Rear Admiral Eugene Bennett Fluckey (born 1913), was a submarine commander of the United States Navy who was awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II.
Fluckey was born in Washington, DC in 1913 and is an Eagle Scout. He is one of only four known Eagle Scouts who have received the Medal of Honor. The others are Aquilla J. Dyess, Robert Edward Femoyer, and Mitchell Paige. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1935.
Fluckey's initial assignments were aboard the battleship Nevada (BB-36) and the destroyer McCormick (DD-223). Following those assignments, he entered the submarine service in 1938 and served on S-42 and later completed five war patrols on Bonita (SS-165). On 27 April 1943, Commander Fluckey assumed command of Barb (SS-220).
As Commanding Officer of Barb, he established himself as one of the greatest submarine skippers, credited with the most tonnage sunk by a U.S. skipper during World War II: 17 ships including a carrier, cruiser, and frigate. In one of the stranger incidents in the war, Fluckey sent a landing party ashore to set demolition charges on a coastal railway line, which destroyed a 16-car train. This was the sole landing by U.S. military forces on the Japanese Home Islands during World War II.
Fluckey received four Navy Cross Medals for extraordinary heroism during the eighth, ninth, tenth, and twelfth war patrols of Barb. During his famous eleventh patrol, he continued to revolutionize submarine warfare, inventing the night convoy attack from astern by joining the flank escort line. Two convoys at anchor 26 miles inside the 20 fathom (37 m) curve on the China coast, totaling more than thirty ships, were attacked. With two frigates pursuing, Barb set a world speed record for a submarine of 23.5 knots (44 km/h) using 150% overload. For his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, Fluckey received the Medal of Honor. Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation for the eighth–eleventh patrols and the Navy Unit Commendation for the twelfth patrol.
Fluckey later served as Commander, Submarine Flotilla SEVEN (now Submarine Group 7) from 14 October 1955 to 14 January 1956. He was selected for flag rank in 1960 and reported as Commander, Amphibious Group 4. He served as Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) from June 1964 to June 1966. He also had tours as the head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the U.S. Naval Academy and as the U.S. Naval Attache in Lisbon, Portugal.
Of what is he most proud? "Though the tally shows more shells, bombs, and depth charges fired at BARB, no one received the Purple Heart and Barb came back alive, eager, and ready to fight again." His book, Thunder Below! (1992), depicts the exploits of his beloved Barb.
Fluckey retired in 1972
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