USs Billfish...worst depth charging ?

SSI01 · 04-09-15, 05:35 PM

Longknife - interesting you mention the differences between accepted norms for fleet boat activities before and then during WWII. As you said this new, much more aggressive attitude on the part of the newer, younger captains grew in favor following early lack of results by the older, pre-war captains operating IAW accepted pre-war doctrine (i.e., night sonar approaches/attacks (?)). It's got to be remembered in the pre-war Navy this was a service where a captain's continued command of a boat could depend on whether he came alongside a dock wall too heavily. Lockwood and the other force commanders eventually allowed much, much more aggressive tactics but it was with the realization, arrived at with eyes wide open, this would inevitably lead to increased losses. The wartime captains were younger men, the most successful with exceptional aggressiveness - Morton, Dealey, O'Kane. Of these three outstanding examples, two ended up dead and the third a POW. This is remarkable because Navy doctrine normally specifies preservation of the ship above all other considerations. I would think SSs and DDs were the two most quickly thought of exceptions to this outlook in WWII.

The most ironic thing about Morton's loss was that Wahoo's PCO was aboard with him for a fam patrol at the time of the ship's demise. One wonders what Lockwood, Nimitz or King would have done with him once relieved.

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04-09-15, 05:35 PM	#21
SSI01 Loader Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 88 Downloads: 56 Uploads: 0	Longknife - interesting you mention the differences between accepted norms for fleet boat activities before and then during WWII. As you said this new, much more aggressive attitude on the part of the newer, younger captains grew in favor following early lack of results by the older, pre-war captains operating IAW accepted pre-war doctrine (i.e., night sonar approaches/attacks (?)). It's got to be remembered in the pre-war Navy this was a service where a captain's continued command of a boat could depend on whether he came alongside a dock wall too heavily. Lockwood and the other force commanders eventually allowed much, much more aggressive tactics but it was with the realization, arrived at with eyes wide open, this would inevitably lead to increased losses. The wartime captains were younger men, the most successful with exceptional aggressiveness - Morton, Dealey, O'Kane. Of these three outstanding examples, two ended up dead and the third a POW. This is remarkable because Navy doctrine normally specifies preservation of the ship above all other considerations. I would think SSs and DDs were the two most quickly thought of exceptions to this outlook in WWII. The most ironic thing about Morton's loss was that Wahoo's PCO was aboard with him for a fam patrol at the time of the ship's demise. One wonders what Lockwood, Nimitz or King would have done with him once relieved.