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From: LCDR Ronny Gundersen
To: ComSubRon 4A
Cc: ComSubPac
Date: July 4, 1942
Subject: Patrol Report, USS Trigger SS-237 (May 02 - Cycle 3)
Remarks: 2nd War Patrol, USS Trigger
Date: 4 July, 1942 Patrol
Area: Northern Japan (NJ-1)
Crew: Veteran Status:
Operational
Hull Damage: None (0%) System
Damage: None (0%)
Total Patrol Time: 27.8 Days Repair
Time: 0 Days
Fuel Used: 84,010 Gallons (71%) Realism Rating: 100%
Ships Sunk: 7 Tonnage:
35,800 / 11,921
Pilots Saved: 0 Photo
Recons: 0
Weather: Mostly Cloudy Seas:
Heavy
Patrol Mileage: 742 Nautical Miles
Ordnance Remaining: 0 - Mk.14, 26 - Deck Gun Rounds
(Medals Awarded – Bronze Star)
Date Time Location
Ship Type(Class)
Tonnage Status
1). June 19. 1942 15:32
34-44N, 139-59E Oil Tanker 6,750
SUNK
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2). June 19. 1942 15:36
34-43N, 139-59E Conv. Factory 6,840 SUNK
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3). June 19. 1942 22:23
34-32N, 139-55E Troop Transport 4,520 SUNK
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4). June 19. 1942 22:47
34-33N, 139-56E Standard Merchant 10,020 SUNK
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5). June 19. 1942 22:55
34-33N, 139-56E Small Freighter 900 SUNK
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6). June 20. 1942 10:13
34-33N, 139-49E Troop Transport 4,620 SUNK
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7). June 20. 1942 11:58
34-36N, 139-51E Supply Ship 2,150 SUNK
Total: 35,800
Raw / 11,921 Adjusted
Damage Sustained:
NONE
Aircraft Shot Down:
NONE
Commanders
Comments:
Sunday June 14
1942, 10:22
Arrived at Northern
Japan. Due to a storm that took us by surprise a couple of days ago, we've got
off course and arrived in
NJ-4, far north of our assigned patrol area NJ-1. The stormed also caused
severe problems with our
radio equipment. Our CTM and radioman have worked with the radio for several
days now, but the progress so far have only resulted in small puffs of smoke
every time we try to turn that darned thing on. I've ordered them to continue
working on it until it works again. Luckily we have enough spare-parts to fix
it I believe. We head south for NJ-1 and dive to 160 ft to travel submerged
during daytime. The sea is calm and the weather is clear now. The storm
disappeared as quickly as it came.
Monday June 15
1942, 03:21
We've just entered NJ-3
and 3 sampans are sighted. The sun will be up in about 40 minutes, so I order a
dive to 160 ft. to avoid detection by the sampans. I will try to remain
undetected until we arrive at our designated patrol area.
Tuesday June
16 1942, 17:16
Arrived at our given
patrol area. From now on I will aggressively seek out and destroy enemy
shipping.
Tuesday June
16 1942, 19:52
On surface again to
recharge batteries and get some fresh air. We are in the Merchant routes
towards Tokyo heading 238' at 2/3 speed. Weather is clear and the sea is calm,
too bad I didn't bring my fishing rod.
Wednesday June
17 1942, 04:58
Nothing to report during
the night, except that the weather got worse. The wind increased so the sea is
now moderate and it is partly cloudy. We're diving to continue our patrol
submerged.
Wednesday June
17 1942, 11:04
Sonar reports low-speed
screws bearing 306'. Orders periscope depth to investigate. Nothing to see
through the periscope.
Order a course change to 247' to intercept contact.
Wednesday June
17 1942, 11:14
Four ships sighted. 1 Oil
Tanker, 1 Small Freighter and two escorts. The escorts are a YUGUMO and a
FUBUKI class destroyer. The convoy is 13,500 yds away, heading 207' at 14 kts.
Our main target is the tanker.
I decide to end the chase
since the tanker will not come closer to us than 5,000 yds, and that is too far
away to waste a torpedo on one lucky shot. The radio is still malfunctioning so
we're unable to send a contact report. The technicians are still working hard
on the problem. I order a dive to 160 ft. and continue normal patrol.
Wednesday June
17 1942, 19:20
On surface again. No
changes in weather conditions since this morning. Continue patrol at 2/3 speed
while charging batteries.
Thursday June
18 1942, 00:29
Sails spotted on the
horizon. It's four Sampans at 3,000 yds. The sea has changed to heavy and it is
a pitch-black night. I don't want to waste gun shells on those Sampans, and I
guess they will never see or hear us in this weather so we just ignore them for
now.
Thursday June
18 1942, 00:47
The Sampans were sailing
towards us. They are now about 1,000 yds away. Maybe they detected us after
all? I'm not taking any chances, so I order two men to ready the deck gun. I
give them the order to sink the Sampans as soon as they are within range. A few
minutes and 12 shells later the four Sampans are sinking to the bottom. We see
no signs of survivors. It may be because of the strong wind that we do not hear
anything or it may be because they simply do not want to be picked up by the
guys that just now tried to kill them.
Thursday June
18 1942, 05:25
I order a dive to 160 ft.
to continue patrolling submerged during the day.
Thursday June
18 1942, 16:26
Sonar reports low-speed
screws bearing 016' relative. Order periscope depth to investigate.
It's a small convoy of 2
Troop ships, 1 Large Freighter and 1
Supply ship with 3 escorts, 1 FUBUKI and 1 YUGUMO class destroyer and 1
unidentified escort. The distance to the transports were 6,000 yds and
increasing. The convoy had a speed of 3 kts. The Destroyers are pinging now, so
we try to stay undetected and continue our patrol. Any attack now would result
in depleted batteries leaving us unable to escape depth charging from the
escorts.
Thursday June
18 1942, 16:54
Detected by escorts! We
begin evasive maneuvers.
Thursday June 18 1942,
18:38
We've escaped the
escorts. About 30 trashcans were thrown at us, but they caused no damage
(though our 'chef', as he prefers to be addressed, is complaining about some
squished oranges and a rather large dent on his favorite frying pan).
Thursday June
18 1942, 19:11
On surface again to
recharge batteries, get some fresh air and throw out the ruined oranges. The
sea is still heavy and it is mostly cloudy. It seems the weather will be pretty
bad the next couple of days.
Friday June 19
1942, 10:10
Continue patrol
submerged. Stayed a bit longer on the surface today since we had some minor
problems with the electric motors this morning. Chief Engineer Harris fixed the
problem after a couple of hours. He reported that he fixed a minor shortcut in
Electric Motor 1.
Friday June 19
1942, 14:40
Sonar reports low-speed
screws bearing 058'. Ascending to periscope depth to take a closer look. As far
as I can see it is 1 Tanker, 1 Converted Factory ship and 1 Small Freighter at
9,000 yds sailing at a speed of 4 kts. I also spotted an aircraft circling
around the convoy, dropping bombs here and there. Besides that there were no
escorts. Descending to 160 ft. again and ordered standard speed to intercept.
The Tanker is my primary target, the Factory ship secondary.
Friday June 19
1942, 15:28
No signs of the airplane
on the radar. Going to periscope depth to take a shot at the Tanker and the
Factory ship. The distance to the Factory ship is now 1,500 yds, and the Tanker
is about 1,900 yds away. My first torpedo will head for the Factory ship and
the next for the Tanker. The Tanker went down after one hit. The torpedo depth
was set to 18 ft. The Factory ship wouldn't sink before 3 torpedo’s hit her in
the side. Torpedo depth was set to 25 ft. for the Factory ship. The first
torpedo detonated prematurely, the second was a hit. The third (fired at the
Tanker) was a hit and sunk the Tanker. The fourth was a dud, fifth hit, sixth
dud, seventh dud, eight a hit (and finally sank the Factory ship). Used eight
torpedo’s to sink a total of 13,590 (4,526) tons. The crew sweared they set the
correct depth and everything on each one of them, and I do believe them. I
wouldn't surface to use the deck gun since both ships were armed and the
airplane could return any minute. The Small Freighter got away, but we're
satisfied with today's catch anyway. As the sinking of those two ships wasn't
enough the guys have finally managed to fix our radio. Our first radio message
(that didn't include loud noise and smoke puffs that is) was this contact
report and the results of our attack.
Friday June 19
1942, 16:01
A distant explosion could
be heard. Probably the plane spotted earlier that has returned. Two more
distant explosions could be heard 30 minutes later, and then two more. After
that it was quiet.
Friday June 19
1942, 19:30
On the surface again. The
sea is still heavy and it is mostly cloudy.
Friday June 19
1942, 22:07
Convoy spotted at 3,700
yds heading 327' true at 4.6 kts. I order a course change to 090' true to
intercept. This convoy consist of 1 Large Freighter, 1 Standard Merchant, 1
Troop Transport and a Small Freighter, sailing in a column formation. I
selected the Troop Transport as my primary target. It's now 2,230 yds away.
Diving to periscope depth. No escorts in sight, this is good.
Friday June 19
1942, 22:23
Fired torpedo at Troop
Transport. The torpedo depth is set to 11 ft. That torpedo sunk her. Now
concentrating on the Standard Merchant, which is now 780 yds from us. Fired a
torpedo at 780 yds with torpedo depth set to 21 ft and another one at 600 yds.
The first torpedo is a hit, but the second prematured. Turning around to get
some distance from her. A small fire can be seen on her deck by now A few
minutes later we fire a torpedo at the Large Freighter since the Merchant is
too close. This torpedo was fired with a depth setting at 21 ft and runs way
too deep. The next one is set to 8 ft but it still run too deep. The last
torpedo we fired at the Large Freighter was fired at 1,800 yds, depth set to 8
ft. That torpedo prematured. She's running away from us now at about 3 kts.
Fired tube 8 at the Standard Merchant at 1,000 yds with torpedo depth at 21 ft.
As expected the torpedo was a dud. Now the Small Freighter is running at 4.5
kts away from us. It is already 1,600 yds out. I give orders to surface to
finish off the Standard Merchant with our deck gun. It is a dark night with no
stars so I think it is safe to surface for a short period of time. On surface I
order GM Treepwood to man the deck gun. 22 shells were fired at the Standard
Merchant before she sank. The shooting by GM Treepwood was mediocre, even considered the difficult
weather conditions. The Large Freighter is now out of sight, so I decided to
chase after the Small Freighter, which is still in sight, to get a good position
to fire a torpedo at her. Since we were already on the surface I manned the
deck gun myself and started to fire at the Freighter to slow her down. By
manning the deck gun myself I wanted to demonstrate for my GM's how to properly
use the deck gun. The distance to the Small Freighter is now 1,800 yds. After
34 shells (a few of them missed) a heavy explosion could be heard and seen
amidships on the Small Freighter. I must have hit the boiler or something and
now she's sinking fast. No survivors could be seen in the sea. They must have
gone down with her. We sent a contact report with the results for the night
over the radio and continue patrol.
Saturday June
20 1942, 05:59
Going down to 160 ft to
continue patrolling submerged. No changes in weather conditions.
Saturday June
20 1942, 09:21
Sonar reports low-speed
screws bearing 167' relative. Going to periscope depth to check it out. A quick
look around with the periscope revealed 1 Troop Transport and 2 unknowns with 3
escorts. One of the escorts is a FUBUKI class destroyer. They're heading straight
ahead for us. All we have to do is to wait. No planes detected by the radar
either, so everything looks good so far.
Saturday June
20 1942, 09:39
Diving to 160 ft with no
motors running. The convoy is 5,000 yds away with the closest escort about 3,500
yds out. We're just waiting for the convoy to close in.
Saturday June
20 1942, 10:02
Checked the convoy
through the periscope again. The convoy consisted of 2 Small Freighters and 1
Troop Transport. The escorts consist of 2 FUBUKI's and 1 SHIRATSUYU. The Troop
Transport will be my primary target and is now 2,000 yds from us. I'll fire the
two remaining aft torpedoes and go deep. The closest FUBUKI is only 560 yds
from our periscope, and they have not spotted us yet. Not a sound is made by
the crew, they just listen for changes in the escorts speed or maneuvers.
Saturday June
20 1942, 10:16
The torpedo depth is set
to 11 ft and the crew prepares for attack. Fired first torpedo at 1,060 yds to
target. Torpedo number two is fired at 1,038 yds. The first torpedo broke the
Troop Transport's keel and the second finished her off for good. I ordered a
dive to 350 ft at 2/3 speed. I'll try to sneak away from the escorts.
Saturday June
20 1942, 10:58
We escaped the escorts.
They didn't even throw some cans randomly in the sea as they usually do. The
two remaining Small Freighters and the escorts headed NNW at 7.7 kts. We're
diving to 160 ft to continue patrol. We'll send a contact report at first
opportunity.
Saturday June
20 1942, 11:40
Sonar report low-speed screws
bearing 326' relative. Going to periscope depth to investigate. Maybe it is the
same convoy returning again? Guess I was wrong. This is a lone Supply ship
heading 082' true at 7 kts. No escorts as far as I can see (or the sonar man
can hear). Changing course and speed to intercept. Going to radar depth to see
if any planes are around. No planes detected on radar.
Saturday June
20 1942, 11:56
Torpedo depth set to 9
ft. Fired one torpedo at the Supply ship at 1,452 yds. The torpedo hit her
perfectly aft of amidships. After a violent explosion she starts to sink
rapidly. Two or three survivors
got on a small raft. I
guess they'll soon be found by patrolling aircrafts in the area. We better
leave the area as soon as possible. Continues patrol at 160 ft and 1/3 speed.
Saturday June
20 1942, 18:15
Sonar reports contacts at
168' relative. Going to periscope depth to check out further. So far sonar
detects two slow and one hi-speed screw contacts. All of them behind us. It is
a small CL group with 2 CL’s and 1 DD at 4,630 yds at 14.3 kts heading 132'
true. Turning around to intercept at standard speed. It is two KUMA class Light
Cruisers. The Destroyer is of a KAGERO class. Fire two torpedo’s at the first
KUMA at 1,760 yds and three torpedo’s at the second at 1,680 yds. All torpedo’s
are set with 9 ft depth. Both torpedo’s fired at the first KUMA prematured. Of
the three torpedo’s fired at the other KUMA, two were duds and one missed/ran
too deep. All we achieved with this attack was to wake up the guys on the
Destroyer. Just to act busy they throw two trashcans overboard immediately and
start pinging like crazy. We dive to 350 ft at 1/3 speed. After a minute or so
the Destroyer found us with his sonar. That resulted in three more trashcans
sent our way. All of them exploding aft of us a good distance away. With no
more torpedo’s on board, now is a good time to sneak away from this bugger and
head home.
Saturday June
20 1942, 20:18
On the surface again. The
Destroyer made a few more runs at us before we escaped. He wasted a total of 10
depth charges trying to sink us. None of them was even close to us. Our new
course is 065' true. We're heading home. This has been a very busy day. Sending
a contact report hoping others will be able to sink that CL group.
The next two days we
encounter two more small convoys, both with escorts so we're unable to attack
with just the deck gun. All we can do is to send as good contact reports as
possible so others may attack them later. Besides those convoys nothing special to report. At Monday June 22, 22:04 we leave
our patrol area in Northern Japan, arriving Pearl Harbor early July 4.
LCDR Ronny Gundersen
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