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Casualty Info
Home Town Clarendon, AR
Last Address Holly Grove, AR
Casualty Date Oct 11, 1943
Cause KIA-Body Not Recovered
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Shady Grove Cemetery - Clarendon, Arkansas
Wall/Plot Coordinates (memorial marker)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Japanese records reported that on 11 October, 1943 the date USS Wahoo (SS-238) was due to exit through La Pérouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft sighted a wake and an apparent oil slick from a submerged submarine. The Japanese initiated a combined air and sea attack with numerous depth charges throughout the day. Sawfish had been depth-charged by a patrol boat while transiting the strait two days before, and the enemy's antisubmarine forces were on the alert; their attacks fatally holed Wahoo, and she sank with all hands. She was declared overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 December 1943.
F1c Lynch was a member of the crew. He was listed as missing in action and later declared dead.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 6304290
Submarine war patrols:
USS Nautilus (SS-168) - 4th through 6th
USS Wahoo (SS-288) - 7th
The information contained in this profile was compiled from various internet sources.
Northern Solomon Islands Campaign (1943-44)/Sinking of the SS Wahoo (SS-238)
From Month/Year
October / 1943
To Month/Year
October / 1943
Description USS Wahoo (SS-238) was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo, a dark blue food fish of Florida and the West Indies. Construction started before the U.S entered World War II, and she was commissioned after entry. Wahoo was assigned to the Pacific theatre. She gained fame as an aggressive and highly successful submarine after Lt. Commander Dudley Walker "Mush" Morton became her skipper. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft in October 1943 while returning home from a patrol in the Sea of Japan.
Japanese records also reported that on 11 October, the date Wahoo was due to exit through La Pérouse Strait in the morning, Wahoo was bombarded from Cape Sōya. An antisubmarine aircraft (likely an Aichi E13A floatplane) sighted a wake and an apparent oil slick from a submerged submarine. The Japanese initiated a combined air and sea attack with numerous bombs and depth charges throughout the day. Sawfish had been depth-charged by a patrol boat while transiting the strait two days before, and the enemy's antisubmarine forces were on the alert; their attacks fatally holed Wahoo, and she sank with all hands. She was declared overdue on 2 December 1943 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 December 1943.
After the loss of Wahoo, no US submarines ventured into the Sea of Japan until June 1945, when special mine-detecting equipment became available.
