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Casualty Info
Home Town Richmond, IN
Last Address 205 S Cherry Grove Ave Annapolis, MD (Wife~Rachel G. Coe)
Casualty Date Sep 28, 1943
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Lost At Sea-Unrecovered
Location Philippines
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Tablets of the Missing (Cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Commanding Officer, USS CISCO (SS 290)
Cisco sailed from Panama 7 August 1943 for Brisbane, Australia, arriving 1 September to assume local patrol duties, until 18 September, when she docked at Darwin. She put out on her first war patrol 20 September, but never returned. Japanese records tell of sighting a submarine leaking oil on 28 September in an area where Cisco is known to have been the only submarine then operating. Japanese records state this submarine was sunk by bombs and depth charges. Cisco is thus presumed to have been lost in action 28 September 1943.
Comments/Citation:
Name of Award
Navy Cross
Year Awarded
1945
Details behind Award:
Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander James Wiggins Coe (NSN: 0-63137), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. S-39 (SS-144) during the FIRST through the FOURTH War Patrols in the Southwest Pacific from 8 December 1941 through March 1942, and as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. SKIPJACK (SS-184), on the THIRD War Patrol of that submarine during the period 14 April 1942 to 17 May 1942, in enemy controlled waters at Cam Ranh Bay. While conducting war patrols as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. S-39, Lieutenant Commander Coe boldly and successfully delivered an attack under hazardous and difficult conditions which resulted in the sinking of an armed enemy auxiliary vessel in Philippine waters, and later, a large enemy naval tanker in the Java Sea. Furthermore, while Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. SKIPJACK, he skillfully evaded enemy naval and air patrols to deliver a vigorous and effectively executed attack against enemy vessels, armed or escorted by anti-submarine craft. In these engagements, the SKIPJACK succeeded in destroying two large enemy auxiliaries and an enemy Japanese transport in the South China Sea and seriously damaging and presumably sinking another enemy armed auxiliary. Lieutenant Commander Coe displayed the outstanding characteristics of a leader, and the aggressive and intrepid spirit of a fine seaman which were in keeping with the traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: December 8, 1941 - May 17, 1942 Service: Navy Rank: Lieutenant Commander Postion: Commanding Officer Submarine: U.S.S. S-39 (SS-144) & U.S.S. Skipjack (SS-184)
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Cisco sailed from Panama 7 August 1943 for Brisbane, Australia, arriving 1 September to assume local patrol duties, until 18 September, when she docked at Darwin. She put out on her first war patrol 20 September, but never returned. Japanese records tell of sighting a submarine leaking oil on 28 September in an area where Cisco is known to have been the only submarine then operating.