What are the Top Ten Sinkings in WW2 by a Sub?

[I-25]

HUmm lets not forget the sinking of the USS Yorktown by capitan Tanabe in the I-168 in the battle of midway.

[leeclose]

We should make it any Country's with subs torps used/tonnage/luck/ and after action report included and all the stuff mush said so when we going to start it mush oh and if you can add pictures of the sub that did it and the ship that they sunk would be good as well.

[Mush Martin]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Very nice attack - though as far as the sinking itself (the only one that could be credited here), you have to agree: anyone who missed an aircraft carrier with a 6-torpedo spread from 985 yards would probably have to commit seppuku then and there

Three torps from the spread sank wasp in the group that turned toward
him? DD obrien in Hornet goup was a sunk as well.

[Mush Martin]

Originally Posted by leeclose

We should make it any Country's with subs torps used/tonnage/luck/ and after action report included and all the stuff mush said so when we going to start it mush oh and if you can add pictures of the sub that did it and the ship that they sunk would be good as well.

Well once we have gatherd some entrants if the final list is ten
I think we should hold for fiteen or twenty and vote the top
ten out of that pool

to make the pool list you must pass a criterion
and to make the final list the attack must win
by popular vote.

the list and the criterion are what we are working up here really.

MM

[leeclose]

Ok well lets get workign on the criteria then mush im all for it

[scrag]

BARB is unique for a number of reasons - the first use of rockets for shore bombardment by a submarine, the only landing of US Forces on the Japanese home Islands and subsequent destruction of a 16 car train using the ships scuttling charges. Certainly one of the most unique kills and worthy of top ten status.

[leeclose]

Ya got to find the whole story mate thats a brilliant one

[Mush Martin]

weve put up a few criterion before in no real order.

so lets sort that out.

First of all we should actually limit the number of criterion.

how many does top ten usually use five or six??
anybody remember?

[scrag]

A bit long but makes for interesting reading and certainly worthy of the most Unique Kill.

Barb got underway eastward on 11 February and arrived at Pearl Harbor four days later. From there, she continued on to the Mare Island Navy Yard, where she began a major overhaul on 27 February. The repair work was completed on 16 May, and the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor. After training and the installation of a 5 inch rocket launcher on her deck, the submarine got underway on 8 June for Midway where she topped off for her 12th war patrol. Except for three days of lifeguard duty, this offensive patrol was conducted north of Hokkaido and east of Karafuto. She reached her assigned area on 21 June and immediately sank two luggers at close range with gunfire. Barb then sailed for the shore of Japan to turn her weapons on shore uttacks. During the early morning hours of 22 June, she took station 5,250 yards from the center of the town of Shari. From that point, she made history as the first submarine to employ rockets successfully against shore installations. She fired 12 rockets that exploded in the town center causing damage but no fires. The Japanese believed that an air raid was in progress and activated air search radar and turned search lights to the sky while Barb retired safely seaward. Early the next morning, she encountered a large wooden trawler and sank it with gunfire, taking on board one prisoner.


Three days later, Barb sighted over 40,000 yards away a convoy consisting of three freighters, one destroyer, two escorts, and two patrol craft. For three hours, the submarine attempted to close the Japanese ships. Then the convoy changed its base course, leaving only one escort near enough for Barb to attack. At this time, a brilliant moon illuminated Barb, and the escorts opened fire and forced her to break off the chase. While shadowing the convoy for two more days, Barb mounted two unsuccessful attacks with electric torpedoes and endured an equally unsuccessful counterattack by the Japanese escorts before abandoning the chase to make another shore bombardment.


During daylight on 2 July, Barb surfaced 1,100 yards off a seal rookery at Kaihyo To and fired salvo after salvo into the town, destroying 20 buildings. Her 40 millimeter guns effectively silenced the opposition, and Barb even gutted three sampans moored at the docks. Intending to land a commando party, Barb moved toward the beach but withdrew upon discovering four pillboxes on the island. The next day, the submarine continued to wage war along the Japanese coast by firing 12 rockets at Shikuka. Hits exploded in a concentration of buildings but started no fires.


On 5 July, while in Aniwa Bay, Barb intercepted and sank the small cargo ship Sapporo Maru No. 11. Two pairs of Japanese escorts aggressively searched for her, but the submarine escaped by running silently for four hours along the shallow edges of a minefield. Shifting to a new sector in her patrol area, Barb destroyed a Japanese lugger with gunfire and a large diesel sampan on 11 July. On the morning of 18 July, the submarine fired her last five torpedoes at a cargo vessel and that ship's escort. One torpedo hit the stern of Coastal Defense Vessel No. 112 and sank her, but the cargo ship maneuvered skillfully and escaped. However, Comdr. Fluckey used his other weapons to continue attacks against the Japanese.


On 19 July, while patrolling in Patience Bay near Otasamu on the east coast of Karafuto, he observed a railroad running close to the coastline. He watched the tracks for the next three days, to establish train schedules and to plan a raid. On the night of 22 and 23 July, eight crewmen went ashore in pitch darkness. Compass problems and navigational errors put the force on the beach about 50 yards from a house and in a thicket of waist high bulrushes which crackled with every move. The leader of the party fell headfirst into a four foot ditch at the side of a road; then, after safely running across the road, he fell into a similar ditch on the other side. Another 1,000 yards brought the inexperienced saboteurs to the tracks.


A train rumbled past before the group could set the charge, and the saboteurs jumped into the bushes to hide as the train passed but a few feet away. Afterwards, they set the 55 pound demolition charge which would explode when the next train passed. The saboteurs returned to their rubber boats to the sound of an approaching train. As they paddled furiously for Barb, the engine detonated the charge, and the group witnessed a fiery crash. Locomotive wreckage flew two hundred feet in the air and crashed in a mass of flame and smoke. Twelve freight cars, two passenger cars, and one mail car derailed and piled up in a mound of twisted metal. The saboteurs safely reembarked, and Fluckey moved on to another location to continue wreaking havoc.


On 24 July, Barb launched three rocket attacks on Shiritori, igniting large fires and setting off heavy explosions. Thick clouds of smoke obscured the targets, so Barb proceeded to Kashiho and fired a salvo of rockets at the factories there. The rockets landed in the target area but started no fires, and damage could not be assessed.


Then, during the daylight hours of 25 July, Barb turned her guns on a group of sampans, sinking all six of them. In between surface attacks, she bombarded the canneries at Chirie; and on 26 July, with only 40 millimeter and 20 millimeter ammunition remaining, the submarine hit Shibetoro with a sweeping gun attack. Hits on an oil tank caused fires which spread and destroyed a lumber mill and a sampan building yard. Barb then attacked a trawler close to shore until blazing fires consumed it. The trawler did not sink until the submarine rammed it and pushed it under. This action ended her last war patrol, and Barb set course for Midway. She arrived there on 2 August and was there when the news of the Japanese surrender arrived on the 15th.

[leeclose]

i would go with 6 I have to admit that was a skipper with much kudos talk about giving it ur all wow great story cheers for that one

[Mush Martin]

@Scrag

Just curious but you wouldnt happen to have gotten that from
"Undersea Victory" would you?

[I-25]

heres more on the I-168

6 June 1942:
At 0410, one of the I-168's lookouts spots the YORKTOWN about 12 miles away. At 0600, Tanabe spots the first destroyers. He submerges and slows to three knots. As he closes, he sees six destroyers circling a mile away. The minesweeper VIREO has the YORKTOWN in tow. At 0605, the USS HAMMANN (DD-412) puts a salvage party aboard the carrier. The HAMMANN is secured to the YORKTOWN's starboard side and provides power for the carrier's pumps and foam to fight the fires.
The I-168 arrives and sights the carrier and her screen. For nine hours, Tanabe skillfully makes his approach steering by chart and sound with only a few periscope sightings. Undetected, he penetrates the destroyer and cruiser screen. At 1331, from 1,900 yards, he fires two torpedoes at the overlapping formation, followed by two more three seconds later. The first torpedo hits the HAMMANN, breaks her back and sinks her in about four minutes. As she goes down, her depth charges explode and kill 81 of her 241-strong crew. At 1332, the next two torpedoes strike the YORKTOWN starboard below the bridge. The fourth torpedo misses and passes astern.
At 1336, American destroyers commence a counterattack. A destroyer passes directly overhead and drops two depth charges. After more attacks the forward torpedo room and maneuvering room flood. After battery cells are extensively damaged and all crew dons gas masks. The outer and inner doors of torpedo tube No. 1 spring and admit water. The lights go out and the emergency lights come on.
At 1640, with his batteries nearly exhausted, Tanabe battle surfaces determined to go down fighting, but the three destroyers USS GWIN (DD-433), HUGHES (DD-410) and the MONAGHAN (DD-354) are about five miles away. Tanabe sets off at the best speed the I-168 can now make - only 14 knots. Tanabe signals to the flagship of the Combined Fleet YAMATO that he has attacked and sunk the YORKTOWN. One destroyer closes within 5,470 yards, firing intermittently. After the emergency repair of an electric engine is completed, Tanabe submerges again. The I-168 stays down until 2000 and then resurfaces. During 13 hours of chase, she has been attacked with some 40 depth-charges.
Contrary to Tanabe's report, the YORKTOWN has not yet sunk. The two torpedo hits corrected her list from 26 to 17 degrees. Captain Buckmaster removes the salvage party and plans to resume work in the morning.
Admiral Yamamoto suspends the invasion of Midway.
7 June 1942:
At 0458, the 19,875-ton YORKTOWN rolls over to port and sinks in about 3,000 fathoms of water.* Cdr Tanabe has made the biggest kill yet by any submarine in the Pacific.


He made the kill with 6th Year Type torpedos.

6th Year Type21"22' 5"3157 lbs.441 lbs.7,000m @ 36 kts
10,000m @ 32 kts
15,000m @ 26 kts ?An older torpedo still used in some of the older RO-class submarines

[scrag]

I got it online but it was repeated on a few links - I also bounced it off of "Thunder Below". It was a lot of fun researching some of this. One of the things about Pearl Harbor is I can walk 5 minutes from where I work and look at the ARIZONA Memorial or look over and see the USS BOWFIN. There are a number of memorials for lost boats here at Pearl. I met ADM Fluckey when he was present for dedicating Fluckey Hall in Norfolk. Frankly I wish we had more Mortons, O'Kanes, Fluckeys and Gilmores (to name a few). What a cadre of submariners. The same can be spoken of the U-Boats and their crews - having toured U-505 in Chicago I remain in awe as to how tight the spaces where and how far the boats went to execute there missions.

[Mush Martin]

Hawaii very very nice.

Ive read Bowfins entire war.

MM

[Mush Martin]

OK so six.

Approach : Discipline to achieve good position.
flexability of postion for engage disengage
difficulty of position achievement.


execution : was it a well planned approach with a
clean execution. or a good snapshot
improvisation
(this one may be hard to score lets debate it once more)


Efficiency : how many tonnes for how many fish.
ship damage crew casualties.


importance: strategic effect did this attack alter enemy
or freindly Doctrine or tactics. or did it
have prestige value.




Ive been trying to shape up the final criterions but am struggling as
fitting into five or six changes shape of catagories.
any suggestions here.

MM