The Lake Norman Brief
Submarine War
The U.S. submarine war in the Pacific, 1941-1945, told through USS Tang: nine chaptered articles on the fleet boats and the order for unrestricted warfare, the torpedo scandal and Wahoo, the building of Tang, the lifeguard rescue at Truk, the record patrols, the submarines in the great naval battles of 1944, the last patrol and the circular run, the escape from the deep, and the prisoners of Ofuna and Omori. Start with the interactive atlas.
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Prisoners of Ofuna and Omori: Tang’s Survivors, Liberation and the Medal of Honor
Tang’s nine survivors as prisoners: beaten aboard the escort that rescued them, held from November 1944 at the Imperial Navy’s secret interrogation…
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Escape from the Deep: The Men Who Left USS Tang at 180 Feet
How nine men survived the sinking of USS Tang on 25 October 1944: three from the bridge, one from the flooded conning…
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The Last Patrol: USS Tang in the Formosa Strait and the Circular Run, October 1944
USS Tang’s fifth and last war patrol, September to October 1944: two weeks in the Formosa Strait, two convoy attacks during the…
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Submarines in the Great Naval Battles of 1944: Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf and Shinano
In 1944 American submarines did what their prewar planners had hoped: Albacore and Cavalla sank the carriers Taiho and Shokaku in the…
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The Record Patrols: USS Tang in the Yellow Sea and off Honshu, June–September 1944
On her third patrol, in the East China and Yellow Seas in June and July 1944, USS Tang sank ten ships, the…
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Lifeguard at Truk: USS Tang Rescues 22 Airmen, April–May 1944
On her second war patrol USS Tang sank nothing, yet Lockwood called it outstanding. During the carrier strikes on Truk on 29–30…
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Building USS Tang: Mare Island, Richard O’Kane and the First Patrol, 1943–1944
USS Tang was built at Mare Island in nine months and commissioned on 15 October 1943 under Richard O’Kane, Mush Morton’s former…
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Bad Torpedoes and Mush Morton: The Torpedo Scandal and USS Wahoo, 1942–1943
For 21 months U.S. submarines fought with a torpedo that ran deep, exploded early and failed to fire on square hits. How…
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The Silent Service Goes to War: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and the Fleet Boat, 1941–1942
On 7 December 1941 the U.S. Navy ordered unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan. How the order came about, the Gato-class fleet boat…