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Casualty Info
Home Town San Francisco, CA
Casualty Date Mar 26, 1944
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location South China Sea
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Walls of the Missing
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
On 5 March 1944, Tullibee, commanded by Cdr. C. F. Brindupke, departed Pearl Harbor to start her fourth war patrol. She stopped at Midway to top off with fuel, and having left that place on 14 March, she was not heard from again. The area assigned to Tullibee was an open sea area north of Palau, and she was to cooperate with surface forces in the first carrier strike on Palau.
Tullibee was to leave her area not later than 24 April 1944, and on that date a dispatch was sent directing her to proceed to Majuro for refit. She was expected at Majuro about 4 May, but instructions stated that a submarine unable to transmit would not go to Majuro, but to Midway. On 6 May 1944, Midway was alerted for a submarine returning without transmission facilities, but the lookout was not rewarded and Tullibee was presumed lost on 15 May 1944.
The following story of Tullibee's loss is taken from a statement made by the lone survivor, C.W. Kuykendall, GM2c. He reports that the boat arrived on station, 25 March, and on the night of 26 March a radar contact was found to be on a convoy consisting of a large troop and cargo ship, two medium sized freighters, two escort vessels and a large destroyer.
Having solved the convoy's speed and course, Tullibee made several surface runs on the large transport, but held fire, being unable to see her due to squally weather. The escorts had detected the submarine's presence, and dropped 15 to 20 depth charges. The submarine came in to 3,000 yards, still unable to see the target, and fired two bow tubes. A minute or two later a terrific concussion shook the boat, and Kuykendall, who had been on the bridge, soon found himself struggling in the water. Since range and bearing of escorts was known, the survivor states that he is sure the explosion was the result of a circular run of one of Tullibee's torpedoes.
There were shouting men in the water when Kuykendall first regained consciousness after the blast, but after about ten minutes everything was silent, and he never again saw or heard any of the other Tullibee men. At 1000 on 27 March, an escort vessel located the swimming man, and after firing on him with machine guns, came in and picked him up. He learned here that the transport they had fired at had sunk.
The story of his captivity is much the same as the stories of survivors of Grenadier, Sculpin, Tang, Perch, and other U.S. submarines. He was questioned assiduously by English speaking officers, and beaten when he refused to give any more information than international law required. In April 1944, he was taken to Ofuna Naval Interrogation Camp, where he stayed until 30 September. From that date until rescue on 4 September 1945, he was forced to work in the copper mines of Ashio.
This submarine began her career in the Submarine Force in July 1943, with a patrol in the western Caroline Islands. In this patrol she sank one freighter and damaged another. Her second patrol was in the area south of Formosa off the China coast; here she sank a transport ship and damaged a large tanker and another transport. On her third patrol, in the Marianas area, Tullibee sank a small freighter. This gave Tullibee a total of three ships sunk, totaling 15,500 tons, and three damaged, for 22,000 tons.
Comments/Citation:
Name of Award
Silver Star
Year Awarded
1943
Details behind Award:
Awarded for actions during World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Commander Charles Frederic Brindupke (NSN: 0-71489), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. TULLIPBEE (SS-284) during the SECOND War Patrol of that Submarine from 28 September to 16 November 1943, in enemy Japanese-controlled waters in the Pacific War Area. Displaying brilliant tactical skill and fearless determination, Commander Brindupke attacked a group of hostile vessels, sinking and damaging an important amount of enemy tonnage. Following the engagement, when the Japanese violently depth-charged and bombed the submarine, sending her to the bottom, he coolly and courageously extricated his ship and throughout the ensuing day skillfully avoided severe air and surface countermeasures by the enemy. During two later engagements, he inflicted extensive damage on a hostile tanker and carried out a devastating bombardment of installations on an enemy-held island. Commander Brindupke's inspiring leadership and the loyal devotion to duty of his officers and men were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. General Orders: Pacific Fleet Board of Awards: Serial 46 (February 18, 1944) Action Date: September 28 - November 16, 1943 Service: Navy Rank: Commander Division: U.S.S. Tullibee (SS-284)
USS Tullibee (SS-284) 1st War Patrol 07/1943 - 09/1943
Date
Jul 19, 1943
Last Updated: Feb 12, 2010
Comments
19 Jul 1943 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) departs Pearl Harbour for her 1st war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Caroline Islands area. 22 Aug 1943 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese troop transport Kaisho Maru (4164 GRT) north of the Caroline Islands in position 10º09'N, 147º25'E. 6 Sep 1943 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) ends her 1st war patrol at Midway
On 19 July, Tullibee got underway for the Western Caroline Islands and her first war patrol. On 28 July, she sighted a passenger-cargo ship, accompanied by an escort and an aircraft that prevented her attack. On 5 August, the submarine began patrolling the Saipan-Truk traffic lanes. Five days later, she sighted smoke on the horizon that proved to be three freighters with an escort. Tullibee closed the range to 2,700 yd (2,500 m); launched one torpedo at the ship on the right and three at the vessel on the left. As the submarine fired the first torpedo, a ship rammed her and bent her number one periscope. She went deep and was depth charged by the escort as the ships sped away. As they had been set to run at a depth of 15 ft (4.6 m) ? too deep for the draft of the largest target ? none of the torpedoes exploded. On 14 August, Tullibee sighted a convoy of three freighters with an escort and began an end-around run to get into good attack position. She launched a torpedo from a range of 3,000 yards (2,700 m) and went deep. It missed, and she returned to periscope depth to fire three torpedoes at the last ship. It apparently saw their wakes as it turned and combed them. The submarine again went deep. When she surfaced, the targets had escaped. On 22 August, Tullibee sighted a convoy of five ships escorted by two destroyers; closed to 2,000 yd (1,800 m); and launched three torpedoes at the nearest freighter. Two minutes later, she fired three more at another ship. As she went deep to avoid a destroyer heading her way, she heard one explosion. She soon heard the bursts of two more torpedo explosions, followed by breaking up noises. When she surfaced, she sighted over 1000 empty 50 USgal (190 l) oil drums, but no ships. Postwar examination of Japanese records indicated that Tullibee had damaged one freighter and had sunk the passenger-cargo ship Kaisho Maru. The patrol terminated when the submarine reached Midway Island on 6 September.
