dChan
Anonymous ID: 148048 Sept. 5, 2024, 8:36 p.m. No.21540467   🗄️.is 🔗kun

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/take-her-down-wwii-submarine-skipper-sacrificed-with-final-order/ar-AA1q4PXC?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=e7b4bec6c6a441348fb70fe7052f7de0&ei=20

Carved in stone are his last words, which remain similarly etched into the memories of every U.S. Navy submariner.

 

"Take her down!"

 

In December 1941 Gilmore was given full command of Shark, but the role was short lived. The day after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor Gilmore was transferred to the Gato-class submarine USS Growler (SS-174).

The boat's first war patrol was to the Aleutians, where, on the morning of July 5, 1942, it spotted a tempting sight: Three Japanese destroyers off the island of Kiska.

 

Approaching directly, Gilmore loosed two torpedoes, dealing serious damage to Kasumi and killing 10 of its sailors. Next, it blew off the bow of Shiranui, killing three seamen and forcing the destroyer to be towed to Maizuru, Japan, for repairs.

 

Gilmore then calmly turned toward the destroyer Arare. He fired another two torpedoes, the second of which sent the ship and its crew to the ocean floor. Arare's commanding officer and 42 survivors were rescued by the damaged Shiranui.

 

For these efforts Gilmore was awarded the Navy Cross - but he was just getting started.

 

In a second patrol Growler sank four merchant ships, totaling 15,000 tons, in the East China Sea near Formosa (now Taiwan). Gilmore was awarded a gold star in lieu of a second Navy Cross.

 

After an uneventful third patrol, Growler set out on what would become an ominous fourth.

 

Departing Brisbane, Australia, on New Year's Day 1943, Growler headed toward Rabaul in the western Solomons, sinking a transport on Jan. 16 and another on the 19th. On Jan. 30 it damaged a freighter but was driven down by a barrage of gunfire and depth charges.

 

The area had become a hornet's nest, courtesy of Japanese evacuations from Guadalcanal.

 

On Feb. 4 Gilmore tailed two freighters escorted by two patrol craft toward Gazelle Channel. As he moved Growler into position for an ambush, the lead Japanese ship proved ready and fired on the sub at 5,000 yards.