Daily Event for February 17

February 17, 1943 in the waters southwest of Japan the USS Sawfish SS-276 was on her first war patrol. Under the command of Eugene Sands the patrol, which began from Pearl Harbor on Jan. 31, would score five ships but, two  would be Russian. The Ilmen and the Kola were both sailing either unmarked or poorly marked. When the commander brought the boat to periscope depth he could see no Soviet markings. Both ships were sunk and the survivors were picked up by another Soviet ship. I have no casualty figures.
© 2006 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com


USS Sawfish SS-276