England’s Telegraph UK has the story:
Rear-Admiral Eugene Fluckey, who has died aged 93, was one of the most highly decorated American submariners of the Second World War.
On January 25 1945 Fluckey was commanding the Gato-class submarine Barb when, in a feat of brilliant deduction and bold tracking, he located a concentration of more than 30 Japanese ships in the lower reaches of Nankuan Chiang, 250 miles south of Shanghai. Ordering “Battle stations!” he penetrated the heavy enemy screen and, riding in only five fathoms of water, launched his forward torpedoes at a range of 3,000 yards.
Quickly bringing his boat’s stern tubes to bear, he fired four more, which obtained eight hits on six of the main targets, and blew up a large ammunition ship, causing further damage to the enemy. Fluckey then cleared the area by running at full speed through the uncharted, mined and rock-obstructed waters to safety. Earlier in the same patrol he had sunk a large enemy ammunition ship during a running two-hour night battle and, as he withdrew to base on January 29, sank another large Japanese freighter.
Fluckey took command of Barb in April 1944, when on five patrols his initiative and aggression cost the enemy dear. On his first war patrol off northern Japan he sank five ships by torpedo and, in a series of surface gun duels, destroyed some 20 small vessels. During his next patrol, between the Philippines and China, he sank three more Japanese ships, including the 20,000-ton escort carrier Unyo and an 11,000-ton Japanese tanker with the same salvo.
Between October 1944 and February 1945 Fluckey operated in the East China Sea and in the summer Barb became the first American submarine to be armed with rockets, which were used to strike at a Japanese air station and several factories.
On July 23 Fluckey raised his own commando of eight volunteers, who paddled on to Sakhalin Island under cover of night and planted explosive charges on railway lines 400 yards inland. Fluckey considered giving the crewmen a terse Hollywood-style send-off, but all he could think of was: “Boys, if you get stuck, head for Siberia, 130 miles north. Follow the mountain ranges. Good luck.” As they paddled back to Barb, the wreckage of a 16-car train flew 200ft into the air.
Fluckey was known to flout the US Navy’s prohibition on alcohol by stashing cases of beer in the officers’ shower and whenever Barb sank a ship everyone on board celebrated with a cold drink. His official score was 95,360 tons of enemy shipping, though he reckoned this should have been 145,000 tons.
He was awarded the Medal of Honour, four Navy Crosses, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. Barb received four Presidential unit citations and several Navy unit commendations. But Fluckey often said that his greatest achievement was that no one under his command ever received another well-known medal: the Purple Heart for being wounded in action. “He was absolutely confident and absolutely fearless, but fearless with good judgment,” said a contemporary. “He brought his ship and his people home.”
Why are not Rear-Admiral Fluckey’s passing and exploits a headline on the front pages of every newspaper in America?
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