Cromwell, John Philip, CAPT

Fallen
 
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Last Rank
Captain
Last Primary NEC
112X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Submarine Warfare
Last Rating/NEC Group
Line Officer
Primary Unit
1943-1943, 112X, USS Sculpin (SS-191)
Service Years
1924 - 1943
Captain Captain

 Last Photo   Personal Details 

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Home State
Illinois
Illinois
Year of Birth
1901
 
This Military Service Page was created/owned by Robert Cox, YNCS to remember Cromwell, John Philip, CAPT.

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Casualty Info
Home Town
Henry, Illinois
Last Address
1165 Harker St
Palo Alto, California
(Wife Margret R Cromwell)

Casualty Date
Nov 19, 1943
 
Cause
KIA-Killed in Action
Reason
Lost At Sea-Unrecovered
Location
Pacific Ocean
Conflict
World War II
Location of Interment
Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates
Cenotaph

 Official Badges 




 Unofficial Badges 




 Military Associations and Other Affiliations
World War II FallenUnited States Navy Memorial The National Gold Star Family RegistryCongressional Medal Of Honor Society
WWII Memorial National Registry
  2014, World War II Fallen
  2014, United States Navy Memorial - Assoc. Page
  2014, The National Gold Star Family Registry
  2014, Congressional Medal Of Honor Society
  2014, WWII Memorial National Registry - Assoc. Page


 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:

On 29 November, COMSUBPAC radioed Sculpin to order Captain Cromwell to activate the wolfpack. When Sculpin failed to acknowledge the message, even after several repetitions, she was assumed - correctly - to have been lost at sea. It wasn't until after the war that the details of her loss - and that of Captain Cromwell - to enemy action became known from both Japanese sources and surviving crewmembers who had been prisoners of war.

Sculpin had actually arrived on station on 16 November and made radar contact with a large, high-speed convoy on the night of the 18th. After making a fast surface run to get ahead of the quarry, LCDR Connaway submerged for an attack at dawn. As he started his final approach, however, his periscope was spotted by the enemy, and Connaway was forced to take Sculpin deep and allow the convoy to pass overhead. Then, he surfaced again to attempt another end run in broad daylight. Unfortunately, the Japanese destroyer IJS Yamagumo had lagged behind the convoy specifically to counter such a move and after forcing Connaway to make a quick dive, dropped a pattern of depth charges that - unbeknownst to the crew - damaged the depth gauge. Sculpin went deep and laid low for several hours repairing damage.

When Connaway decided to go to periscope depth, the diving officer failed to realize that the depth gauge wasn't moving, and instead of levelling off at 62 feet, Sculpin heaved herself to the surface with the depth gauge still reading 125 feet. She was spotted by the destroyer Yamagumo, which opened fire at once.

Connaway ordered a crash dive, but Yamagumo's follow up depth charge attack was perfectly timed and, with Sculpin uncontrollably submerged, Connaway was forced to surface and attempt a gun action.

Yamagumo's first salvo hit Sculpin's bridge, killing Connaway, along with his executive and gunnery officers. With the senior officers dead, Lieutenant G.E. Brown, Jr. assumed command, ordering the crew to abandon and the boat to be scuttled. Cromwell decided to go down with Sculpin, fearing that he could be forced to reveal what he knew about ULTRA and Galvanic. Ensign Fiedler, the diving officer who had failed to notice the defective depth gauge and presumably felt responsible for what had happened, also chose to go down with the boat.

The 41 survivors were split into two groups and put aboard the aircraft carriers Chuyo and Unyo for transport to Japan. In an ironic twist, Chuyo was torpedoed and sunk by Sailfishâ??the raised and renamed Squalus, which Sculpin had been instrumental in finding after she was sunk on a training exerciseâ??killing all but one of the 21 Sculpin survivors aboard.

Captain Cromwell, who knew secret details of the impending operation to capture the Gilbert Islands, deliberately remained on board as she sank. For his sacrificial heroism in preventing the enemy from obtaining this information, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

When the story of what Captain Cromwell had done became known after the war, he was nominated for the Medal of Honor. This was awarded posthumously to his widow. In 1954 the destroyer-escort U.S.S. Cromwell was named in his honor.

   
Comments/Citation:


 
Name of Award
Navy Medal of Honor

Year Awarded
1943
 
Details behind Award:
Awarded for actions during the World War II

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Captain John Philip Cromwell (NSN: 0-58950), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commander of a Submarine Coordinated Attack Group with Flag in the U.S.S. SCULPIN, during the 9th War Patrol of that vessel in enemy-controlled waters off Truk Island, 19 November 1943. Undertaking this patrol prior to the launching of our first large-scale offensive in the Pacific, Captain Cromwell, alone of the entire Task Group, possessed secret intelligence information of our submarine strategy and tactics, scheduled Fleet movements and specific attack plans. Constantly vigilant and precise in carrying out his secret orders, he moved his undersea flotilla inexorably forward despite savage opposition and established a line of submarines to southeastward of the main Japanese stronghold at Truk. Cool and undaunted as the submarine, rocked and battered by Japanese depth charges, sustained terrific battle damage and sank to an excessive depth, he authorized the Sculpin to surface and engage the enemy in a gunfight, thereby providing an opportunity for the crew to abandon ship. Determined to sacrifice himself rather than risk capture and subsequent danger of revealing plans under Japanese torture or use of drugs, he stoically remained aboard the mortally wounded vessel as she plunged to her death. Preserving the security of his mission, at the cost of his own life, he had served his country as he had served the Navy, with deep integrity and an uncompromising devotion to duty. His great moral courage in the face of certain death adds new luster to the traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Action Date: 19-Nov-43
Service: Navy
Rank: Captain
Company: Commanding Officer
Regiment: Submarine Attack Group
Division: U.S.S. Sculpin (SS-191)

   

  USS SCULPIN (SSN-590)
   
Date
Not Specified

Last Updated:
Jul 31, 2007
   
Comments

USS Sculpin (SSN-590), a Skipjack-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin, a spiny, large-headed, broad-mouthed, usually scaleless fish of the family Cottidae.

Her keel was laid down on 3 February 1958 by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on 31 March 1960 sponsored by Mrs. Fred Connaway, and commissioned on 1 June 1961 with Commander C. N. Mitchell in command.

Sculpin departed Pascagoula on 8 June for her designated home port, San Diego, California. Following her arrival there, she began a period of shakedown training. In July, she held special trials and tests in the Puget Sound area and then returned to San Diego for type training. In August, Sculpin cruised to Pearl Harbor for two weeks before returning to San Diego. She operated off the West Coast before entering the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for post-shakedown availability in October. This was completed in late March 1962, and Sculpin returned to her home port.

Following training operations, she departed for the western Pacific in May; returning to San Diego in August. The nuclear submarine participated in local training operations, ordnance evaluation projects, and fleet exercises until entering the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in early January 1963 for a hull survey. Sculpin returned to San Diego at the end of the month, conducted type training for two months and, on 29 March, got underway for a dependents' cruise. The submarine returned to Mare Island in April for restricted availability and remained there until August when she returned to San Diego and commenced local operations.

Sculpin was in Pearl Harbor, in early December, en route to the western Pacific, when defective piping forced her to sail back to Mare Island for repairs. She returned to San Diego on 25 February 1964, and operated from that port until early April. On 8 April, Sculpin sailed for duty with the Seventh Fleet. Prior to reporting, she made port calls at Pearl Harbor, Sydney, and Subic Bay. For the remainder of her deployment, Sculpin operated in and out of Subic Bay, and Naha, Okinawa, with the Seventh Fleet. She returned to her home port on 20 October 1964 and was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for her deployment. Operations and exercises along the west coast, from San Diego to Bangor, Washington, occupied the submarine for the next 25 months.

On 27 November 1966, Sculpin stood out of San Diego for Naha and another tour with the Seventh Fleet. She returned to her home port on 11 May 1967 and began conducting local operations. The submarine had an extended training cruise from 27 July to 26 October and, on 11 November, gave a demonstration dive for President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson.

On 31 December, Sculpin was notified that she was due for drydock and overhaul at Puget Sound, and she sailed for that destination on 2 January 1968. This was Sculpin?s first major overhaul and refueling since commissioning, seven years before, and she was in drydock from 30 January 1968 to 22 January 1969. Sea trials and training lasted until 26 July when she sailed to Pearl Harbor on a shakedown training cruise. She returned to the West Coast on 22 August and began an upkeep period at San Diego which lasted until 8 September. The submarine operated along the California coast until 6 February 1970 when she got underway for Pearl Harbor and deployment to the western Pacific.

Sculpin sailed from Pearl Harbor on 21 February and entered Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 6 March. She also visited Subic Bay, Hong Kong, and Yokosuka before returning to San Diego on 21 August. She conducted local operations until 4 January 1971 when she began a three-month restricted availability period at Mare Island. The yard work was completed on 16 April, and the submarine returned to San Diego. The only interruption of her schedule came in October when she sailed to Puget Sound to have her bottom sand blasted and painted.

Sculpin returned to San Diego on 13 November 1971 and began preparing for another deployment period which began on 5 January 1972 and terminated on 24 July. She was berthed at San Diego for the remainder of the year, with only 15 days being spent at sea.

On 2 February 1973, Sculpin entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a three month restricted availability. After leaving the yard in May, the submarine operated along the Pacific coast until 12 November when it arrived at San Diego and began preparing for a deployment in early January 1974. Sculpin sailed from San Diego on 7 January for Pearl Harbor and the western Pacific on an extended cruise.

Sculpin was decommissioned on 3 August 1990 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 August 1990. ex-Sculpin entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, on 1 October 2000 and on 30 October 2001 ceased to exist.

   
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USS SCULPIN (SSN-590)

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