The War of the Pacific Trivia Quiz

Answer: He ordered his Executive Officer to "take her down" while he remained topside, thus, ensuring his own death.

On February 7, 1943, The USS Growler (SS-215) was making an attack on a Japanese gunboat when the gunboat suddenly turned to ram the Growler. With no chance of escape, Commander Gilmore gave the orders "left full rudder" and "all ahead flank" and he rammed the gunboat instead.

The force of the impact was so great that the bow of the Growler was bent 18 feet to port. The gunboat's many machine guns were aimed at the sailors topside, killing two and grievously injuring Commander Gilmore. As the XO (who was half-way down the hatch) waited for him to crawl to the hatch to assist him below decks, Commander Gilmore uttered his now famous "take her down" so his crew and his ship could escape. To this day, submariners still use the term "take her down" in honor of Commander Gilmore.

Answer: True

The Japanese lost 88% of their merchant fleet by the end of the war. Over half of it sunk by submarines.

Answer: He sank 10 ships on Tang's last patrol.

O'Kane sank 10 ships on her final patrol in the Formosa Strait. Her last torpedo was faulty and circled back and struck the Tang, sending her to the bottom with all but O'Kane and eight of his crew. O'Kane was captured and taken prisoner by the Japanese. Along with the Medal of Honor, O'Kane was awarded three Navy Crosses, three Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit for Valor, three Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medals, and the Purple Heart.

Answer: Ordered the crew to abandon ship and went to the seafloor with it.

Captain Cromwell was on board the Sculpin as the senior officer of a wolfpack of three submarines assigned to sink as many ships as possible northeast of Truk. The Japanese destroyer Yamagumo dropped 18 depth charges on the Sculpin causing her to have to surface.

The Commanding Officer, Commander Connaway, and every man on the bridge was killed when the Yamagumo's first salvo hit the conning tower. Knowing that the Japanese would torture him in order to get the information he had regarding submarine tactics in the Pacific, Captain Cromwell ordered the crew to abandon ship and stayed with the sub as she sank.

Answer: Attacked a group of 30 Japanese ships and then successfully cleared the area after scoring six direct hits.

"Lucky Fluckey" as he was known, attacked a group of 30 ships at anchor in 30 feet of water just off the coast of China. After shooting all his forward torpedoes, he turned away, shot some (but not all) of his aft torpedoes, and then raced away with two Japanese frigates in hot pursuit.

He set a record for submarine speed at the time of 23.5 knots at 150% overload. Fluckey retired as a Rear-Admiral with a Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, two Distinguished Service Medals, and two Legion of Merits.

Answer: A train

Lucky Fluckey sent eight of his sailors (one from each division) ashore with explosives to blow up a Japanese train. One of the sailors came up with the idea of swimming ashore, planting a 55 pound explosive charge on the track and setting up a micro switch to set off the charge when a train made the switch.

A train came by and was "sunk" as the sailors were swimming back to the submarine. This is how the Barb became known as "The sub that sank a train".

Answer: She was snagged by a grappling hook.

The Thresher was initially attacked by planes that saw her silhouette in the water. Unable to sink her, they contacted nearby ships that showed up and started dragging grappling hooks in an attempt to drag her to the surface. The commanding officer ordered "ahead full", turned sharply to the right, and then dove below test depth (the maximum safe depth) where she finally broke loose from the hook.

Answer: Rescued future President H. W. Bush.

On September 2, 1944, George H.W. Bush was on a bombing run over Chichijima when his Avenger was hit by anti-aircraft flak. With his engine ablaze, Bush flew his plane several miles out to sea where he and one other crew member successfully bailed out. One other crew member died when his parachute failed to open. Bush remained onboard the Finback for a month as she continued to rescue downed pilots.

Answer: 4

Submarines sank the Shinano, the Shokaku, the Taiho, and the Unryu. The Shinano was sunk by the U.S.S. Archerfish when she launched 6 torpedoes with 4 of them direct hits. The Shinano's crew managed to keep her afloat for 8 hours before she finally went down stern first in 13,000 feet of water. Over 1,400 sailors were killed and another 1,000 survived.
The Shokaku was struck by 3 (or possibly 4) torpedoes fired from the U.S.S. Cavalla during refueling and rearming of her aircraft. This caused numerous uncontrollable fires and soon the order to abandon ship was given. Before long, the Shokaku went down bow first taking over 1,200 men with her. There were over 500 (including the Captain) who survived.
The Taiho was sunk when the U.S.S. Albacore shot a spread of 6 torpedoes at her. One was destroyed when a Japanese pilot noticed a torpedo heading toward the Taiho and flew his plane into it, sacrificing his life and preventing the torpedo from reaching its target. Four of the remaining 5 torpedoes missed their mark and only one struck the Taiho in the bow. This ruptured a fuel tank and fumes spread rapidly. Unable to clear the fumes out, the Taiho suddenly exploded and the word was passed to abandon ship. 500 sailors managed to escape before a second explosion occurred and the Taiho went down stern first.
The Unryu was loaded with kamikaze rocket planes when the U.S.S. Redfish launched 4 torpedoes at her. One struck directly below the bridge. This ruptured the main steam line and caused the flooding of 2 boilers, stopping the Unryu dead in her tracks. Shortly thereafter, a second torpedo struck the Unryu in the forward aviation fuel tank causing a tremendous explosion that tore the bow of the ship off. Over 1,200 men lost their lives while only 145 escaped with their lives.

Answer: Pratas Island

The Bluegill sent a landing party ashore to blow up a radio tower, weather station, fuel depot, ammo dump, and several buildings. No lives were lost as the Japanese had abandoned the island a few days earlier. The U.S. flag was raised and the island was declared a U.S. Territory and was renamed Bluegill Island.
Enigma was a German coding machine that was captured in the war in the Atlantic.