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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) 3rd War Patrol - 12/1943 - 02/1944
Date
Dec 14, 1943
Last Updated: Feb 12, 2010
Comments
14 Dec 1943 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) departs Pearl Harbour for her 3rd war patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Mariana Islands area. 31 Jan 1944 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Hiro Maru (549 GRT) north-north-west of Saipan in position 15º23'N, 145º35'E. 10 Feb 1944 USS Tullibee (Cdr. C.F. Brindupke) ends her 3rd war patrol at Pearl Harbour.
Tullibee's third patrol was in a wolf pack with sister ships Halibut and Haddock. The trio sortied from Pearl Harbor on 14 December 1943 for the Mariana Islands to intercept enemy shipping plying between Truk and Japan. On 2 January 1944, Tullibee sighted a Japanese I-class submarine on the surface and launched four torpedoes at a range of 3,000 yd (2,700 m). The enemy saw the wakes and combed the four of them as Tullibee was forced deep by an enemy floatplane that dropped six bombs. On 19 January, Haddock reported that she had damaged the Japanese escort carrier Unyō, which limped to Saipan. Tullibee sighted the carrier there on 25 January, close ashore and well protected by escorts and aircraft. The submarine remained on station for several days awaiting an opportunity to sink the aircraft carrier. However, when she surfaced on 28 January, she learned that the carrier had slipped away. Three days later, the submarine made radar contact with two targets. She launched three torpedoes at what appeared to be a freighter and swung left to fire one at the escort. The first target, net tender Hiro Maru, took two hits and disintegrated in about one minute. The torpedo fired at the escort missed, and the submarine went deep to evade. Tullibee cleared the area the following day and returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 February.