25 July 1945USS Launce enters Pearl Harbor at the conclusion of her fourth war patrol. He hull shows obvious battle damage.
Standard Report Format
Boat ID: USS Launce
Successful Patrol: Yes
Number of Freighters or Tankers Sank: 2
Number of Non-Capital Warships Sank: 1
Capital Ships Sank: 0
Total Tonnage Destroyed: 6,600
Special Assignment Completed: NA
Refit Time: 1 Month, ready Oct 45
Awards Requested:
Bronze Star for LCdr Michael Bowers
Gold Star to Combat Patrol Insignia for crew
4th Battle Star for Submarine
Narrative:
Lady Luck definitely booked passage on another boat than Launce for this patrol. Launce left Pearl Harbor on 4 June for her fourth war patrol. The assigned patrol area being the Japanese Home Islands.
The first stroke of bad luck occurred the night of 13 June when a rogue wave pooped Launce. Perhaps it was a consequence of the Typhoon that hit the Fleet off Okinawa a week earlier. In any event, the giant wave crashed over the bridge, sweeping away most of both the SD and SJ radar as well as several of the men standing lookout. Despite searching, we were unable to locate either SM2c Robert Drury or S3c John Rupert. RM1c Louis Borne is to be commended for getting the SJ radar back in operation, but the SD radar was a total loss.
Midday on the 19th, while transiting near Marcus Island, fate struck again as we found ourselves in the midst of an unrecorded minefield. There were no enemy aircraft in sight and I decided to navigate the minefield surfaced to take advantage of the extra visibility afforded by the daylight. The lookouts remained sharp and Launce came through unscathed.
The night of the 20th we crossed paths with two small freighters escorted by a 13-GO minesweeper. I fired the bow torpedoes, two at each of the three targets. Out of the six fish fired, only one hit the target, the smaller of the two freighters. The damage was not enough to sink the Maru. As the escort bore down on us I released one of the NAC jammers, though it appeared to have no effect and our hydrophones were knocked out. When the 13-GO came in for another attack I fired one of the Mk27s, which missed. Tojo did not, doing serious damage ot the hull and springing the main induction valve. The latter threatened to flood the engine room before being brought under control. Another attack and this time the cutie did its job. After surfacing and pumping out the water I went in pursuit of the damaged freighter, catching up later that night. The Maru now being alone, I engaged with the 5” gun, sending the previously damaged Maru (2,000 tons) to the bottom.
Patrolling off the Kii Suido the afternoon of 1 Jul we encountered a departing small freighter (3,300 tons) escorted by an Ukura class escort (900 tons). Initiating a submerged attack from medium range I fired 4 Mk18s at the freighter and two Mk18s at the escort. Both the fish must have hit the escort as it blew up, leaving nothing behind. The Maru was luckier. Two fish missed and another was a dud. Again, the remaining torpedo damaged, but did not sink the freighter. I followed until nightfall, then surfaced and finished the Maru off with gunfire.
Our only other encounter with the enemy was the night of 17 July on the way home when a prematurely fired flare alerted us to a searching aircraft. Our luck turning, Launce managed to slip beneath the surface before the aircraft spotted out wake.
On 25 July Launce tied up next to USS Turtle, having successfully, if unspectacularly completed her fourth war patrol. With the extensive hull damage it will take an extra month to get her back into battle form.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Bowers, LCdr, USN, commanding
USS Launce