26 August 1944USS Launce enters Pearl Harbor. Her 20mm AA gun is gone and the hull shows signs of extensive damage. The crew on deck looks to be 1/4 what is should be. The Battle Flag sports five rising suns.
Standard Report Format
Boat ID: USS Launce
Successful Patrol: Yes
Number of Freighters or Tankers Sank: 4
Number of Non-Capital Warships Sank: 1
Capital Ships Sank: 0
Total Tonnage Destroyed: 22,100
Special Assignment Completed: NA
Refit Time: 3 Months, ready Dec 44
Awards Requested:
Purple Heart, posthumous for: PM, Crew Sections 1 &2
Purple Heart for Crew Section 3
Navy Cross for LCdr Michael Bowers
Combat Patrol Insignia for entire crew
Narrative:USS Launce left Pearl for its first war patrol on the 5th so that the crew could celebrate the 4th in relative comfort. As we were transiting to our assigned patrol area we heard about the Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan, the bombing of Tokyo, and the landings on Guam and Tinian.
Midday on the 27th we encountered a convoy coming out of the San Bernadino Strait. Whiule many targets presented themselves I decided to concentrate on a large freighter (5,300 tons). It being daylight, I fired the stern tubes which were loaded with MK 18 torpedoes. Two of the fish missed and the other two, though inflicting damage, weren’t enough to sink the target. The escort, a Mikura class, initiated a series of viscous attacks. By the time they were over (3 rounds), Launce had taken a beating. Several compartments flooded with men trapped inside. The depth-charging also knocked the radio off its mount, hitting PhM2c Daniel Zelinski in the head and giving him a concussion form which he did not recover. Upon surfacing, we learned that the 20mm AA gun had been destroyed as well.
Wanting blood, I went in pursuit and caught up with the damaged freighter shortly after nightfall. She was still under escort. Recalling the damage done to us, I fired three torpedoes at the escort and three at the wounded Maru. I’m happy to report that both ships were blown to smithereens.
Off Davao the evening of 5 August we attacked a small freighter (4,200 tons) escorted by a No.4 class subchaser. Employing a surface attack, I fired three torpedoes at the freighter and one at the subchaser. All three fish hit the Maru and it was quickly listing. While the fourth fish hit the escort, it failed to detonate. However, our aggressive approach was enough to dissuade the subchaser from attacking.
Passing the Gilberts on the 10th we ran across another convoy. I fired our remaining torpedoes in a spread targeting four ships. All four Marus were hit, though only two sank, a 4,400 ton freighter and a 7,300 ton troop ship. The escorting Etorufu class ES attacked, causing hull damage and knocking out the hydrophones. Flooding entered the battery compartment and several hands died from the resulting chlorine gas. Not wanting a repeat of our earlier experience, I took Launce deep and managed to slip away. Though we had no more fish I followed the damaged freighters in the hopes that one or the other would lose their escort. It was not to be so I gave up the chase and turned for home.
Launce entered Pearl Harbor the afternoon of 26 August. With the damage to the hull and the need to replace over half the crew, it will be December before she is ready to sail again.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Bowers, LCdr, USN, commanding
USS Launce