Comments/Citation:
Lawrence Dewain Leland was born April 8, 1902 in Camden, Oneida county, New York, son of Mary Louise Deland and (unknown) Leland. Lawrence was raised in the home of his maternal grandparents in Springfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts. In 1920 his mother remarried Winfield Rudolph.
In 1920 he entered the Navy. His basic training was at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. In 1922 he was stationed at Pensacola, Florida as a Radioman 3rd class. He would go on to re-enlist several times, including on October 26, 1935 at San Diego, California and on October 27, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Lawrence married Edith Dorothy Lopes on December 16, 1939 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was a performer with the Bob Hope USO tour. A daughter, Margaret Louise, was born circa 1941. Lawrence and Edith would later separate.
On October 28, 1941 he reported aboard USS Argonaut as a Chief Radioman. USS Argonaut (APS-1, later known as SS-166) was the largest American submarine during WWII. Her first patrol near Midway had resulted in no damage to enemy ships, but her second was a most successful one. It was conducted following a complete modernization, at Mare Island. Her mission on this one had been to cooperate with Nautilus in transporting 252 Marine officers and men to Makin Island for a diversionary raid against enemy shore installations. In the early morning of 17 August 1942, the raiders were debarked in boats. After nearly two days ashore, the Marines returned, and the submarines transported them back to Pearl Harbor, Argonaut arriving on August 26.
While operating in the area southeast of New Britain in the Solomon Sea off Papau, New Guinea during her third patrol, Argonaut intercepted a Japanese convoy returning to Rabaul from Lae on January 10, 1943. A U. S. Army plane which was out of bombs saw one destroyer hit by a torpedo, saw the explosion of two other destroyers, and reported that there were five other vessels in the group. On the basis of the report given by the Army flier who witnessed the attack in which Argonaut perished, this ship was credited with having damaged one Japanese destroyer on her last patrol.
Argonaut was sunk by Japanese aircraft and destroyers Isokaze and Maikaze during this encounter on January 10, 1943. RMC Lawrence D. Leland was among the 8 officers and 94 crew members lost. Later issued letters of commendation indicate “as a result of a severe counterattack the Argonaut was forced to break surface but with no regard to personal safety and in the face of imminent death, the officers and crew accepted destruction rather than surrender.”
Lawrence D. Leland’s name appears on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines.
References:
Ancestry.com. New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942
1910; Census Place: Springfield Ward 7, Hampden, Massachusetts; Page:7a; Enumeration District: 0647
1920; Census Place: Springfield Ward 7, Hampden, Massachusetts; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 163
1930; Census Place: Pearl Harbor Naval Reserve, Honolulu, Hawaii Territory; Page: 7A; ED 115
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56776479/lawrence-dewain-leland
Ancestry.com. U.S., Navy Casualties Books, 1776-1941
Ancestry.com. Hawaii, U.S., Births, Marriages, and Death Cards, 1850-1950
U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S., Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949
https://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08166.htm
Naval History and Heritage Command - USS Argonaut
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-argonaut-166-loss.html
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949
The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu, HI: Dec. 20, 1939, p.17
The Daily Times, Mamaroneck, NY: Dec. 21, 1922, p.4
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at sgould557@gmail.com.
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