Tenth and Eleventh War Patrols
Snapper spent her tenth war patrol engaged in lifeguard duties near Truk in support of bombardment missions by the United States Army Air Forces. On 9 June, while the submarine was patrolling on the surface, an enemy plane broke quickly from a low cloud and attacked. As Snapper quickly dove, one bomb struck directly above the hatch instantly killing one crewman and injuring several others, including the commanding officer. As the submarine continued to dive, shells were heard striking her hull. Upon surfacing, it was found that her pressure hull had not been damaged, but a heavy oil slick indicated a puncture of a fuel oil ballast tank. Minor repairs were made. Two wounded enlisted men were transferred to submarine tender Bushnell (AS-15) at Majuro Atoll on 13 June, and Snapper continued her lifeguard duty until returning to Pearl Harbor on 21 July.
On 5 September, Snapper departed Pearl Harbor for her eleventh and final war patrol, conducted in the Bonin Islands area. On 1 October, the submarine encountered two enemy vessels escorted by a small patrol craft. The submarine fired her bow torpedoes at the large target then swung for a "down-the-throat" shot at the smaller vessel. Hits were scored on both vessels resulting in the sinking of the passenger-cargo ship Seian Maru, and the coastal minelayer, Ajiro. Snapper then took up lifeguard station off Iwo Jima until 18 October and terminated her eleventh patrol at Midway on 27 October, before continuing on to Pearl Harbor.
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Famous quotes containing the words tenth, eleventh and/or war:
“In his tenth July some instinct
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a giant where its mouth hung open.
He rode on the lip that buoyed him there
and buckled him under.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Eleven ladies dancing,”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 76–78)
“The peace conference must not adjourn without the establishment of some ordered system of international government, backed by power enough to give authority to its decrees. ... Unless a league something like this results at our peace conference, we shall merely drop back into armed hostility and international anarchy. The war will have been fought in vain ...”
—Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (1877–1965)