Submarine Snook
SNOOK was lost while conducting her ninth war patrol. She formed a “Wolf Pack” with BURRFISH (SS 312) and BANG (SS 385), under the tactical command of CDR WALLING, Commanding Officer of SNOOK. Known as “Walling’s Whalers,” the Wolf Pack left Guam on 25 March, 1945 with orders to patrol Luzon Strait, the South China Coast and waters along the east coast of Hainan. The submarines were also to perform lifeguard duties for Philippine based planes as directed by radio dispatch. SNOOK returned to Guam for emergency repairs on 27-28 March, 1945, then rejoined her group. She sent daily weather reports as she headed westward until 1 April when she was directed to discontinue the practice. On that day she was ordered to join a wolf pack known as “Hiram’s Hecklers” under CDR Hiram CASSEDY in TIGRONE (SS 419). “Walling’s Whalers” had been disbanded when BANG and BURRFISH were assigned lifeguard missions. On 8 April, 1945 SNOOK reported her position to TIGRONE as 180o 40’ N, 111o 39’ E. She did not acknowledge messages sent from TIGRONE the next day and it was assumed that SNOOK had moved eastward toward Luzon Strait. On 12 April SNOOK was ordered to take lifeguard station in the vicinity of Sakeshima Gunto in support of a British Carrier air strike. On 20 April, 1945 the British carrier task force commander reported one of his carrier planes downed in the station assigned to SNOOK and stated he was unable to contact her by radio. BANG was dispatched to the area where she rescued three British aviators but saw no sign of SNOOK.
SNOOK was never heard from again and the circumstances of her loss were never determined. Japanese records of anti-submarine attacks do not account for her sinking and she had been fully informed of the location of minefields in the Sakeshima Gunto area. It is possible that she was the victim of a Japanese submarine. Five Japanese submarines were lost in waters of the Nansei Shoto during April and May of 1945; one of these may have sunk SNOOK before its own sinking by United States warships.