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Crew of the
USS TangThe USS Tang first slipped into the water in 1943, launched and commissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California with Lt. Cdr. Richard H. O’Kane commanding. The Balao Class fleet submarine, with a crew of up to 10 officers and 80 enlisted men, sank 33 Japanese ships during its five war patrols, earning two Presidential Unit Citations and four battle stars for its World War II service.
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Donated by William Welch, the brother of Quartermaster Robert Edward Welch who was KIA aboard the Tang in October 1944, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.010. -
On that final patrol, the USS Tang sent an unprecedented 13 enemy ships to the bottom. Tragically as she fired her last torpedo of the patrol, the torpedo broached and began to boomerang back towards the Tang. Captain O’Kane frantically attempted to move his 311-foot submarine out of the way. She swung too slow and her own torpedo slammed against the port side, immediately sinking the surfaced submarine. O'Kane and three others were washed from the bridge into the water. The men, along with five others who were able to escape the sinking sub, were taken prisoner by a Japanese patrol craft. The survivors languished in POW camps until being liberated in 1945. The rest of the crew would perish in the USS Tang, which came to rest 180-feet below the surface.
Quartermaster Robert Edward Welch in US Navy uniform and cap. Welch died with the sinking of the USS Tang in October 1944. Donated by brother, William Welch, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.001.
Western Union telegram sent to the family of Robert Edward Welch, informing them that he was missing in action and not to divulge the name of his ship or station as it might aid the enemy, 26 November 1944. Donated by brother, William Welch, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.004.
Purple Heart Ribbon. Inscribed on reverse "For Military Merit Robert E. Welch QM2C, USNR." Donated by brother, William Welch, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.011.
Presidential correspondence issued by President Truman in grateful memory of Robert Welch who died in service of his country at sea, aboard the USS Tang. Donated by brother, William Welch, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.008. -
Donated by William Welch, the brother of Quartermaster Robert Edward Welch who was KIA aboard the Tang in October 1944, The National WWII Museum, 2012.387.010. -
Since the opening of The National WWII Museum’s Final Mission: The USS Tang Submarine Experience in 2013, the families of three men lost aboard the submarine have contacted us to donate artifacts from their service.
Gunner’s Mate First Class James Milton White, 29, was a native of Springhill, Louisiana. He earned a Bronze Star for bravery during an earlier patrol. Gift of the Families of William E. White - Springhill, LA; Treby White Staten - Springhill, LA; and Florence White McCaskill - Texarkana, AR, 2013.273.
White’s family received this letter after the Tang failed to return from her last patrol. Gift of the Families of William E. White - Springhill, LA; Treby White Staten - Springhill, LA; and Florence White McCaskill - Texarkana, AR, 2013.273.
Letter of condolence to White's family from the Navy. Gift of the Families of William E. White - Springhill, LA; Treby White Staten - Springhill, LA; and Florence White McCaskill - Texarkana, AR, 2013.273.
Ship’s Cook Third Class John Andrew Key, 19. Gift in Memory of John Andrew Key, 2013.461.
Key's brother dropped this letter in the mail on October 25, 1944. It was returned to him in February 1945. Gift in Memory of John Andrew Key, 2013.461.
Key’s family received this letter from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal confirming Key’s death in December 1945. Gift in Memory of John Andrew Key, 2013.461.
Key's Purple Heart medal and this accompanying certificate did not arrive until July 1946. Gift in Memory of John Andrew Key, 2013.461. -
Crew of USS Tang, Killed in Action
- John George Accardy
- Ralph Francis Adams
- Dwayne Dale Allen
- Phillip Edward Anderson
- Charles Andriolo
- Homer Anthony
- William Franklin Ballinger
- Edwin Clarence Bauer
- Edward Huntley Beaumont
- Edwin Frederick Bergman
- Frederick Nicholas Bisogno
- Wilfred Joseph Boucher
- Bernard Vincent Bresette
- John Bush
- Benjamin Chiavetta
- Walter Junior Clark
- Robert James Coffin
- James Henry Culp
- Arthur John Darienzo
- Marvin Verle DeLapp
- William Edwin Dorsey
- Fred Melvin Enos, Jr.
- Lawrence Hall Ericksen
- Daniel Clyde Felicetty
- Bruce Hampton Finckbone
- John William Fluker
- John Morris Foster
- William Carter Galloway
- Thomas Edison Gentle
- George Jacob Gorab, Jr.
- Osmer Dennis Gregg
- Howard Wayne Hainline
- Frank George Harms
- Glen Olen Haws
- John Francis Henry
- John Henry Heubeck
- Albert Leroy Hudson
- Homer Wesley Ijames, Jr.
- Stewart Samuel Imwold
- Donald Morgan Jenkins
- Sidney William Jones
- Louis Charles Kaiser
- John Theodore Kanagy
- John Thomas Kassube
- John Andrew Key
- Ralph Bernard Knapp
- Richard Jerome Kroth
- LeRoy Richard Lane
- Paul Lewis Larson
- Robert Peter Lee
- Lindley Herbert Llewellyn
- Charles William London
- Chester Loveless
- Ellroy Lytton
- Robert Vance McMorrow
- John Joseph McNabb
- John Jefferson Parker
- Basil Charles Pearce, Jr.
- Rubin MacNiel Raiford
- Francis John Reabuck
- Darrel Dean Rector
- Ernest Reinhardt
- James Lester Roberts
- George Louis Robertson
- Seymour Golding Smith, Jr.
- Frank Howard Springer
- Edward Frank Stepien
- Fred Louis Sunday
- Paul Benton Vaughn, Jr.
- Charles Waite Wadsworth
- Howard Madison Walker
- Leland Stanford Weekley
- Robert Edward Welch
- James Milton White
- Walter Herman Williams
- Paul Thornton Wines
- George Wukovich
- George Zofcin
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The National WWII Museum highlights the story of the USS Tang with an interactive submarine experience in the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center. Based on the last war patrol of the Tang in the Pacific Theater, visitors man the positions and perform the battle actions of actual crewmembers as the sub engages the Japanese Imperial Naval Forces.
This Memorial Day, Honor Crew of the USS Tang
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