Joe Hughes
“Submarines in the Pacific.” 2 August 2005. 29 April 2006. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/subpac.html
S-T 200 U.S. subs sank 201 Japan warships and 1113 merchant ships
total Japan loss of 4.7m tons, 55% total ships
211 subs built - 182 operational peak in 1945
U.S. would lose 52 subs with 3503 crew
Japan lost 112 subs; had 60 at start of war
Germany lost 784 subs with 28,000 crew
o 1162 German subs built
o 240 operational peak
o sank 5150 ships, 21m tons Allied shipping
strategy:
until 1943, subs used individually for hit-and-run missions and support of surface ships
but 1943 began systematic patrols of key traffic patterns rather than stay on perimeter
July 1943 began to penetrate 4 straits into Sea of Japan
Leyte Gulf - Oct. 1944:
completed destruction of Japan navy
U.S. subs allowed to blockade Japan home islands, Formosa strait
voyage of the Tang earned Medal of Honor for survivor Dick Kane, who had served on the USS Wahoo in 1942-43
Department of the Navy – Navy Historical Center. “World War II-Asiatic-Pacific Theater 1941-1946.” 12 December 2000. 29 April 2006. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/stream/faq45-21.htm
The war in the Pacific was essentially a maritime war.
It was on the sea that Japan depended for materials to sustain her; via the sea she launched her aggressions, and the first attack was intended to destroy the nucleus of the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The vital core of the American military effort was the contest for control of the seas, from which all the other operations-at sea, amphibious, on land, or in the air- branched and received their support.
As the Japanese drove south to seize territory in the Philippines, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, the few United States and Allied warships available offered valiant resistance against overwhelming odds. A carrier task force closed Japan and launched Army aircraft on first strike against the home islands. It was carrier actions in the Battle of the Coral Sea which caused the Japanese invasion force to turn back from its goals of Port Moresby and southeast New Guinea.
A month later the decisive Battle of Midway provided the turning point in the war. In the amphibious assault and defense of Guadalcanal, at sea and ashore, the advance of Japan into the South Pacific was halted. Step-by-step amphibious operations were launched from the South Pacific Area and westward through the mid-Pacific by Admiral Nimitz, and northward from the Southwest Pacific by joint forces under General MacArthur.
New concepts and techniques in mobile logistic support and underway replenishment made a high tempo of sustained operations possible. U.S. submarines took a heavy toll of Japan's warships and devastated the merchant marine, thereby servering her lifeline.
The capture of the Marianas, and later Iwo Jima, provided fixed bases for air attacks against Japan, and the Fifth Fleet drastically reduced the power of Japanese aviation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Operations around Leyte destroyed much of the remaining enemy surface fleet as the recapture of the Philippines began.
At Okinawa the fleet faced and survived the fanatic attacks of Kamikazes. The isolation of Japan from the sea was made essentially complete by an intense mining campaign, and the final attacks on the remnants of the Japanese fleet.
The end came quickly after the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945. The situation in China and other areas required that the U.S. Navy continue to operate in the Far East.
“World War II.” 11 December 2003. 29 April 2006. http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/apcmp.htm
In Pearl Harbor were 96 vessels, the bulk of the United States Pacific Fleet. Eight battleships of the Fleet were there, but the aircraft carriers were all at sea. The Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) was Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. Army forces in Hawaii, including the 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions, were under the command of Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department. On the several airfields were a total of about 390 Navy and Army planes of all types, of which less than 300 were available for combat or observation purposes
The next major operation was an invasion of the island of Bougainville, which was approached by landings at Mono and Stirling in the Treasury Islands on 25-27 October 1943. A Marine division landed on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay on 1 November 1943. The Marines were followed within the month by an Army division and replaced in the next month by another Army division. It was late November before the beachhead at Empress Augusta Bay was secure. This beachhead was all that was needed, and no attempt was made to capture the entire island. Allied planes neutralized enemy airfields in the northern part of the island, and the Allied command made use of its naval and air superiority to contain the Japanese garrison on Bougainville and cut its supply line to Rabaul by occupying the Green Islands (14 February 1944). Despite these measures, the Japanese maintained pressure against the beachhead, mounting an especially heavy but unsuccessful counterattack as late as March 1944. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Japanese sustained comparatively heavy air and naval losses during the campaign, which further crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet and had a vital effect on the balance of naval power in the Central Pacific.
“Submarine Warfare.” 2005. April 29 2006. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1710.html
Victory would exact a painful cost for Americans — U.S. losses totaled 3,506 men and 52 submarines in the Pacific Theater. Nevertheless, by the end of the war, U.S. submarines completely cut the supply lines to an island nation, a feat that German U-boats failed to do in two world wars.
In June 1942, 12 boats were assigned to picket duty in the defense of Midway Island. The ensuing Battle of Midway, from which the U.S. came away victorious, was certainly one of the most notable naval conflicts in history, and an extremely critical event during the Pacific war. Yet for U.S. submarines stationed around the island, their part became an exhausting and insufficient effort — subs were continually given orders to stalk the entrances of harbors and ports, while ignoring the Japanese shipping presence on high seas trade routes.
“Top World War II U.S. Submarines By Tonnage of Ships Sunk.” 2002. 29 April 2006. http://www.valoratsea.com/subton1.htm
Top World War II U.S. Submarines
By Tonnage of Ships Sunk
WWII Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
A record of the top twenty five scoring American submarines
ranked by the total tonnage of ships sunk during World War II
Rank Submarine Captain Tonnage*
1 USS Flasher Whitaker, Grider 100,231
2 USS Rasher Hutchinson, Laughon, Munson 99,901
3 USS Barb Waterman, Fluckey 96,628
4 USS Tang O' Kane 93,824
5 USS Silversides Burlingame, Coye, J.C. Nichols 90,080
6 USS Spadefish Underwood, Germerhausen 88,091
7 USS Trigger Benson, Dornin, Harlfinger, Connole 86,552
8 USS Drum Rice, McMahon, Williamson, Rindskopf 80,580
9 USS Jack Dykers, Krapf, Fuhrman 76,687
10 USS Snook Triebel, Browne 75,473
11 USS Tautog Willingham, Sieglaff, Baskett 72,606
12 USS Seahorse Cutter, Wilkins 72,529
13 USS Guardfish Klakring, N.G. Ward 72,424
“Ships and Tonnage Sunk or Damaged in WW II by U.S. Submarines.” RD Designs Webs of Interest. 1999. 29 April 2006. http://www.rddesigns.com/ww2/ww2sinkings.html
The United States Submarine Service in WW II saw action in both the Atlantic, in a very limited way, and in the Pacific in a major way. The Submarine Service accounted for about 55% of all Japanese tonnage sunk in the war. This was done by a branch of the Navy that accounted for about 1.6% of the Navy's wartime complement.
The Japanese lost 1,178 Merchant Ships sunk for a tonnage total of 5,053,491 tons. The Naval losses were 214 ships and submarines totaling 577,626 tons. A staggering five million, six hundred thirty one thousand, one hundred seventeen tons, (5,631,117 tons), 1,392 ships.
Japan ended the war with a bare 12% of her merchant fleet intact but not fuel at hand to run more than a few of them.
Action in the Atlantic showed far fewer successes, mainly due to poor torpedo performance. By May of 1943 US submarine involvement had almost ceased in the Atlantic except for training and sea trials of new subs. US submarine losses in the Atlantic were few and may have been the result of an aggressive anti-submarine program by US and allied powers.
The U.S. Navy lost 52 submarines sunk and 3617 men died in those boats. These boats and crews left port and never returned. Their final resting place, and the circumstances surrounding their fate is, for the most part, unknown. We, in the Submarine Service, refer to these boats and men as being on Eternal Patrol