by James Scott
Heavy fog and clouds: Ibid., pp. 151–57; Polmar, Aircraft Carriers, vol. 1, 1909–1945, pp. 231–39; Chester Nimitz to Ernest King, June 28, 1942, Battle of Midway; USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 58–60.
A bomb hit: Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2005), pp. 241–42; Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya, Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, The Japanese Navy’s Story (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1992), p. 213.
Captain Mitsuo Fuchida: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. xxi, 142.
“There was a huge”: Ibid., p. 213.
American planes dove: Parshall and Tully, Shattered Sword, pp. 248–52; Polmar, Aircraft Carriers, vol. 1, 1909–1945, p. 239; Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 219–23; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 156–57.
Nagumo’s chief of staff: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 213–15.
Hiryu turned: Ibid., pp. 226–27.
Radar operators on Yorktown: Elliot Buckmaster to Chester Nimitz, June 18, 1942, Report of Action for June 4, 1942 and June 6, 1942.
an American search plane: Chester Nimitz to Ernest King, June 28, 1942, Battle of Midway.
Two dozen dive-bombers: Ibid.; George Murray to Chester Nimitz, June 8, 1942, Report of Battle of Midway Island, June 4–6, 1942; Marc Mitscher to Chester Nimitz, June 13, 1942, Report of Action—4–6 June 1942; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 157.
Hidden by the afternoon sun: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 231–33; Parshall and Tully, Shattered Sword, pp. 324–27.
Sword in hand: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 223–24.
Kaga vanished: Ibid., p. 221.
Japanese destroyers torpedoed: Ibid., pp. 217–18.
Hiryu suffered: Ibid., pp. 232–35.
“I shall remain”: Ibid., p. 233.
Yorktown in contrast: Elliot Buckmaster to Chester Nimitz, June 18, 1942, Report of Action for June 4, 1942 and June 6, 1942; Arnold True to Chester Nimitz, June 16, 1942, Action Report, 4–6 June, 1942.
The Japanese submarine: Ibid.; Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 257–60; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 161–62; Chester Nimitz to Ernest King, June 28, 1942, Battle of Midway.
In the predawn hours: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 162; Elliot Buckmaster to Chester Nimitz, June 18, 1942, Report of Action for June 4, 1942 and June 6, 1942; Chester Nimitz to Ernest King, June 28, 1942, Battle of Midway.
Midway had proven a success: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 174–89.
The submarine force’s potential big break: Ibid., pp. 184–85; Nautilus Report of First War Patrol, July 16, 1942.
Postwar analysis: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 219–20, 224.
Lookouts on the Tambor: Ibid., pp. 255–57, 262, 264–68; Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 186–88; Tambor Report of Third War Patrol, June 17, 1942; Parshall and Tully, Shattered Sword, pp. 345–48, 369–72, 375–81.
“many unidentified ships”: Tambor Report of Third War Patrol, June 17, 1942.
While the skipper: Ibid.; Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, p. 187; Blair, Silent Victory, pp. 246–47.
Midway had cost: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 60.
Despite his superiority: Fuchida and Okumiya, Midway, pp. 250–53.
“But how can we apologize”: Ibid, p. 252.
“Leave that to me”: Ibid.
The decisive June 1942 battle: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 60.
“How brilliant”: Matome Ugaki diary, Dec. 31, 1942, in Ugaki, Fading Victory, pp. 318–19.
The submarine Sargo: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 2, pp. 697–710; Sargo Report of First War Patrol, Jan. 29, 1942; History of the USS Sargo (SS-188), Sept. 27, 1957, Navy Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Division of Naval History (Op-29), Ships’ Histories Section; The Reminiscences of Admiral James Fife (New York: Columbia University Oral History Research Office, 1962), pp. 247–50.
“Not one of the attacks”: Drum Report of Third War Patrol, Nov. 16, 1942.
Rather than investigate: Lockwood, Sink ’Em All, pp. 20–22.
As boats returned: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 2, pp. 716–21.
Morale plummeted: Ibid., pp. 727–30.
The forty-five-year-old: Admiral James Fife, Jr., Navy Bio, Nov. 14, 1957, NDL; James Fife, Jr., midshipman file, USNA; The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Charles Elliott Loughlin., U.S. Navy (Retired) (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Oral History Department, 1982), pp. 149–51.
“There is a difference”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral Charles Elliott Loughlin, pp. 113–14.
Fife knew: The Reminiscences of Admiral James Fife, pp. 283–85.
Fife couldn’t use: Ibid.; Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 2, pp. 721–27; Charles Lockwood letter to W. H. P. Blandy, July 11, 1942, Box 12, Charles Lockwood Papers, LOC.
“Here we had”: The Reminiscences of Admiral James Fife, p. 248.
Fixing the run depth: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 2, pp. 730–42; Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, pp. 256–61.
Submarines sank: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 34–35; JANAC, pp. 12, 43 of the appendix.
Skippers fired: USSBS, The War Against Japanese Transportation, 1941–1945, p. 134.
Submarine bases had now: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, p. 35.
Thirty-seven new fleet boats: Ibid.; Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, p. 187; Voge, ed. “Submarine Commands,” vol. 1, p. 50.
“These patrols”: Ira Dye letter to Evelyn Dye, Dec. 16, 1942.
Some 1.7 million: “Keep Us Strong in Our Faith That We Fight for a Better Day for Humankind,” Christmas Eve Fireside Chat on Tehran and Cairo Conferences, Dec. 24, 1943, in Samuel I. Rosenman, comp., The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1943 volume, The Tide Turns (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950), pp. 553–62; Hanson W. Baldwin, “Our Troops ‘Line’ Guards the World,” New York Times, Dec. 7, 1942, p. 5.
including that of President Roosevelt: W. H. Lawrence, “Axis Faith Fades, Roosevelt Says,” New York Times, Dec. 25, 1942, p. 1.
Rationing forced: Ibid.; Catherine Mackenzie, “Christmas as Usual,” New York Times, Dec. 20, 1942, p. SM19; “Christmas Tree Supply Here to Be ‘Limited,’ But Some Dealers Say It Will Meet Demand,” New York Times, Dec. 8, 1942, p. 31; “City Christmas Tree Quota Cut Two-Thirds by Shortages of Manpower and Shipping,” New York Times, Dec. 25, 1942, p. 20; “ ‘Save Turkey Fats’ Plea Runs into a Dilemma,” New York Times, Dec. 25, 1942, p. 20; “Many Depict War Themes and Draw Crowds of Service Men—Several Openings of New Displays Are Scheduled,” New York Times, Dec. 10, 1942, p. 32; “Joy of Christmas Yields to Thoughts of the Men at War,” New York Times, Dec. 26, 1942, p. 1.
Drum executive officer: Ira Dye letter to Evelyn Dye, Dec. 20, 1942.
“We can hardly eat”: Ibid.
“Christmas Day is here”: Drum crew calendar, Dec. 25, 1942.
“The boat was a madhouse”: Ira Dye letter to Evelyn Dye, Dec. 28, 1942.
“It was as if the war”: Ira Dye, “Christmas off Kyushu: The U.S.S. Drum in 1942,” unpublished article.
Chapter 6. Silversides
“You said it yourself”: Gordon Cox letter to Nellie Cox, May 5, 1942.
Lieutenant Commander John Starr Coye, Jr.: Silversides Report of Sixth War Patrol, Sept. 12, 1943.
the maximum allowed: Voge, ed., “Submarine C
ommands,” vol. 1, pp. 198–99.
Burlingame had traveled: This is based on data recorded in Silversides’ first five patrols.
Postwar records: JANAC, p. 43 of the appendix.
He damaged: This is based on damage figures credited by the Navy for Silversides’ first five patrols.
The man who: Creed C. Burlingame Navy Bio, Oct. 26, 1955, NDL.
a great feat: Naval History Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, United States Submarine Losses, p. 8.
“As a man and skipper”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 1, 1943.
“He’ll always be”: Robert Worthington letter to Fred Tannenbaum, Nov. 18, 1985.
“TO THE BEST”: John Bienia letters to Alpha Bienia, Sept. 25, 1943, and Oct. 1, 1943.
The California native: John Starr Coye, Jr., Navy Bio, Aug. 30, 1968, NDL; John Coye, Jr., The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., U.S. Navy (Retired) (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Oral History Department, 1983), pp. 9–57; John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, pp. 11–13.
“Burlingame was a hard man”: John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, p. 13.
“He was a dynamic”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 57.
The big-shouldered Coye: Ibid., pp. 1–5; Beth Coye interview with author, Jan. 5, 2010; Beth Coye letter to author, Jan. 3, 2010; John Coye midshipman file, USNA; John Coye, Jr., Ancestral Genealogy.
“Jack dear”: Mabel Coye journal.
“DeCoye”: E. P. Lee, Jr., ed., The Lucky Bag of 1933: The Annual of the Regiment of Midshipmen (Annapolis, Md.: USNA, 1933), p. 165; John Coye midshipman file, USNA.
graduating 123: USNA, Annual Register of the United States Naval Academy (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1933), p. 24.
“Tardiness is Jack’s”: Lee, ed., The Lucky Bag of 1933, p. 165; John Coye midshipman file, USNA.
“cannon fodder”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 8.
The first calamity: Ibid., pp. 30–33; John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, pp. 9–11.
“pile of rust”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 40. Information on the attack on R-18 is also drawn from John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, pp. 11–13.
“He was a magnificent”: Eugene Malone interview with author, Aug. 5, 2009.
On a personal level: Beth Coye interview with author, Jan. 5, 2010; Beth Coye letter to author, Jan. 3, 2010.
Even at sea: Eugene Malone interview with author, Jan. 7, 2010.
“inviolate”: Beth Coye letter to author, Jan. 3, 2010.
“Don’t ever steal”: Ibid.
Coye’s quiet disguised: Beth Coye interview with author, Jan. 5, 2010.
“Baggy Pants”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Dec. 5, 1943.
“I made up my mind”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 57.
Officers and crew: John Bienia letters to Alpha Bienia, July 4, 1943, July 6, 1943, July 7, 1943, July 8, 1943, July 9, 1943, July 13, 1943, July 14, 1943, and July 18, 1943.
“tooth and nail”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, July 7,1943.
“This is the Silversides”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, July 19, 1943.
“We came up fast”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Aug. 3, 1943.
Topped off with: Silversides Report of Sixth War Patrol, Sept. 12, 1943; The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., pp. 57–64.
“Did not surface”: Silversides Report of Sixth War Patrol, Sept. 12, 1943.
“Target ducked”: Ibid.
“He dropped five”: Ibid.; Alden and McDonald, p. 92.
“The whole chart”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Aug. 3, 1943.
“There was about”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Aug. 13, 1943.
“I get a big kick”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Aug. 11, 1943.
He now worried: John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, p. 13.
“It was a beauty”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Sept. 6, 1943.
“There’s no excitement”: Ibid.
Chapter 7. Silversides
“One month from today”: Gilbert Leach diary, Oct. 14, 1942.
Silversides departed Brisbane: Silversides Report of Seventh War Patrol, Nov. 8, 1943.
Coye and his men: Details of the time in Australia are drawn from: John Bienia letters to Alpha Bienia, Sept. 25, 1943 (there are three letters that share this date), Sept. 26, 1943, and Oct. 1, 1943.
“Ever since we left”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 7, 1943.
“I do wish”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 1, 1943.
“The ship hasn’t”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 2, 1943.
“He isn’t as quick”: Eugene Malone letter to family, Dec. 7, 1943.
While those defeats: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 105.
Japan had captured: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 165.
Troops had since landed: Ibid.; James D. Hornfischer, Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal (New York: Bantam, 2011), pp. 1–5.
Despite America’s commitment: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 164–77.
The opposing navies: Hornfischer, Neptune’s Inferno, p. xxi.
A Japanese submarine: Ibid., pp. 132–33; U.S.S. Wasp (CV-7), Loss in Action Report, Sept. 15, 1942.
A similar fate: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 193–96.
“Ironbottom Sound”: Hornfischer, Neptune’s Inferno, p. xxi.
Some 60,000: Ibid.
The island proved: Details of life on Guadalcanal are drawn from: F. Tillman Durdin, “It’s Never Dull on Guadalcanal,” New York Times, Sept. 18, 1942, p. 1; “Solomons Menus of Marines Good,” New York Times, Oct. 15, 1942, p. 5; Frank L. Kluckhohn, “West and East—Two Kinds of Warfare,” New York Times, Oct. 17, 1943, p. SM12; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 166–67.
When hospital attendants: “ ‘Guadalcanal Mud’ Goes on Exhibit,” Reading Eagle, April 24, 1943, p. 14.
“Life is reduced”: F. Tillman Durdin, “It’s Never Dull on Guadalcanal,” New York Times, Sept. 18, 1942, p. 1.
Resourceful crews: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 188–89.
The Navy transferred: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 189–92, and vol. 2, pp. 886–87.
“It now appears”: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 189.
The son of a former samurai: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 2, 17–18, 333, 338.
“Starvation Island”: Ibid., p. 338.
No one battle: Hornfischer, Neptune’s Inferno, p. 396.
With starvation claiming: Ibid., p. 404–8.
Under the cover: Ibid.; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 212.
The six-month campaign: Hornfischer, Neptune’s Inferno, pp. xxi, 437.
“Total and complete”: Morison, The Two-Ocean War, p. 214.
Yamamoto had come: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 345–46.
The multiple addresses: David Kahn, The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing (New York: Macmillan, 1968), p. 595.
“We’ve hit the jackpot”: Donald A. Davis, Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor (New York: St. Martin’s, 2005) pp. 226–27.
“Our old friend Yamamoto”: Potter, Nimitz, pp. 284–85.
“What do you say”: Ibid., p. 284.
“He’s unique”: Ibid.
“You know, Admiral Nimitz”: Ibid.
“It’s down in Halsey’s bailiwick”: Ibid.
“There were some qualms”: Layton, “And I Was There,” p. 475.
“Best of luck”: Ibid.; Edwin T. Layon, “Admiral Kimmel Deserved a Better Fate,” in Paul Stillwell, ed., Pearl Harbor!: Recollections of a Day of Infamy (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1981), p. 276.
American pilots planned: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Flier Who Shot Down Yamamoto Says White House Baited t
he Trap,” New York Times, Sept. 12, 1945, p. 2; Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto’s Killer Arrived on the Dot,” New York Times, Sept. 13, 1945, p. 5.
The admiral woke early: Matome Ugaki diary, April 18, 1943, and April 18, 1944, in Ugaki, Fading Victory, pp. 330, 352; Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 347–48, 357–60.
Eighteen twin-engine: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto’s Killer Arrived on the Dot,” New York Times, Sept. 13, 1945, p. 5.
“Bogey”: Ibid.
The Lightnings jettisoned: Ibid.; Robert D. McFadden, “Thomas G. Lanphier Jr., 71, Dies,” New York Times, Nov. 28, 1987, p. 41; Richard Goldstein, “Rex T. Barber, Pilot Who Downed Yamamoto, Dies at 84,” New York Times, Aug. 1, 2001, p. A15; “WWII Ace Rex Barber Dead at 84,” The Register-Guard, July 28, 2001, p. 2B.
Japanese fighter pilots: Matome Ugaki diary, April 18, 1944, in Ugaki, Fading Victory, pp. 353–54.
Lanphier opened fire: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto Died in Flaming Crash,” New York Times, Sept. 14, 1945 p. 7.
“I was right behind”: Richard Goldstein, “Rex T. Barber, Pilot Who Downed Yamamoto, Dies at 84,” New York Times, Aug. 1, 2001, p. A15.
“I spotted a shadow”: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto Died in Flaming Crash,” New York Times, Sept. 14, 1945, p. 7.
Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki: Matome Ugaki diary, April 18, 1944, in Ugaki, Fading Victory, pp. 353–54.
“My God!”: Ibid., p. 354.
“Just as I moved”: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto Died in Flaming Crash,” New York Times, Sept. 14, 1945, p. 7.
Hacking through: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 356–60.
The second bomber: Matome Ugaki diary, April 18, 1944, in Ugaki, Fading Victory, pp. 353, 355–60.
America in contrast: Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr., “Yamamoto Died in Flaming Crash,” New York Times, Sept. 14, 1945, p. 7.
Yamamoto’s stopped watch: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 358–59, 362.
An autopsy: Ibid., pp. 384–85; Davis, Lightning Strike, pp. 299–300.
The admiral had long resisted: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, pp. 186–93, 232–33.
“If we are ordered”: Ibid., p. 189.
“We all had lumps”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 7, 1943.