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Casualty Info
Home Town Camden, NJ
Last Address 5059 Russell Ave Pennsauken, NJ
Casualty Date Oct 17, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery and Memorial - Manila, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates (cenotaph)
Military Service Number 8 264 807
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
The USS Escolar (SS-294) set out on her first war patrol on 18 September 1944. On 30 September she reported attacking a small surface ship. Her last communication was on 17 October 1944. There are no records to indicate she was attacked and it has been presumed that she struck a mine and sunk. Seaman 1st Class Bonk was listed as Missing in Action and later declared dead on 14 November 1945.
Balao Class Submarine: Laid down, 10 June 1942, at Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, PA.; Launched, 18 April 1943; Commissioned USS Escolar (SS-294), 2 June 1944; Sunk on 1st patrol, depth charged by Japanese Frigate (kaibokan) CD-38 & Patrol Boat 102 (ex-USS Stewart, DD-224) on 19 October 1944, in Yellow Sea, all hands lost; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown).
Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 8"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10kts; Submerged Endurance, 48 hours at 2kts; Operating Depth Limit, 400 ft; Complement 6 Officers 60 Enlisted; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 5"/25 deck gun, one 40mm gun, two .50 cal. machine guns; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Propulsion, diesel-electric reduction gear with four Fairbanks-Morse main generator diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity 116,000 gal., four Elliot Motor Co., main motors with 2,740 hp, two 126-cell main storage batteries, two propellers.
The approximate location of the USS Escolar's sinking.
