Loss
Gudgeon sailed for her 12th war patrol on 4 April 1944. The submarine stopped off for fuel at Johnston Island on 7 April, and was never seen or heard from again. On 7 June 1944, Gudgeon was officially declared overdue and presumed lost. Uboat.net claims Gudgeon was sunk 18 April 1944 at a known location by the Japanese southeast of Iwo Jima. Some sources say the submarine was more likely to have sunk by attack near Maug Islands.
For more detailed and original information about Gudgeon's likely sinking on 18 April 1944, see Find 'Em Chase 'Em Sink 'Em: The Mysterious Loss of the WW II Submarine USS Gudgeon and other "Ostlund" references below.
During her three-year career, Gudgeon scored 14 confirmed kills of a total of well over 71,372 tons sunk, placing her 15th on the honor roll of American submarines.
For her first seven war patrols Gudgeon received the Presidential Unit Citation. She earned 11 battle stars for World War II service.
Read more about this topic: USS Gudgeon (SS-211)
Famous quotes containing the word loss:
“One who shows signs of mental aberration is, inevitably, perhaps, but cruelly, shut off from familiar, thoughtless intercourse, partly excommunicated; his isolation is unwittingly proclaimed to him on every countenance by curiosity, indifference, aversion, or pity, and in so far as he is human enough to need free and equal communication and feel the lack of it, he suffers pain and loss of a kind and degree which others can only faintly imagine, and for the most part ignore.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“The traditional American husband and father had the responsibilities—and the privileges—of playing the role of primary provider. Sharing that role is not easy. To yield exclusive access to the role is to surrender some of the potential for fulfilling the hero fantasy—a fantasy that appeals to us all. The loss is far from trivial.”
—Faye J. Crosby (20th century)
“This loss of interest, hair, and enterprise ...”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)