April 18th, 2008, 05:35 AM
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WW2F Veteran
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Saskatchewan Canada
Posts: 1,162
Salute!: 48
Saluted 45 Times in 25 Posts
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Re: Name that general! (with written questions too)
You got it, Jeff! Your go
Charles A Lockwood
an excerpt
In June 1939, he became Chief of Staff to Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Fleet, in light cruiser RICHMOND (CL-9). This important service was interrupted in February 1941 when he was sent to London as naval attache and principal observer for submarines. Following promotion to rear admiral in March 1942, he proceeded to west Australia as Commander, Submarines, Southwest Pacific, serving under Douglas MacArthur until February 1943. Following the death of Rear Admiral Thomas England in February 1943, Lockwood shifted his flag to Pearl Harbor, assuming direction Pacific Fleet submarines, serving directly under the Command of Fleet Admiral Nimitz. He was promoted to Vice Admiral in October 1943.
During his tour, Lockwood improvised tactics to make the most effective use of submarines and pushed the Navy’s Bureaus of Ships and Ordnance to provide his men with the most effective submarines and torpedoes possible. He oversaw the tests that proved early U.S. torpedo unreliability and prompted the improvements that made them the highly effective weapons they became in 1944 and 1945. U.S. submarines sank more than 5.6 million tons of enemy shipping including more than 1,100 merchant ships and 200 warships. U.S. submarine attacks on enemy shipping accounted for more than fifty percent of enemy ships lost during the war.
Of the 16,000 U.S. submariners in the war, 375 officers and 3,131 enlisted men on fifty-two submarines were lost. The U.S. submarine force's wartime success was achieved with the lowest casualty rate of any combatant submarine service on either side. Lockwood's strong leadership and devotion to his troops won him the nickname "Uncle Charlie". |