Dudley Walker Morton

Dudley Mush Morton

USS Wahoo (SS-238)

Dudley Walker Morton (born July 17, 1907 in Owensboro , Kentucky , † October 11, 1943 in La Pérouse Street ) was an American submarine commander in World War II .

Dudley Mush Morten graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1930 . Prior to World War II, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga , the heavy cruiser USS Chicago , the submarine tender USS Canopus , the destroyer USS Fairfax, and the submarines USS R-5 and USS S-37 . He was promoted to commander on October 15, 1942 and received his first command on December 13 of the same year with the submarine USS Wahoo , a Gato- class submarine .

War missions

After the boat left Brisbane on January 16, 1943 , it achieved its first success on January 24 with the torpedoing of the Japanese destroyer Harusame about eleven nautical miles west of Wewak ( Papua New Guinea ). The ship was badly damaged but was later repaired by the Japanese. A total of three ships with a total of 11,300 GRT were sunk and several units were damaged on this first patrol under Morton's command .

An unpunished war crime occurred on January 26, 1943 when Morton attacked a small Japanese convoy about 90 nautical miles north of Wewak when the two troop transporters Buyo Maru (5,447 GRT) and Fukuei Maru No. 2 (1,901 GRT) could sink with torpedoes . After the sinking of the two ships, Morton showed up and ordered the survivors and the lifeboats to be shot with the 10.2 cm on-board gun, the 20 mm anti-aircraft gun and small arms. Wahoo circled between the boats for over an hour, firing at the castaways. Morton was obviously not aware of any guilt and did not try to cover up the crime, but duly documented the process in the logbook. It is estimated that around 100 people were killed in the process. 1,126 people were on board the Buyo Maru , including Indian soldiers of the 16th Punjab Regiment captured by the Japanese in Singapore . Around 850 people were rescued from a Japanese ship on January 27, 1943, which is why it was possible to reconstruct the course of the sinking. According to this, around 170 to 180 people were killed by the torpedo hits, and around 100 more people were killed swimming in the water or in lifeboats during the Wahoo massacre . A total of 87 Japanese and 195 Indian prisoners of war died in the sinking of the Buyo Maru and in the subsequent act.

The first patrol was completed in Pearl Harbor , where Morton and his crew were enthusiastically received and hailed as heroes. Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood , the commander in chief of the US submarines in the Pacific , called the Wahoo a "one-boat wolf pack" (see: Wolf pack tactics ). Morton became the star of the US media and all the details of the operation, except for the massacre, were published, which was highly unusual as submarine operations were usually top secret. Morton was awarded the Navy Cross for his achievements .

The second patrol then led into the Yellow Sea , where Morton's boat arrived in mid-March 1943. Several ships with a total of 20,000 GRT were sunk here without any significant resistance. Morton's second patrol with the Wahoo ended in Midway in April . At the end of April 1943, the Wahoo was ordered to the southern Kuril Islands for the third patrol under Morton's command. The goal was an enlightened Japanese fleet association, which was missed. Alternatively, a large seaplane tender was attacked but not sunk. Other freighters were attacked and partially sunk. Failing torpedoes reduced the successes, which Morton complained against Lockwood after arriving at Pearl Habour on May 21st.

Further trips to the Yellow Sea followed with moderate success. Morton sank the Japanese troop transport Konron Maru (7,908 GRT) in the Strait of Tsushima on October 5, 1943 and the Hankow Maru (2,995 GRT) freighter near the Oga Peninsula on October 9 . This was also Morton's last success.

The Wahoo was attacked by a Japanese anti- submarine aircraft with depth charges on October 11, 1943 in La Pérouse Street and forced to dive. Subsequently, the presumed position of the submarine was repeatedly occupied with depth charges by the Japanese submarine hunters Ch-15 and Ch-43 as well as by the auxiliary minesweeper Wa-18 . Most likely, Wahoo was sunk by these attacks. An oil film from the submarine could also be observed at sea. Morton and all 79 crew members went under with Wahoo .

Morton is assigned a total of 19 sinkings with a total of 55,000 GRT.

Location of USS Wahoo

For a long time it was unclear where the legendary Mush Morton and his Wahoo had found their wet grave, until in July 2006 a Russian team of marine divers managed to locate the wreck of the Wahoo in over 60 m water depth in the La Pérouse Strait and in agreement with the Americans who declared the wreck to be a seaman's grave, left completely untouched.

How to deal with the person Dudley Walker Morton

In contrast, for example, to the commander of the German submarine U 852 , Heinz-Wilhelm Eck , who was sentenced to death and executed by a British court as a war criminal after the war for the shooting of castaways after the sinking of the Greek freighter Peleus , the The murder of the Japanese and Indian castaways never gives rise to trial or official criticism of Dudley Morton. Although Morton was not prosecuted for his actions in the sinking of the Buyo Maru , other US submarine aces, such as the later Rear Admiral Richard O'Kane , assumed that this crime would award Mortons the Medal of Honor prevented, as the higher areas of responsibility were well aware of the incident.

Maintenance of tradition

The destroyer USS Morton of the Forrest Sherman class , which was from 1959 to 1982 in the fleet service, was named after him.

literature

• Peter Padfield: The Submarine War. 1939-1945 (= Ullstein 24766). Ullstein, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-548-24766-0 .
• Léonce Peillard : History of the Submarine War. 1939-1945 (= Heyne books 01, Heyne general series. No. 5060). 16th edition. Wilhelm Heyne, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-453-00381-0 .

Web links

• USS Wahoo - On Eternal Patrol
• Pictures of the wreck of the Wahoo
• SS-238, USS Wahoo

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joel Ira Holwitt: "Execute Against Japan". The US Decision to Conduct Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (= Williams-Ford Texas A & M University Military History Series. No. 121). Texas University Press, College Station TX 2009, ISBN 978-1-60344-083-7 , p. 171.
2. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/kriegsrecht/schiffbruechige.htm#430126