It takes a lot to bring me out of hiding, but please don't make light of how "easy-mode" the Pacific campaign was...
To reiterate:
- A total of 52 United States submarines were lost during WWII.
- The United States submarine service sustained the highest mortality rate of all branches of the U.S. Military during WWII
- 1 out of every 5 U.S. Navy submariners was killed in WWII (3,505 people)
Here's a list if you want to see the subs or their men along with the dates of loss:
http://www.maritime.org/subslost.htm
Of those subs, about half were lost from 1944 through 1945 (the
particularly easy-mode years)...
Here's how the USS Trigger's 12th patrol ended in March of '45:
"Post-war enemy records indicate that Trigger torpedoed and sank the repair ship Odate on March 27. The next day, Japanese planes and ships conducted a two-hour attack on a submarine in that area. The attack was heard by Silversides (SS-236), Seadog (SS-401), Hackleback (SS-295), and Threadfin (SS-410) in adjacent areas. Threadfin was the only one of these submarines that reported being attacked that day, and she also reported that she heard many depth charges and several heavy explosions east of her position after the attack on her ceased. Trigger was struck from the Navy list on July 11, 1945."
For added class, be sure to make fun of their ice cream maker when you talk to those guys about it...
