USS Kete
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2018) |
History | |
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United States | |
Builder | Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1] |
Laid down | 25 October 1943[1] |
Launched | 9 April 1944[1] |
Commissioned | 31 July 1944[1] |
Fate | Lost off the Ryukyu Islands around 20 March 1945 with a crew of 87- no survivors.[2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) [2] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) [2] |
Draft | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nm (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3] |
Endurance |
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Test depth | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
Complement | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
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USS Kete (SS-369), a
Departing Manitowoc 20 August, Kete sailed via
She topped off her fuel at
With Lieutenant Commander Edward Ackerman in command, Kete cleared
With only three torpedoes remaining, she was ordered to depart the area 20 March, refuel at
Circumstances surrounding her loss remain a mystery. The cause could have been an operational malfunction, a mine explosion, or enemy action.
Some Western sources[specify] credit the medium-size Japanese submarine Ro-41 (type Kaichū) with the sinking of Kete but the only indisputable fact is that this submarine crossed the same area on the day Kete sent a weather report there. Ro-41 was possibly sunk on 23 March 1945, three days after a supposed kill. It is very unlikely the Japanese captain (Lt Honda) would not report such an attack. It is even emphasized by the last radio contact with Ro-41, happening on 22 March 1945 and mentioning just "sighting an enemy destroyer".[6]
Possible discovery
The actual whereabouts of Kete may have been discovered during a deep-sea dive in 1995. The possibility exists that a U.S. submarine lies in about 1,148 feet (350 m) of water off the coast of
The divers, thinking they would have another opportunity to work in the area at a later date, left the area and never returned to that site. Their ROV was lost in 1997 off Yonaguni Island, the last island belonging to the Okinawa chain off the east coast of Taiwan. They were fairly certain that the object was a submarine, and quite possibly the Kete. No further dives in the area were ever attempted.[7]
Kete received one
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ a b U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ "VMH: Edward Ackerman, LCDR, Usn".
- ^ Combined Fleet RO-41 record of movement
- ^ a b "USS Snook (SS 279)". Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Combined Fleet RO-41 record of movement Footnote 1
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of Kete at NavSource Naval History
- On Eternal Patrol: USS Kete
- Kill Record: USS Kete
- combinedfleet.com: IJN Submarine RO-41