Dudley W. Morton
Dudley Walker Morton | |
---|---|
Owensboro, Kentucky | |
Died | October 11, 1943 La Pérouse Strait | (aged 36)
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1927–1943 |
Rank | Commander |
Commands held | USS Wahoo (SS-238) USS Dolphin (SS-169) USS R-5 (SS-82) |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | Navy Cross (4) Distinguished Service Cross Purple Heart |
Dudley Walker Morton (July 17, 1907 – October 11, 1943), nicknamed "Mushmouth" or "Mush", was a submarine commander of the United States Navy during World War II. He was commander of the USS Wahoo (SS-238) during its third through seventh patrols. Wahoo was one of the most-celebrated submarines of World War II, as it sank at least 19 Japanese ships, more than any other submarine of the time.[1] Morton and Wahoo disappeared in 1943 during a transit of La Pérouse Strait. He was legally declared deceased three years later.
Early life
Morton was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, on July 17, 1907. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1930. There he received the nickname "Mushmouth", after a character in the cartoon strip Moon Mullins whose large square jaw and prominent mouth resembled Morton's. The nickname was shortened to "Mush", by which he was known for much of his life.[2] One of his classmates was Lance Edward Massey.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Morton served on the USS Saratoga (CV-3), USS Chicago (CA-29), USS Canopus (AS-9), USS Fairfax (DD-93), and the submarines USS S-37 (SS-142) and USS R-5 (SS-82), which he commanded from August 19, 1940, to April 23, 1942.[3] Morton was promoted to lieutenant commander on October 15, 1942, and was in nominal command of USS Dolphin (SS-169) while it underwent extended repairs at Pearl Harbor. He was relieved to make a war patrol in USS Wahoo (SS-238) between November 8 and December 26 as prospective commanding officer, a supernumerary position to prepare him for command of a fleet boat. Morton took command of Wahoo on December 31 in Brisbane, Australia. Between January 26, 1943, and October 11, he carried out four offensive patrols, during which Wahoo was responsible for sinking 19 cargo and transport ships for a combined total of 55,000 tons.
Buyo Maru incident
During Wahoo's third war patrol, Morton was responsible for an incident which resulted in shipwrecked soldiers in about twenty lifeboats of sunken
O'Kane's account describes Morton explaining that he should prevent enemy troops from getting ashore to fight again - as each one of them could cost an American life.
Disappearance
After three arduous war patrols, Morton was given the highly dangerous assignment of penetrating the Sea of Japan for the second time, in October 1943. Morton was reported missing in action that December, when his submarine was presumed lost. After the war, it was determined from Japanese records that, on October 11, in the time frame in which the Wahoo was expected to exit through La Pérouse Strait, an antisubmarine aircraft found a surfaced submarine and attacked, dropping three depth charges.[11]
Declared deceased on January 7, 1946, Morton's decorations included the Navy Cross with three gold stars in lieu of a second, third, and fourth awards, and the Army Distinguished Service Cross. O'Kane believed the Buyo Maru POW shootings prevented Morton from being awarded the Medal of Honor.[12] The destroyer USS Morton (DD-948) was named in his honor.
Summary of war patrols
With six war patrols, Morton ranked third among the Navy's top skippers, credited with 19 ships and 54,683 tons sunk, per
)Departing From | Date | Days | Wartime Credit Ships/Tonnage |
JANAC[15] CreditShips/Tonnage |
Patrol Area | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R-5-1 | Atlantic | 1942 | ? | zero/zero[16] | zero/zero | Atlantic |
Wahoo-3 | Brisbane, Australia | January 1943 | 23 | 5/31,900[17] | 3/11,348[13] | -->Pearl Harbor |
Wahoo-4 | Pearl Harbor, TH | February 1943 | 42 | 8/36,700[18] | 9/19,530[13] | East China Sea |
Wahoo-5 | Pearl Harbor, TH | April 1943 | 26 | 3/24,700[19] | 3/10,376[13] | Empire |
Wahoo-6 | Pearl Harbor, TH | August 1943 | 27 | zero/zero[20] | zero/zero[13] | Empire |
Wahoo-7 | Pearl Harbor, TH | September 1943 | lost | 1/7,100[21] | 4/13,429[13] | Empire |
In popular culture
In 1960, Vice Admiral
In
Awards and decorations
Notes
- ^ "A WWII Submarine Finally Comes Home". abcnews.go.com.
- ^ Toll, Ian W. (2015). The Conquering Tide. Norton. p. 260.
- ^ "subcommanders". fleetorganization.com/.
- ^ Bridgland p115-129.
- ^ Holwitt, Joel I. "Execute Against Japan", Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005, p.287.
- ^ a b O'Kane. Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most famous WWII Submarine. pp. 153–154.
- ^ Holwitt, p.288; DeRose, James F. Unrestricted Warfare (John Wiley & Sons, 2000), pp.287–288.
- ^ Convention for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention, Article 16
- ^ O'Kane, Richard (1987). Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most Famous WWII Submarine. Presidio Press.
- ^ Blair, pp.384–386.
- ^ "United States Submarine Losses, World War II – Wahoo (SS 238)". history.navy.mil. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010.
- ^ DeRose, James F. (2000). Unrestricted Warfare: How a New Breed of Officers Led the Submarine Force to Victory in World War II. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- ^ a b c d e f Roscoe (1949) p. 563
- ^ Blair (1995) pp. 984–987
- Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee. Blair rounded entries in his tables (see Blair p. 900, bottom) while Roscoe's tables are an accurate transcription of the JANAC report.
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 895
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 923
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 926
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 930
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 933
- ^ Blair (1975) p. 939
References
- The Joint Army Navy Assessment Committee (3 February 1947). "Appendix: Japanese Shipping Lost by United States Submarines". Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes. HyperWar Foundation. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ISBN 0-397-00753-1.
- Roscoe, Theodore (1949). United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.