11October, 1943 In Memory USS Wahoo

[Parche]

http://www.warfish.com/gazette.html

Seventh patrol, September – October 1943
Morton, smarting from his last luckless patrol, asked to return to the Sea of Japan, and permission was granted. He elected to take a full load of the newly-arrived Mark XVIII electric torpedo rather than chance the Mark XIV steam torpedoes might still be defective. Wahoo got underway from Pearl Harbor, topped off fuel and supplies at Midway on 13 September, and headed for La Perouse Strait. The plan was to enter the Sea of Japan first, on or about 20 September, with Sawfish following by a few days. At sunset on 21 October, Wahoo was supposed to leave her assigned area, south of the 43d parallel, and head home. She was instructed to report by radio after she passed through the Kurils. Nothing further was ever heard from Wahoo.


WahooOn 5 October, the Japanese news agency, Domei, announced to the world a steamer, the 8,000 ton Konron Maru, was sunk by an American submarine off the west coast of Honshū near Tsushima Strait, with the loss of 544 lives. In addition, JANAC showed Wahoo sank three other ships for 5,300 tons, making a patrol total of four ships of about 13,000 tons. Japanese records also reported, on 11 October, the date Wahoo was due to exit through La Perouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft sighted a wake and an apparent oil slick from a submerged submarine. The Japanese then initiated a combined air and sea attack with numerous depth charges throughout the day. Sawfish had been depth-charged by a patrol boat while transiting the strait two days before, and the enemy's antisubmarine forces were on the alert in that area; their attacks fatally holed Wahoo, and she sank with all hands. Despite the assertions of Dick O'Kane,<10> it is unlikely she was the victim of a circular run by one of her own torpedoes. Other speculation in some texts suggests that she may have struck a mine. She was declared overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 December 1943.

The loss of Wahoo caused profound shock in the submarine force. All further forays into the Sea of Japan ceased, and it was not breached again until June 1945, when special mine detecting equipment became available.


The search for and locating of Wahoo

U.S. Navy wreath-laying ceremony for USS WahooWahoo has long been believed to be resting in the Soya (La Perouse) Strait between Hokkaidō, Japan and Sakhalin, Russia. Since 1995, the Wahoo Project Group (an international team of Americans, Australians, Japanese, and Russians and led by a relative of Commander Morton) has been searching for her based on the available evidence. Japanese Vice Admiral Kazuo Ueda working with the Wahoo Project Group examined the historical record and correctly predicted the location of Wahoo. In 2005, electronic surveys in the region yielded what turned out to be a U.S. Gato-class submarine in the Strait; in July, 2006, the Russian team "Iskra" investigated the site which contributed further evidence of location of the Wahoo.

On October 31, 2006 the United States Navy confirmed that the images provided by the “Iskra” team are of Wahoo, the wreckage lying in about 213 feet (65 meters) of water in the La Perouse (Soya) Strait between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Russian island of Sakhalin.<1>

On July 8, 2007 the United States Navy conducted a wreath-laying ceremony at sea for the crew of Wahoo. The ceremony was held on the confirmed site of the sinking of Wahoo as a joint exercise with the Navy of the Russian Federation.

On October 11, 2007 the United States Navy held an official remembrance ceremony for the crew of Wahoo. The ceremony was conducted at the USS Bowfin Museum and Submarine Park at Pearl Harbor and was followed by the a presentation of the history of the Wahoo search and discovery by the Wahoo Project Group.

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Last Year I was honored to fly to Honolulu and attend this memorial at Pearl Harbor (11October 2007)
I met the most wonderful people, and had the time of my life.
If any of you have attended a full Navy Memorial, it is something to remember.
One of the people I did meet, actually served on the Wahoo for the first 3patrols
James Allen, who gave me a tour of the USS Bowfin (Memorial Pearl Harbor) and showed
me what his duties were at that time.
21Gun Salute, and Taps always puts tears in my eyes

Here is to those brave sailors, and my hero's
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot::patriot: :patriot:
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"When the last war call has sounded
and the fleet will sail no more
when a lasting peace is founded
and no enemy threatens our shore
when at last they write the story
and the reason for victory is seen
you will rise in honored glory
You mighty SUBMARINE."

[Octafish]

1. The crew of the USS Wahoo helped keep our nation free.

I owe them my infinite thanks.

A couple of submarine stories:

A skipper's sons found the wreckage of their father's boat off the Aleutians.

Sub wreckage confirmed as Grunion; 6 Michigan men onboard died

My son's Cub Scout troop spent the night aboard the USS Silverside in Muskegon, Michigan. I slept squished underneath a tin fish in the aft torpedo room. It smelled like machine oil and diesel. I spent an hour on watch (to help any late-night visits ashore for restroom break). It was an honor to experience a little bit of what it was like for the brave crew of the vessel.

http://glnmmorg000.web151.discountasp.net/apps/dnn/mydnn/

An excellent read on the subject:

Submarine Diary
Mendenhall, Corwin, 1916-
Chapel Hill, N.C. : Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1990.