American Submarine Quiz

This really shouldn’t be too tough. Don’t send the answers here; this is just an exercise to improve your knowledge of American submarines. The answers will be in KTB #182. Do you know:

Who was known as the Galloping Ghost of the Japanese coast?
Who was known as the Galloping Ghost of the China coast?

MATT THELEN (6642-2004) asks this question:

“I have a Kriegsmarine jacket that has a stamp on the inside above the breast pocket that says S.D.C.54 and 1940. Any idea what that means? The green color has faded with wear. The lining is brown and the arm lining is brown/white pinstripe. It also has original shoulder boards maybe from an officer. Any info will help.”

We have a lot of collectors in Membership. Who can help MATT with his question? Thanks in advance.

Did you know……….
by Oblt. Ernst Schmidt

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke in U-100 sunk 39 ships for 159,130 tons and Kplt OTTO KRETSCHMER (122-+-1985) in U-99 sank 48 ships (one destroyer) for more than a quarter-million tons? Both were sunk on 17 March 1941 by British ASW within sight of each other and within minutes of each other. Schepke was lost with his boat whereas KRETSCHMER survived.

U-Boat crews who surrendered their boats after 7 May 1945 to the Allies were still taken as prisoners of war? The last group of these POWs was released from England on 10 July 1948.

EDITOR NOTE – Those who surrendered after the war was over were supposed to be called ‘Surrendered Enemy Forces’ and were not supposed to be put into POW camps – but when the winning side makes a rules change – the other side has no way to object.

of the 39,000 men who served in the U-Boats, some 32,000 did not come home? The U-Waffe suffered the highest casualty rate of any combat force in history, but they fought on without wavering.

from “Black May” of 1943 onward, nine out of ten U-Boats did not return from their very first war patrol? 90% were lost on their maiden voyage – the Allies’ radar, sonar and HuffDuff pinpointed U-Boats so accurately and the codes were broken. Add to this, the US Navy’s ONI had files on all the U-Boat Skippers with massive information, and they knew what kinds of decisions they would make under what kind of stressful situations.

Little Known Submarine (and Naval) Historical Facts

This section is for your own information – please do not send the answers here to HQ – they will be in KTB #182 next month.

336. The first USN ship to be hit by a Kamikaze was the carrier USS SANTEE during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

337. The first USN ship sunk by Kamikaze was the escort carrier USS ST. LO in the same battle.

338. Germany’s most successful submarine Skipper was OTTO KRETSCHMER (122-+-1985). He was also the most successful submarine commander of ANY navy in World War II. You HAD to know that.

339. U-570 was captured when the Skipper, Rahmlow and his crew, seasick from shoreside fun, surrendered to an RAF airplane! Once taken by surface units that arrived later, the boat was re-named HMS GRAPH. The Brits and Americans looked this boat over very carefully and learned U-Boats were capable of much deeper dives than thought, so depth charges were re-set accordingly, and caused the loss of a huge number of boats.

340. Submarines were first called diving torpedo boats and the name stuck. Today, even the really big ‘boomers’ are called boats by their crews, although not officially.

For this section in KTB #182, do you know…..

341. How much did the US Navy grown during WW II?

342. What was the name of the German aircraft carrier?

343. Name the American battleships hat decimated Admiral Nishimura’s Southern Force C in battle of Leyte Gulf.

344. Name John F Kennedy’s commanding officer who later became Richard Nixon’s Attorney General.

345. Name the co-author of the official report of the loss of PT-109, who became a U. S. Supreme Court Justice.