During Battle of the Philippine Sea, Submarines Scored Big

The first day of "The Battle of the Philippine Sea," June 19, 1944, is also remembered as the day of the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot," a day that cost the Japanese more than 300 aircraft (See June Sea Power). While this date is well noted in naval aviation chronicles, it is also a milestone in the annals of the submarine force for entirely different reasons.

Pacific Fleet submarines alerted Fifth Fleet commander Adm. Raymond Spruance of the entry of Adm. Jisaburo Ozawa's forces into the Philippine Sea. Unfortunately, American scout planes were unable to provide follow-up enemy position reports, forcing Vice Adm. Mark A. Mitscher's Task Force 58 into a defensive struggle on June 19. While Ozawa's fleet was spared from attacks from the air, a more ominous threat lurked below.

As aircraft lifted off from Ozawa's flagship Taiho to attack Mitscher's forces off to the East, Cmdr. James W. Blanchard tracked the new 33,000-ton Japanese warship through the periscope of USS Albacore.

After Taiho completed launching the last of her aircraft just after 0900, Albacore fired a spread of six torpedoes from the carrier's starboard beam. An airborne Japanese pilot spotted one of the incoming torpedoes and performed a heroic act by crashing his aircraft ahead of the torpedo's track. Whether he stopped the torpedo is speculative. What is not is that one of Albacore's, torpedoes found its mark, slamming into the carrier's starboard side near the forward gasoline tanks.

Outwardly, the damage appeared minimal. Inside, however, a forward aircraft elevator jammed and its pit filled with water, gas and fuel oil. The huge carrier's speed dropped off to a mere knot. Meanwhile, Blanchard (a future admiral) and his crew endured a barrage of depth charges.

Nearly three hours later, another American sub skipper, Lt. Cmdr. Herman J. Kossler (another future flag officer), in the USS Cavalla spotted the carrier Shokaku, which was recovering aircraft, in the crosshairs of his periscope. From 1,000 yards away, Kossler fired six torpedoes. At least three ripped into the hull of the Pearl Harbor attack veteran. Damage control teams battled the ensuing fires, but deadly fumes spread through the ship.

As with Albacore, it was now Cavalla's turn to endure the explosions of more than 100 depth charges. Suddenly, at about 1500, Kossler heard explosions and rumblings that were not depth-charge related. A magazine on Shokaku detonated, tearing the veteran carrier apart, sending her to the ocean floor.

Meanwhile on Taiho, a damage control officer turned on blowers to dissipate explosive fumes being given off by the gasoline and fuel oil. But instead of dissipating them, he spread fumes throughout the ship. At 1532, an enormous blast lifted the armored flight deck off the cross-frames, blew out the hanger deck bulkheads, punched holes in the bottom and instantly killed everyone in the engineering spaces. Less than a quarter of the crew of 2,150 sailors could be saved. Among those rescued was Ozawa.

Because of the depth charging, the two submarines were not able to get off sighting reports until the Japanese had cleared the area. It would be late the next day when Mitscher's pilots finally found the Japanese, retreating toward a setting sun. During the remaining daylight hours, Helldiver and Dauntless dive bombers and Avenger torpedo planes savaged Ozawa's fleet, sinking the carrier Hiyo, damaging three other carriers - including the last surviving Pearl Harbor veteran, Zuikaku - and decimating the few remaining aircraft that rose in defense.

With Mitscher's pilots returning after dark to the lit flight decks of Task Force 58, the Battle of the Philippine Sea came to a close.

Sources: Samuel E. Morison, New Guinea and the Marianas: March 1944-August 1944, Vol. VIII History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (Edison N.J.: Castle Books, 2001); M. Hill Goodspeed, U.S. Navy: A Complete History (Naval Historical Foundation, 2003).

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.

Copyright Navy League of the United States Jul 2004
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