Hello and welcome to the third war patrol of the Narwhal class USS Narwhal (SS-167). If you missed the Narwhal's last war patrol you could click here to find out what you missed.
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| Pearl Harbor |
The Narwhal arrives at their homeport of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in May 1942. The boat required one month to restock and refit. Lt Commander Brown receives the Narwhal's new orders to patrol off the coast of the island of Midway and sink as much Tonnage as possible.
Once everyone is aboard the Narwhal sets off in early June 1942. The crew expertly maneuvers from Pearl Harbor to Midway without running into any enemy patrols. The patrol of Midway starts very quietly without running into any ships. Near the middle of their patrol, the Narwhal stumbles into one transport ship with an escort.
It is the middle of the day and Captain Brown decides to wait until the cover of night to attack but in doing so the Narwhal loses the location of the ships which get away unharmed.
The Captain and crew of the Narwhal are not happy but continue their patrol. At the end of Midway, the sub is about to set course for home without any torpedoes fired but sonar picks up the sounds of a ship. The Captain sets course for the ship and finds a 10,500-ton ship named the Kachidoki Maru. The captain fires torpedoes at the ship, hitting and sinking it. People jump from the deck as the ship sinks and bodies, both living and dead, begin to collect where the ship went down. While watching the carnage through the periscope the Captain realizes that the men in the water are US soldiers, the Kachidoki Maru was transporting US Prisoners Of War.
He immediately surfaces and the crew begins to rescue as many men as they can. 73 survivors are pulled from the ocean and packed into the Narwhal. The Captain immediately sets course for home to get these brave soldiers back to a friendly base.
The Narwhal makes it back to Pearl Harbor at the end of June 1942 with 73 POWs. With the rescue of POWs and the sinking of 10,500 tons the patrol is considered a success.
Kachidoki Maru 10,500 Transport
The Narwhal is awarded its third Submarine Combat Patrol Insignia and Battle Star. Lt Commander Brown receives no awards for the successful war patrol, but the Pharmacist Mate becomes an expert at his job after treating all the POWs.
After three successful War Patrols, the Narwhal has sunk a total of 5 ships for total tons of 25,500. For the next two months, the Narwhal will restock and refit before beginning their fourth War Patrol.
Click here for the Narwhal's 4th War Patrol.
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