The wreck of one of the most famous American submarines of World War II has been found in the South China Sea eight decades after its last patrol, the US History and Heritage Command announced Thursday. Marine.
The USS Harder lies in 3,000 feet (about 900 meters) of water off the northern Philippine island of Luzon, upright and intact except for damage caused behind its turret by a submarine grenade. -Japanese Navy, the NHHC said in a press release.
Harder was lost in action on August 24, 1944, along with her entire crew of 79 submariners, while on her sixth patrol of the war, as the United States sought to retake the Philippines from occupying forces Japanese.
“Harder was lost during the victory. We must remember that victory has a price, just like freedom,” NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, said in the press release.
According to a U.S. Navy history, the Harder sank two Japanese escort ships off the Bataan Peninsula on August 22, 1944, then headed north along the coast of Luzon with two other submarines. sailors looking for other targets.
During a battle with the Japanese escort ship CD-22 on the morning of August 24, Harder fired three torpedoes which missed and were subsequently sunk by the Japanese ship’s fifth depth charge attack, according to the Japanese archives cited by the NHHC.
The NHHC said the wreck of the Harder was confirmed by data provided by Project Lost 52, an effort led by Tim Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea, to find the 52 U.S. submarines lost during World War II.
The group has already located at least six World War II submarines, the NHHC said.
“We are grateful that Lost 52 has given us the opportunity to once again honor the valor of the crew of the submarine ‘Hit ’em Harder,'” said NHHC’s Cox, referring to the motto of the ship.
The NHHC said the wreck is “the final resting place of sailors who gave their lives defending the nation and should be respected by all parties as a war grave.”
The Philippines was an American territory attacked by Japan immediately after its strike on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In the spring of 1942, American and Philippine forces on Luzon surrendered to Tokyo’s forces and Japan used the captured archipelago to protect its lines of supply from the East. India and Southeast Asia.
But by mid-1944, the United States was reducing Japanese gains in the Pacific and planning landings to do the same in the Philippines.
Harder, whose motto was “Hit ’em harder,” was led by Cmdr. Samuel Dealey, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor, the highest American military decoration, for his actions in Harder’s Fifth Patrol from March to July 1944.
During this period, the Harder sank three Japanese destroyers and two others probably destroyed or seriously damaged in just four days, according to the National Medal of Honor Museum.
The museum’s page on Dealey describes a particularly harrowing encounter.
After being attacked by a Japanese destroyer, Dealey ordered a frontal torpedo shot across the bow of the charging enemy, known as a “throat” shot, according to the museum’s account.
“At 1,500 yards, Dealey fired three torpedoes and ordered the submarine to dive. As the Stronger passed 80 feet below the destroyer, two of the torpedoes struck the ship, sending shock waves through the submarine.
During her first four patrols after commissioning on Dec. 2, 1942, Harder sank 14 Japanese warships and merchant ships, according to the Medal of Honor Museum.
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