Posts Tagged ‘USS Flier’

On Eternal Patrol: USS Barbel lost 4 February 1945

Lost Subs | Posted by Rebekah
Feb 04 2012

<sigh> it seems like no matter my intentions, eventually I get bogged down by sick kids, and constant mommying. Or exhaustion.  I worked 20 hours a week through college, did extracirriculars, worked two jobs every summer.  I thought I was tired then!  It’s nothing compared to active young ones!  I love it, but I now must apologize to the men of USS E-2, USS S-26, USS S-36, USS Scorpion (I), and my readers.  To the subs and your crews, your stories are not forgotten and will be posted (albeit retroactively).  To my readers, I know, I keep apologizing.  One day, I’ll get this right! Thanks for the understanding.

USS Barbel, SS-316, was built and Commissioned April 13, 1944.  She actually commissioned with her sister Razorback (now on display at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum) and beat Razor to the war zone.

She had three successful war patrols under her commissioning officer, Cmdr. Robert A. Keating.  In an era when submarines were so successful they were starting to put themselves out of work, Barbel was a busy hunter.  During her first patrol she claimed four kills, three on her second patrol, and two on her third patrol, for a wartime total of nine ships in just five months.  Actually, rather impressive.  (The Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) later lowered that total to six, discounting one on the first patrol and two on the second)

During this time, the Allies were storming the Pacific.  The battle of Leyte Gulf happened during Barbel’s second patrol, and by her third patrol, the Allies were already deeply in the Philippines, landing on Mindoro Island.  Soon, the Japanese would be completely cast out of that nation.

Submarine bases were changing and moving too.  When USS Flier was pulling out for her last patrol on 2 August 1944, there were really only three (maybe four, if you counted Midway and no one wanted to R&R there.  No girls, only gooney birds.  Lousy dates!) bases: Pearl Harbor, Freemantle/Perth Australia and Brisbane, Australia.  But so much changed in the few weeks between 12 August when Flier left for eternity and 21 August when Barbel came in from her first run that she actually had R&R on Majuro Atoll with the submarine tender USS Bushnell (AS-15) who set up base that much closer to the front lines only a short time earlier.

After her second patrol, she R&R-ed in Saipan Harbor where she was refitted and sent out on her third war patrol in just seven days.

After her third patrol, she pulled into Fremantle, where her CO was replaced by Cmdr. Conde Raguet, and she headed back into the fray on 5 January 1945.

She was assigned to operate in a wolfpack with submarines USS Perch (II) and USS Galiban,  guarding the western entrances to Balabac Strait.  Since the losses of USS Robalo and USS Flier in or near Balabac Strait  in August 1944, Navy HQ decided to close it to all Allied traffic, but since the Japanese laid the minefields in the first place, they still used it.  So, submarines were assigned to guard either the western or eastern entrances, both which provided lots of entertainment.

According to “The History of USS Barbel” filed by the Navy in 1956, on 3 February, Barbel radioed Galiban as well as Tuna and Blackfin (who must have been in the area) that she was dodging more aerial patrols that usual.  Three times already that day, planes had buzzed overhead, dropping depth charges which she thus far, evaded.  Cmdr. Raguet said he would communicate more the following night (presumably, the 4th of February.)

No one heard from her that night.  Or the next.  On the 6th of February, Tuna sent a message to Barbel, ordering her to surface and rendezvous at a particular place and time on the 7th.  Barbel never answered and never showed.  This was reported to HQ and they listed Barbel as lost on 16 of February, 1945.

After the war, a record surfaced.  On 4 February, a Japanese pilot, spotting an Allied submarine SW of Palawan in the vicinity of Balabac Strait, dropped his two depth charges on her.  One missed.  The other hit the sub’s bridge, and she “plunged under a cloud of fire and spray.”  No other submarines were in that area or recorded an attack that day.  It’s likely this description was the Barbel’s fate.  Her loss date was therefore listed as 4 February 1945.  Her crew of 81 lie with her.

Following her loss, she was honored with a little sister: USS Barbel (II) SS-580.  The lead ship in the first designs of teardrop shaped hulls, Barbel (II) had an…interesting career.  Reading what little is in the public domain about her reminds me why I so admire the men (and now women) who crew these boats, and why I could never do what they do.  Barbel was decommissioned in 1990 and sunk as a target in 2001, but her triplet sister, Blueback (SS-581), is on display at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, if you ever want to see her.

Barbel (I)’s memorial is along the Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery near Evansville, Wyoming.

To her 81 men, may I say, “Sailor, Rest Your Oar” and thank you, from a grateful citizen.

Photos of USS Barbel’s Memorial

Deck Logs of USS Barbel, including her official history (first three pages)

The Lost crew of USS Barbel

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Hakusan Maru: The Troop Ship

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah
Oct 31 2011

AAAANND as soon as I say I’m going to try to post at least twice a week, the whole family comes down with the crud.  I don’t know what it is about kids that act as some sort of petri dish for new and exotic flavors of virus, but it’s been a long week.  Still we’re on the mend now, and they’re quietly watching a movie, which means I have some time to post….maybe.

There is a record of Hakusan Maru showing that her owners, NYK Line, intended to use her as a passenger/mail ship in 1939. There is no schedule for any NYK Line ships in 1940 that I can access. This either means that all NYK ships had been requisitioned by 1940, or that those records aren’t visible yet. Still, by 1 February 1941, while the USA is busy trying to stay OUT of war, and Japan is still not invading any place other than China, the Hakusan is now a military troop ship. In fact, she was the flag ship of the “1st Base Force”, at least she was UNTIL 1 Feb 1941, when the flag was transferred to the Aotaka.

All of Hakusan’s movements from this point forward, are courtesy of the research of the people behind combinedfleet.com, a website devoted to tracking nigh near each individual ship in the Japanese Navy during WWII, including a record of movement for each. Strangely, Hakusan Maru that met the Flier, is not one of them, but she did travel around with a number of other destroyers, transports, escorts, ect. so it was easy, if a touch time consuming to piece Hakusan’s schedule.  (The Hakusan Maru on Combined Fleet’s site is another ship, requisitioned after Hakusan I sank, and that one survived the war).

Anyway, now Hakusan Maru (I) has only about three and a half years left. And boy oh boy was she a busy girl.

Spring of 1942, Hakusan, with a bunch of other ships, headed from Mutsu Bay to Kiska Island Alaska. She was carrying troops to invade America, and her troops would actually win. That’s right, it’s a little known fact that the USA was successfully invaded and occupied during WWII. Not much of it, and we took it back, but still, America was invaded.

It was a hellish battle field too, the only arctic battle site in the Pacific.

These paintings by William F. Draper in 1942, show some of the harsh battles of the Attu and Kiska campaigns. Weather, and cold and show added to the misery of battle, and when it was finally all over, both sides abandoned military equipment on the islands, which can still be seen today. (Apparently, including a submarine!) Painting on the left: Fireworks (The First Japanese Raid on the Island) by William F. Draper Oil on Board 1942; Painting on Right: War and Peace (Ack-Ack- Fire Near a Russian-Aleut Grave) William F. Draper Oil on board 1942. Both paintings held by Navy Historical Center

And that’s definitely a whole other post.

Hakusan apparently did two round trips in the summer of 1942, dropping off men and supplies, ending in 2 August.  I found no more records of her for the rest of 1942.

Map of Hakusan Maru's routes through 1942 and 1943.

The next time I found records of her, she’s in Palau, heading for New Guinea, then Japan, back to Palau, Balikpapan, Yokosuka (her home port before this mess) then doing a number of routes between Truk and Rabaul, Yokosuka, then back to Rabaul. She certainly put a lot of miles in her wake.  One thing that is interesting to note is that by late 1943 the Japanese are still this close to Australia, despite the battles of Guadalcanal and the Battles of the Coral and Bismarck Seas.  They’re certainly tenacious, one of the things that made them so fierce and frightening to fight.

In Rabaul on November 2, 1943, Hakusan had her first hiccup.  The Japanese still held beautiful and seep Simpson Harbor in Rabaul at this point, and the Allies were trying to change that.  For six days, from 23 October 1943 to 2 November 1943, daily raids over Simpson Harbor were carried out, trying to keep things tied down while the Allies invaded Bougainville to the east.

It was in the 2 November Raid that Hakusan was hit and damaged badly enough that she could not flee out to sea.  One of the American bombers took photos of that raid.

This photo, taken from one of the bombers, shows the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro, in the foreground. The ship burning back and off to the right is a Hakone class transport, or which Hakusan was one, so that may be her there. Photo is Official US Air Force Photo, now in the collection of the Naval Historical Center.

Another photo, from a different angle, showing the Haguro just on the left, nearly out of frame and the possible Hakusan (or at least one of her sisters) burning in the center left. Official US Air Force photo now in the Naval Historical Center.

 

It was a savage raid: only 25% of the 40 ships in harbor were undamaged by the end.

Hakusan remained in Simpson Harbor until the repair ship Hakaai Maru can arrive ten days later and patch her up.  by December 6, 1943 the Hakusan has been loaded up and departs Rabaul (with, I’m sure, a relieved crew!) and jumps the short distance to Truk (again.)

(Incidentally, the Hakaai Maru, the repair ship, would be destroyed by Allied bombers in Simpson Harbor herself on 17 January 1944)

She ends 1944 in Saipan, and by January 1945, she’s back in Truk, and then it’s off to Yokohama.

Track of Hakusan's final year. Records might be incomplete, but considering all the records that were destroyed (deliberately or not), lost, or ruined in the final two years of the war, it's not that surprising.

Her final convoy left Saipan on May 31, bound for Yokohama. Three days into the journey, another transport, the Chiyo Maru, was hit with two torpedoes in her starboard side by the USS Shark II during Shark’s first patrol.  Chiyo Maru sank in 10 minutes, and though the escorts dropped a number of depth charges, they didn’t damage Shark at all.

The convoy moved on, they had to, if they halted and tried to retrieve the people on the sinking ship, they could fall prey to another submarine (or it’s pack, if the sub wasn’t a lone wolf) Two days later, they crossed Flier’s path.  Crowley sent three torpedoes her way, two of which exploded against her starboard side.  Like Chiyo, she sinks in about ten minutes, taking her passengers and crew and even some families with her.  The escorts responded with depth charges, but like the Shark, Flier was unscathed.

Flier stalked the convoy for another day, but the escorts never let her close enough to get off a clear shot.  In a strange way, the escorts were almost immune from submarine attacks.  Not that submarines COULDN’T attack escorts, but their priority targets were transports, tankers, and cargo ships, with navy vessels below that, and escorts faaaar below that.  The submarine force was trying to slowly strangle the Japanese empire by removing all her raw goods, (steel, rubber, oil, tin, copper, ) making it impossible for her to create, repair or refuel any of her war machines, so torpedoes were not to be wasted on mere escorts, whose absence wouldn’t be as missed.

Hakusan’s wreck site was the only one that Flier returned to during her patrols.  Her crew recovered two life rings, and a number of codebooks, and other official paperwork that had been hastily wrapped and thrown into a lifeboat that drifted aimlessly.  According to Al Jacobson, who was on the deck, there were dozens of bodies in the water, far more than a shipping vessel that size should have had. That was how they figured out that this ship was a troop transport, though where these troops were going, no one knew.

Hakusan’s wreck has never been found.  Her wreck location is vague enough and deep enough that it may be a long while before she is ever discovered, IF she ever is.

Following the war, NYK Line, Hakusan’s owner, picked back up and brushed themselves off.  Of their 222 strong fleet in 1940, only 37 ships remained.  Most of the 185 lost ships were destroyed by American submarines.  NYK did well, and today, having long gotten out of the passenger and mail business, are one of Japan’s largest cargo fleets, her ships are a familiar sight all over the world.

And there’s even a new Hakusan Maru, a 73,000 ton container ship built in 1973, and sold in 1987.  Guess the legacy lives on.

 

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The Hakusan Maru: The Civilian Days

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah
Jun 28 2011

 

Postcard showing Hakusan Maru during her heyday in the 1920's.

Following WWII, the US Navy and Japanese Imperial Navy got together to swap records.  This was necessary for a number of reasons, but for Submarine Force, this was vital. 48 of the 52 boats had gone missing (the other four had grounded, and their fates and locations were known) and we needed to know why. Likewise, a LARGE number of Japanese ships had gone missing, and they wanted to know why.

So now they started a large game of cross-reference, in days before computers. “Our submarine claimed sinking a ship at this location on this date.” “Oh yes, here, we lost the ____ Maru at that location on that date.” Confirmed kill for the submarine, and the Japanese knew what happened to their ship.  “We lost a submarine after this date in this general area.” “Yes, we record a successful depth charge attack on a submarine in this area on this date.” The fates of Wahoo, Lagarto, Bonefish, AMberjack, Cisco, and a number of others were solved this way, though many of their wreck sites remain undiscovered.

Still, there were discrepancies, mix-ups, and since the Japanese had been in retreat for nearly three years, records were incomplete in places, and in other places, it didn’t matter (The Japanese, for example, have no records of attacking any submarine in the areas Capelin, Escolar and Scorpion were lost, and their cause and resting place remains a complete mystery. They also recorded destroying something like 500+ Allied submarines. Considering only 252 American submarines served, and a far smaller number of British and Dutch submarine, it’s obvious there were problems.)

For Flier’s remaining crew, this cross-check was somewhat disappointing, not because they didn’t know the approximate location and cause of their boat’s loss, for they did, but because this cross-reference re-wrote Flier’s score after the war from four confirmed sinkings, to only one: the Hakusan Maru. (And believe me, the Flier’s I’ve met or read their personal accounts on, they watched the ships they sank go down, so they never believed these final results. Who knows? Maybe the records were destroyed, or lost, or something. If someone has enough money and time and expertise, I have approximate coordinates. (You might even stumble across the wreck of USS Harder while you’re at it)

Recently, a lot of information has come to light about Hakusan Maru, and I couldn’t resist learning more about her, despite her end.

In Japanese, Hakusan means “White Mountain”, and there is a Hakusan National Park in Japan. Maru, simply means ship, it’s the equivalent of “SS” or “HMS” with a ship’s name. So the American equivalent might be the SS Yellowstone or something like that.

 

A postcard showing Hakusan at her home dock in Yokosuka, Japan in the 1920's to 30's. In an era before e-mail, television, internet, and radio was in its infancy, these postcards were very effective advertising.

The Hakusan Maru that would cross paths with Flier in 1944 was built in 1923, an era of beauty and wealth. She was a passenger and mail liner for the NYK Line (Nippon Yusen Kaisha), and regularly ran from Yokohama Japan to England via Singapore, Hong Kong, Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) the Suez Canal, Striats of Gibralter, and London. I don’t know how close to the White Star Line’s Titanic Hakusan was similar to in reference to her interior, but photos of her sister ships’ insides show pools, formal dining salons, beautiful  glided hand-carved woodwork. She was likely a stunning ship.

And the food!  Did her passengers ever eat well!

Check this out. This is a menu from the second saloon on 12 August 1936. The menu features a Permesan Sea Bass, Veal Cutlets, Roast Duck with Orange Sauce and Watercress, Egg Curry and Rice along with a cold buffet of roast beef sirloin and corned pork plus frozen desserts.  In addition, there were fruits, and nuts.  This menu is disposable, meant for the customer to take with them. On the reverse…

It folds in thirds, showing all the routes NYK ships run. On one third is a space for postage, and on the other, a space for a message.  Now THAT’S advertising. You’re on the Hakusan Maru and send this to a friend who wants to/needs to go somewhere and here is a menu, showing the quality of the food, a map of where these ships go, and a message from you saying how thrilled you are to be here.

I  have images of three of these menus from 1936, all showing some artwork (a Japanese Actor, a Japanese Samurai) a menu, (all of which make me hungry. I can’t read them before dinner!) and all available to be mailed home, to business, anywhere you want.

NYK had dozens of ships, and there was hardly a place they DIDN’T go in the two decades prior to WWII.  Though I have no records of Hakusan Maru going to America (at least, not as a civilian ship) note that several NYK ships did hit Honolulu, British Columbia, California, and Mexico and South America. It’s possible, that as German and Japanese influence grew more threatening, some people may have used NYK ships to get themselves and their families back to their home countries.

As Japan ramped up, and war looked inevitable (and one must remember, that for Japan and China, WWII began in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria) the Imperial Navy looked at NYK Line’s fleet of ships and requisitioned the lot as freighters and troop ships. US Submarines would take a severe toll in the next few years.

Sometime in 1939 Hakusan Maru was officially taken and turned into a troop ship.  More on her military life tomorrow.

 

More Information:

NYK Line schedules from 1912 to 1953, showing Hakusan Maru’s routes.

 

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A new Flier-related (sort of) website

Uncategorized | Posted by Rebekah
Apr 11 2011

I had a wonderful surprise today.  Every few weeks I Google the names of several ships that featured largely in Flier’s history: Robalo, Redfin, Jack, Harder, Silversides, Orion, and of course, Macaw.   Usually, I find nothing, occasionally a new photo.

But today, I found a whole new website about USS Macaw, written by the son of Macaw’s Executive Officer, the most senior officer who survived the sinking.  It was incredible to read through and see the photos of this scarcely known ship.  The one on the home page was the best for me, a photo of Macaw as she sat, grounded, at Midway.  Wow.  THIS is why I keep sifting through the Internet to find stuff on Flier and all her connections.

So, I hope you visit the USS Macaw Website.

P.S.  It seems that particular area of Midway’s channel was VERY dangerous. Not only Flier, Macaw and that water barge (see March 23rds entry) grounded there, but so did USS Tarpon, another submarine on December 10, 1942.

From the War Patrol Report of USS Tarpon: December 10. 1942

1018(Y):  Grounded just before entering channel to NOB, Midway, bering 166 1/2 (degrees) T from W. H-beam pile, distant 850 yards.  Particulars of grounding covered in seperate correspondence.

1034(Y): Backed clear, proceeded up channel

1100(Y): Moored NOB Midway.  Diver inspected underwater condition of hull.

 

You’d think, with this warning 13 months earlier, someone should have blown that channel a little wider in 1943!  The strangest thing of this tale has to be the Executive Officer and Navigator of Tarpon that morning was Paul Burton.

Who, 13 months later, would be at Midway.  Commanding the new Submarine Rescue Ship USS Macaw.

I wonder if he felt a shiver go down his spine that morning in December.  13 months later, an unlucky number that (Flier would also sink on August 13, yeesh) He would drown in nearly the same spot.

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Dive Detectives Update

And now for something completely different... | Posted by Rebekah
Mar 29 2011

You know, I just realized that I posted this on my Facebook page, my USS Flier Project Facebook page, and my newsletter to the Flier Network, but not here.  <facepalm>

Last time I updated about the Dive Detectives and their show on the discovery of Flier, YAP Films announced that the American rights had been sold to an unnamed channel to be shown at some future (unknown) date.  That was way back in October.

I’m happy to say that all the details have been hammered out.  The Dive Detectives has been purchased by the Smithsonian Channel, and will be shown Sundays at 8 pm beginning THIS Sunday.  I’ll post links and schedules below.

I’ve seen the Flier episode at the special preview held during the Flier Memorial Weekend in Muskegon, and also managed to get my hands on a full presentation of Lost A-Bombs, and I have to say, by and large, I’m really impressed.  The two divers, Mike and Warren Fletcher, were highly professional when I met them that weekend (so yes, I’m more than likely prejudiced in their favor) and more than happy to spend time answering multiple questions from the surviving families, and describing the resting place of Flier.  I’m just disappointed that right now, in my life, I don’t have television AT ALL much less access to a channel like this.  Though, I must admit, I’ve been enjoying the free full episodes Smithsonian streams.  I’m not completely deprived.  Depraved…that’s a matter of opinion.  Deprived…not so much.

Smithsonian seems to sell a number of their series and episodes, both at an online store and on iTunes, so that’s where I’m going to be shopping when the full run is over.

Dive Detectives premieres on Sunday, April 3, at 8 pm with an episode about the iconic Lake Superior wreck Edmund Fitzgerald.  The show about Flier will air on May 1, at 8 pm.  I will post details about the purchase of that episode or the whole series once it’s available/I can find it.

Excited!

The Smithsonian Channel’s page on The Dive Detectives

 

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A strange endpoint to Flier’s grounding….

And now for something completely different... | Posted by Rebekah
Mar 23 2011

Boy, when I go underground, I dig deep and never come up for air, huh? I do apologize for that…again.  Thanks for understanding.

An interesting postscript to Flier’s Midway grounding appeared when I was doing the research for this.  After the war, in the 1950′s, Midway was still a thriving base, complete with schools, housing, medical facilities, recreational facilities, ect. ect.  The one thing Midway didn’t have, however, was a well.  There is no source of fresh water in Midway, and no way to get enough through cistern means.

So it’s freighted in on water barges.  In the 1950′s Midway was struck by yet another major storm, and a water barge grounded…pretty much in the exact same spot Flier had a little over ten years earlier.  This barge is half sunk, either its bow or stern (what’s left of it) is still above water, and the rest gently descends below the surface.  The SCUBA sites for midway describe the water barge as a wonderful place to go snorkling, see fish, take photos, provided the tides and currents are all safe enough to do so.

This Water Barge is visible from Google Earth.  Not very detailed, but it is visible:

There you have it. From what I can gather, this is the point where Flier grounded. The Wreck of the Macaw is due west of it, in the deepest part of the channel.

I’ve never been able to find a good photograph of this barge until I stumbled on an old Blog called “Midway Ranger”.  It’s over two years old now, but it’s a fascinating look at what modern Midway Island is.  Only a handful of people stay there anymore, and tourists are strictly regulated.  It’s the main nesting place for a large number of different kinds of Albatross, more commonly known in WWII as “Gooney Birds”.  Nearly three million birds can be found nesting on Midway Atoll, and judging from the photos, they’re not shy one bit!

But this Ranger posted the only photo of this water barge I’ve ever seen taken from the ground.

Actually, I think this photo is quite stunning. I'm told there are monk seals that are quite fond of that wreck too.

Actually, Midway was also hit by the tsunami that struck Japan two weeks ago.  When it hit Midway, it was only five feet high, but it still managed to swamp Spit Island (the smallest), completely cover 60% of Eastern Island, and 20% of Sand Island, the largest, and only currently inhabited island in the atoll.  There was enough warning to evacuate personnel, but the albatross population was hit hard this year.

So there we are.  If you’re interested in more, check these out:

Midway Ranger Blog (interesting look at a year in the life of a Ranger living on Midway Island.

British Article Documenting the 2011 Tsunami Damage of Midway Island

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Quick Question…

The Exhibit | Posted by Rebekah
Feb 18 2011

What makes you want to visit a museum, or return to a museum? I’m putting together a proposal about the USS Flier, but I need some help. So I’m asking for feedback.

What sort of thing makes you want to go see a museum, or return to it?

Is it interactive exhibits?
Interesting stories?
Getting to see items from these stories?
Seeing, hearing, experiencing the same things the people involved would have?
Having something different to experience each time?

What would you like to see in an exhibit about USS Flier? Or WWII submarines?

I want this story to honor the men who gave their all in WWII, those who incredibly made it back to safety to record where these men went down, but also make it interesting and really connect this time and these people to a new generation. So please, I’d love to see your comments.

If you’d rather not comment, you can e-mail me at ussflierproject@gmail.com

Thanks so much!

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Flier’s grounding and the First of the Jim All’s films

Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah
Feb 17 2011

Hey everyone,

Sorry this has taken so long.   I’m having to finish the design for the potential exhibit in the next two weeks, and a few other, family related issues have swallowed my time.  I am sorry, I’ve been hating how little time I’ve had to devote to this blog lately.

But I hope the following will at least partially make up for the prolonged absence.

First, I thought for those who have never taken a look at Midway Atoll,  that you might be interested in just how Flier wound up grounded at Midway when so many other submarines came in and out of Midway all through WWII with little trouble.  I ended up doing a lot of research to help myself out here, and I’m indebted to Michael Sturma of Murdoch University in Australia not only for his excellent book, USS Flier: Death and Survival on a WWII Submarine, but also because he kindly forwarded a digital copy of the JAG investigation and transcript into this incident.

Reading about this incident in the Deck Logs and Sturma’s book was one thing, reading it, in the men’s own words, was another thing completely.  It brought new insights I hadn’t thought of.  Between the Deck Logs, the JAG Transcript and Sturma’s book, I put together a little video about how, exactly, Flier ended up on the reef.

Following this incident, and the tow back to Pearl, Crowley would be found responsible for Flier’s damage, but then again, a skipper is responsible for his ship and all of his crew.  He could have been asleep when this happened, and still be found responsible.  The fact that the investigation panel decided that even though he was responsible, it was through no fault of his own, nor negligence, or anything that could be helped.  In short, he’s responsible, but only because he had to be found such.  They permitted him to retain command of Flier, which says a lot about their opinion of his command abilities, and I’m sure, was a great vote of confidence for Crowley himself.

Jim Alls was on that patrol the day Flier ran aground.  For those who don’t know, Mr. Alls came to the Flier Memorial service in Muskegon this past August.  To my knowledge, he’s the only known Flier crewman still alive.  He was there the day she was commissioned and is listed among the commissioning crew, and remained with her until just a few days before Flier left Fremantle on her final, fateful patrol.  The only reason he didn’t go with her was he had his jaw smashed in by a New Zealand soldier a few days before departure.  All submariners are still required to be in peak condition before leaving on patrol, so Alls was left behind in Freo, with a retainer on him so he would re-join Flier’s crew as soon as he was cleared and she was back in port.

And of course, she never came back.

He’s amazing.  I mean, here’s a guy who lies about his age to join the military at 15 years old (making him 16 years old when this happens) then spends the next several years on the most dangerous and complicated equipment in the world in the middle of a war zone.  He has a great memory too, especially about these guys.  I got to interview him and his wife back in November, and he told story after story, about the men, gilly, Panama, Pearl Harbor, poker games, working in the engine rooms, and on and on and on.  Just incredible.

Since he was there the day they were at Midway, I asked him about it.  The thing that stuck out most in his mind was the surgery performed on Waite Daggy, and the burial of James Cahl.  I’m still working on the Cahl film, but here, in the words of someone who was there, is how surgery ended up being performed on a grounded submarine being thrashed by a winter storm.

And because I just can’t help myself, here’s a funny little bit about what happens when you screw up a Christmas Turkey on a submarine…

In case you’re wondering, I tend to complete these and upload them to YouTube as I find time, but it may be a while before they show up here.  As a result, all three of these movies have been available for two days to two weeks.  If you’re interested in seeing them as soon as I upload them, you can subscribe to the ussflierproject account, and YouTube will keep you advised as to when I upload these.  I will eventually feature them here, as I can and it fits, but there you go.

Enjoy!

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Finally off to war…

Uncategorized, Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah
Jan 12 2011

I just wanted to take a moment today to commemorate the 67th anniversary of Flier finally leaving Pearl Harbor on her way to the front.

We don’t know where she was assigned to go: it’s likely that she was part of the advance force for the upcoming battles in the Marianas.  Wherever she was headed, she was assigned to top off her tanks at Midway Atoll.  Since Midway was 1300 miles closer to the front than Pearl, that top-off could make a difference in amount of time or distance allowed to spend on patrol.

Pearl Harbor, now two years into the war, was busting at the seams.  They had only JUST (as in the last two weeks before this date in 1944) finished floating the last casualty of December 7 that was planned to be reclaimed.  The Arizona was going to remain as a memorial, and so was the Utah (albeit unintentionally.  The Utah was simply too old and useless to waste wartime resources to even float enough to salvage.  After all, before December 7, she had been a target ship, a ship the active warships shot dummy torpedoes and guns at to practice aiming and firing.  She was, however, capsized in a main traffic lane. THAT was going to be fixed.)

Nope, the workers at Pearl Harbor, had finally, after two years of engineering, designs and labor,  figured out how to roll the USS Oklahoma over, float her and drag her into drydock.  (Sadly, drydock would reveal that the damage was beyond worth of repair.  The great battleship was, for all intents and purposes “Totalled”.  She was moved to a quiet part of the harbor until 1946 when she was sold to a scrapper.)

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Fascinating example of the engineering ideas that rolled this battleship over. The date on the photo is correct: March 1943. It would still take until December 28, 1943 before she was able to float on an even keel reliably enough to tug her into drydock. Flier would have been there to see that final step.

Another view of the rolling over of this behemoth, taken a few days later. You can see Oklahoma sitting at about a 30-degree list and the cranes with their lines are now on Ford Island. In a rather ironic end to the story, the salvager that purchase Oklahoma was located in San Francisco, and had to tow the hulk of Oklahoma to California. A storm hit about 500 miles out of Pearl Harbor, and Oklahoma did not make it. Despite all the engineering and efforts, Okie chose to remain on the bottom. Which, I guess, is a fitting end for a warship.

The business of war never stopped, and neither was Flier.

Captain Crowley, by this time, was one of the most experienced submarine Commanders.  A Naval Academy grad of 1931, he already had commanded the USS S-28 through five blisteringly cold patrols in Alaska’s dangerous seas.  He’d commanded submarines out of Pearl Harbor, New London, San Diego, and Dutch Harbor, as well as through the Panama Canal.  Despite his experience, there was one major American Submarine port he’d never been to yet: Midway.

But dozens of submarines were in and out of Midway every week.  The channel going into the harbor was narrow, but deeply dredged, and straight, angled due north a 000 degrees.  All you had to do approach from the south, wait for the pilot to come on board, then drive straight north until through the coral wall that surrounded the base.

How hard could this be?

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Postcard from the Dead

The Exhibit, Where was Flier 66 years ago today? | Posted by Rebekah
Dec 04 2010

Flier is still sitting in Coco Solo waiting for the pilot to take her through the canal, and the men are thoroughly enjoying Panama.  How much are they enjoying it?  Dunno, but we know they behaved well enough that there was no official record of it.  In fact, today’s deck log is dull.  I’m not going to bother post the actual log.  It’s that boring.  I included the transcript below.

——————————-

Saturday, 4 December 1943

Pg. 48

Zone Description +5

0000-0800

Moored starboard side to another submarine on west side of Pier A NO.B (or NO. 13) COCA SOLA C.Z. 0545  Moored startboard side Pier A

J.W. Liddell, Lt. USNR

0800-2400

Moored as before.

——————————-

While on liberty, the men of the Flier were free to send letters for the first time for days, but this included more intrigues.  All letters sent by military men had to be read and censored before they were permitted to be mailed home.

Flier’s radioman, Walter “Bud” Klock, had been in the Navy since 1938.  In the first few years , he wrote home frequently, informing his mother of the cities he was stationed in, the name of the submarines he was posted on, the places he visited.  But following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the beginning of letter censorship, Klock started telling his mom that he was in that place where it was never winter (Hawaii) or he was assigned again to the first place he was right after boot camp (San Diego) or that his first real boat had been lost at sea. (USS ARGONAUT).  At times, when he heard of a military man heading home on leave, he would write a letter in plain language and give it to the guy leaving for him to mail from a civilian mailbox once home (where it wouldn’t be pre-read).  Klock never said anything that would have been considered treasonous, but it was easier to talk plainly to his mom when he got the chance.

It became a game of cat and mouse with the censors who were, of course, looking for any information that might tell and enemy when and were a ship had been or might pass through.  Sailors had to resort to codes, or shared memories of the recipient to relay where they were and what they were doing.  Since the return address was always the boat, and the postmark was always Honolulu or San Diego for a Pacific sailor, that didn’t help either.  Things got quite creative.

It might be the fact that a postcard from another Flier man, Oliver Kisamore, clearly showed the Panama Canal that caused its hold up.

This card is intriguing and a little creepy.

The front is simple enough.  It’s a colorized engraving of the USS Pennsylvania as she crossed the Gatun Locks.

This might be Pennsylvania’s 1937 crossing, but there’s no date marked on the card.  The back of the card is a piece of stationary, flipped over and taped to the back of the card. Oliver Kisamore, a Motor Mac from Andover Ohio, wrote a quick note to his father:  “Dear Folks:  Just a few lines to let you know I am O.K. Hope you fellows are too.  Is it ever warm here.  I’m pulling out soon.  I’ll write you when I reach my next destination.”  Love  [rest of name cut off]

Seems rather innocuous, and Kisamore mailed it from the Cristobal Post Office in the Canal Zone, and likely never thought about it again.  The Cristobal Post Office postmarked it “December 4, 9 30 AM, 1943, CRISTOBAL CANAL ZONE” and passed it on to the censors to pass inspection before they released it to the civilian postal service.

This is actually the Christobal post office that Kisamore mailed this postcard from.

But for whatever reason,( maybe it fell on the floor, or the censor thought the picture and description revealed too much information, who knows?) the postcard was not passed into civilian postal service, and it wasn’t delivered in 1943.  Or 1944.

There are two more clues on this card:  In the upper left edge there is a faint blueish stamp: “Released by O.N.I”  .  O.N.I. in this case, is most likely “Office of Naval Intelligence”, the department responsible for the search and censure of all communications between military and civilians.  Below it, is the date of the release:  Sep 4-1945.

Two days after Japanese representatives signed the surrender of Japan on the deck of USS Missouri.

And Kisamore had been dead for over a year.

I can’t even imagine how his family felt, seeing this last missive from their son in his handwriting so long after they had been informed of his death aboard the Flier thousands of miles away somewhere in the Pacific.

But today, sixty-seven years ago, Oliver Kisamore mailed what would become his last letter home.

My thanks to the families of Oliver Kisamore and Walter “Bud” Klock for sharing their family’s letters to help flesh out the story of the Flier for a new generation.  We’re still looking for photos and other letters from  Flier men, if you are interested in donating them for the purposes of research, preservation and education here on this site, for the Flier exhibit at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum.  If your family would rather hang on to the original letters, I happily accept digital scans or photographs of the originals, or am more than willing to receive originals, photograph them and return them.

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