[Doolittle81]

WOW! Pretty amazing that Sofu Gan was included in SH4 by the Developers!!

Here's some comments about Sofu Gan:

From A B-29 crewmember's log/recollections:
Strike #2 (daylight) 12 April, 1945

Target- No. 357, Musashino Engine Works of the Nakajima Aircraft
Company, Tokyo, Japan
Bomb Load- 5 2,000 lb HE's
Aircraft- T-23 ["Pocahontas"]
Opposition- Flak meager to moderate and accurate. Fighters
neutralized by P-51 escort.

This time it was a daylight formation strike with P-51 fighter cover. The same old target, #357, the bane of the 20th AF.
Sofu-Gan was the assembly point. Sofu-Gan is an item in the very damn middle of the Pacific and at the end of the vast Nanpo Shoto extending south from Tokyo bay. It is an item so small that it didn't appear in the radar until we were almost on top of it and even that never would have occurred if John hadn't had a small bit of luck on his last LoRaN fix. It is a mere finger of rock that sticks out of and breaks the surface of the sea like a stump in a swamp. Actually higher than it is wide. There is reported a Japanese navigation light thereon.

After circling in vain for some minutes we found a large formation of "T" ships, tacked on in the "slot", and went into the CP [Control Point] at Omaezaki and thence to the IP at at Oso-Saki on the Shimoda penninsula. I could see the land at Numazu where we picked up our first flak.


From a narrative about another B-29 crew bailing out near Sofu Gan and picked up by the sub Tinosa:
Orr had the crew throw out everything they could to lighten the plane. With only as much power on the two left engines as Orr and Frodsham could handle physically, the bomber continued to lose altitude. They finally broke out of the front at 3,500 feet, about 500 miles south of Osaka. Navigator Costa recognized an uninhabited island, Sofu Gan. Then the No. 3 engine caught fire.
It was clear they couldn't make it to Guam. The radio operator, Sgt. Jim Schwoegler, sent out a Mayday, not knowing if his transmitter was working.
Lieutenant Orr decided not to ditch the plane in its damaged condition. He ordered the crew to bail out while he and Frodsham maneuvered the B-29 far enough away so it would not endanger the men in the water when it crashed. Seconds after Orr and Frodsham bailed out, the bomber exploded. Flight engineer MSgt. Edward Kanick's parachute did not open. All other members of the crew splashed down safely.
About two hours after their midday bailout, it appeared that Sergeant Schwoegler's transmitter had worked. A Navy PBY amphibious seaplane showed up, but the sea was too rough for it to land. Soon a B-17 appeared and dropped a Higgins boat by parachute. It landed near radar officer Lt. Art Swanberg, who climbed aboard, started the engine, and, directed by the B-17, picked up the rest of the crew. The boat was stocked with dry clothing and food to see them through a reasonably comfortable night.
The following day the survivors were taken aboard the submarine USS Tinosa.


From the Archer-Fish 3rd War Patrol entering Japanese waters:
June 9, 1944
0530 (K) - Dived to patrol Empire - Mirianas route as we will have only one day in our western area. Will spend the day submerged out of areas closing Sofu Gan to tune SJ radar tonight.

1158 (K) - Sighted submarine on the surface; believed to be Kingfish at estimated range of 6000 yards. He dived at this range so surfaced immediately and cleared area to northward at flank speed.

1458 (K) - OOD sighted float plane. Dived. Aircraft contact #4. SD was not in use as have decided in general not to use it within 100 miles of an enemy base or when patrolling a convoy route.


June 10, 1944
1900 (K) - Closing Sofu Gan to tune SJ radar.



From a narrative about a Tigrone patrol in 1945:
After refitting by Apollo (AS-25), Tigrone departed Apra Harbor on 19 May, took on torpedoes at Saipan the same day, and on the 20th got underway for her assigned area. On the 25th, she sighted Sofu Gan Island and Tori Shima before taking up her lifeguard station south of Honshu and west of the Nanpo Shoto. That same day, she rescued a downed flier from the 19th Fighter Command, Iwo Jima.


From a submariner's memoirs:



And, finally, here's a photo of the "Wife" and a sinking Sampan:

Photo #: 80-G-80424
Japanese "sampan" (possibly a picket boat)
Sinking near Sofu Gan rock, after being shelled by USS Seawolf (SS-197) on 5 September 1943.
Position was approximately 29 49'N, 140 21'E.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.




So, it would appear that this little rock in the middle of nowhere was quite a commonly used navigational/reference point for both USN submarine and USAAF aircraft operations.

Unfortunately, out of curiosity I sailed there, but there is No actual Sofu Gan rock in SH4....just empty seas, even though the name is depicted on the map. Too bad.