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Digital Collection of WWII Submarine War Patrol Reports Donated to Navy Department Library

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Sub Patrol Reports

RADM William J. Holland, USN (Ret.) (at right) presents a digital copy of WWII Submarine War Patrol Reports to RDML Jay DeLoach, USN (Ret.), Director of Naval History.

On 3 April 2012, RADM William J. Holland, USN (Ret.), Vice President of the Naval Historical Foundation, presented a digital copy of hundreds of World War II Submarine War Patrol Reports to the Navy Department Library on behalf of retired EMC(SS) John Clear, USN. Accepting the donation was RDML Jay DeLoach, USN (Ret.), Director of Naval History. Over the past few years, thousands of pages of these reports, stored on approximately 250 microfilm rolls, were painstakingly digitized by Chief Clear and his team to create this comprehensive electronic archive.

Chief Clear had placed copies of this 5 DVD set in a number of Navy museums and repositories. With Admiral Holland’s help, a set of the DVD’s was acquired for the Navy Department Library, so that Washington, D.C. area researchers would have a convenient location at which to review these compelling reports.

To give you a taste of what is contained in these reports here is one submitted by USS Capitaine (SS 336), which you can download here:

USS Capitaine Patrol Report

The report on the sub’s 1945 war patrol in the Pacific features a number of interesting actions towards the end of June 1945. There are several accounts of surface engagements, including one where Capitaine “closed and sank target with 5 inch. Identified as an SCS-1 subchaser.” The report contains a wide variety of information, from ship contacts, fire control and torpedo data, to health and habitability summaries. Below you’ll find a particularly interesting page of the report, from 30 June 1945.

The patrol reports are also available online through the Historic Naval Ships Association, for those who prefer to download the files. Please be aware that many of the files are lengthy, and contain hundreds of pages.

USS Capitaine - 30 Jun 1945

USS Capitaine War Patrol Report - 30 Jun 1945

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7 Comments

  1. r clear

    A REAL SALUTE
    It is my contention that the hardest thing a soldier can do in his or her military career is the slow salute.
    Very few do it so very few know the pain of it. It is simply standing in front of the widow of a veteran at his or her funeral and while crying their eyes out at the loss of her loved one, it is doing a slow, long drawn-out salute in face before you present the folded American flag.
    And while you do it; battle with your fellow soldiers seems better than being alone with him or her, because at that moment, you are alone and naked, ripe for taking.
    No matter how slow you think you’re doing it, the slow salute is still going too fast. Feel no sympathy, don’t see what’s right in front of you, do your job and forget everything else as if it doesn’t exist. And don’t cry. Forget that, you’re a soldier. Don’t feel pain or emotion. You’ve been trained to avoid that nonsense. But every time you do it, a part of you dies with both of them.
    Yes, you are human son, accept it.
    You do feel emotion even as a soldier, you don’t walk away from that without some emotion. Presenting that folded American flag to a grieving and crying spouse is just one of the many experiences which the soldier is tasked with, an experience that most civilians simply could not properly handle.
    And yet I see on TV veterans who come home without limbs and I wonder how they are so positive. I’m stunned at their resilience and then I remember the grieving widows I stood in front of in uniform. American soldiers exist to keep you free in America, enjoying all the Constitution gives you as a protected citizen.
    Give a real salute to a veteran and mean it, he or she earned it.
    R. Clear, 50% VA Disabled Vet USAF SGT, MBA

  2. David Berry

    I would like to obtain copies of the USS Silversides, uss Wahoo, Uss Tang and Sea wolf, a others in the future. Would be able to help me in this matter? Sincerely Sgt David Berry Ret. [email protected] home address 3283 North Second St Weidman Mi 48893

  3. Thomas E. Badham

    I’m Thomas Badham, editor of the Jefferson County Historical Association’s newsletter, The Jefferson Journal. I am interested in Cmdr. William B. Parham, captain of the US Submarine USS Galiban. Cmdr. Parham was from Birmingham, Alabama. During the Galiban’s fifth war patrol in 1944, Parham “bent” orders and picked up a US flyer who ditched. Then the Galiban was attacked by a US destroyer which though there were no US subs in the area. I found the story out when I watched a “Silent Service” TV show (1950’s) on Utube. I think the incident would make a great article for the newsletter, but I’ve not found any further detailed info on the Galiban or Parham’s history.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Tom Badham

  5. Dick Brown

    I am researching the 28 Manitowoc boats.
    I understand the war patrol reports have been digitized. Are they accessible on line for research purposes?
    I am a former submariner and frequent contributor to NSL’s The Submarine Review.

    • Nelson Kelly

      Dear Mr. Brown,
      Did you find the information? My dad was on the Guitarro, SS363, for all five patrols. At one point I read some of the patrol reports by Cmdr. Haskins, but I had to go page at a time. Thanks, Nelson

  6. Bob Powers

    My father-in-law, Edwin W. Lundgren, was a gunner’s mate on the USS Capitaine during WW II. His close and lifetime friend Leonard Heckendorf was on the same sub. The Lundgren and Heckendorf kids grew up together as friends, and are still friends in the 21st century!

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