Lost Boats
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died...rather we should thank God that such men lived...
~ George S. Patton
Sunk on 08 NOV 1944 with the loss of 86 officers and men in the South China Sea.
Winner of two Navy Unit Commendations, USS GROWLER was on her twelfth war patrol as part of a wolf-pack.
The wolf-pack, headed by USS GROWLER, closed a convoy for attack.
The order to commence attacking was the last communication ever received from USS GROWLER.
Lost while attacking the convoy, possibly as a result of a depth charge attack or victim of a circular run by one of her own torpedoes, she was listed as lost in action against the enemy, cause unknown.
Probably sunk on 16 NOV 1944 with the loss of 83 men near Tokyo Bay.
On her eighth war patrol, she was damaged, possibly by a mine and trailing oil, which helped Japanese coast defense vessels locate and destroy her with depth charges.
From records available after the war, it appears that USS SCAMP was sighted by Japanese planes and reported depth charged by a coast defense vessel to the south of Tokyo Bay.
Lost with a total of 83 officers and men, somewhere near Okinawa on her thirteenth war patrol.
It is assumed she was lost to a mine.
Lost on 04 FEB 1945 with the loss of 81 officers and men on her fourth war patrol.
Based on Japanese records, she was bombed near the southern entrance to the Palawan Passage.
The day before, she reported she survived 3 depth charge attacks. USS BARBEL sent a message reporting that she had been attacked three times by enemy aircraft with depth charges and would transmit further information on the following night.
USS BARBEL was never heard from again.
Lost on 20 MAR 1945 with the loss of 87 officers and men at the end of her second war patrol.
While steaming eastward, USS KETE sent in a weather report from a position south of Colnett Strait. Scheduled to arrive Midway by 31 MAR 1945, she was neither seen nor heard from again.
Probably sunk near Okinawa, by a Japanese submarine that itself was subsequently lost.
Lost on 28 MAR 1945 with the loss of 89 officers and men on her twelfth war patrol.
She was lost during a combined attack by Japanese antisubmarine vessels and aircraft. Postwar Japanese records showed a Japanese aircraft detected and bombed a submarine. Surface ships were then guided to the spot and delivered an intensive depth charging. After two hours, a large oil slick appeared.
USS TRIGGER ranked seventh in total tonnage sunk and tied for eighth in number of ships sunk.
Lost on or after 08 APR 1945 with the loss of eighty-four officers and men on her ninth war patrol. USS SNOOK ranks tenth in total Japanese tonnage sunk and is tied for ninth in the number of ships sunk during WWII.
She was lost near Hainan Island, possibly sunk by a Japanese submarine.
Lost on or after 04 MAY 1945 with the loss of 86 officers and men near the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol.
USS BAYA tried to contact USS LAGARTO and she made no reply. Japanese records state that during the night of 3-4 May, mine layer HATSUTAKA attacked a U.S. submarine in that location. It is presumed that USS LAGARTO perished with all hands in this battle.
The Japanese minelayer HATSUTAKA was sunk by the USS HAWKBILL (SS 366) two weeks later.
Lost on 18 JUN 1945 with the loss of 85 officers and men near Suzu Misaki.
USS BONEFISH departed Guam for her eighth war patrol as part of a submarine group for operations in the Sea of Japan. On the morning of 18 JUN 1945 USS BONEFISH received permission to conduct a solo patrol of Toyama Wan, Honshu. After sinking a passenger-cargoman, USS BONEFISH was subjected to a savage depth charge attack.
She was never heard from again.
USS BONEFISH earned three Navy Unit Citations.
Lost on 06 AUG 1945 with the loss of 84 officers and crew in the Lombok Strait while on her third war patrol.
USS BULLHEAD was presumed sunk by a depth charge dropped by a Japanese Army aircraft when U.S. and British submarines operating in the area were unable to contact her.
USS BULLHEAD was the last U.S. submarine lost during WWII.