This is the short story/history of the USS Tang. She conducted five war Patrols before being lost, not to enemy action but to a faulty torpedo. I intend this to be a five or six part story. Each part of the story is for each Patrol conducted. She would end the war as the second highest scoring submarine with 24 confirmed ships sunk, but with the most number of ships sunk under a single captain. She would receive two Presidential Unit Citations, and her captain three Navy Crosses and a MoH. The USS Tang was a Balao class submarine commissioned on 15 October 1943 under the command of Richard H. O’Kane. Tang fitted out at Mare Island Navy Yard was sent to San Diego for extensive training before being sent to Pearl Harbor for an additional two weeks of training. During her training O’Kane pushed his sub to the extreme limits. Rated for a depth of 400ft, O’Kane pushed the needle to the max of an astounding 600ft, and dived even deeper. Before the Tang could leave on its first patrol, O’Kane received word that the sub he had previously served aboard as the XO, USS Wahoo had been lost. This drove O’Kane to bring the war to the Japanese as much as possible. The USS Tang left Pearl Harbor on its first patrol on 22 January 1944 to patrol the Caroline-Mariana islands area. She sighted her first enemy shipping vessels on the 17 February. As the Tang set up to make her first attack, Tang was sighted and forced deep to experiencing her first depth charge attack. Five charges were dropped but O’Kane's boat took no damage. Undeterred, O’Kane brought the Tang back to Periscope depth to resume the attack. Four torpedoes were launched at a freighter, scoring three hits, and the Tang’s first victim. Her next attack would be made on the night of the 22nd from the surface. Having tracked a convoy for a half hour while maneuvering into position, Tang had a freighter dead in her sights at 1500 yards. Firing four more fish, the enemy freighter disintegrated and sank. The next morning Tang re-aproached the convoy and fired another four fish. The third Torpedo that struck the cargo ship produced violent secondary explosions that lifted the ship partially out of the water. The next day O’Kane and the Tang sighted another convoy. With the view being hampered by rainsqualls O’Kane opted to just track the convoy until a nighttime surface attack could be made. Getting into position O’Kane fired four torpedoes, scoring three hits. The remaining ships in the convoy, a destroyer and a Tanker, began firing their guns in all directions in hopes of destroying an unseen enemy. The Tang submerged until morning when she could make a submerged attack on the Tanker. Additional lookouts could be seen on the ships, but they were to no avail. The tanker was struck, and sank within four minuets. The Tang sighted another convoy on the 26th but was unable to score any hits. Though disappointed at the miss, Tang was out of Torpedoes and so headed for Midway Island for a refit. It was a successful first patrol as Tang had sunk five ships.
Hi I know it is a bit late but I am in the process of researching the USS Tang to do a diorama of the Truk-Atoll rescue of 22 Pilots in Feb 1944 during Op Hailstorm.
Wow, I had forgot I had started this. Here is a link to the Report on Tang's second war patrol. Tang Patrol Two If you need more info let me know.
Dick O'Kane wrote a book "Clear The Bridge" about the war patrols of Tang that is highly recommended. The Truk episode is well covered. He also wrote "Wahoo" about his time as XO aboard her with Mush Morton.
Thanks for the info, have read all the Patrols and the book by O'Kane, at present looking for the Japanese Land & Sea-Planes Units that were at the Atoll at the time of attacks. I have a Revell Gato Sub with a Balao conversionKit to represent the USS Tang. I have also 3xHelldivers,2xWildcats,1xAvenger and of Course the Kingfisher that actually brought most of the Pilots to the Sub. I also have an Emily Flying Boat and 2 xJapanese Fighters so far. Not forgetting the Dingys,Pilots x12 (so far) and approx 20 SubCrew. I intend to start building in about 2months - still collecting all the bits - then to build the Table - [ I have not built a model since I was 9yr.] I intend to do an underwater scene with some sunken planes - This will be something similar in scope as the RailGuys do - With the Island and SeaPlane Base included at 1/72 it is going to be big.
