USS Toro (SS-422) - Second War Patrol

Second War Patrol

Following refit by submarine tender Fulton (AS-11), she got underway from Guam on 14 July; paused briefly at Saipan for fuel, water, and the replacement of her torpedoes with Mark 18s; and arrived in her patrol area on 24 July. Late in the day, she was drawn far out of her assigned area in a fruitless search for a downed flier. The departure of Toro’s air cover at 1800 left her in a most dangerous situation due to the expected passage of an American task force on an antishipping sweep. Unable to clear the area in time, Toro made radar contact with the task force at 2055. Despite attempts to establish her identity, Toro was soon the target of two obviously unfriendly American ships which bore down on the submarine at a speed of 22 knots (41 km/h) and bracketed her with gunfire at a distance of 7,400 yards (6,800 m). Toro attempted to establish her identity using a flare, smoke bombs, and sonar, but the ships were still firing when she passed 150 feet (46 m). The beleaguered submarine continued down to 400 feet (120 m) and rigged for depth charges. The surface vessels, thinking that they had sunk a Japanese picket boat, remained in the area for half an hour searching for survivors without discovering that their target had been a friendly submarine. An hour after midnight, Toro surfaced and set her course back to her patrol area.

That morning, she returned to her lifeguard station and, in the afternoon, rescued three British aviators afloat on a raft. She maintained her station for carrier strikes against Japan on 28 July and, shortly after noon on 30 July, received a distress message from an United States Army Air Corps P-51 Mustang plane. After circling his plane over the submarine the pilot parachuted from the crippled aircraft at an altitude of only 800 feet (240 m). Within seven minutes, Toro’s crew brought the aviator on board.

She transferred the rescued British fliers to submarine Gabilan (SS-252) on 1 August. On 5 August, while patrolling her lifeguard area for planes returning from bomber raids on the Japanese islands, Toro sighted dense black smoke on the horizon and, receiving reports of a downed pilot in the area, put on all possible speed to investigate the source of the smoke. Less than 20 minutes later, she picked up an Army aviator afloat in his lifeboat impressively marked by a smoke display. Minutes later, a second Army aviator jumped from his plane nearby, and again Toro had a flier on board within seven minutes of the time his parachute opened.