnam
Stephen ‘Skip’ Bignell – Whangarei, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 47003 & 44904, WWII, J Force Squadron
Gerard Fromm – Juno Beach, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Virgil Lanpher – Thorntown, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 127th Engineers/11th Airborne
Warren McDonough – Central City, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Kenneth Olsen – Windsor, CAN; Canadian Merchant Navy, WWII
Donald Reeve – Oakdale, MN; US Navy, WWII
David Stewart – Auburn, AL; US Air Force, Korea, Distinguished Flying Cross
Ken Williamson – Gympie Qld., AUS; RA Air Force # 022971, Squadron Leader
Try to keep in your thoughts that this year is the 25th Anniversary of the Gulf War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
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Japanese Sub on Kiska
A-type Midget submarine ( Ko-hyoteki 甲標的甲型
Members of the USA Fish and Wildlife Service from their research ship called “Tiglax” visited the Aleutian island of Kiska in June 2015 to investigate the rusting hulk of a Japanese midget submarine left lying in the grass of the island since the Second World War.
The submarine left on Kiska is an A-type midget, 78 feet long. Its shape is unusual in resembling an orca or killer whale. The Japanese had transported six such subs to the island in July 1942. Similar midget submarines were used in the Pearl Harbor attack further south. The submarines moved to Kiska were actually sent there when their intended destination, the Midway Atoll, was lost to the USA.
From time to time, scientists and archaeologists spend time on Kiska and other Aleutian islands to document the fauna, flora and historical artifacts there. One archaeologist, Debra Corbett, lived on the island for several weeks in 2014. She and Richard Galloway, another researcher on the island, described the submarine on the website of the Aleutian Island Research Group, which brings together researchers who focus on the island chain.
Corbett described how claustrophobic it must have been for the men who crewed these tiny subs. A pair of men would just manage to squeeze into the space. War historians have even likened the sub to a torpedo, so it was like a large torpedo which could fire a smaller one. It is possible for visitor to the island to squeeze into the rusty submarine to get a sense of how it must have felt to the Japanese crew.
There is a lot of other evidence left behind on Kiska by the Japanese. Where the hulk of the submarine is lying, there is a rail structure, which would have been used to help guide the submarines in and out of the water. There are some sheds which were used to conceal the subs. There is an underground hospital. Corbett points out that the Japanese defenses were quite substantial, with anti-aircraft batteries in the valleys. There was also a seaplane base. In the end, the Japanese stayed for only fourteen months, but these structures show that they had intended to stay longer, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.
The USA re-occupied the island in August 1943. They expected resistance but discovered that the Japanese had slipped away. They had used explosive charges to render the submarines unusable before they left. Eventually all but one of the six were destroyed or sunk in the island’s small harbour. Galloway has written that the cold subarctic climate of the Aleutians has slowed corrosion of the metal objects, but eventually even this last submarine will rust entirely away.
Article from: Warhistory online and Traces of War.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
Young submariners learn quickly to heed all signs!!
SIGN reads: “SECURED! Sanitation tanks under pressure!
EMPTY LAUNCH TUBE? I don’t know where it went… Let’s check CNN…
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Farewell Salutes –
James Crawford – E.Concord, NY; US Navy, Bahrain, Cmdr, KIA
Gavin Ferguson – Edmonton, CAN; RC Army, WWII, Signal Corps
“Tribute to Courage” by Rich Thistle
David Jackman – Newcastle, AUS; RA Army, Vietnam
Lewis Jennings – Colby, KS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Medical/188th/11th Airborne Div.
Leonard Larsen – Beloit, WI; US Army, WWII,Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Matthew McClintock – Des Moises, WA; US Army, Afghanistan, SSgt., KIA
Richard Newdick – Whakatame, NZ; Z Special Force # 636815, WWII
Vernon Orr – Chandler, OK; US Army, WWII, Mechanic
Christian Rivera – Miami, FL; USMC, Afghanistan, Cpl., KIA
Kiernan Wimmer – Elizabeth City, NC; USMC, 1st Marine Special Ops Batt.
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The Maine Potato Incident
USS O’Bannon
USS O’Bannon (DD-450) Eye Witness Account — Ernie Herr
We approached rapidly and were preparing to ram the sub. Our captain and other officers on the bridge were trying to identify the type of sub and decided, at the last minute, that it could be a mine layer. Not wanting to blow up ourselves along with the sub, the decision was made that ramming was not a wise move. At the last moment, the rudder was swung hard to avoid a collision and we found ourselves in a rather embarrassing situation as we sailed along side of the Japanese submarine.
Plaque given to the O’Bannon
On board the sub, Japanese sailors, wearing dark shorts and dinky blue hats, were sleeping out on deck. In what could be considered a rude awaking, they sat up to see an American destroyer sailing along side. Our ship however, was far too close to permit our guns lowered enough to fire and since no one on deck carried a gun, not a shot was heard. Ditto on the Japanese sub, no one there had a gun either. In this situation, no one seemed sure of the proper course of action and it probably would not have been covered in the manual anyway. Therefore everyone just stared more or less spellbound.
The submarine was equipped with a 3-inch deck gun and the sub’s captain finally decided that now was probably a good time to make use of it. As the Japanese sailors ran toward their gun, our deck parties reached into storage bins that were located nearby, picked out some potatoes and threw them at the sailors on the deck of the sub. A potato battle ensued. Apparently the Japanese sailors thought the potatoes were hand grenades. This kept them very busy as they try to get rid of them by throwing them back at the O’Bannon or over the side of the sub. Thus occupied, they were too busy to man their deck gun which gave us sufficient time to put a little distance between our ship and the sub.
Finally we were far enough away to bring our guns to bear and firing commenced. One of our shells managed to hit the sub’s conning tower but the sub managed to submerge anyway. At that time our ship was able to pass directly over the sub for a depth charge attack. Later information showed that the sub did sink. When the Association of Potato Growers of Maine heard of this strange episode, they sent a plaque to commemorate the event. The plaque was mounted in an appropriate place near the crews mess hall for the crew to see. Well, it was the crew’s battle.
The story was picked up by the papers back in the States and, shortly thereafter, a full blown account of the event was covered by a story in the READERS DIGEST. Conversations with a crew member that served years later revealed that, while the plaque was still located in the crew’s mess hall, no one seemed to pay much attention to it nor knew much about it. I guess the crew was interested in making history but not particularly interested studying it.
This story was taken from The Destroyer History Foundation.
Click on images to enlarge and read.
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Military Humor –
“I have to hold on a moment. I need to get rid of my sea legs.”
“I really need to update my black book better after each voyage.”
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Blagrove – NZ; NZ Army, WWII, 34th BattalionGeorge Cassman – Warsaw, MO; US Navy, WWII, KOrea & Vietnam, Chief Petty Off.
Kate (Golden) Dedick – Rumson, NJ; US Army Nursing Corps, WWII, ETO, 4th Aux. Surgical Grp., Bronze Star
Elmer Du Bose – Montgomery, AL; US Army Air Corps/A.F. (Ret. 28 yrs), WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Chief MSgt.
Thomas Emery – Poway, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne
Calvin Ernst – Lexington, KY; US Army, Vietnam, MASH unit
John Murdock – Norton, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 675th Artillery
Pat Murphy – W.AUS; RA Army, WWII
George Schweitzer – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII
Peter Tantillo – Tappan, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 187th Reg/11th A/B
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June 1942 (5)
Dauntless divebombers from the USS Hornet approach the burning cruiser IJN Mikuma
Continued from Monday’s post ____
At approximately 1030 hours, the Japanese ships were located by the US aircraft and found to have aircraft, munitions and fuel on their decks. Ensign George Gay would be the sole survivor of those planes. He watched as his squadron leader, Lt. John C. Waldron, being true to his part Sioux Indian instinct rather than his briefing, did in fact locate the enemy (despite their change in direction). Gay related, “He went straight for the Japanese fleet as if he had a string tied to them.” Waldron was last seen attempting to bail out of his flaming plane.
Chunks were being torn from Gay’s aircraft as he dove and released his torpedo. Gay said, “I could see the Japanese captain jumping up and down and raising hell, I could see the deck full of gas hoses and planes.” That was just before he pancaked into the ocean and only inflated his life raft after the Akagi turned north. Gay was picked up the following day. (Newspaper article on Gay in a forthcoming post that further describes his 24 hours in the ocean.)
Burning oil tanks on Midway
Turning north saved Nagumo from 35 dive bombers that had come off the Hornet and were unable to locate the ship. But Lt. Clarence McClusky and his 37 Dauntless pilots from the Enterprise did. They went into a 70-degree dive and locked onto the Akagi, Soryu and the Kaga. The six minute attack had paralyzed that part of the enemy’s naval defense.
The Soryu was nearly getting her fires under control when the US submarine Nautilus put 2 torpedoes in her and she sank at 1900 hours. The Akagi was abandoned and torpedoed by one of her own destroyers. The Hiryu, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers and a dozen destroyers remained to continue on the fight.
As the Japanese Strike Force sought revenge, the USS Yorktown was bombed, ground crews on Midway fought off air attacks and opposing aircraft met in the skies. The IJN Hiryu limped away like a floating torch, but she would later be discovered for a second strike.
Midway Atoll
Admiral Yamaguchi and Captain Kaku gave their men a farewell speech before ordering the men to abandon ship. They proceeded to sing the traditional Kimigayo anthem, drank the ceremonial cups of water and then went below deck to commit seppuku. The ship was located the following morning with 70 men still on board; after they were taken off, the ship was destroyed.
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Military Humor –
courtesy of Chris @ Muscleheaded.wordpress.com/
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Farewell Salutes –
Frances “Fritz” Bitters – Menomonee Falls, WI, US Army, WWII
Michael Davis – San Antonio, TX; US Army, West Point ’51, Col. (ret.), Korea, Bronze Star & Vietnam, 165th Aviation Group
George Deason – Toronto, CAN; RC Air Force, Cpl., WWII
Edward Farnsworth – Idaho Falls, ID; US Army, Korea, Bronze Star
Colin Gray – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Air Force, WWII, Spitfire pilot, top ace, No. 43rd & 54th Sq.
Robert Horey – Addison, NY & FL; US Army, WWII, Lt. Col. (Ret.), Korea, Vietnam, artillery corps
William LaGrange – Little Rock, AR; US Air Force (Ret. 21 years)
Ron Marshall – Hastings, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 75239
Angelo Mindolo – Secaucus, NJ; US Navy & US Air Force
Dominic “Rich” Noreikis – Jupiter, FL; US Army, SSgt T-3
Alfred Williams – Crofton, MD; US Army (Ret. 30 years), 1st Air Cavalry
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SHOUT OUT – to the Arkansas veterans – I’m waiting to hear from you!
What will you tell your grandchildren?
IN HONOR OF MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH
Here is a thought provoking post that partly explains why I do my own posts week after week. I hope you enjoy Patrick’s site as much as I do.
All of us will leave a legacy when we pass to the next world. Some will be lengthy and some will be rather modest. I am at the age where I read the obituaries in the local paper. Its kind of ghoulish in a way since I am not from here and really don’t know any of the names or families. But I like to see the written stories of people who lived a full life as well as those who have been tragically taken before their time.
I especially like to read the stories with American Flags printed right above their names. For the last few years, there have been more and more and their stories could fill whole books. They served in the European Theater, the Pacific campaign, D-day, the Battle of the Bulge, the Philippines and on and on. They wore Army or Air Corps green, Navy…
View original post 729 more words
Mainland Attacks – East Coast
German sub, U-215, underwater
The photograph above is the German U-boat U-215, first discovered in July 2004 off of Nova Scotia, Canada’s southern coast. This boat was credited with sinking the USS ‘Alexander Macomb.’ From 1939 until V-E Day, Canada’s Atlantic coast ports were extremely important to the resupply effort for the United Kingdom and later for the combined Allied offensive. There were frequent attacks by the German U-boats on the departing ships, especially after the United States entered the war. The submarines started battling along the east coast and the gulf from early 1942 through to the end of the shipping season of 1944. The American coast was an easy target for the enemy U-boats after Germany declared war on the U.S. Until the blackouts were enforced in May 1942, shipping vessels were silhouetted against such major towns as Atlantic City. This caused 348 ships to be sunk from February to May; with the loss of only two U-boats. Many attribute this to Admiral Ernest King who was adverse to the British recommendation of using convoys, also because the U.S. Navy did not have enough escort vessels for the job. British and Canadian warships were transferred to the American east coast. 8 April 1942, German U-boat, U-123, commanded by Lt. Commander Reinhard Hardegen, spotted the oil tanker “Oklahoma” silhouetted against a blazing shore off St. Simons Island, GA. His torpedo ran hot and true. He also later hit the “Brunswick”, sank the Esso “Baton Rouge” and one more the following morning.
Cabot Tower, Canada
There were five significant attacks on Newfoundland in 1942 alone. 3 March, U-587 fired three torpedoes; one hit Fort Amherst and two more hit the cliffs of Signal Hillbelow Cabot Tower. Later, U-boats attacked four iron ore carriers at Wabana on Bell Island. Several ships were torpedoed within sight of U.S. cities like New York and Boston. Civilians were able to watch the battles between those ships. 5 May 1945, the German U-boat U-853 attacked and sank the collier ‘Black Point’ off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. Navy dropped depth charges where they believed the submarine was and the following day they spotted an oil slick and debris in the area. The site has since become a popular dive site 130 feet deep off Block Island, Rhode Island. Another wreck discovered and identified as U-869 was found off New Jersey in 1997.
Gun at Fort Amhurst
In Florida, the Civil Air Patrol had a Piper Cub patrolling at a low altitude along the Palm Beach coast (as many other cities had) and on one occasion, the 55-year-old pilot swooped down for a closer look at something he felt was unusual and he was fired on – it was a German submarine. The plane received enough damage to force him to return to the airfield. This is probably the only American plane downed by enemy fire in the continental U.S. history.
The Black Point, sunk by U-853
Miami, Florida, for some reason, was not required to comply with the block-out rules and the lights could be seen for miles out to sea. The German U-boats used them to sink the freighters within sight of shore. As air cover and convoys were introduced, the activity in the Atlantic subsided and the U-boats moved into the Gulf of Mexico. In this body of water, the Germans concentrated on the oil tankers leaving Texas and Louisiana. During 1942 and 1943, there were twenty known U-boats in this area which are credited with sinking 56 ships, such as the ‘Virginia,’ a 10,731 ton Turbine tanker on 12 May ’42, at the mouth of the Mississippi River by U-507. This event caused 26 crewmen casualties and 14 survived. Again, once defensive measures were finally introduced, ships sunk decreased and U-boats sunk increased. The U-166 lies in 5,000 feet of water about one mile from her last victim, the SS ‘Robert E. Lee,’ sunk by depth charges from her naval escort. There were actual landings by German U-boats, but that information brings us to our next category of – spies and sabotage. For a more complete listing for the ships check: http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1635.html
An updated story sent in by Argus, finally vindicates a heroic Captain ___
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Farewell Salutes –
Gone but not forgotten
Thurman Richard Hicks – Parkesburg, W. VA. & Greenacres, FL; U.S. Army Carl Vincent Hoffman – Cincinnati, Ohio & Boynton Bch., FL.; USMC John Gutjahr – No. Bergen, NJ; U.S. Army David C. McDonald – Brooklyn, NY & Lake Worth, FL; U.S. Navy in WWII and Korean War; 20 years with FDNY Sheldon Krubiner – Lawrence, NY & Boynton Bch., FL.; U.S. Navy WWII William Anthony Wilder – Detroit, MI & Jupiter, FL.; U.S. Army corporal in Korean War Vernon Lee Kaiser – Evansville, Ill. & Inverness, Fl; Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Ranger, Korean and Vietnam Wars Hurant “Tavy” Tavetian – Ohio, N.Y. and Fla.; U.S. Navy WWII Irving V. Gerstein – NYC, NY & Palm Beach, FL; Captain in U.S. Army Air Corps, WWII Pacific Theater #####################################################################################
