The U.S.S. LAGARTO, under the
command of CDR F.D. Latta,
a veteran of seven successful earlier patrols, departed 12 April, 1945
on its second patrol in the South China Sea.
LAGARTO and her crew of 86
went missing on 3 May, 1945 in the Siam Gulf
following a combined action against a convoy with another sub, the USS BAYA.
Information now available
from the Japanese indicate that a submarine sunk
that day by the Japanese Minelayer HATSUTAKA was likely to be the LAGARTO.
A request
for help!
This note from the daughter
of a crew member came in
to the AWON Guest Book on May
26, 2006:
A little less than
a year ago, the missing WWII submarine, USS LAGARTO, was found.
My Father was SM1
William T. Mabin. Since then, 54 families of the 86-member crew
have been found. We would like to continue finding more families
to inform them of this important discovery. If you know of anyone
who had a friend or family member on board the Lagarto, please contact
me. Click Here!
Here's a LAGARTO update (17
June 2006)
on the Bubbleheads Blogsite -- Click
Here!
Divers operating
from USS Salvor (ASR 52) will be diving on the recently discovered
resting place of the WWII submarine USS Lagarto (SS 371) over the
next several days. From the Navy NewsStand article:
"The rescue
and salvage ship USS Salvor (ARS 52) and divers of Mobile Diving
and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1 arrived June 11 at the site in the Gulf
of Thailand presumed to be the resting place of the WWII–era
USS Lagarto (SS 371) and its crew.
"In May 2005,
British diver Jamie MacLeod reported finding Lagarto, which was
last seen May 3, 1945. On May 8, 2006, MacLeod joined U.S. Pacific
Fleet Submarine Force Commander Rear Adm. Jeffrey Cassias and families
of crew members who served aboard Lagarto at a memorial service
in the crew’s honor hosted by the Wisconsin Maritime Museum
in Manitowoc, Wis.
"Over the next
several days the divers from Salvor and MDSU-1 will conduct diving
operations in an attempt to confirm MacLeod’s discovery, in
keeping with a longstanding Navy practice of independently verifying
such finds when possible.
"Salvor is in
the midst of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)
exercise series in Southeast Asia and with the agreement of the
Royal Thai navy – a CARAT exercise partner – was able
to incorporate the Lagarto operation into the Thailand phase."
Much more on the
USS Lagarto can be found here.
Update 2031 17 June:
It looks like they pretty much confirmed that this was the Lagarto
that was found.
posted
by Bubblehead at 9:49 PM
Sources for content on this
page -- and sites with more LAGARTO details . . .
Andrews,
H. D. CTM Anker, C. CMOMM Auchard, F. L. LTJG Bjornson, C. H. F1 Breithaupt, C. W., Jr. Y2 Britain, W. L. CRMA Brock, A. S2 Byrer, C. R. F1 Carleton, W. E. RM1 Cathey, L. F. MOMM3 Catozzi, S. G. QM3 Clouse, G. E. TM2 Cook, C. T. MOMM1 Davis, J. E., Jr. TM2 Doud, L. M. RM2 Enns, A. H. TM3 Fisher, R. L. MOMM1 Franze, J. J. S1 Frasch, O. R. MOMM1 Gerlach, J. N. F1 Grace, R. F. F2 Graves, W. QM1 Gray, D. J. EM2 Green, R. STM2 Gregorik, R. L. EM1 Gregory, J. P. S2 Halstead, G. E. RM3 Hardegree, T. MOMM1 Harrington, G. C. MOMM3 Harrington, T. J. MOMM2 Harris, J. B. S1 Harrison, J. C. MOMM3 Hinken, W. E. TM3 Honaker, W. F. EM3 Irving, L. G. LT Jefferson, H. S1 Jobe, J. CEMA Johnson, F. S1 Johnson, J. R. CEMA Jordan, W. H., Jr. S1 Keeney, A. H., Jr. LT Kimball, P. M. RT1 Kirtley, A. STM1 Kneidl, J. W. MOMM3 Latta, F. D. CDR Lee, N. B., Jr. S1 Lee, R. W. F1 Lewis, R. J. MOMM2 Lynch, L. J. F1 Mabin, W. T. SM1 Marriot, J. M., Jr. S1 McDonald, J. H. SC2 McGee, J. M. TM2 Mendenhall, W. H. LT Moore, W. L. F1 Moss, W. G. S1 O'Hara, L. R. RT2 Ortega, H. E. F1 Paper, D. M. S1 Pash, J. S. LTJG Patterson, R. R. RM3 Perry, R. C. EM3 Peterson, J. W. TM3 Peterson, R. F. QM3 Phelps, W. B. LTJG Plushnik, H. R. F1 Price, G. A. CMOMMA Reeves, M. D. EM2 Reichert, R. E. F1 Robinson, E. T. BM1 Root, J. H. MOMM1 Ruble, R. T. LT Rutledge, W. J. S1 Shackelford, W. C. SM2 Simmerman, R. E. TM2 Spalding, R. B. CPHMA Stehn, J. E. GM2 Stiegler, D. G. EM2 St. John, U. M., Jr. EM3 Tait, F. MOMM2 Todd, H. A., Jr. LTJG Turner, F. D. CGM Wade, A. M. S1 Warnick, W. C. S1 Wicklander, M. M. MOMM2 Williams, J. L. S1
In Their Memory
Many thanks for page components
to the Pacific Fleet site,
Orestas Historical Society, Bubbleheads Blogsspot, and Wikipedia.
Links are provided to all of these source sites in the hopes of achieving
the common goal of connecting with remaining family members. Most of all,
thanks to the crew of the USS LAGARTO (SS371) for their service,
their sacrifice, and their
contribution to freedom for so much of the world.
