USS Tautog (SS-199) - Fifth Patrol

Fifth Patrol

Her fifth war patrol, from 15 December 1942 to 30 January 1943, took Tautog (now in the hands of William B. "Barney" Sieglaff, on his first war patrol) to the Java Sea, near Ambon Island, Timor Island, and Celebes Island. She contacted a freighter in Ombai Strait on 24 December and tracked her until 03:06 the next morning when she fired three stern tubes. Two hits sent Banshu Alaru Number 2 to the bottom. Tautog went deep and began retiring westward; enemy patrol boats kept her down for ten hours before they withdrew.

That night, Tautog was headed for Alors Strait when she sighted a ship (thought to be a freighter) coming west, accompanied by an escort. The targets suddenly turned toward Tautog and were recognized as an antisubmarine warfare team. The submarine went deep but still received a severe pounding. On 5 January 1943, Tautog sighted a sail off her port bow and promptly closed the ship. It turned out to be a native craft with a dozen Muslim sailors, four women, several babies, some chickens, and a goat on board. After he had examined the ship's papers, Tautog's commanding officer allowed the vessel to resume its voyage. On 9 January at 08:38, Tautog (relying on ) sighted a Natori-class cruiser off Ambon Island, at a range of about 3,000 yards (2,700 m). Three minutes later, the submarine fired her first torpedo. At 09:43, her crew heard a loud explosion, and sonar reported the cruiser's screws had stopped. In the next few minutes, as the cruiser got underway at reduced speed, Tautog scored two more hits, while the cruiser opened fire on her periscope with 5 in (127 mm) guns, preventing her from tracking the target for another attack; the cruiser limped into Ambon.

Later in the patrol, in the Salajar Strait, Tautog spotted a second cruiser (again thanks to ), and launched four torpedoes in heavy seas; all missed. She sighted a freighter on 22 January in the Banda Sea, and three of the submarine's torpedoes sent her to the bottom. The victim was later identified as Hasshu Maru, a former Dutch passenger-cargo ship which had been taken over by the Japanese. Tautog then headed for Fremantle, where she was greeted warmly for her "extreme aggressiveness." She was credited with two ships sunk for 6,900 tons; postwar, this was limited to two of 2,900.