USS Pollack 1/7/1942

USS Pollack (SS-180) sinks Japanese cargo ship Unkai Maru off Japan with one of two torpedoes fired. This was the first confirmed sinking by a US submarine in WWII.
Here's some numbers to chew on this morning:
The US sub fleet will go on to sink nearly 1200 Japanese merchant ships (of 500 tons or more) for a staggering total of 5 million tons.
Additionally, they will sink 93 Japanese combatants, from subs and destroyers to cruisers, aircraft carriers and one battleship for a total of 578,000 tons.
All in all, with just 1.6% of the Navy's personell, US subs will be responsible for 55% of Japan's total maritime losses.
Despite a super accelerated ship building program, Japan ended the war with just 16% of the shipping she had when Pearl Harbor began the war.
For the shipping that remained there wasn't enough fuel to run them, primarily because of our subs zest for killing tankers.
Give a thought today to the men on the Pollack as they celebrate their victory over Unkai Maru.

And I was honored to have served on a couple of those boats, Sleeping in their bunks, eating in their after battery, firing the same Mk 14 torpedos, and taking orders from many Chiefs who wore combat dolphins. USS Atule, USS Balao.

THANKS--Anchors Away--Go Navy---Tee

The battle of Savo Island is considered the worst defeat in the US Navy's history. After the battle, the only measure of revenge was inflicted by a US submarine, an obsolete S-boat, when it sank one of the retiring Japanese cruisers.

Think about this; The US subs achieved in the Pacific what a lot more German subs failed to do in the Atlantic.

they would have done much better if they had working torpedos!!!!!!

Actually, total tonnage sunk by US in Pacific and Germans sunk in Atlantic is about equal.

Unfortunately, there were some Allied POWs in those ships sunk. Just couldn't have been helped. I still do not like the Japanese.

Gene

Gene, that was almost 80 years ago. OK, so you don't want to own a Honda. I suspect if you were scheduled for emergency
surgery and the doctor was of Japanese (or even German) descent, you would have an issue with that? Good grief, hard to
believe what I just read.

Good topic!

Had the torpedoes worked like they were supposed to at the beginning of the war the effect would have been even better.

Right after Pearl Harbor Japan seized the Dutch East Indies for the oil there. It's one of the big reasons the Japanese went after the invasion fleet off the Philippians with everything they had. Oil was already in short supply because of the subs. Land based aircraft on the Philippians would have just about cut all oil off.

And yes, tonnage wise the Germans did about as well against us as we did against the Japanese. But there are several things that made the difference between winning and losing the tonnage war.

1: The Germans deployed 1170 Uboats in WWII, the US had less than 500 total all oceans and 288 in the Pacific.

2: The sub war in the Atlantic was won long before massive sub sinkings occurred. It was won when Liberty Ship production exceeded losses. Japan never had the ability to replace losses. We did. The Uboat war in the Atlantic was really won in the ship yards.

3: Anti sub warfare was much different too. We lost 52 subs in WWII. The Germans lost 784.

Japan in fact was the England of the Pacific. By that I mean an island nation that had to import almost everything. Iron ore, oil and food were the big 3 for both countries. England had us at least willing to sell them stuff to keep them going. Japan had nothing. They had to try to take everything. Their only friendly nations were Germany and Italy. Not a lot of help.

IN 1941 the US had 7 Aircraft Carriers and in 1945 the US had 27 Aircraft carries. Add in the 12 that were lost and the 71 "jeep" carriers (small ones) or which there was only one in 1941.

WE also built 2710 Liberty ships in 4 years plus 481 tankers, 32 Fleet Carriers, 70 jeep carriers. The US Navy was operating 6,768 ships or all types when Japan surrendered.

When the Germans were building 12,000 aircraft a year we were doing that in one month. Neither Germany nor Japan had the industrial ability to keep up wit losses much less with our buildup.

Rick

But they didn't achieve the same thing. The US and GB out built their losses to Germany - Japan couldn't. By the end of the war few German subs returned from patrol - US subs in the Pacific went the other direction and as the war drew to a close they lost fewer and fewer subs.

Well said, Rick.

Given the enormous advantages that the allies had over the axis, it is rather remarkable that WWII lasted as long as it did. Of course, both the Germans and the Japanese were much better prepared for war in 1939-41 than was the US.

IIRC, Eisenhower attributed the Liberty Ship, the proximity fuse, and the landing craft as the three most important contributors to victory in WWII.

Dean

Submarine Service was all volunteer and I read where they suffered a 20% loss rate in WW II. That is fairly high to my mind. I have read about everything that I could find on WW II Subs.

Garry