A Brief History
On October 25, 1944, the U.S. submarine USS Tang (SS-306), commanded by ace submarine skipper Richard O’Kane, was sunk when a torpedo that it had fired malfunctioned, turned around, and struck the hapless submarine.
Digging Deeper
You may have read the History and Headlines article “There is No Such Thing as Friendly Fire!” Friendly fire is the accidental coming of harm to one’s own troops through one’s own weapons. As military instructors are quick to point out, however, no fire is “friendly fire,” as bullets, bombs and shells will kill you no matter who launched them in the first place. Weapons of war are dangerous, and in a combat situation you must beware of fire from any direction.
But what if the fire comes not just from your comrades but also from yourself? There have been cases of soldiers tripping and accidentally shooting themselves with their own rifle or pistol. Such unfortunate mishaps have even occurred when practicing or demonstrating at the range. In one instance, a police officer shot himself by mistake while showing elementary students how to handle guns “safely.” Even before firearms were invented, there must have been some unlucky losers who stabbed themselves when they fell or rolled over on their swords or knives.
Sometimes hand grenades are dropped while the soldier is fumbling to throw it. When the author of this article was at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, a Marine mortar man got his gear caught in the sights of a mortar just as the loader dropped a round down the tube. The Marine gunner leaned back and the gun tube came with him, sending the 60mm-high explosive round almost straight up. The round impacted near the mortar crew, but they had ducked into foxholes and escaped injury, except to their pride. The lieutenant in charge of the mortar shoot had just arrived at Camp Lejeune and it was his first day in the field. Call it lesson #1.
But getting back to the Tang… (like the torpedo did!), its skipper, Commander O’Kane, had sunk more Japanese ships in World War II than any other U.S. submarine commander. Originally credited with sinking 24 ships, a review of war records (including those of the Japanese) in 1980 confirmed that he had actually sunk 31 enemy ships! For his heroism, he received the Medal of Honor and retired as a Rear Admiral in 1957. Yes, that means that he survived the sinking of the Tang, along with 8 of his crew. To go along with his Medal of Honor, he also won 3 Navy Crosses, 3 Silver Stars (the #2 and #3 highest medals), as well as a Legion of Merit and several other medals, including the Purple Heart. This brave and effective leader died in 1994 and is buried at Arlington Cemetery, having narrowly avoided burial at sea, courtesy of a faulty torpedo.
In 1998, the USS O’Kane (DDG 77) was commissioned, having been named in honor of Admiral O’Kane. Let us hope this destroyer experiences “fair winds and following seas,” and above all, no faulty torpedoes!
Question for students (and subscribers): Has anyone in your family ever served in the Navy? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kershaw, Alex. Escape From The Deep: The Epic Story of a Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew. Da Capo Press, 2008.
Tuohy, William. The Bravest Man: Richard O’Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang. Presidio Press, 2009.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="5943 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=5943">47 Comments
Interesting read. I think it’s crazy that a marine accidentally let the gun fire and sink his own submarine.
One, there were no Marines on American submarines in WWII. They were all navy sailors. Two, it wasn’t a gun, it was a torpedo (a motorized explosive charge, not a bullet) that sank the boat. Three, O’Kane had no control over that. Subs moved too slowly then for him to effectively dodge, and there were HUNDREDS of faulty torpedoes delivered to the USN so it was the Navy’s fault for accepting the tech and not listening to the complaints of men that actually used them. Tang’s loss was in no way O’Kane’s fault, don’t taint his memory with that assumption.
It’s rather unfortunate that these “friendly fire” incidents happen. It’s crazy that the submarine sank from its own torpedo.
This just goes to show that even the most accomplished Military official can have accidents happen to them. No one is immune to making mistakes. Unfortunately, some mistakes are deadly.
It happened more than once. USS Tullibee had the same fate. Again at no fault of the crew.
Interesting article. Sinking 31 enemy ships is quite an accomplishment for Commander O’Kane.
It is unfortunate that the submarine sank itself, and surprising that O’Kane and 8 crew members survived.
I always thought “friendly fire” was a weird term. How can shooting at other people be considered friendly?
I find it ironic that a police officer shot himself by mistake while showing elementary students how to handle guns “safely.”
This just goes to show, all weapons are dangerous no matter how much training you have.
Crazy to see how a torpedo sunk its own sub. No matter what, optimal training does not always mean 100% efficiency.
It’s unfortunate that these friendly fire events happen, truly terrible moments.
it is cool that O’kane recieved a Medal of Honor for the what they thought was 24 but later found out that he had sunk 31 enemy ships
I can’t believe that the torpedo misfired and came back to sink the submarine that it was launched from.
It’s kinda comical that this misfire happened because there truly is no such thing as “friendly fire”
During all of the chaos that happens during battles, to have a simple mistake to add to the chaos would be horrible!
Equipment can malfunction and cause problems. The USS Tang just happened to have a torpedo malfunction. I’m glad some of the men were able to escape.
This is so ironic and in a way a little funny. It is understandable though that every now and then, equipment and weapons of war malfunctioned.
I find it surprising that O’Kane sunk 31 ships! He had to have been such a brave man for doing what he did.
I cannot imagine how one would torpedo their own submarine. It was an unfortunate mishap, but it is good that the captain and crew were able to escape.
I cannot believe that the USS Tang torpedoing itself was compared to a police officer shooting himself in the foot while teaching gun safety to children.
It is hard to believe that the USS Tang torpedoed them self. I also find it interesting that O’Kane sunk so many ships!
The fact that people trip over their guns and shoot themselves is very ironic. I am sure that this is what started the old adage, “shooting yourself in the foot.” The fact that a police officer shot himself by showing a classroom how to, “handle a gun,” is also very ironic.
It’s extremely ironic that such an expert submarine crew sinks several dozen enemy ships, but the last ship they sunk was their own. However, it is good to see that a successful commander is rewarded for his success rather than punished for his faulty submarine shot.
I am glad to see that he was rewarded for this but also shocked that he sunk his own ship. I am glad to see that a mistake turned into somewhat a success. I am sure this is not how he planned his first day of work going.
Well we are human and not immune to making mistakes no matter how trained you are! He was still very successful and accomplished.
Fighting with weaponry is always risky and this goes to prove that accidents happen! I’m glad the commissioner was not faulted for this malfunction and was honored for his great accomplishments.
Out of all of the things to kill one of the greatest submarine crew ever. was it fate though or quiescence?
It is hard to believe that you could torpedo yourself! I also cannot believe that 31 ships were sunken, incredible! Accidents really do happen!
It is unbelievable that USS Tang torpedoes itself. It was absurd.
It was surprising to read that the torpedo malfunction did not tarnish O’kane’s war efforts. He was later recognized with several medals and a purple heart.
It was risky to do that, but he was honor with purple heart.
People make mistakes, but he was still an honorable man and was honored with the Purple Heart. Interesting article.
It is shocking that they torpedoed themselves.
Mistakes are always possible, but a torpedo seems very unfortunate. I’m glad they were able to recover.
Everybody makes mistakes, but to make a mistake as large as a torpedo was a very large mistake.
The article says that the torpedo the submarine fired malfunctioned and turned around. The article never stated how exactly the torpedo just does a complete 180. What kind of torpedo was fired that would do that?
It is nice that O’Kane got a purple heart even though he torpedoed his own ship.
wow,this was truly a once in a lifetime mistake, i am glad that some of the crew survived though.
That’s what you call bad luck.
How do you torpedo yourself. That is unfortunate and something that you never plan for when you are running all of your tests and precautions!
Definitely bad luck. No one dreams of a projectile weapon to turn around and come back at you.
As Keagan said, that truly is just bad luck.
This is such bad luck! Yikes, nothing like sinking your own ship
Machinations of war are dangerous things. Simply put, things do not always work as intended.
Blowing up in the torpedo chamber is one thing, but actually turning around and coming back is a terrible malfunction.
What a horrible malfunction! I can only assume that a lot of members of the armed forces died due to malfunctions in weaponry or human error.