USS Tang (SS-306) - Fourth War Patrol

Fourth War Patrol

Her fourth war patrol was conducted from 31 July-3 September in Japanese home waters off the coast of Honshū. On 10 August, she fired a spread of three torpedoes at a tanker near the beach of Omaezaki with no hits. The next day, after locating two freighters and two escorts, she launched three torpedoes at the larger freighter and two at the other. The larger freighter {"Roko Maru"} disintegrated apparently from a torpedo which exploded in her boilers. As the submarine went deep, her crew heard the fourth and fifth torpedoes hit the second ship. After a jarring depth charge attack which lasted 38 minutes, Tang returned to periscope depth. Only the two escorts were in sight, and one of them was picking up survivors.

On 14 August, Tang attacked a patrol yacht with her deck gun and reduced the Japanese ship's deck house to a shambles with eight hits. Eight days later, she sank a 225 ft (69 m) patrol boat {"No.2 Nansatsu Maru"}. On 23 August, the submarine closed in on a large ship; Japanese in white uniforms could be seen lining its superstructure and the bridge. She fired three torpedoes, and two hits caused the 8,135 long tons (8,266 t) transport Tsukushi Maru to sink. Two days later, Tang attacked a tanker and an escort with her last three torpedoes — the tanker {"No.8 Nanko Maru"} sank — and returned to Pearl Harbor.