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USS Tang (SS-306)
Encyclopedia
USS Tang (SS-306) was a Balao-class
submarine
of World War II
. She was built and launched in 1943.
In her short career, the Tang sank 33 ships displacing 116,454 tons Her commanding officer received the Medal of Honor for her last two engagements (October 23, 1944 and October 24, 1944). Tang was sunk during the last engagement by a circular run of her final torpedo.
The ship sank in 180 feet of water. Several of the crew managed to reach the surface, and some of them survived to be captured by the Japanese. These were the first American submariners to escape a sunken submarine using a Momsen lung
.
Tang was the first ship of the United States Navy
to be named after the tang, an Acanthuridae
and close relative of the surgeonfish. The contract to build her was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
on 15 December 1941, and her keel was laid down on 15 January 1943. She was launched
on 17 August sponsored by Mrs. Antonio S. Pitre, and commissioned
on 15 October 1943 with Lieutenant Commander
Richard H. O'Kane, the extraordinarily effective former executive officer of , in command, and delivered to the Navy on 30 November 1943.
Tang completed fitting out at Mare Island
and then moved south to San Diego, California
for 18 days of intensive training before sailing for Hawaii
. She arrived at Pearl Harbor
on 8 January 1944 and conducted two more weeks of exercises in preparation for combat. Tang stood out of Pearl Harbor on 22 January to begin her first war patrol in the Caroline Islands
-Mariana Islands
area.
s before the escort departed. Undamaged, she returned to periscope
depth and resumed the attack. The range on the nearest freighter closed to 1500 yd (1,371.6 m), and Tang fired a spread of four torpedo
es. Three of them hit, and Gyoten Maru (6,800 tons) sank by the stern. The submarine cleared the area by running deep and then attempted to get ahead of the convoy for a dawn attack, but the remaining freighter passed out of range under air escort.
During the night of 22 February, Tang made a surface attack on a convoy of three cargo ships and two escorts. She tracked the Japanese ships, through rain squalls which made radar almost useless, for half an hour before attaining a firing position, on the surface, 1500 yd (1,371.6 m) off the port bow of a freighter. A spread of four torpedoes hit Fukuyama Maru (3,600 tons) from bow to stern, and the enemy ship disintegrated. Early the next morning, Tang made another approach on the convoy. The escort of the lead ship, the 6,800 ton Yamashimo Maru, moved from its covering position on the port bow, and the submarine slipped into it and fired four more torpedoes. The first hit the stern of the cargoman, the second just aft of the stack; and the third just forward of the bridge, producing a terrific secondary explosion. The ship was "twisted, lifted from the water", and began belching flames as she sank.
On the morning of 24 February, Tang sighted a tanker, a freighter, and a destroyer
. Rain squalls hampered her as she attempted to attain a good firing position, so she tracked the ships until after nightfall, then made a surface attack. She launched four torpedoes and scored three hits which sank the freighter Asama Maru. The two remaining ships commenced firing in all directions, and Tang submerged to begin evasive action. She shadowed the enemy until morning and then closed the tanker for a submerged attack from extremely close, just 500 yd (457.2 m), barely enough to allow her torpedoes to arm. Additional lookouts had been posted on the target's deck and, when the spread of torpedoes from Tang struck her, they were hurled into the air with other debris from the ship. Echizen Maru sank in four minutes as Tang went deep and rigged for the depth charge
attack that followed. During this evasion, a water leak developed in the forward torpedo room, and Tang exceeded her depth gauge maximum reading of 612 feet. Fortunately, the crew was able to get the submarine back under control and eventually return to the surface. (Postwar, JANAC
denied credit for the tanker seen to explode.)
Tang contacted a convoy consisting of a freighter, transport, and four escorts on the evening of 26 February. She maneuvered into position to attack the wildly zigzagging transport and fired her last four torpedoes and believed she missed; JANAC credited her with sinking Choko Maru, a 1794 LT (1,822.8 t) cargo ship. Having expended all of her torpedoes and scored 16 hits out of 24 attempts, the submarine put into Midway
for refit.
, and to the approaches to Truk. She made only five surface contacts and had no opportunity to launch an attack before she was assigned to lifeguard duty near Truk. Tang rescued 22 downed airmen and transported them to Hawaii
at the conclusion of the patrol.
on 8 June and hunted enemy shipping in the East China Sea
and Yellow Sea
areas. On 24 June, southwest of Kagoshima, the submarine contacted a convoy of six large ships guarded by 16 escorts. Tang closed for a surface attack and fired a spread of three torpedoes at one of the ships and quickly launched a similar spread at a second target. Explosions followed, and Tang reported two ships sunk. However, postwar examination of Japanese records revealed by the Japanese government show that two passenger-cargo ships and two freighters were sunk. The ships must have overlapped, and the torpedo spread must have hit and sunk two victims in addition to their intended targets. Those sunk — Tamahoko Maru, Tainan Maru, Nasusan Maru, and Kennichi Maru — added up to 16292 LT (16,553.5 t) of enemy shipping.
On 30 June, while she patrolled the lane from Kyūshū
to Dairen, Tang sighted another cargo ship steaming without an escort. After making an end around run on the surface which produced two torpedo misses, Tang went deep to avoid depth charge
s, then surfaced and chased the hapless ship until she closed the range to 750 yd (685.8 m). A single torpedo blew Nikkin Maru in half, and the merchantman sank.
The next morning, Tang sighted a tanker and a freighter. While she sank freighter Taiun Maru Number Two, tanker Takatori Maru Number One fled. The submarine trailed until dark, then launched two torpedoes which sent the latter down. Tang celebrated 4 July at dawn by an end-around, submerged attack on an enemy freighter which was near shore. However, with rapidly shoaling water and her keel about to touch bottom, Tang backed off, fired a spread of three with two hits, and then surfaced as survivors of the 6886 LT (6,996.5 t) cargo ship Asukazan Maru were being rescued by fishing boats. That afternoon, Tang sighted Yamaoka Maru, another cargo ship of approximately the same size, and sank her with two torpedoes. The submarine surfaced and, with the aid of grapnel hooks and Thompson submachine gun
s, rescued a survivor who had been clinging to an overturned lifeboat. While prowling the waters off Dairen late the next night, the submarine sighted a cargo ship and, during a submerged attack with her last two torpedoes, sank Dori Maru. The box score for her third patrol was 10 enemy merchant ships sunk that totaled 39160 LT (39,788.5 t).
. On 10 August, she fired a spread of three torpedoes at a tanker near the beach of Omaezaki with no hits. The next day, after locating two freighters and two escorts, she launched three torpedoes at the larger freighter and two at the other. The larger freighter {"Roko Maru"} disintegrated apparently from a torpedo which exploded in her boilers. As the submarine went deep, her crew heard the fourth and fifth torpedoes hit the second ship. After a jarring depth charge attack which lasted 38 minutes, Tang returned to periscope level. Only the two escorts were in sight, and one of them was picking up survivors.
On 14 August, Tang attacked a patrol yacht with her deck gun and reduced the Japanese ship's deck house to a shambles with eight hits. Eight days later, she sank a 225 ft (68.6 m) patrol boat {"No.2 Nansatsu Maru"}. On 23 August, the submarine closed in on a large ship; Japanese in white uniforms could be seen lining its superstructure and the bridge. She launched three torpedoes, and two hits caused the 8135 LT (8,265.6 t) transport Tsukushi Maru to sink. Two days later, Tang attacked a tanker and an escort with her last three torpedoes-the tanker{"No.8 Nanko Maru"} sank-and then returned to Pearl Harbor
.
was known to be mined by the enemy, and O'Kane was given the choice of making the passage north of Formosa alone, or joining a coordinated attack group which was to patrol off northeast Formosa, and making the passage with them. Tang chose to make the passage alone and these vessels never heard from Tang, nor did any base, after she left Midway Island.
The story of Tangs fate comes from the report of her surviving commanding officer.
On the night of 10–11 October, Tang sank the cargo ships Joshu Go and Ōita Maru. The submarine continued on patrol until 23 October, when she contacted a large convoy consisting of three tankers, a transport, a freighter, and numerous escorts. Commander O'Kane planned a night surface attack. Tang broke into the middle of the formation, firing torpedoes as she closed the tankers (later identified as freighters). Two torpedoes struck under the stack and engine room of the nearest, a single burst into the stern of the middle one, and two exploded under the stack and engine space of the farthest. The first torpedoes began exploding before the last was fired, and all hit their targets, which were soon either blazing or sinking. As the submarine prepared to fire at the tanker which was crossing her stern, she sighted the transport bearing down on her in an attempt to ram.
Tang had no room to dive so she crossed the transport's bow and with full left rudder saved her stern and got inside the transport's turning circle
. The transport was forced to continue her swing to avoid the tanker which had also been coming in to ram. The tanker struck the transport's starboard quarter shortly after the submarine fired four stern torpedoes along their double length at a range of 400 yd (365.8 m). The tanker sank bow first and the transport had a 30° up-angle. With escorts approaching on the port bow and beam and a destroyer closing on the port quarter, Tang rang up full speed and headed for open water. When the submarine was 6000 yd (5,486.4 m) from the transport, another explosion was observed, and its bow disappeared.
On the morning of 25 October, Tang began patrolling at periscope level. She surfaced at dark and headed for Turnabout Island
(25.431493°N 119.93989°W). On approaching the island, the submarine's surface search radar
showed so many blips that it was almost useless. Tang soon identified a large convoy which contained tankers with planes on their decks and transports with crated planes stacked on their bows and sterns. As the submarine tracked the Japanese ships along the coast, the enemy escorts became suspicious, and the escort commander began signaling with a large searchlight. This illuminated the convoy, and Tang chose a large three-deck transport as her first target, a smaller transport as the second, and a large tanker as the third. Their ranges varied from 900–1400 yd (823–1,280.2 m). After firing two torpedoes at each target, the submarine paralleled the convoy to choose its next victims. She launched stern torpedoes at another transport and tanker aft.
As Tang poured on full speed to escape the gunfire directed at her, a destroyer passed around the stern of the transport and headed for the submarine. The tanker exploded, and a hit was seen on the transport. A few seconds later, the destroyer exploded, either from intercepting Tangs third torpedo or from shell fire of two escorts closing on the beam. Only the transport remained afloat, and it was dead in the water. The submarine cleared to 240 ft (73.2 m), rechecked the last two torpedoes which had been loaded in the bow tubes; and returned to finish off the transport.
The 23rd torpedo was fired at 900 yd (823 m) and was observed running "hot, straight, and normal". At 02:30 on the morning of 25 October, the 24th and last torpedo was fired. It broached and curved to the left in a circular run. Tang fishtailed under emergency power to clear the turning circle of the torpedo, but it struck her abreast the aft torpedo room approximately 20 seconds after it was fired. The explosion was violent, and men as far forward as the control room received broken limbs. The ship went down by the stern with the after three compartments flooded. Of the nine officers and men on the bridge, three were able to swim through the night until picked up eight hours later. One officer escaped from the flooded conning tower
, and was rescued with the others.
The submarine bottomed at 180 ft (54.9 m) and the men within crowded forward as the aft compartments flooded. Publications were burned, and all assembled to the forward room to escape. The escape was delayed by a Japanese patrol, which dropped depth charges, and started an electrical fire in the forward battery. Thirteen men escaped from the forward room, and by the time the last made his exit, the heat from the fire was so intense that the paint on the bulkhead was scorching, melting, and running down. Of the 13 men who escaped, only nine reached the surface, and of these, five were able to swim until rescued. A total of 74 men were lost. Those who escaped the submarine were greeted in the morning with the bow of the transport sticking straight out of the water.
Nine survivors, including O'Kane, were picked up the next morning by a Japanese destroyer. There were also victims of Tangs previous sinkings on board, and they beat the men from Tang. O'Kane stated, "When we realized that our clubbing and kickings were being administered by the burned, mutilated survivors of our handiwork, we found we could take it with less prejudice." The nine captives were retained by the Japanese in prison camps until the end of the war.
In the last attack, Tang had sunk Kogen Maru and Matsumoto Maru. Tang was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 8 February 1945.
s and two Presidential Unit Citations for World War II
service. Her commanding officer received the Medal of Honor
for Tangs final action.
Tang is credited with sinking 31 ships in her five patrols, totaling 227800 LT (231,456.2 t), and damaging two for 4100 LT (4,165.8 t). This record is unequaled among American submarines.
Tang is the subject of an episode of the syndicated
television
anthology series, The Silent Service
, which aired during the 1957-1958 season.
Balao class submarine
The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was built and launched in 1943.
In her short career, the Tang sank 33 ships displacing 116,454 tons Her commanding officer received the Medal of Honor for her last two engagements (October 23, 1944 and October 24, 1944). Tang was sunk during the last engagement by a circular run of her final torpedo.
The ship sank in 180 feet of water. Several of the crew managed to reach the surface, and some of them survived to be captured by the Japanese. These were the first American submariners to escape a sunken submarine using a Momsen lung
Momsen lung
The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. The Momsen lung was invented by Charles B. Momsen . Submariners would train in a 100-foot deep escape training tower using this apparatus...
.
Tang was the first ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named after the tang, an Acanthuridae
Acanthuridae
Acanthuridae is the family of surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 80 species in six genera, all of which are marine fish living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs...
and close relative of the surgeonfish. The contract to build her was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
on 15 December 1941, and her keel was laid down on 15 January 1943. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 17 August sponsored by Mrs. Antonio S. Pitre, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 15 October 1943 with Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
Richard H. O'Kane, the extraordinarily effective former executive officer of , in command, and delivered to the Navy on 30 November 1943.
Tang completed fitting out at Mare Island
Mare Island
Mare Island is a peninsula in the United States alongside the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the east side of San Pablo Bay. Mare Island is considered a peninsula because no full...
and then moved south to San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
for 18 days of intensive training before sailing for Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. She arrived at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 8 January 1944 and conducted two more weeks of exercises in preparation for combat. Tang stood out of Pearl Harbor on 22 January to begin her first war patrol in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
-Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
area.
First war patrol
On the morning of 17 February, she sighted a convoy of two freighters, their escorts, and five smaller ships. The submarine tracked the convoy, plotted its course, and then prepared to attack. An escort suddenly appeared at a range of 7000 yd (6,400.8 m) and closing. Tang went deep and received five depth chargeDepth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s before the escort departed. Undamaged, she returned to periscope
Periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it consists of a tube with mirrors at each end set parallel to each other at a 45-degree angle....
depth and resumed the attack. The range on the nearest freighter closed to 1500 yd (1,371.6 m), and Tang fired a spread of four torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es. Three of them hit, and Gyoten Maru (6,800 tons) sank by the stern. The submarine cleared the area by running deep and then attempted to get ahead of the convoy for a dawn attack, but the remaining freighter passed out of range under air escort.
During the night of 22 February, Tang made a surface attack on a convoy of three cargo ships and two escorts. She tracked the Japanese ships, through rain squalls which made radar almost useless, for half an hour before attaining a firing position, on the surface, 1500 yd (1,371.6 m) off the port bow of a freighter. A spread of four torpedoes hit Fukuyama Maru (3,600 tons) from bow to stern, and the enemy ship disintegrated. Early the next morning, Tang made another approach on the convoy. The escort of the lead ship, the 6,800 ton Yamashimo Maru, moved from its covering position on the port bow, and the submarine slipped into it and fired four more torpedoes. The first hit the stern of the cargoman, the second just aft of the stack; and the third just forward of the bridge, producing a terrific secondary explosion. The ship was "twisted, lifted from the water", and began belching flames as she sank.
On the morning of 24 February, Tang sighted a tanker, a freighter, and a destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. Rain squalls hampered her as she attempted to attain a good firing position, so she tracked the ships until after nightfall, then made a surface attack. She launched four torpedoes and scored three hits which sank the freighter Asama Maru. The two remaining ships commenced firing in all directions, and Tang submerged to begin evasive action. She shadowed the enemy until morning and then closed the tanker for a submerged attack from extremely close, just 500 yd (457.2 m), barely enough to allow her torpedoes to arm. Additional lookouts had been posted on the target's deck and, when the spread of torpedoes from Tang struck her, they were hurled into the air with other debris from the ship. Echizen Maru sank in four minutes as Tang went deep and rigged for the depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack that followed. During this evasion, a water leak developed in the forward torpedo room, and Tang exceeded her depth gauge maximum reading of 612 feet. Fortunately, the crew was able to get the submarine back under control and eventually return to the surface. (Postwar, JANAC
Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee
Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee was a United States inter-service agency set up to analyze and assess Japanese naval and merchant marine shipping losses caused by U.S. and Allied forces during World War II.-Background:...
denied credit for the tanker seen to explode.)
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
for refit.
Second war patrol
Tangs second patrol began on 16 March and took her to waters around the Palau Islands, to Davao GulfDavao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of 308,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from Celebes Sea. It is surrounded by all four provinces in the Davao Region. The largest island in the gulf is Samal Island. Davao City, on the gulf's west...
, and to the approaches to Truk. She made only five surface contacts and had no opportunity to launch an attack before she was assigned to lifeguard duty near Truk. Tang rescued 22 downed airmen and transported them to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
at the conclusion of the patrol.
Third war patrol
Her third war patrol was one of the most devastating carried out against Japanese shipping during the war. Tang got underway from Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 8 June and hunted enemy shipping in the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
and Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
areas. On 24 June, southwest of Kagoshima, the submarine contacted a convoy of six large ships guarded by 16 escorts. Tang closed for a surface attack and fired a spread of three torpedoes at one of the ships and quickly launched a similar spread at a second target. Explosions followed, and Tang reported two ships sunk. However, postwar examination of Japanese records revealed by the Japanese government show that two passenger-cargo ships and two freighters were sunk. The ships must have overlapped, and the torpedo spread must have hit and sunk two victims in addition to their intended targets. Those sunk — Tamahoko Maru, Tainan Maru, Nasusan Maru, and Kennichi Maru — added up to 16292 LT (16,553.5 t) of enemy shipping.
On 30 June, while she patrolled the lane from Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
to Dairen, Tang sighted another cargo ship steaming without an escort. After making an end around run on the surface which produced two torpedo misses, Tang went deep to avoid depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s, then surfaced and chased the hapless ship until she closed the range to 750 yd (685.8 m). A single torpedo blew Nikkin Maru in half, and the merchantman sank.
The next morning, Tang sighted a tanker and a freighter. While she sank freighter Taiun Maru Number Two, tanker Takatori Maru Number One fled. The submarine trailed until dark, then launched two torpedoes which sent the latter down. Tang celebrated 4 July at dawn by an end-around, submerged attack on an enemy freighter which was near shore. However, with rapidly shoaling water and her keel about to touch bottom, Tang backed off, fired a spread of three with two hits, and then surfaced as survivors of the 6886 LT (6,996.5 t) cargo ship Asukazan Maru were being rescued by fishing boats. That afternoon, Tang sighted Yamaoka Maru, another cargo ship of approximately the same size, and sank her with two torpedoes. The submarine surfaced and, with the aid of grapnel hooks and Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
s, rescued a survivor who had been clinging to an overturned lifeboat. While prowling the waters off Dairen late the next night, the submarine sighted a cargo ship and, during a submerged attack with her last two torpedoes, sank Dori Maru. The box score for her third patrol was 10 enemy merchant ships sunk that totaled 39160 LT (39,788.5 t).
Fourth war patrol
Her fourth war patrol was conducted from 31 July-3 September in Japanese home waters off the coast of HonshūHonshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. On 10 August, she fired a spread of three torpedoes at a tanker near the beach of Omaezaki with no hits. The next day, after locating two freighters and two escorts, she launched three torpedoes at the larger freighter and two at the other. The larger freighter {"Roko Maru"} disintegrated apparently from a torpedo which exploded in her boilers. As the submarine went deep, her crew heard the fourth and fifth torpedoes hit the second ship. After a jarring depth charge attack which lasted 38 minutes, Tang returned to periscope level. Only the two escorts were in sight, and one of them was picking up survivors.
On 14 August, Tang attacked a patrol yacht with her deck gun and reduced the Japanese ship's deck house to a shambles with eight hits. Eight days later, she sank a 225 ft (68.6 m) patrol boat {"No.2 Nansatsu Maru"}. On 23 August, the submarine closed in on a large ship; Japanese in white uniforms could be seen lining its superstructure and the bridge. She launched three torpedoes, and two hits caused the 8135 LT (8,265.6 t) transport Tsukushi Maru to sink. Two days later, Tang attacked a tanker and an escort with her last three torpedoes-the tanker{"No.8 Nanko Maru"} sank-and then returned to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
.
Fifth war patrol
After a refit and overhaul, Tang stood out to sea on 24 September for her fifth war patrol. After topping off with fuel at Midway Island, she sailed for Formosa Strait on 27 September. In order to reach her area, Tang had to pass through narrow waters known to be heavily patrolled by the enemy. A large area stretching northeast from FormosaTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
was known to be mined by the enemy, and O'Kane was given the choice of making the passage north of Formosa alone, or joining a coordinated attack group which was to patrol off northeast Formosa, and making the passage with them. Tang chose to make the passage alone and these vessels never heard from Tang, nor did any base, after she left Midway Island.
The story of Tangs fate comes from the report of her surviving commanding officer.
On the night of 10–11 October, Tang sank the cargo ships Joshu Go and Ōita Maru. The submarine continued on patrol until 23 October, when she contacted a large convoy consisting of three tankers, a transport, a freighter, and numerous escorts. Commander O'Kane planned a night surface attack. Tang broke into the middle of the formation, firing torpedoes as she closed the tankers (later identified as freighters). Two torpedoes struck under the stack and engine room of the nearest, a single burst into the stern of the middle one, and two exploded under the stack and engine space of the farthest. The first torpedoes began exploding before the last was fired, and all hit their targets, which were soon either blazing or sinking. As the submarine prepared to fire at the tanker which was crossing her stern, she sighted the transport bearing down on her in an attempt to ram.
Tang had no room to dive so she crossed the transport's bow and with full left rudder saved her stern and got inside the transport's turning circle
Turning radius
The turning radius or turning circle of a vehicle is the size of the smallest circular turn that the vehicle is capable of making. The term turning radius is actually a misnomer, since the size of a circle is actually its diameter, not its radius. The less ambiguous term turning circle is preferred...
. The transport was forced to continue her swing to avoid the tanker which had also been coming in to ram. The tanker struck the transport's starboard quarter shortly after the submarine fired four stern torpedoes along their double length at a range of 400 yd (365.8 m). The tanker sank bow first and the transport had a 30° up-angle. With escorts approaching on the port bow and beam and a destroyer closing on the port quarter, Tang rang up full speed and headed for open water. When the submarine was 6000 yd (5,486.4 m) from the transport, another explosion was observed, and its bow disappeared.
On the morning of 25 October, Tang began patrolling at periscope level. She surfaced at dark and headed for Turnabout Island
Kiushan Tao
Kiushan Tao is an island east of China. It is also known as Niushan Dao , Niu Shan, and Turnabout Island. The island forms a part of the boundary between the East China Sea and the South China Sea.-External links:...
(25.431493°N 119.93989°W). On approaching the island, the submarine's surface search radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
showed so many blips that it was almost useless. Tang soon identified a large convoy which contained tankers with planes on their decks and transports with crated planes stacked on their bows and sterns. As the submarine tracked the Japanese ships along the coast, the enemy escorts became suspicious, and the escort commander began signaling with a large searchlight. This illuminated the convoy, and Tang chose a large three-deck transport as her first target, a smaller transport as the second, and a large tanker as the third. Their ranges varied from 900–1400 yd (823–1,280.2 m). After firing two torpedoes at each target, the submarine paralleled the convoy to choose its next victims. She launched stern torpedoes at another transport and tanker aft.
As Tang poured on full speed to escape the gunfire directed at her, a destroyer passed around the stern of the transport and headed for the submarine. The tanker exploded, and a hit was seen on the transport. A few seconds later, the destroyer exploded, either from intercepting Tangs third torpedo or from shell fire of two escorts closing on the beam. Only the transport remained afloat, and it was dead in the water. The submarine cleared to 240 ft (73.2 m), rechecked the last two torpedoes which had been loaded in the bow tubes; and returned to finish off the transport.
The 23rd torpedo was fired at 900 yd (823 m) and was observed running "hot, straight, and normal". At 02:30 on the morning of 25 October, the 24th and last torpedo was fired. It broached and curved to the left in a circular run. Tang fishtailed under emergency power to clear the turning circle of the torpedo, but it struck her abreast the aft torpedo room approximately 20 seconds after it was fired. The explosion was violent, and men as far forward as the control room received broken limbs. The ship went down by the stern with the after three compartments flooded. Of the nine officers and men on the bridge, three were able to swim through the night until picked up eight hours later. One officer escaped from the flooded conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
, and was rescued with the others.
The submarine bottomed at 180 ft (54.9 m) and the men within crowded forward as the aft compartments flooded. Publications were burned, and all assembled to the forward room to escape. The escape was delayed by a Japanese patrol, which dropped depth charges, and started an electrical fire in the forward battery. Thirteen men escaped from the forward room, and by the time the last made his exit, the heat from the fire was so intense that the paint on the bulkhead was scorching, melting, and running down. Of the 13 men who escaped, only nine reached the surface, and of these, five were able to swim until rescued. A total of 74 men were lost. Those who escaped the submarine were greeted in the morning with the bow of the transport sticking straight out of the water.
Nine survivors, including O'Kane, were picked up the next morning by a Japanese destroyer. There were also victims of Tangs previous sinkings on board, and they beat the men from Tang. O'Kane stated, "When we realized that our clubbing and kickings were being administered by the burned, mutilated survivors of our handiwork, we found we could take it with less prejudice." The nine captives were retained by the Japanese in prison camps until the end of the war.
In the last attack, Tang had sunk Kogen Maru and Matsumoto Maru. Tang was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 8 February 1945.
Awards
Tang received four battle starService star
A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
s and two Presidential Unit Citations for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service. Her commanding officer received the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for Tangs final action.
Tang is credited with sinking 31 ships in her five patrols, totaling 227800 LT (231,456.2 t), and damaging two for 4100 LT (4,165.8 t). This record is unequaled among American submarines.
Tang is the subject of an episode of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
anthology series, The Silent Service
The Silent Service (TV series)
The Silent Service was a 1957–1958 syndicated anthology television series based on actual events in the submarine section of the United States Navy. The Silent Service was narrated by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in 1949 after twenty-two years of service...
, which aired during the 1957-1958 season.
External links
- On Eternal Patrol: USS Tang. Website has copies of Tang War Patrol Reports.