Comments/Citation:
Frank Florestine Philabert, Jr., was born on March 24, 1918, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Francis Florestine and Olivia (Montgomery) Philabert. He had one sister, Olivia. He grew up in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, graduated from Ramsey High School. He later graduated from the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Like his father, Frank worked as a chemical engineer.
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On July 6, 1940 he entered the Naval Reserves in Birmingham, Alabama, and graduated from the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut. He was commissioned as an Ensign on November 14, 1940.
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He reported aboard USS Shark (SS-174) on November 17, 1941. Shark was part of the Asiatic Fleet based at Manila, where she engaged in fleet tactics and exercises until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Departing Manila on 9 December 1941 she was at sea during the Japanese bombing raids on Manila the next day. For the next week, Shark patrolled Tayabas Bay until ordered back to Manila on 19 December to embark Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet, for transportation to Soerabaja, Java.
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On 6 January 1942, Shark was almost hit with a torpedo from an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine. A few days later, she was ordered to Ambon Island, where an enemy invasion was expected. On 27 January, she was directed to join the submarines patrolling in Strait of Malacca, then to cover the passage east of Lifamatola and Bangka Strait. On 2 February, Shark reported to her base at Soerabaja that she had been depth-charged 10 mi (16 km) off Tifore Island and had failed to sink a Japanese ship during a torpedo attack. Five days later, she reported chasing an empty cargo ship headed northwest. No further messages were received from Shark. On 8 February, she was told to proceed to Makassar Strait and later was told to report information. Nothing was heard and, on 7 March, Shark was reported as presumed lost, the victim of unknown causes, the first American submarine lost to enemy anti-submarine warfare. A Japanese report of anti-submarine attacks available now records at least three attacks, which might have been on Shark.
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Ens Frank F. Philabertâ??s name appears on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Philippines and on the USS Shark (SS-174) Memorial in Muskogee, Oklahoma. A memorial stone is in Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson county, Alabama.
Service number: 095525
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References:
1920; Census Place: Monroe, Mississippi, Arkansas; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 163
1930; Census Place: Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0072
1940; Census Place: Homewood, Jefferson, Alabama; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 37-88
Ancestry.com. U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/philabert-f-f.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197422180/frank-florestine-philabert
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56777168/frank-florestine-philabert
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10303476/frank-florestine-philabert
https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-shark-174-loss.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shark_(SS-174)
U.S. Submarine Losses World War II, NAVPERS 15,784, 1949 ISSUE
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949
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This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
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