The USN Pacific Submarine Campaign - The Dark Year (Dec'41 - Dec'42) 

Pinned post for Q&A :)

that story about a Mark 14 torpedo becoming a life raft for a Japanese sailor made my day

"If the Bureau of Ordnance can't provide us with torpedoes that will hit and explode, or with a gun larger than a peashooter, then for God's sake get the Bureau of Ships to design a boathook with which we can rip the plates off the target's sides." -Admiral Lockwood during an early 1943 Washington conference with Admiral King

“We were using Mk 14 torpedoes and having trouble with them” That’s a Royal Navy-caliber understatement

“… the collection of malfunctions that was loosely termed the Argonaut.” 🤣🤣🤣 For those on eternal patrol, thanks for bringing this part of the Pacific War to light. 👏👏

The Empire of Japan would like to thank the US bureau of ordnance for their assistance in their early war effort

The information about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of Japanese depth charges came from US Congressman Andrew J May after a junket to the Pacific where he learned that American subs where surviving depth charging because the enemy were setting there fuses too shallow and he promptly announced to the world upon his return the actual operating depth of US submarines. Admiral Lockwood later stated that that carelessness by May cost the US 10 submarines and 800 crew and stated that Congressman May would be pleased to know that the Japanese were setting them deeper now.

Came for the Mk14 witticisms, was not disappointed.

Submarine operations and history during WW2 outside of U-Boats doesn't get nearly enough attention. An incredible theatre of the pacific war, thanks for this.

33:00 To be fair, Nautilus provided a most unexpected critical role in the battle, by drawing off the IJN destroyer Arashi, the latter's race to catch up with the carriers gave the Enterprise Dive bombers a most welcome beacon to home in on their targets.

As someone with large amounts of experience in modded Silent Hunter 4 I can say that calling the MK14 torpedo frustrating and irritating is the biggest understatement of the war.

I was fortunate enough as a teenager to get a ride on USS Chivo (SS-341), a Balao-class submarine. My father was a Chief on the boat and the Navy actually allowed dependents to go for "joy" rides out of the New London Navy Base on occasion. I pretty much sat in the galley, which was amazingly small, two tables, two foot square, with checkers and backgammon boards laminated into them. I knew we submerged because I could feel the boat tilt and then tilt the other way when we surfaced. This would have been mid 60's. The Chivo never saw action as hostilities ended while she was preparing for her first war patrol. Prior to serving on the Chivo The old man was on nuclear boats, he ended up on a nuke boat that he didn't like the captain, asked to be transferred, and the captain ...knowing why, transferred him to the Chivo as "punishment". It ended up being his favorite boat! Winning...

It's worth mentioning Representative Andrew May in the bit regarding the article on the settings of Japanese depth charges. May was the one who leaked this information to the press upon returning from a tour of bases in the Pacific. An estimated 10 submarines and 800 sailors were lost because of the corrections the Japanese made to their depth charges. Admiral Charles Lockwood reportedly said, "I hear Congressman May said the Jap depth charges are not set deep enough. He would be pleased to know that the Japs set them deeper now." Andrew May was also a war-profiteer associated with a company that made faulty mortar fuses which detonated prematurely, killing 38 servicemen over the course of the war. He had bribery charges brought against him and was convicted in federal court in 1947. He was pretty much an all around stand up guy.

That's a brilliant topic, looking forward to hear a continuation

Qualified Submarines in 2011 aboard SSN725. Then went to build the Mk48 ADCAP at Yorktown Weapons Station for Shore Duty. These lessons of the Mk14 are still taught and heeded today in the SUBFOR. It is institutional memory at this point. If the torpedo doesn't work, you or your friends are dead. Did a lot of rework at the facility to be absolutely certain I turned my wrenches correctly and fix any failures. Love the vids, you keep making, I'll keep watching!

". . . the collection of malfunctions that was loosely termed, the Argonaut." Beautiful. Thank you for another great video, Drach.

The wreck of one of the S-Class submarines that was stationed at Manilla at the start of war, today lies off of Imperial Beach; which is South of San Diego California, just North of the Mexican border. She survived six war patrols before being sent back to the U.S. shortly before the end of 1942. She was going to used for aerial bombing practice in 1945 but sank on her own. In the 1950's she was refloated and going to be sold for scrap, but broke her tow cable and sank again. I learned a great deal about this vessel while preparing to dive the wreck over 25 years ago. The S-37 suffered nearly as many mechanical breakdowns as the S-36; including a non-stop oil leak which caused the S-37's commander to sometimes head in one direction then double back; in an attempt to create a false trail in case a Japanese scout plane or warship spotted the oil slick. Her Mark 10 torpedoes also had the depressing tendency to sink before they reached their intended targets. The S-37 was laid down in 1918 and launched the following year, which meant that many of her crew were younger than the submarine they served aboard. The S-37 did have at least two successes, sinking the Kagero class destroyer Natsushio in February 1942. She also sank the 2,700 ton transport Tenzan Maru and is thought to have damaged another destroyer off Savo Island. If you want to know what it was like to be inside one those non-airconditioned submarines under normal operating conditions, here is a description taken from the personal journal of a junior officer who served aboard the S-37: "The bunks beyond the wardroom are filled with torrid, skivy clad bodies, the sweat running off the white, rash blistered skin in small rivulets. Metal fans are whirring everywhere overhead, and at the end of the bunks, close to my ear, I am playing cribbage with the skipper, mainly because I don’t like to wallow in a sweat soaked bunk most of the day. I have my elbows on the table near the edge and I hold my cards with my arms at a slight angle so the sweat will stream down my bare arms, without soaking the pile of cards in the center. Overhead is a fine net of gauze to catch the wayward cockroaches, which prowl across the top of the wardroom and occasionally fall straight down. They live in the cork insulation, which lines the inside of the submarine itself. We’ve killed over sixteen million cockroaches in one compartment alone. The deck in the control room is littered with towels, used to sponge up the water dripping off the men and the submarine itself. The food is routine, something canned. The dehydrated potatoes, powdered onions, and reconstituted carrots have the same general taste; like sawdust." (Source: www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/S37.htm )

“One of the sailors caught an engineer eyeing up the bedsheets wondering how many they need to improvise a sail” loved that

Topic: Operation Starvation: the aerial B-29 mining of Japan’s inland seas during 1945. It was astonishingly effective yet is seldom talked about.

It just shows how impressive the dutch submarines wher in the pacific war . first 53 days 53 ships sunk

Esh just goes to show how brave and dedicated these men were. To be ordered into battle knowing your boat and almost useless weapons arent up for the task takes some serious intestinal fortitude that I really think todays generations (mine included) would lack! Thank you gentlemen for your service!

"However the Pacific was big. Douglas Adams-style big" I KNEW that Drach was a HHGTTG Fan.

Thanks for this video, Drach. As a US Navy submariner, this topic is very near to my heart. Also, let us raise a toast to those on Eternal Patrol.

Dark times indeed. When the commander won't allow reality of the situation to be improved upon because it would make him look bad...... Praise the angry king and his contribution to setting a fire over at the beauro of ordinance. We through stories and documentary like this one to remember the mistakes of the past. Hopefully some of the people with influence pay attention. The whole mark 14 bit is simply embarrassing ( and worse). The fact that the Submarine Admiral suppressed captains and crews trying to fix the issue is simply criminal.

Ah yes, the Mk 14 Torpedo. Japan's second best torpedo after the Type 93. Loved the inclusion of the English officer's snarky reply to the offer of the Mk 6 Exploder.

This is so little talked about. I love that Drach is covering it.

When your commanding officer might as well be a traitor, because that is more believable than the Mk14 being effective and lethal to enemy ships.

The Mk 14 torpedo was designed by Isoroku Yamamoto, when he was over in the United States as a attache 😉

US Submarines in my opinion are one of the most underrated parts of the pacific war, if you get the time I would highly recommend visiting Uss Bowfin in pearl harbor today, and she also deserves a video as she has an interesting wartime career thanks for all your work Drachinifel

My Uncle was on the S-44 when she was in the vicinity of North Kurils in 1943. His name was Dale R. Thompson and he was a Motor Machinist's Mate 2. On the night of 7 October, the S-44 made radar contact with a "small merchantman" and closed in for a surface attack. Several hundred yards from the target, her deck gun fired and was answered by a salvo. The "small merchantman" was a destroyer. The order to dive was given, but S-44 failed to submerge. She took several hits, in the control room, in the forward battery room, and elsewhere. The Captain gave the order to abandon ship. Eight men got out, but only two survived and were repatriated after the Japanese surrendered and the war was over. My Uncle was not one of the survivors. I served in the US Army for ten years because it was the right thing to do...and also because every single one of my Uncles (and my Father) served our country in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. Some things in this life can be horrible...like war. But, when our loved ones are the target, who will stand up for them? I was taught there are some things one just has to do...and doing nothing is not an option. I am proud of every US serviceperson who has "done their time." I mourn for those who paid dearly.

For those interested, the USS Cavalla, a Gato class sub, is a museam ship at Seawolf Park in Galveston; Texas.

As big of a history buff as I am, as much as I've read of the Silent Service in WWII, I still cannot comprehend the giant brass balls it took to go to sea in a small steel pipe whose crews knew they were going to see depth charges and their torps were crap. God bless those sailors; those who are still on patrol, those who survived and are no longer with us, and the very few who remain to speak of it in those rare moments when it might seem okay to remember and speak up. I only wish more of them would have put their stories to print.

Everybody's gangsta until the sub's torpedoes start becoming reliable

I am in utter awe of your knowledge regarding older naval vessels. Thank you for your frequency of quality posts. Fantastic stuff, truly.

The Mark 14 torpedo problems caused major problems in the US Navy submarine service for decades after WWII. Many submarine captains from then on would personally cut the wiring inside the new US Navy torpedoes to ensure only impact would work. This was an example of the legacy of this complete FUBAR as long as the US Navy submarine personnel remained in the Navy. As a NAVSEA employee of 41 years (BuORD and BuSHIPS's successor after WWII), this kind of thing was NEVER repeated and ship problems were now top priority and "tomorrow you will be far away fixing a ship problem" -- happened to me twice -- became SOP.

I've been fascinated with this subject since a small child playing Silent Service on the C64 - it got me into history, and due to the importance of technology, engineering! Looking forward to this 😉

A new Drach video, ending this year on a high note. I recommend the old black and white series 'The Silent Service' hosted by then retired Tommy Dykers-a decorated WW2 USN sub skipper who produced the series. Each episode covers different crews, subs, and sometimes odd events the crews and skippers went through with Dykers interviewing a member of the actual crew the episode covered.

Submarine love especially the US submarines is so unappreciated and under talked about thanks for covering this amazing part of history.

Captains: The torpedoes suck! BuOrd: *He's delusional, take him to the infirmary!*

Many Thanks Drach! My father served at Fremantle on sub optical repair for the time period shown in this vid.

One of my patients served (post war) alongside a fellah who was a veteran of the USS Barb - and was a part of the landing party that blew up a Japanese train during WWII! If you've never read it, "Thunder Below" - the war time exploits of Medal of Honor recipient Commander (later Admiral) Eugene "Lucky" Fluckey is HIGHLY recommended!

One of my favorite episodes you've done.

I have been waiting years for a good cideo of the submarine campaigns in the pacific and am so happy that someone like drach did it and came through. Thank you so much!

Big thanks to the Author for making this huge story a series …. Perhaps Sub Trek….. Wrath Of King …

Drach... another outstanding piece of work. Well done.

There are those who might suggest that one of the failings of that Supreme Commander of Self-Promotion known more popularly as Dugout Doug was in allowing the greater portion of the pre-war U.S. torpedo stock to be lost at Cavite, but in retrospect that might have been one of his greatest unheralded contributions to the Allied war effort.

Thanks for the Douglas Adams reference Drach. It does the old heart good. And prevents Panic ;)

A number people were promoted for involvement on the "successful" Mark 14 development effort, leading to a lot of of resistance to the reports of dismal performance. People who were praised for cost effective reductions in development testing were exposed by actual war time performance. This was a part of the drive to extensive testing that is now done on Military programs in the US.

33:14 I think the greatest contribution of Nautilus during Midway was getting a ship dettached to pursue her which will later provide some excelent guidance for some US bombers

Drach: Lahaina Lah - high -nah Nice place to visit.

Great content, as a cold war veteran aboard the USS Pintado ,I was well aware of the contributions of our for father's

No discussion of this period is complete without mention of USS Sailfish and Morton Mumma.

The small fuel lighter mentioned at 36 min was in fact the MV Ondina a Royal Dutch Tanker of 9070 Tonne. The ship had been damaged in an action with two Japanese Merchant Cruisers the Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru. The MV Ondina with assistance from the HMIS Bengal had sunk the Hokoku Maru was hit by a 4 inch shell from the MV Ondina causing the Long Lance Torpedo's to explode and eventually sink the ship. The Aikoku Maru shelled the MV Ondina causing fires to break out, The crew abandoned the tanker in lifeboats and were machine gunned by the Japanese. The HMIS Bengal having used all its shells sailed off. Aikoku Maru rescued the crew from the sunk sister Hokoku Maru and also sailed away. The survivors from the MV Ondina reboarded the tanker, put out the fires and sailed to Fremantle. The damaged MV Ondina could not be repaired but was used by Operation Potshot at Exmouth as a fuel depot for the submarines.

Please continue this topic Drach. its really interesting stuff!!!

I need more. Relistening second time and damn hearing actual submarine campaigns is so much more interesting

The torpedo struggles are so classic. I will never get enough of the Mark 14s shenanigans.

Thanks Drach, I've been waiting for this type of in-depth coverage of the US submarine campaign in ww2. Can't wait for the 2nd part. If anyone is interested in one of the stars of this campaign I would suggest Richard O'Kane's autobiographical book "Clear the Bridge!". It's a great read and if at first it seems a bit dry just remember that he wrote it in the same way that he hunted, cool and deliberate. There were many great sub captains during the war but O'Kane was something special as were the crew of U.S.S Tang. May they never be forgotten. Edit - I forgot to mention that if you want a more complete perspective of O'Kane, as well as his mentor Dudley "Mush" Morton, then read "Wahoo". Those two basically set the standard for submarine operations that abandoned the outdated pre-war conceptions.

I'm a sub vet (nuke fast attacks) also a very heavy WWII sub buff. This video is outstanding. Well done, Drach.

I always learn something new from Drach, even,as in this case, on a topic I have studied thoroughly. Two very minor corrections: 1. Andrew Jackson May opened his big mouth about the Japanese depth charge settings in June of 1943, not 1942. He also later was convicted of war profiteering. 2. US Submarine crews call themselves sub-ma-REE-ners. I'm a sub-ma-REE-ner's daughter.

Uncle Drach it is about time you wrote and presented a series on the Royal Navy Submarine Service WW1/WW2 we lost 84 subs 1939-45.

Great video, and good coverage of the period. One of those Gato class subs, the USS Silversides, is parked at Muskegon, Michigan, where the town has built a first class museum for it, and gives tours year round of both the museum and the submarine. The Silversides had a great career, and is the most successful WWII US sub still afloat. The movie, Destination Tokyo, starring Cary Grant and John Garfield, has a scene where a Pharmacist's Mate performs an appendectomy while submerged. This story was taken from the Silversides where this actually happened. It is well worth a visit to Muskegon to see this museum and sub, as there are other WWII era ships to tour as well. But I would suggest waiting until after winter is over, as it is still Michigan.

Great video. I listen to your lectures as I work on my rc boats.

Thanks for the video found it most informative. Can't wait for volume II.

The 3rd front was fought against our own admirals

I’m so happy someone is finally doing an in-depth look at the USN submarine campaign

Thank you for covering this part of the Pacific War.

Many snippets covered by this video were also immortalised by the movie "Operation Pettycoat".

Please oh please continue to tell the stories of the Silent Service. They need to be heard!

The details of the patrols of American S class boats from early in the war are pretty much all the same: We got the boat into suitable shape to begin out patrol but the officers are concerned about the lack of modern instruments. We sighted the enemy and tried to approach but couldn't do so successfully because of poor performance characteristics. We were counter detected and depth charged, breaking half of our equipment. We escaped and managed temporary repairs. We resumed our patrol but then the other half of our equipment broke. There was a measles outbreak. We just managed to return to base.

Again, I truly enjoy the approach this podcast uses … reviewing actual reports and after action reports. I keep sharing with my uplink supervision that business (ours in particular) need to start doing periodic versions of after action reports on business operations to evaluate what is working and truly identify what isn’t working … along with how to fix.

A worthy series arc. Thanks for posting and happy years to come.

This is a fascinating topic and I really hope we see more thank you for making this

A wonderful video! The topic is absolutely fascinating, and I really love the way you delivered it. Thank you very much Drach.

Great Video Drach! My Great Uncle, a destroyerman, called US subs, "Pig-Boats." This was due to the smell of their sailors.

Yes!!!! I've been wanting to learn more about this topic for years, but there are precious few videos on RU-vid that cover it, really looking forward to this series

Hooray, a Rum Ration for my birthday! Appreciate it Drach; have a good new year and to more videos in 2022!

I sailed with many ex-submariner enginemen and electricians in the '60s and 70's aboard what the sub men called 'targets', commercial vessels. The engines the Navy had a hand in designing were built by Hooven-Owens-Rentchler and called H.O.R. and you can guess what they were known as in the fleet. There were a lot of sighs of relief when the Navy settled on Fairbanks-Morse and GM engines. Good vid, I appreciate the effort.

Very interested to see how this develops. The US submariners became excellent scavengers and scroungers. Many 5"/25 caliber weapons removed from other ships became favorite deck gun replacements, in addition to anything else they could find that went bang.

For Heaven's sake! - cannot even imagine how that first year must have been frustrating...

Dark year sounds like an understatement given all they went through.

I got so involved listening to this episode that I lost track of time.

USS Sea Dragon and Argonaut...Have to admit those names are much more classic than simply naming the new subs after states.

ever since I read about it in Thunder Below, the story of Lockwood getting pissed with English continuing Wither's habit of snubbing his captains, and instead circumventing the Bureau of Ordinance entirely and talking to King while also ordering his subs to use contact rather than magnetic is still extremely amusing to me

I look forward to your next segment as this will cover the period when my grandfather served aboard USS Bluefish SS-222.

Absolutely my favourite WW2 topic. Low key obsessed since playing Silent Service when I was 9.

I'm amazed the Pompano survived to become the Stingray in "Down Periscope."

In late November, 1943, I was on the USS Balao operating in the Java Sea. We encountered a Japanese task force, and sank two carriers, and a Fuso class battleship. The ocean was only 100-200 feet deep and we were killed trying to escape the destroyers…. Anyone else love Silent Hunter 4?

Congrats on a VERY well done episode Drach, keep up the great work.

You know Drac, the Work day is 8 hours long. Not just a half hour. Work harder :) thank you for all your work.

I used to have an excellent book that followed the entire US, Pacific, submarine war called Silent Victory.

Drach: This video, in combination with your earlier video focusing on the Mark 14, provides a brilliant yet maddening exposé of the criminal incompetence of the Bureau of Ordinance, and the flock of clowns it oozed into the command structure, whose uniforms and ranks they then disgraced. It is indeed fortunate that there were enough honorable people in the USN to offset the shameful lack of integrity in jackballs like Admiral Withers.

Great video about subs. I wish there were more quality submarine movies to watch. Red October is an excellent movie I can watch over and over.

I served on USN nuclear powered submarines with lots of food, water, showers, space, air filtration, etc. The men serving on these things were on a whole other level. Salute!

Love to hear more on this topic

The effect that the Mark 14 torpedos had on the crews during the first 14 months of the campaign cannot be over emphasized. Earlier this year I read several books on the subject including "Clear the Bridge" and "Wahoo" by Richard O'Kane, "Undersea Warrior" by Don Keith and "The War Below" by James Scott. All of these books go into detail about how many crews became very demoralized by both the failures of the torpedos and "The Brass's" insistence that the sub skippers MUST be screwing up. The number of Japanese ships sunk during the early part of the war would probably have been 5 to 10 times greater than what was sunk - sometimes because of shots NOT taken.

Wonderful (as always), Drach!

The mark 14 torpedo was the fore runner of the smart torpedo, it was the polite torpedo it knocked on the hull and asked is there anyone home then like most politicians failed to do anything !!!

Outstanding job on this episode!!! Thanks for the info

I think we can all thoroughly respect the mark 14 torpedo as being one of the best assets the japanese had.

Absolutely outstanding job!