TINOSA arrived at Midway Island from patrol number one on 19 June 1943 to undergo a seventeen day refit, reload, and recreation period. The refit and reload was conducted by the U.S.S. SPERRY (the recreation was conducted by the sailors). Upon arrival, fourteen men were transferred to the relief crew. Everyone else moved into the R & R facility, which, at that time, was the little hotel that had served the Pan American Airlines as a stopover for the big Clipper flying boats that crossed the Pacific prior to hostilities. The last action on this patrol was an encounter with the Tonan Maru.

The TINOSA's next action has been written up extensively in submarine books and articles (including an issue of Polaris) dealing with the faulty torpedo. In no case that I know of, has it been reported accurately. Assisted by the War Patrol Report and a steel trap memory, I will herewith. produce an accurate account of that event.

On the night of 23 July, an intelligence report was received. It said that TONAN MARU NO. 2 was enroute from Borneo to Truk loaded with oil. It included the latitude / longitude coordinates of various points on her route and even the time and place that she was scheduled to meet her escort. TONAN MARU NO. 2 was one of two large whale factories that had been converted to oilers. It displaced 19,425 tons and was one of the biggest tankers the enemy had. TINOSA headed for a position to intercept the target two hours prior to her escort rendezvous and by 0400 was on station. You might say, "Sitting in the catbird seat."

The morning of the 24th dawned bright and sunny. There was not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind and the sea was like glass. At 0555 the target was sighted on the high periscope, right on schedule. She was, however, about sixteen miles south of her projected track. TINOSA made haste to move to an attack position and at 0809 submerged. At 0923 four torpedoes were fired from the bow tubes at a range of 1,000 yards. Two torpedoes were seen to strike the target, one under the bridge and one midway between the masts. There were no explosions. The target dropped four depth charges and turned away.

"I saw them hit! I saw them hit," exclaimed the Captain!

"The set up is perfect, Captain. Let's fire the other two", said Lt. Bell on the TDC.

"All right," said the Captain, "Final bearing and shoot!".

At 0938 tubes five and six were fired. Both torpedoes were seen to hit the tanker and, miracles of miracles, one exploded on the port quarter. The target's engines stopped and she took a port list. She also dropped four depth charges.

Since the tanker showed no signs of sinking, TINOSA headed for a firing position on the starboard side to finish her off. During this transit some of the Japanese crew were seen manning their lifeboats while the others were firing at the periscope with machine guns and a four inch deck gun.

At 1009, range 875 yards TINOSA fired one stern tube. Hit, no explosion. At 1011, range 1050 yards fired another. Hit, no explosion. Captain Daspit was not given to profanity, but he now indulged himself. At 1014 another stern shot hit the target, range 1300 yards. No explosion. A reload was conducted during which time there was discussion between the Captain, Lt. Bell and others as to what could be the problem with the torpedo and could it be TINOSA's fault. It was decided that the fault lay with the weapon. A decision was made to fire as many units as necessary to sink the target, save one, which would be returned to Pearl Harbor for inspection.

At 1039 the attack was resumed with the firing of a stern tube at a range of 900 yards. Hit, no explosion. At 1048 a bow tube was fired from 1,000 yards. The torpedo hit the target, veered off to the right and jumped clear of the water.

This gave the faint hearted Japanese great confidence for they then left the lifeboats, unlimbered the other deck gun and commenced firing at the periscope and torpedo wakes. At 1050 Daspit fired again from a range of 900 yards. Same results. At 1100 he fired from 1,000 yards. Hit, no explosion.

At this point sonar had a contact on high speed screws. Three minutes later a destroyer was sighted headed directly for TINOSA. At 1131 TINOSA fired another stern shot that was seen to hit but there was no explosion. At 1132 with the destroyer 1,000 yards away a stern tube was fired and TINOSA headed for 300 feet. Sonar heard fish hit the target and stop running; no explosion. The destroyer had no explosion problem with her depth charges, however, when she dropped seven close ones.

At 1357, Daspit returned to periscope depth. The tanker was still afloat, down by the stern with a port list. The destroyer was alongside of her charge about three miles away. By 1800 twilight and a gathering haze closed visibility to where TONAN MARU NO. 2 could no longer be seen. At 1937 TINOSA surfaced, sent contact and attack reports. Three hours later she was directed to return to Pearl Harbor.

Thus ends the saga of TINOSA's second sortie into the enemy stronghold. It can be assumed that so far she had increased the enemy's morale and reduced his fear. It can be said that for TINOSA's crew it was just the opposite. Words like "jinx" and "unlucky" were often heard, but no one felt worse than the torpedomen who could not help but feel that their professional ability was in question. The crew could only take comfort in the fact that it was a short patrol and TINOSA was scheduled for a five week availabiliy in Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.