The War Below

by James Scott

  “overly garrulous”: Grider, War Fish, p. 23.

  “He talked a great deal”: Ibid., p. 70.

  claiming to sink: Wahoo Report of Third War Patrol, Feb. 7, 1943; JANAC, p. 54 of the appendix.

  Morton boasted: Lockwood, Sink ’Em All, p. 66.

  after Morton clobbered: Ibid. p. 65; Dudley Morton Navy Bio, August 28, 1957; “Submarine Record in Pacific Honored,” New York Times, May 23, 1943, p. 18; Dudley Morton oral history interview with the Navy, Sept. 9, 1943, Box 20, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, World War II Oral Histories, 1942–1946, NARA.

  Wahoo’s fourth patrol: Wahoo Report of Fourth War Patrol, April 6, 1943; JANAC, p. 54 of the appendix.

  “Morton is the heavy swordsman”: Bill Ewing, undated draft article, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  Newspaper and magazine articles: Robert Trumbull, “U.S. Submarine Flaunts a Broom for Clean Sweep off New Guinea,” New York Times, Feb. 10, 1943, p. 4; “Clean Sweep,” Time, Feb. 22, 1943, p. 24.

  Morton appeared: Dudley Morton radio interview transcript, “Johnny Presents: The New Philip Morris Program,” July 13, 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  Warner Bros. hired: “On the Set with the Warner Crew Filming ‘Destination, Tokyo,’ ” New York Times, Oct. 24, 1943, p. X3; Dudley Morton letter to mother, August 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  whose photos he displayed: Walter B. Clausen, untitled Associated Press wire story, Feb. 9, 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  “Take good care”: Dudley Morton letter to father, February 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  Malfunctioning torpedoes: Wahoo Report of Sixth War Patrol, Aug. 29, 1943.

  The irate skipper: Lockwood, Sink ’Em All, pp. 116–17; Lockwood, Down to the Sea in Subs, pp. 292–93.

  a man who had grown so successful: Dudley Morton oral history interview with the Navy, Sept. 9, 1943.

  “During our periods”: John Griggs III letter to Clay Blair, May 29, 1972.

  “By now virtually”: Grider, War Fish, p. 124.

  Wahoo veteran James Allen: James Allen interview with author, Nov. 4, 2009; James Allen letter to Richard O’Kane, June 15, 1988, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  “I am going to”: Dudley Morton letter to mother, August 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  One of the most egregious: James F. DeRose, Unrestricted Warfare: How a New Breed of Officers Led the Submarine Force to Victory in World War II (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000), pp. 77, 94; JANAC, p. 54 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 64. Alden and McDonald’s figures for those killed on Buyo Maru are slightly higher: eighty-six army, eight crew, and 269 Indians.

  “Our fire was returned”: Dudley Morton oral history interview with the Navy, Sept. 9, 1943.

  “Mush, whose biological”: Grider, War Fish, p. 101.

  Japanese radio broadcasts: Charles Lockwood, Jr., to the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, Loss of U.S.S. Wahoo (SS-238), Nov. 9, 1943, Box 743, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, World War II Action and Operational Reports, NARA.

  Of the 616: Alden and McDonald, p. 103. Alden and McDonald’s figures are slightly higher than those broadcast by the Japanese in 1943. Alden and McDonald report that the attack killed 445 of 479 passengers and 137 of 176 crewmembers.

  “The Tsushima Straits”: “Knock at the Door,” Time, Oct. 18, 1943, p. 36.

  A Japanese floatplane: O’Kane, Wahoo, pp. 300–301, 320–22; Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs, “Navy Says Wreck Found off Japan Is Legendary Sub USS Wahoo,” Oct. 31, 2006; Thomas A. Logue, Jr., and Bryan MacKinnon, “The Journey to Find USS Wahoo,” Undersea Warfare, Spring 2007, pp. 22–27.

  The three-star admiral waited: Charles Lockwood, Jr., to the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, Loss of U.S.S Wahoo (SS-238), Nov. 9, 1943.

  “It just didn’t seem possible”: Lockwood, Sink ’Em All, p. 131.

  the press reported: “Must Be Presumed . . . ,” Time, Dec. 13, 1943, p. 68.

  Within hours: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 50.

  The official postwar: JANAC, p. 54 of the appendix.

  making him the third: Blair, Silent Victory, p. 984.

  whose photo adorned: COMSUBPAC undated telegram to USS WAHOO, Wahoo File, BSMP.

  “the most serious loss”: Charles Lockwood, Jr., letter to Mrs. Dudley Morton, Dec. 1, 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP. Lockwood relates Nimitz’s comments in his letter to Mrs. Morton.

  The skipper found: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 300.

  He surprised his crew: Ibid., pp. 33–40.

  “The result was”: Ibid., p. 39.

  Naval engineers had designed: Alden, The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy, pp. 101, 105; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 39–40.

  “No one batted an eye”: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 40.

  “Well, if you’re not”: Murray B. Frazee, Jr., “We Never Looked Back,” Naval History, July–August 1994, pp. 47–51; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 42.

  “Never was there”: Murray Frazee, Jr., unpublished memoir, pp. 51–52.

  Chapter 11. Tang

  “We certainly kept”: Dudley Morton letter to George Clarke, Feb. 16, 1943, Dudley Morton Family Papers, BSMP.

  O’Kane stared: Unless otherwise noted, information in this chapter is drawn from the following sources: Tang Report of First War Patrol, March 3, 1944; Tang deck log; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 55–109. All dialogue comes from O’Kane’s book.

  The summer of 1943: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 191; Morison, The Two-Ocean War, pp. 295–96.

  This road through: Samuel Eliot Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944 (Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press/Little, Brown, 1975), pp. 69–79.

  To prevent: Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944, pp. 69–70, 230; William Hughes, The Geography of the British Colonies and Dependencies, Physical Political, Commercial, rev. ed., Philip’s Geographical Manuals (London: George Philip & Son, 1907), p. 212.

  Troops hit the beaches: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 191–93; “The Fight for Tarawa,” Life, vol. 15, no. 24, Dec. 13, 1943, pp. 27–35; John Wukovits, One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa (New York: NAL Caliber, 2006), pp. 217–18.

  The United States next turned: Gordon L. Rottman, The Marshall Islands 1944: Operation Flintlock, the Capture of Kwajalein and Eniwetok (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004) p. 11.

  Strategists anticipated: Philip A. Crowl and Edmund G. Love, Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, in the series United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific, Center of Military History Publication 5-6 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955), pp. 177, 206–18.

  America overlooked: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 193–94; Burton Wright III, Eastern Mandates, in the series The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II, Center of Military History Publication 72-73 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993), pp. 9–13.

  Battleships and heavy cruisers: Crowl and Love, Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, pp. 222–23; Wright, Eastern Mandates, p. 14.

  the United States suffered: Crowl and Love, Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, pp. 301, 331.

  The success of the Marshalls: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 194.

  “Japan’s Pearl Harbor”: Robert Trumbull, “Bold Blow at Truk Amazed News Men,” New York Times, Feb. 21, 1944, p. 3; “The Attack on Truk,” editorial, New York Times, Feb. 18, 1944, p. 16; Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944, pp. 315–32.

  Submarines had largely: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 174–76.


  Ten submarines: Ibid., pp. 192–99; Robert Rice handwritten draft memoir, p. 53; Nautilus Report of Seventh War Patrol, Dec. 4, 1943; History of Ships Named Nautilus, Aug. 28, 1962, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History Division, Ships’ Histories Section.

  Tang’s second in command: Background on Murray Frazee, Jr., comes from the following sources: Murray Frazee, Jr., midshipman file, USNA; Murray Frazee, Jr., unpublished memoir, pp. 1–51; V. T. Boatwright, ed., The Lucky Bag of 1939: The Annual of the Regiment of Midshipmen (Annapolis, Md.: USNA, 1939), p. 182; Murray Frazee III interview with author, Aug. 30, 2009.

  The 6,854-ton Gyoten Maru: JANAC, p. 48 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 135; Senji Yuso Sendan Shi.

  Ten submarines: Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, p. 363; Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 198–205.

  But Operation Hailstone: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, p. 194; JANAC, pp. 9–10, 49–51.

  “The Pacific Fleet has returned”: George F. Horne, “Japanese Stunned,” New York Times, Feb. 21, 1944, p. 1.

  The 3,581-ton Fukuyama Maru: JANAC, p. 48 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 137.

  the 6,776-ton Yamashimo Maru: Ibid.

  American submarines in 1943: USSBS, The War Against Japanese Transportation, 1941–1945, pp. 37–38, 48–49; Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, p. 300.

  the 2,424-ton Echizen Maru’s: JANAC, p. 48 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 138.

  the 1,794-ton freighter Choko Maru: Ibid.

  Chapter 12. Tang

  “Now I’ve got”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Oct. 7, 1943.

  Waves of as many: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 168–70.

  Carrier-based fighters: Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942–April 1944, pp. 315–32.

  Army B-24 Liberators: “Truk Bombed 35th Time,” New York Times, May 1, 1944, p. 1; “Second Carrier Attack on Truk,” New York Times, May 3, 1944, p. 2.

  Despite the continual: Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 8, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944–August 1944 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1953), p. 38.

  “With the possible exception”: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944.

  In just forty-one days: JANAC, p. 48 of the appendix.

  He had hoped: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 136; Operational Order No. 91–44, March 13, 1944, Box 298, RG 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Plans, Orders and Related Documents, NARA.

  The United States had captured: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 204–5.

  The United States had chased: Ibid., p. 207; Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. 8, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944–August 1944, p. 140.

  Strategists suspected: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, pp. 207–8; Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, pp. 165, 365.

  “There might be torpedoes fired”: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 141.

  While carrier-based planes: Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 8, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944–August 1944, p. 33.

  One night on the eve: Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Submarine Operational History World War II, vol. 1, p. 208; Roscoe, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, pp. 320–21; Naval History Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, United States Submarine Losses, pp. 85–86; Senji Yuso Sendan Shi.

  The first call: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; Tang deck log, April 30, 1944.

  Lieutenant j.g. Scott Scammell II: Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, p. 8; “Milestones, Jun. 21, 1943,” Time, June 21, 1943, p. 79.

  “The indicator”: McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  O’Kane ordered: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 170–71.

  “For my kid”: Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  O’Kane ordered: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 170–71.

  “All planes”: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944.

  The skipper didn’t have time: Ibid.; Clear the Bridge!, pp. 171–78.

  The North Carolina: USS North Carolina War Diary, April 29–30, 1944, Battleship North Carolina Archives and Collections, Wilmington, North Carolina: U.S.S. North Carolina deck log, April 30, 1944, ibid.; Deaths on BB55, fact sheet, ibid.; Ben W. Blee, Battleship North Carolina (Wilmington, N.C.: USS North Carolina Battleship Commission, 2005), pp. 82–93, 150–51.

  Japanese planes: USS North Carolina War Diary, April 30, 1944.

  “Bogies were”: Charles Gilbert diary, April 30, 1944, Battleship North Carolina Archives and Collections.

  Lieutenant j.g. Robert Kanze: Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  “I wasn’t thinking”: Ibid.

  He touched down: Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  O’Kane had received: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 181.

  destroyed the first target: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 181–82.

  “It appeared”: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 182; Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9; Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  Lieutenant Burns: Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  O’Kane couldn’t afford: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 182–83; Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9; Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  Burns worried: Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9; Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  Gill improvised: Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  “It was a beautiful”: Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  Gill’s job: Ibid.; Aubrey Gill interviews with author, Oct. 20–22, 2010.

  O’Kane arrived: Ibid.; Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 184.

  O’Kane was so impressed: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 192.

  He would return: Lt. (jg) John A. Burns, U.S.N.R., memo prepared by Charles J. Sullivan, Nov. 18, 2003, Battleship North Carolina Archives and Collections; Charles J. Sullivan interview with author, Oct. 20, 2010.

  “Plane total loss”: F. E. Deam to ComNavAirBases, 5ND, War Diary, February 1945, March 3, 1945, Battleship North Carolina Archives and Collections.

  Just as he did: Tang Report of Second War Patrol, May 15, 1944; O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, pp. 184–85; Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  “We’ll need two”: O’Kane, Clear the Bridge!, p. 184.

  “The fighters”: Ibid., p. 185; Larry McManus, “Rescue off Truk,” Yank, August 11, 1944, pp. 8–9.

  Chapter 13. Silversides

  “Almost all the guys”: Richard Smith undated 1943 letter to parents.

  “For aggressiveness”: Frank T. Watkins to Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, Jan. 24, 1944.

  “The boat is hot”: Eugene Malone letter to Anna Maria Ives, Jan. 30, 1944.

  “I’ve been leading”: Ibid.

  “Sure do want to get home”: Eugene Malone letter to Elinor Ives, Feb. 4, 1944.

  Coye had followed: Silversides Report of Ninth War Patrol, April 8, 1944; JANAC, p. 43 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, pp. 142–43.

  “The de
cision of the commanding officer”: J. M. Haines to the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, April 17, 1944.

  “I probably should have”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 88.

  The two men had spent: These figures are drawn from the first nine patrol reports; John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, Feb. 26, 1944.

  The Navy now ordered: Robert Worthington Navy Bio, May 28, 1957; Mooney et al., eds., Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, vol. 7, p. 406.

  “Get yourself some new shoes”: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, May 1, 1944.

  The two officers had: Eugene Malone letter to Anna Maria Ives, Jan. 30, 1944; Eugene Malone letter to Helen Malone, May 1, 1944.

  “It’s a hell of a big job”: Eugene Malone letter to Helen Malone, Jan. 28, 1944.

  waited pier-side: John Bienia letter to Alpha Bienia, April 4, 1944.

  A graduate of the Naval Academy: Charles F. Leigh midshipman file, USNA.

  Coye fumed: Eugene Malone letter to Helen Malone, April 12, 1944.

  “If our new exec”: Eugene Malone letter to Anna Maria Ives, April 17, 1944.

  “He was most aggressive”: The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., p. 93.

  The loss of the islands: USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 209–11.

  “The war is drawing close”: Soemu Toyoda, Combined Fleet Ultrasecret Dispatch 041213, May 4, 1944, in USSBS, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, pp. 211, 233.

  Burlingame disembarked: Silversides Report of Tenth War Patrol, June 11, 1944; John S. Coye, Jr., unpublished memoir, p. 17; The Reminiscences of Rear Admiral John S. Coye, Jr., pp. 92–100.

  “All seven ships”: Silversides Report of Tenth War Patrol, June 11, 1944.

  “Closed until”: Ibid.

  “These were too”: Ibid.

  the 2,631-ton converted gunboat: JANAC, p. 43 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 156.

  “Japs sounded”: Silversides Report of Tenth War Patrol, June 11, 1944.

  the 4,319-ton passenger cargo ship Mikage Maru No. 18: Ibid.

  998-ton converted gunboat Shosei Maru: JANAC, p. 43 of the appendix; Alden and McDonald, p. 158.