USS Sculpin (SS-191)
On 16 November, she
arrived on station and made radar contact with a large, high-speed convoy on
the night of the 18th. Making a fast end
run on the surface to attack on the morning of the 19th, she was in firing
position but was forced to dive when the convoy and its escorts zagged toward
her. When the Japanese task force
changed course, SCULPIN surfaced to make another run, but was discovered by a
rear guard destroyer only 600 yards away.
Crash diving, the submarine escaped the first salvo of depth charges. A second string of "ash cans"
knocked out her depth gauge and caused other minor damage. She evaded the destroyer in a rain squall and
attempted to come to periscope depth.
The damaged depth gauge stuck at 125 feet, so the submarine broached and
was again detected. She immediately
submerged and the destroyer attacked with a pattern of 18 depth charges. There was considerable damage, including
temporary loss of depth control. As a
result, SCULPIN ran beyond safe depth so that many leaks developed in the
hull. So much water entered that the
submarine was forced to run at high speed to maintain depth. This made tracking easy for the Japanese
sonar. A second depth charge attack
knocked out SCULPIN's sonar, leaving her blind. The
submarine's commanding officer, Comdr. Fred Connaway, decided to surface and
give the crew of the doomed vessel a chance for survival. With her decks still awash, SCULPIN's gunners
manned the deck guns but were no match for the destroyer's main battery. A shell hit the conning tower and killed the
bridge watch team, including Comdr. Connaway, and flying fragments killed the
gun crew. The senior ship's officer
surviving ordered the submarine to be scuttled.
Before he opened the vents, he informed Capt. Cromwell. The captain possessed vital information
concerning the forthcoming assault on the