The Tang, which had the most illustrious record in the Pacific theater, began its fifth patrol from Pearl Harbor Sept. 24, 1944, headed for the Formosa Strait. Its skipper, Cmdr. Richard H. O’Kane, was, the author says, “the most daring and deadly submarine raider in the Pacific.”
The crew had good hunting, sinking many Japanese ships. With two of his 24 torpedoes left, O’Kane was preparing to return to Hawaii when he decided to go back for one last hit.
It was a fatal decision. The last torpedo went awry. It made a complete U-turn and came back and struck Tang in its stern, killing probably half of the 87-man crew outright and sending the sub to the sea floor 180 feet below.
Three of the eventual nine survivors jumped or were thrown into the sea. O’Kane was one, and shortly after landing in the water, he had the bleak satisfaction of seeing his 23rd torpedo (the next to the last) strike its target, a Japanese tanker, his 24th victim in 18 months as Tang’s captain.
MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
ROCHESTERMILITARY.COM
