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Casualty Info
Home Town Florence, AZ
Last Address 2150 East Mabel St Tuscon, AZ
Casualty Date Apr 18, 1944
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Court 1 (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
The USS Gudgeon (SS-211) left on her 12th patrol 4 April 1944, checked in at Johnson Island on 7 April and was never heard from again. Her loss is a mystery. On 7 June 1944, she was officially declared lost and presumed lost. Lieutenant Junior Grade Pinkley was listed as Missing in Action and later declared dead 15 January 1946.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 179517
Addison Pinkley received his basic Navy training at the Navy Training School at Princeton University and the attended the Diesel Training School at the University of Wisconsin.
Submarine war patrols: USS Gudgeon (SS-211) - 8th through 12th
Presidential Unit Citation
For outstanding performance in combat during eight aggressive and brilliantly executed war patrols in enemy controlled waters since December 7, 1941. Fighting with remarkable prowess and daring, she achieved an illustrious combat record in the sinking of 19 Japanese ships, including one submarine, which totaled 133,957 tons, and in damaging three more ships totaling 13,944 tons. The superb efficiency and readiness for battle which enabled the Gudgeon to fulfill these vital missions reflects great credit upon her gallant officers and men and the United States Naval Service.
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)
From Month/Year
August / 1942
To Month/Year
February / 1943
Description The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly American, landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of denying their use by the Japanese to threaten the supply and communication routes between the US, Australia, and New Zealand. The Allies also intended to use Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases to support a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. The Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese defenders, who had occupied the islands since May 1942, and captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as an airfield (later named Henderson Field) that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Powerful US naval forces supported the landings.
Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November 1942 to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two carrier battles), and continual, almost daily aerial battles culminated in the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November 1942, in which the last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and land with enough troops to retake it was defeated. In December 1942, the Japanese abandoned further efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by 7 February 1943 in the face of an offensive by the US Army's XIV Corps, conceding the island to the Allies.
The Guadalcanal campaign was a significant strategic combined arms victory by Allied forces over the Japanese in the Pacific theatre. The Japanese had reached the high-water mark of their conquests in the Pacific, and Guadalcanal marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive in that theatre and the beginning of offensive operations, including the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and Central Pacific campaigns, that resulted in Japan's eventual surrender and the end of World War II.