But, the Sealion's 3rd patrol was something else.
After the Japanese battleship group had been detected, the submarine's commander, Eli Reich ordered his crew to battle stations, and one submariner set up a film recorder that a CBS war correspondent had left aboard and placed a microphone up near the ship's intercom speaker in the conning tower.
The audio of the event offers rare insight into what a World War II submarine attack sounded like.
Believing the lead and rear ships of the column were cruisers and the second and third vessels were battleships, , the Sealion decided to attack the battleships. Two of the three destroyers were also near the middle of the group, increasing the likelihood that if a torpedo missed the battleships, it might strike one of them.
At 2:56 a.m., the Sealion fired six torpedoes from its forward torpedo tubes at the first target. Three minutes later, it fired three more torpedoes from its aft torpedoes at the second target.
The Sealion's crew reported three of the first torpedoes hitting the first target, which turned out to be the Japanese battleship Kongo. One sailor can be heard to say "three hits to the Japanese 'B' That will put them in drydock at least."
The second salvo of torpedoes missed the Battleship Nagato, but one of them struck the destroyer Urakaze, which then exploded and sank with all hands. A Sealion crew member can be heard heard shouting "Woo" in celebration.
--GreGen
No comments:
Post a Comment