USS Wahoo (SS-238)

USS Wahoo, commanded by CDR D.W. Morton, USN, was launched on 14 February 1942 and lost at sea on 11 October 1943. Regarded as a vessel that embodied the spirit and pride of the U.S. Submarine Force, Wahoo earned the nickname “The one-submarine wolf pack” because enemy convoys often reported being attacked by more than one submarine when they encountered her. Her commanding officer, Commander Dudley W. “Mush” Morton, and her crew ravaged the Pacific, sinking at least 20 enemy ships totaling over 60,000 tons in just over a year. Wahoo inspired the submarine force with lively radio messages, “down the throat” torpedo shots, and brooms lashed to her periscope to signify a clean sweep of enemy shipping, and in the war in the Pacific few ships achieved a more legendary status. After departing Midway Island on 13 September to begin her seventh war patrol, she was reported overdue on 2 December 1943 and presumed lost, and she is believed to have been sunk on 11 October by a combination of air, land, and sea anti-submarine forces in La Perouse Strait, north of Hokkaido.

Pearl City, Hawaii · United States