Action of 24 July 1945 | |||||||
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Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
USS Underhill during World War II. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Japan | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Robert M. Newcomb † | Saichi Oba | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 destroyer escort 7 submarine chasers 1 patrol boat 1 troopship 6 LSTs | Sea: 1 submarine 4 kaitens Air: 1 bomber | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
112 killed 122 wounded 1 destroyer escort sunk [1] | 4 killed 4 kaiten sunk [2] |
The action of 24 July 1945 was one of the final naval battles during the Pacific Theater of World War II. In an attempt to destroy as many allied ships as possible, the Imperial Japanese Navy began arming their submarine fleet with manned torpedoes called kaitens. The Action of 24 July 1945 concerns the battle between a convoy of U.S. Navy warships off Luzon and the Japanese submarine I-53 and her kaitens. [3] [4]
In July 1945, the destroyer escort Underhill—under Lieutenant Commander Robert M. Newcomb—was assigned flagship of a convoy carrying United States Army soldiers of the 96th Infantry Division from Okinawa to the Philippines. The convoy included eight other escorts: the submarine chasers PC-1251, PC-803, PC-804, PC-807, SC-1306, and SC-1309, and the patrol boat PCE-872. These vessels were tasked with delivering six LSTs and the troopship Adria. Underhill found the convoy off Buckner Bay, Okinawa on or about 21 July and, three days later the American ships were steaming around 250 mi (220 nmi; 400 km) northeast of Cape Engano and nearing their destination. That day, on 24 July, a Japanese bomber—scouting for I-53—appeared. Lt. Cdr. Newcomb ordered his ships to battle stations but the bomber remained outside the ships' range. Forty-five minutes later, the convoy was sailing southwest when Commander Saichi Oba released his six kaiten and sent them forward. Other accounts say that there were at least eight kaiten involved in the attack though only a single Japanese submarine participated, and it was designed to carry four kaiten. The kaiten were presumably manned by Sub-Lieutenant Jun Katsuyama, Ensign Toyooki Seki and Flight Petty Officers 1st Class Tsutoma Kawajiri and Masahiro Arakawa. They were armed with a 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) explosive, equivalent to two torpedoes, and once released could not be retrieved. [5] [6]
To divert the American convoy into the path of the kaiten, Cdr. Oba released a dummy mine which was observed and engaged by the guns of Underhill. After several direct hits, the mine was determined to be a dud by the Americans and they continued on with their patrol. At this time, one of the submarine chasers lost power and had to be towed by PCE-872. Shortly thereafter, a sonar contact was made, so Underhill and PC-804 began depth charging the area. The destroyer escort is credited with sinking one of the kaiten at this point while another attacked PC-804. It missed the chaser and the kaiten turned around for a surface attack on Underhill. But as soon as the mini submarine was out of water, Lt. Cdr. Newcomb ordered a ramming maneuver because the kaiten was too close for his guns to bear. Underhill then sailed right over the kaiten and it exploded at 15:15 along with the escort's boilers and readied ammunition. Underhill was torn in two, the bow section of the ship quickly sank with all hands, the aft section remained afloat until being sunk by American gunfire the following day. All 122 survivors were wounded in action and each sailor received a Purple Heart. Lt. Cdr. Newcomb was killed and he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Two of the remaining American warships depth charged the area for an hour after Underhill was destroyed, but I-53 escaped and arrived back in Japan a month later, just before the end of the war. The last of the American survivors were picked up after at least an hour of being in the water though rescue operations continued until 18:30 that night. Most of the survivors were in need of urgent medical assistance which they received on PC-803 and LST-647. The engagement was one of the last in the Pacific War and was one of the few victories of the Japanese kaiten program. [7] [8]
USS Underhill (DE-682) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. Built in 1943, she served in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific until her sinking in a suicide attack by a Japanese Kaiten manned torpedo on 24 July 1945.
Kaiten were crewed torpedoes and suicide craft, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II.
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USS PC-1136 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. Shortly after the end of the war, she was renamed USS PCC-1136 when she was reclassified as a combat communications control ship. In 1956, she was renamed Galena (PC-1136), becoming the third U.S. Navy vessel so named, but never saw active service under that name.
USS PC-1137 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. After World War II, the ship was renamed USS PCC-1137, reflecting her new role as a combat communications control ship. Later, in 1956, she was renamed Worthington (PC-1137) although she never saw active service under this name.
I-58 was a Japanese B3 type cruiser submarine that served in the final year of World War II. Her only significant wartime success came with a conventional torpedo attack upon USS Indianapolis on 30 July 1945. She was modified to carry Kaiten manned torpedoes, making several attacks that inflicted minor damage in exchange for every Kaiten launched being sunk. The submarine surrendered in September 1945, and was later scuttled by the United States Navy.
Mochitsura Hashimoto was a Japanese officer and a submarine commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was captain of the submarine I-58, which sank the American heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis in 1945 after its delivery of parts and enriched uranium for the first atomic weapon used in wartime, Little Boy, prior to the attack on Hiroshima.
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USS SC-255, sometimes styled as either Submarine Chaser No. 255 or S.C.-255, was an SC-1-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War I. Like most members of her class, she was not named and known only by her designation.
USS SC-48, sometimes styled as either Submarine Chaser No. 48 or S.C.-48, was an SC-1-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War I. Like most members of her class, she was not named and known only by her designation.
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The USS PC-598 was a 173ft metal hulled PC-461-class submarine chaser in the United States Navy. The submarine chaser fought in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, and was converted to an amphibious landing control vessel during the war, reclassified as a Patrol Craft-Control (PCC). It participated in six amphibious invasions as a control vessel during the war.
USS PC-552 was a class-461 patrol craft ("PC") that was at the forefront of the naval efforts during the Normandy invasion. It served as convoy protection in the North Atlantic and as one of about ten PC control vessels off Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion. PC-552 was among the first ships to reach waters off Omaha Beach. PC-552, primary control vessel for Fox Green sector of the beach, was forced into rescue efforts and recovery of bodies at the departure line for Fox Green when the Duplex Drive tanks that survived the initial disastrous launch were swamped at the line with only two surviving. The PC was diverted into this effort for forty-five minutes and ultimately only five tanks, the two that survived the launch disaster and three that were aboard LCT-600 whose commander raised his ramp when the first off foundered and instead landed them on the beach, reached the beach.
USS Havre was a United States Navy PCE-842-class patrol craft escort in commission from 14 February 1944 to 1 July 1970. She served in the Central Pacific during World War II, supporting invasions of Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa, and was present in Tokyo Bay for the formal Surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. Unlike other ships from this class, which were scrapped or sold to other nations, the vessel stayed the property of the United States Navy, which transferred ownership to the United States Navy Reserve as Naval Reserve Training Ship for 9th Naval District (Chicago) in April 1954. She was renamed USS Havre (PCE-877) on 15 February 1956 as part of a Navy-wide initiative to provide names to all numbered ships. Havre served on the Great Lakes until struck from Navy List on 1 July 1970.
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