First War Patrol
Following shakedown off the California coast, Skate sailed to Pearl Harbor and on 25 September 1943, headed toward Wake Island and her first war patrol during which she performed lifeguard duty for the carriers during airstrikes against that Japanese-held island. At dawn on 6 October, the submarine was strafed by enemy aircraft, mortally wounding one of her officers as he attempted to assist wounded airmen from a liferaft. The next day, Skate closed to within 5,000 yards (4,600 m) of the beach, in the face of heavy enemy bombardment, to rescue two downed aviators. While searching for a third, she was attacked by a Japanese dive-bomber, and was forced to dive to escape. After a short return to Midway Island, Skate returned to Wake Island and rescued four additional airmen before terminating her first patrol at Midway on 29 October.
Read more about this topic: USS Skate (SS-305)
Famous quotes containing the word war:
“... it is a commonplace that men like war. For peace, in our society, with the feeling we have then that it is feeble-minded to strive except for one’s own private profit, is a lonely thing and a hazardous business. Over and over men have proved that they prefer the hazards of war with all its suffering. It has its compensations.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)