When the U.S. Navy submarine Using the Stingray slid out to sea in August 1943 from the Naval Shipyard on Mel Island, California, it had more than just luck. The "Thorntail" belongs to the U.S. Navy's "Whitefish" class submarines, which are sturdy and flexible, fast sailing speed, large diving depth, and well-equipped armament.
Construction began in January 1943 on the USS Tang SS-306 and entered service with the U.S. Navy in October 1943. It belongs to the "Whitefish" class (balao-class) diesel-electric submarine. With a total length of 95 meters, a total width of 8.3 meters, a full underwater displacement of 2100 tons, a maximum underwater speed of 8.8 knots, and a crew of 78 people, the class of submarines is the first submarine in the world to adopt a "teardrop-shaped" hull design. The boat was equipped with 10 533 mm torpedo tubes (6 front, 4 rear), as well as 1 127 mm deck gun.
Not only that, but more importantly, Richard H. Major O'Kane served as the submarine's captain. He worked at Dudley W. W. Lieutenant Colonel Morton's submarine, the Spiny Bass, was proving himself to be a gifted submarine commander by action, and his combat skills were perfected at that time.
In January 1944, Okane was about to take the Thorntails out of Pearl Harbor for the first combat patrol when the bad news came: the Stingray was sunk and all the crew were killed. The "Spiny Tail" will take over the banner of the "Spiny Bass" and act as the main attack boat in the waters where the Japanese ships operate.
During the second combat cruise in 1944, the "thorntail fish" achieved little success, but rescued a number of American pilots who fell into the water in the Truk Atoll area.
Photographs taken after the Stingray returned to Pearl Harbor, Captain O'Caen (center) and at Truk were rescued by the ship's 22 crew members
By the end of October 1944, the Thorntail had completed four combat patrol missions, and at this time was on a fifth combat patrol, sinking 3 Japanese tankers and 3 transport ships in the Taiwan Strait, sinking 31 ships, and sinking a total of 228,000 tons, ranking second in the U.S. submarine record in World War II. On 24 October, with only the last torpedo left on board, Captain Richard H. O'Kane decided to use the torpedo to "end" a wounded Japanese merchant ship on the surface.
To everyone's surprise, after firing, the torpedo began to deflect along an arc and finally went straight to the "Thorntail Fish". The captain ordered an emergency evasion, but in just a few seconds, the oolong torpedo accurately hit the stern of the submarine, causing a violent explosion, followed by a large amount of water in the cabin, only 15 of the 78 officers and men successfully used life-saving equipment to escape, and were later rescued and captured by the Japanese warships who rushed to the news. In the end, only 7 people survived.
The US military later found out the cause of the accident, and the mk18 torpedo that made a fuss about the dragon was actually due to mechanical failure, causing the tail rudder to jam, and after the torpedo was fired, it turned a full 180 degrees at a fixed angle and hit the tail of the submarine.
Captain Richard H. O'Kane was one of the seven crew members of the USS Tang SS-306 who later survived the war and received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, from the President of the United States. He rose to the rank of rear admiral until his death in 1994.
During the war, the Stingray sunk 31 enemy ships in 5 cruise missions totaling 227,800 tons, wounding two totaling 4100 tons. This is unparalleled among American submarines. But after comparing the Japanese record after the war, Janac reduced this result to 24 sinkings, totaling 93,824 tons, leaving the thorntail in second place on the list of 26 SS-199 rumps on the list of SS-199 bulges. In terms of total tonnage of sinking, it ranked fourth below SS-249 Song seabream, SS-269 Redstone Fish and SS-220 Carp. This figure was later revised to sink 33 ships totaling 116,454 tons, giving the Thorntails the double title for the number of sinks and total tonnage of U.S. submarines. The stingray also maintained the highest number of sinks per cruise mission, both its third cruise, with 10 ships totaling 39,160 tons. The battle flag of the Thorntail records the success of the 33 Japanese ships that were sunk.
Unexpectedly, the submarine with the strongest record in the US imperialist submarines in World War II eventually died from the torpedoes fired by himself.