USS S-32 (SS-137) - Sixth War Patrol

Sixth War Patrol

S-32 departed Unalaska on her sixth war patrol on 25 February. En route to her assigned station off Attu, she encountered very rough seas, strong winds, rain, mist, and fog. On 26 February, rolling was measured as much as 65 degrees to starboard.

Progress west was slow, but, on 1 March, she set a course toward Holtz Bay to check for enemy shipping. The next day, heavy mist and fog hindered her reconnaissance of Stellar Cove; and she turned to the coastal shipping lanes to intercept enemy traffic between Cape Wrangell and Holtz Bay. The entrances to the latter, to Chichagof Harbor, and to Sarana Bay, however were her primary hunting grounds. On the night of 9 March, off Holtz Bay, she attacked and damaged an enemy destroyer, then underwent a brief depth charging. Leaks caused by the depth charging were minimized, and S-32 continued her patrol.

Four nights later, on 13 March, seventeen miles (27 km) north of Holtz Bay, she attacked an enemy submarine which was lying to on the surface with her engines smoking. At 20:59, the S-boat launched two torpedoes at ten-second intervals at the enemy. At 21:00, she went deep, and as she passed 50 feet (15 m), one torpedo exploded. At 21:20, S-32 came to periscope depth, but the fog had closed in. The target was no longer visible.

On the afternoon of 15 March, a second submarine was sighted. The weather, for the first time, was "perfect for a periscope approach." At 17:27, S-32 fired a three-torpedo spread, estimated range 2,500 yards (2,300 m); track angle favorable. About two and a half minutes later, a muffled explosion was heard in the torpedo room. No explosion was heard by the control party. The S-boat went to periscope depth. Smoke was pouring skyward from the enemy's conning tower. A photograph was taken of the scene as the damaged target headed for the nearest beach. At 17:36, however, the enemy disappeared from view. Sound reported that the enemy's screws had stopped.

S-32 departed the Attu area early on the morning of 17 March. On 20 March, she moored at Dutch Harbor and, nine days later, she again sailed west. En route to Attu, cold weather caused icing on the superstructure, but the seas remained fairly calm and the sun was occasionally visible. On 3 April, however, as she approached Attu, more normal Aleutian weather closed in. From then to 16 April, snow and rain storms were almost continuous, seas were rough, winds were strong, and periods of sunlight were limited. At 01:57 on 10 April, while patrolling on a north-south line out of Holtz Bay, S-32 picked up a target on radar, some 7,000 yards (6,400 m) away. Ten minutes later, a second smaller ship was detected ahead of the first target. Five minutes after the appearance of the second ship on the screen, the first ship was sighted, range about 2,000 yards (1,800 m). S-32 launched four torpedoes. Two very loud explosions were heard and were followed by distant rumblings. At 0219, at a range of just over 3,500 yards (3,200 m), all traces of the ships disappeared from the screen.