A couple of sea stories from Charlie Gipe WWII Sub Vet

Since 09-09-05

ROCKmate Jerry Bliss visits Chuck Gipe - Sea Stories!

A couple of sea stories from Charlie Gipe (WW2 ROCKmate).

1. You may have heard that ROCK took a 5-inch round through the periscope shears on its 1st war patrol and thus had to terminate the patrol for repairs. Well, there is a little more to it than just that fact...

It seems, Charlie relates, that ROCK was making a night-time surface approach on a convoy escorted by a couple of JAP DD's. The lead DD went on by oblivious of ROCK being in the vicinity. The general word about in those days was that the IJN did not have RADAR on its escorts. Well, 'taint necessarily so...

ROCK was just about lined up to let loose on the targets when the trailing DD came around from behind the convoy straight at ROCK with a bone in its teeth and started letting go with its 5-inch guns. The first shell just hit ahead of ROCK, the second just cleared the bow. ROCK decided it was time to get the heck out of there and pulled the plug. On the way down, the 3rd shell hit the shears and the 4th and 5th round were just over and behind ROCK who was going deep to evade. Charlie says they got worked over pretty good with the follow-up depth charging.

The moral...? Well, it looks a lot like the IJN did have RADAR on at least some of their escorts. They were shooting awfully straight that evening. ROCK narrowly escaped (of course) and set a course back to Pearl Harbor. In route, the Radio boys rigged an emergency antenna and let PH know of their little adventure. When they arrive, they found a whole new superstructure waiting for them on the pier. After a couple of weeks repair, there were back out to finish up that patrol.

2. On another patrol, ROCK was wolf-packed with a couple of other boats on track of another convoy. Well escorted apparently. Well, someone came up with the idea that they needed to pare down the odds a bit and take out a few of the escorts. So this plan was implemented...

Of the 3 subs in the wolf pack, one was to act as a decoy on the surface to draw an escort away from the convoy. The idea was to run on the surface and lead the escort down the path, directly in front of the other two subs submerged and waiting to ambush it as it went charging by. I guess they did something like drawing straws and apparently ROCK got the short one and was the bait to draw the escort into the trap. It must have been a hair-raising run for ROCK. Recall that these IJN DD's can out run a surfaced sub by 10kts or so and I am sure ROCK was zig-zaging a lot so as not to make an easy target for the JAP gunners. Well, apparently it worked pretty well, Charlie relates. After dispatching the first escort, they were determined to try it again. I think someone else got to be the bait this time.

Yes, it worked a second time and even a third. By now the convoy was getting a bit naked of escorts and they all split up and ran off in every direction.

(Did I get it right, Charlie?)

Jerry Bliss
San Jose, CA

-- "k6iii@juno.com" <k6iii@juno.com> wrote:

ROCKmates,
I am visiting in Medford, OR where I have enjoyed a visit with ww2 ROCKmate Charles Gipe. We had lunch together and he told me a lot of his experiences on taking ROCK on its first 5 war patrols. Many things not in the 'smooth log' that were not generally known.

GOD BLESS THESE WW2 HEROES!
Jerry Bliss