After firing off its torpedoes, the Japanese escorts came after the Sealion. but they searched east and the Sealion had gone west. By 3:10, the Sealion had reloaded her torpedoes and began tracking the Japanese ships again. The thought on board was that they had just dented the battleship's armor belt.
By now, the enemy formation was zigzagging and the sea and wind had increased. They split into two groups and the Sealion began tracking the slower of the two which consisted of the Kongo, Isokaze and Hamakaze.
At 5:24, a huge explosion lit the area and the battleship Kongo disappeared.
It was customary for American submarines to write a name on then head of each torpedo as it was loaded into the tube. They usually bore the names of the torpedo crews' wives or girl friends. Some would carry the name of a factory worker who had sold the most war bonds.
That night, however, four of the Sealions fish (torpedoes) carried the names Foster, O'Connell, Paul and Ogilvie. These were four men who had been killed on the first Sealion three years earlier. (I will do posts about that submarine soon.)
--GreGen
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