"War Fish" Story

One of the anecdotes described by George Grider in "War Fish" that stayed with me through the years was his exploration of Wahoo's bow buoyancy tank with Roger Paine during their first war patrol. While at the SubRon5 event at Batfish I had the chance to do a little investigating to get a better feel for their experience.

You may recall from the book that after a torpedo was accidentally misfired with the muzzle door closed, Wahoo began having difficulty operating her bow buoyancy tank vent valves during dives. Ultimately they failed to operate altogether. Captain Kennedy ordered his engineering officer, Grider, and torpedo specialist, Paine, to open up the manhole on the top of the tank and check out the valve operating mechanism from the inside. They did this while surfaced at night in Japanese waters.

With the ability to slip past the ropes on Batfish, I ventured out to her bow buoyancy tank. It is located over the torpedo tubes in the extreme forward end of the boat and is open to the sea at the bottom through a row of half-round flood holes. On the upper deck are two grated vents which open from the inside to allow air to escape during a dive and to trap the air in the tank when it is blow dry for surfacing. Due to its location the tank helped get the boat heading down and pointing up at the appropriate times.



On deck I found the vents and the manhole cover of the type Grider used to gain access to Wahoo's tank. It was oval shaped, secured with a series of bolts around its perimeter. On Batfish these bolts had been removed and the cover loosely set on top of the studs. The cover itself looked roughly a foot and a half wide and two and a half feet in length. A tight squeeze even for athletic young men in their late twenties and early thirties.



I picked it up and looked inside. The manhole was situated over a ladder mounted to the aft bulkhead of the tank. To port were actuating rods that ran from the bottom of the tank up to the valve mechanisms themselves. The rods went down through the bottom of the tank and were presumably damaged by the misfire in Wahoo's tube 1. There were no baffles in the tank on Batfish only a large space open at the bottom through the flood holes.

Grider describe it as being slick and slimy with an antifoul coating. And dark seawater would have swirled around their feet through the floods. The real threat was being surprised by the Japanese on the surface. In that event they both knew Kennedy would take Wahoo down and they would be on their own.

Making light of the situation, Grider reminded Paine he was senior and entitled to leave the tank first. Paine pointed out that it would never vent, and the boat would fail to dive, with Grider's fat behind stuck in the manhole trying to get out. Now I know how right he was.

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Sun N Fun 2008

Over the July Fourth weekend I got to spend some time with my model submarine running buddies of SubRon5 at our annual get together. This year it was held at Batfish Park in Muskogee, Oklahoma, home of the museum boat USS Batfish (S-310).

Our arrangement with the park was mutual. We would demonstrate our models in a pond constructed next to the submarine in order to help draw interest to the park. At the end of the day, we were allowed to spend the night aboard the boat with free reign --a submarine buff's dream.

It made for a long night. Member Tom Kisler crafted a fast cruise program with submarine trivia, Jeopardy style, and a submarine qualification scavenger hunt. It was fascinating and fun. None of us wanted it to end.

The following morning we climbed all over the exterior of the boat before the crowds arrived. We got tons of images and went everywhere our curiosity led us. From the periscope shears to the ammunition magazine, with stops in the conning tower (usually off limits) along the way.

Hats off to Don Baker for setting the event up, and park manager Rick for welcoming us in. By all accounts attendance increased greatly over the weekend and we had a blast.

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Wahoo Video Commentary Part III

The following is the conclusion of Chuck Thompson's summary of the wreck footage. Legends wishes to thank Chuck for his permission to share his summary which is the result of long hours pouring over the video. It picks up following the shots of the damage to the conning tower fairwater with the camera diver moving forward up the port side of the CTF:

At 13:00 the port side radio transmitter insulator is visible.

At 13:02 a close up of the radio insulator is presented. No damage visible.

At 13:07, the video shifts to dark footage swimming forward along the port side of the CTF forward of the damaged area. The forward 20mm platform is coming into view.

At 13:16 video shift to different footage swimming along the port side of the CTF, forward of the damage.

At 13:23 the diver is approaching the forward 20mm platform. The ready service locker and 20 mm mount become visible when,

At 13:24 new video looking forward from the port side of the CTF, below the bridge. The fwd 20mm platform and 20 mm mount are visible, along with the 4” deck gun and much of the fore deck. The 20 mm mount is out of alignment (it should be fore and aft) from its normal stowed position. Possibly fishing net (Post war trawl) damage after loss?? Wood on the fwd cigarette deck and ready service locker are visible. All railing is gone.

At 13:26 different video, swimming forward to port of CTF. 20 mm mount is in the center of the photo.

At 13:28 a close up of the fwd 20mm platform ready service locker, and

At 13:29 close up of the 20 mm mount.

At 13:32 different footage of the fwd 20 mm mount.

At 13:32 different footage of the fwd 20 mm mount, looking aft toward the bridge. With the exception of the 20mm mount being rotated approximately 90 degrees (probably the result of fishing nets), no damage is visible.

At 13:46 more different footage of the 20 mm mount, looking aft and up

At 13:47 image fades to where we left off at 13:27, close up of ready service locker and fwd 20mm platform. Film continues forward toward the bow, over the 4” deck gun.

At 13:57 camera is looking under the 4” deck gun, pans to starboard as the forward lower part of the CTF comes into view on the right, and a diver is in the background. While there is marine growth on deck, no damage is visible.

At 14:08 camera swimming over the fore deck, 4” barrel visible to right, sonar to left. Only the port side of the deck is clear.

At 14:16 the deck access (escape trunk) hole (rectangular opening in the deck) is visible. The fwd escape hatch is just forward of this hole, but is buried under marine growth. It appears to be closed.

At 14:19 the fwd port diving plane is somewhat visible.

At 14:29 video changes, and the fwd port diving plane is more visible.

At 14:36 footage shifts to the bow. The fwd capstan is visible. Some metal decking is missing aft of the capstan. This should be in place.

At 14:48 fwd of the capstan is another missing piece of plate or cover which should be in place.

At 15:02 the bull nose comes into view.

At 15:12 the video shifts to the bull nose from forward and to port, moving aft. The fwd port diving plane is barely visible, appears to be level.

At 15:21 camera is moving aft along the deck along the port side deck edge.

At 15:51 one can possibly see the fwd escape hatch to the left. It should be there, but is covered with marine growth. Appears to be closed.

At 15:56 shift to fwd of 4” deck gun moving aft at deck lever, slightly to starboard.

At 16:00 more footage of the 4” deck gun.

At 16:17 the fwd 20mm platform is visible over the 4” deck gun.

At 16:27 video shifts to moving aft over the 4” deck gun slightly to port. The bridge superstructure is clear. Unknown debris seen earlier from astern is visible protruding from the superstructure at the level of the starboard lookout platform.

At 16:27, back to the 4” deck gun. Gun is in proper fore/aft alignment.

At 16:35 different footage of the 4” deck gun looking fwd to starboard, from aft of the gun.

At 16:43 more different footage of the 4” deck gun, this time swimming aft slightly to starboard.

At 16:46 the periscope sheers, covered in line.

At 16:50 different footage of the sheers, looking up from the starboard bridge area. SJ antenna to right, trained to port.

At 16:57 video shifts to looking directly at the sheers from starboard to port. SJ antenna is visible to right; periscopes are wrapped in fishing lines. No damage visible.

At 17:09 video shifts to the lower sheers, again looking from starboard to port. Lower SJ support is visible along with the #1 periscope sheer. Camera pans aft to the SD mast. A new flagstaff near SD, installed during last overhaul, is visible, wrapped in fishing lines. No damage other than natural corrosion is visible.

At 17:09 the rectangular D/F loop mounted on the starboard side of the sheers is visible.

At 17:14 video shifts to both periscopes, apparently fully raised, wrapped in trawl lines.

At 17:26 video shifts to more distant footage of the starboard sheers.

At 17:32 image fades and shifts almost 180 degrees, and is now looking at the port side of the sheers, moving aft. This is neatly done, and one hardly notices the shift of 180o.

At 17:48 camera now moving aft along the port side of the CTF, fwd of battle damaged area, just above the level of the cigarette deck.

At 17:55 camera moves past the aft end of the bridge, above the damaged area. The free standing aft end of the CTF is visible.

At 17:57 what appears to be the engine exhaust induction is visible just forward of the free standing aft end of the CTF. The area of heavy damage below is not visible. The divers “down line” is visible.

At 18:17 the camera has moved past the free standing aft end of the CTF and is continuing to move toward the stern.

At 18:29, moving aft along the deck, the deck turns from teak to steel.

At 18:35 there is missing deck plating to port.

At 18:40 there is significant missing deck plating. Support structure appears undamaged.

At 18:55 there is another missing deck plate to port. The deck is in pretty good shape from here aft.

At 19:06 there is another smaller missing deck plate to port.

At 19:10 the camera is approaching the stern. The closed chock is visible, as is the capstan. The after torpedo room hatch is covered with sea growth, but appears to be closed.

From 19:20 through 19:30 the diver swims around the stern closed chock, and moves forward along the starboard side.

At 19:25 there is plating missing to port and below the after closed chock.

At 19:34 the camera is looking forward from starboard over the after capstan.

At 19:35 the camera is moving forward along the starboard side. The After Torpedo Room (ATR) hatch or the ATR torpedo loading hatch is visible but covered in marine growth.

At 20:07 the damage deck plating damage visible at 18:45 is seen from starboard. This much missing plating cannot be natural. Again the supporting structure appears undamaged. There are lots of fish above the missing deck plating (as would be expected.).

At 20:25 another missing deck plate to starboard is visible.

At 20:30 the after deck 20mm mount comes into view.

At 20:32 the conning tower fairwater (CTF) is visible from aft.

At 20:50 the starboard bomb damage is visible but not clear. Approaching the fairwater from astern and starboard.

At 20:53 video shifts to moving aft at the after (tapered) end of the conning tower fairwater. Moving from starboard, the diver swims around the aft end of the CTF. The CTF plating is badly deteriorated.

At 20:57 the diver is swimming forward along the port side from the aft taper of the CTF, moving forward at deck level.

At 21:02 the teak deck to port of the CTF is visible.

At 21:04 the shaft of the DF loop is clearly visible, blown forward. The after conning tower bulkhead should be a few feet forward. The CTF appears to be missing aft from the port and starboard fairwater access.

At 21:05 the camera pans upward to the after end of the lookout platform, looking from aft and port.

At 21:08 seen shifts to looking at the CTF from aft at the level of the lookout platform, looking directly forward. We’ve seen this sequence before. This sequence is also running backwards as, upon close examination, the fish are swimming backwards.

21:15 pan to looking down on the lookout platform from aft – drifting upward. Wahoo fading out.

21:21 Good view of damaged area from above – damaged area just a black hole.

21:24 End of video.

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Wahoo Video Commentary Part II

Here is the second installment of Chuck Thompson's assessment of the Russian Iskra Team video. He begins with an interpretation of Wahoo's loss based on known facts and review of the wreck footage. He then follows with a detailed description of the footage itself.

SINKING SCENARIO

Based on the examination of the available video of the wreck of the USS Wahoo, the following sequence of events is proposed.

Wahoo was in the process of transiting La Perouse Strait when she was detected by a Japanese aircraft looking for a submarine exiting the Sea of Japan. Wahoo was at periscope depth and had both scopes raise. During the first aerial attack, at least one of the bombs or depth charges scored a nearly direct hit to starboard at near main deck level in the area of the Control Room/After Battery Room bulkhead (frame 59). The result of this attack was severe damage to the main ballast tank 2C and fuel ballast tank 3A (hence the oil observed), and the conning tower fairwater. The pressure hull was ruptured on the starboard side near the junction of the Control Room/After Battery bulkhead, and possibly the conning tower (if not ruptured, the conning tower would have flooded through open lower conning tower hatch). The boat would have rolled severely to port, and experienced severe hull flexures which seem to travel along the hull and back again.

All personnel in the after battery room, control room and conning tower would have been incapacitated, and by the time they could recover, these spaces would have been flooded except for small air pockets and the top of the conning tower. The fact that the stern planes and probably the bow planes appear straight and level indicates that no attempt was made to surface. If the door to the forward battery room and forward engine room were open, they may also have flooded. It is probable that damage beyond these spaces was extensive, as there is no indication that any attempt was made by the surviving crew to escape from the forward or after spaces. Subsequent attacks and depth charging may have prevented the crew from trying to escape, and resulted in superficial superstructure damage, resulting in the superstructure damage visible today.

VIDEO SEQUENCE
(all times are from the video player, with time 0 at the beginning of the video)

The video begins with a brief Wahoo history, and information on the Russian dive team.

Eight (8) minutes into the tape, video of the wreck begins. The diver approaches the wreck from the starboard side, just aft of the conning tower fairwater (CTF), and the wreck is silhouetted. As the image comes into focus, extensive damage is apparent amidships as a break in the CTF silhouette and a dark area of the hull below the break in the CTF, extending downward around the hull.

At 08:10, as the diver approaches the wreck, a large chunk of debris is visible on the bottom, alongside the hull, immediately forward of the damaged area below the bridge. No detail is visible. The approach to Wahoo appears to be more zooming in than the diver getting closer to the hull, as detail does not improve.

At 08:25 image fades into swimming alongside the hull, mid level on ballast tanks, location unknown, possibly starboard side moving aft. The bilge keel is visible. No damage is visible.

At 08:36 film shifts to a different location, still swimming along the hull slightly higher. We are led by following sequence to believe this is starboard side moving aft. At the top of the ballast tanks, vertical superstructure is visible, with Government type limber holes. No damage is visible.

At 08:53 video shifts again, this time swimming along the starboard side, approaching the stern. The starboard propeller and shaft are visible. Footage continues around the stern, showing starboard (first) then both stern diving planes, and the rudder. Both planes are close to straight and level. The rudder is amidships. No damage is visible.

At 09:46 the diver is moving forward, and swims under the port stern plane and past the propeller. No damage is visible.

At 10:09 the diver continues to swim forward along the port side. Government type limber holes are visible. The hull appears to be in good shape, with many areas’s clear of marine growth. This is apparently the up current side, so there is less marine growth. No visible damage.

At 01:26 the port aft engine exhaust hole comes into view.

At 10:33 the port forward engine exhaust hole comes into view. Also the first of the “missing” superstructure is visible forward and aft of the exhaust. This appears to be corrosion damage, as the surrounding superstructure and supports do not appear damaged.

At 10:42, shift to new film sequence. Diver aft of the CTF, moving forward along the port side, at the top of the ballast tanks, looking athwartship through the superstructure. Most of the vertical superstructure is missing, apparently from corrosion. The supports for the superstructure are in place and not distorted. The top of the pressure hull is frequently visible, with external hull reinforcements (ribs), along with other hull components/piping located below the aft deck. Sometimes you can see all the way through to the starboard side.

At 11:23 an intact section of vertical superstructure, with Government style limber hole, is visible. Superstructure fore and aft is missing, again because of corrosion?

At 11:47 the CTF comes into view from port aft, at deck level. The aft (tapered) end of the superstructure is visible, with side plating rusted out.

At 11:52 fade into diver swimming forward from aft of the CTF. Diver is to starboard and just above the level of the cigarette deck. As the diver approaches the CTF, the extensive damage becomes visible. The diver swims over the aft end of the cigarette deck, and the missing area becomes clear, although details are difficult to distinguish. It is apparent that much of the cigarette deck superstructure, as well as port and starboard deck are missing.

At 11:58 shift back to footage we left at 11:51, swimming forward along the port side just below deck level, with CTF coming into view. Aft end of CTF is in the foreground, bridge and sheers in background. Damage difficult to see.

At 12:02 shift to close up of the free standing aft end of the CTF. Plating is rusted out, although support structure is in place, and does not appear damaged.

At 12:05 camera pans to the left, and is looking at deck level, up the port side, alongside the CTF (to right). The missing port deck and center section of CTF is clearly visible. The forward edge of the missing deck appears to be a fairly sharp break, with teak decking visible. As the camera moves forward, the vertical CTF superstructure, including supports, is completely missing. The forward ballast tanks are not visible.

At 12:12 the camera is approaching the missing area of the CTF. Before any details of the damage can become clear, the image fades out.

At 12:14 video moves back to same sequence ended at 11:57, looking forward from above aft of the CTF. The sharp, clean break of the bridge deck (fwd part of cigarette deck) is visible. The D/F loop is in the center of the photo. Radio antenna supports, port & starboard are visible. A large piece of unknown debris sticks out to starboard at the level of the lookout platforms.

At 12:17 the bridge structure (from aft looking fwd) is visible, the lower sheers rising in the center of the superstructure from the cigarette deck to the lookout platforms. Immediately to the right of the lower sheers appear to be several large areas of marine growth blocking access to starboard. This does not appear to be ready service lockers.

At 12:18 video fades to looking forward along the port side. CTF fills right half of the photo. We are apparently immediately above the main damaged area, to port. The broken end of the D/F loop shaft is visible to the right. The camera pans to the right until both the port and starboard vertical sides of the CTF are visible. The camera is pointed directly at the aft end of the conning tower (could this be the cigarette deck pushed down and forward, covering the aft end of the conning tower?). The forward edge of the broken deck to port of the CTF is visible at left. While this is a good shot of the damaged area aft of the CTF, details are hard to distinguish.

At 12:20 what may be the bottom edge of the conning tower (or the aft end of the cigarette deck blown downward) is visible at the bottom of the picture. This appears as a sharp, horizontal but ragged edge. If this is the conning tower, it should be rounded. The absence of the starboard decking and superstructure is obvious – it is completely missing.

At 12:22 the camera is looking down and to starboard, right into the damaged area. It is obvious that all decking and supports are missing. The area shown would have been in the area of the starboard CTF manway. The damaged area visible must include the pressure hull.

At 12:25 the video shifts to looking at the primary area of damage. The video is looking aft, just forward from the main damage area, at the main deck level (stbd side), looking along the fore/aft axis of the fairwater. The location of this video is not discernible until the end of this sequence (12:43), when the ragged edge at the end of the conning tower (identifiable at 12:20), comes into view, at the lower right side of the video (this took me a very long time to understand). Close examination of this sequence does not answer any questions concerning loss, as the pressure hull is visible below the array of damaged structure,

At 12:32 a hand illustration of the damaged area, from starboard, comes into the picture, obscuring much of the picture. This is unfortunate as there is much to be seen. Although the hand illustration is a broadside view from starboard, nothing in the video can be correlated as being from that area.

12:35 A note at the bottom of the video states that except for the rupture, the hull looks almost whole.

12:39 Same ragged edge visible at 12:20 comes into view, lower right hand corner of the picture, as the view shifts from aft to port.

At 12:43 the hand drawing fades away. It is not possible to identify anything in the photo, although the pressure hull and port deck edge must be there.

At 12:44 different video of the damaged area, this time looking from starboard to port, with the CTF superstructure at right and the missing deck superstructure at center. The forward and aft ends of the port deck are visible, the area in between missing due to damage. The camera backs up, and the ragged bottom edge of the conning tower (?) and the broken edge of the D/F loop shaft are visible. (the footage at this point is actually being run backwards, as the debris in the water is moving backwards, and the fish are swimming backwards.) The structure across the bottom of the picture must be the pressure hull.

At 12:53 camera shift to the same footage that faded out at 12:22. The camera is looking at the area under the cigarette deck with the ragged bottom of the conning tower visible across the bottom (same footage as before, even the same fish). The camera pans to port and up.

And by 12:58 we are looking at the port side of the CTF, forward of the damaged area, swimming forward.

Still images captured from the video are available on Legends of the Deep.
Part III coming soon...

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