Richard O'Kane

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Richard Hetherington O'Kane
February 2, 1911 - February 16, 1994
Commander Richard H. O'Kane, USN
Place of birth	Dover, New Hampshire
Allegiance	USN
Years of service	1934-1957
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands	USS Tang
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Medal of Honor Navy Cross (3) Silver Star (3) Legion of Merit Purple Heart

Richard Hetherington O'Kane (February 2, 1911 – February 16, 1994) was a United States Navy submarine commander in World War II, who received a Medal of Honor for his service on the USS Tang (SS-306). Having also served on the near legendary Wahoo (SS-238), as Executive Officer (XO) and 'Approach Officer', he participated (directly) in more successful attacks on Japanese shipping than any other fighting submarine officer during the war.

[edit] Biography

"Dick" O'Kane was born in Dover, New Hampshire, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 1934 and spent his first years of active duty on the cruiser Chester (CA-27) and destroyer Pruitt (DD-347). He received submarine instruction in 1938 and was then assigned to Argonaut (SS-166) until 1942. Lieutenant O'Kane then joined the precommissioning crew of the new submarine Wahoo, serving as her Executive Officer on five war patrols first under one timid commander, and eventually under Commanding Officer Dudley "Mush" Morton. Morton established a record as an excellent tactician, as he preferred to run the demanding analysis and plots while his XO manned the periscopes, a reversal of standard practices.

In July 1943, Lieutenant Commander O'Kane was detached from Wahoo and soon became Prospective Commanding Officer (PCO) of the Tang, which was then under construction. He placed her in commission in October 1943 and commanded her through her entire career. He was an innovator, and developed several operational tactics that drastically increased his ship's efficiency. Among these tactics were daylight surface cruising with extra lookouts, periscope recognition and range drills—enabling clear tactical surity when seconds counted, and methods of night surface attacks—one of his favorite techniques to obtain and maintain the initiative in battle.

In five war patrols, O'Kane and Tang sank an officially recognized total of 24 Japanese ships, establishing one of the Pacific War's top records for submarine achievement. Several times during the war he took the Tang into the heart of a convoy and attacked ships ahead and behind while cooly steering clear of escorting combatants—counting on Tang's relative position, speed, and low profile to keep clear of enemy escorts. He and the Tang also performed laudably on 'Lifeguard Duty', which was a practice of positioning one or more submarines off an island to be attacked by planes of the Fast Carrier Task Forces to be in a nearby close-in 'ditching station' in position to rescue downed pilots. Off of Truk he and the Tang rescued 22 airmen in one mission taking some interesting risks in the process and setting an all-time record which earned a Presidential Unit Citation (US).

The Tang and O'Kane's third patrol, into the Yellow Sea, ranked first in the war patrol records for number of ships sunk in a single patrol. O'Kane claimed 8 ships at the time but post war analysis increased this to 10 ships. On one attack he had targeted 2 large ships with 3 torpedoes each and assumed 3 hits in each. Japanese records actually reported 2 hits in each with the 3rd of each spread hitting smaller ships in the next column. This surpassed the next highest patrol which was for the USS Wahoo, with O'Kane as XO, in the same area the year before.

He was captured by the Japanese when his boat was sunk in the Formosa Strait by its own flawed torpedo (running in a circle) during a surface night attack on October 24– October 25, 1944, wherein he lost all but eight of his crew, and was secretly (i.e. illegally) held prisoner until the war's end some ten months later. Following his release, Commander O'Kane was awarded the Medal of Honor for his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" during his submarine's final operations against Japanese shipping.

Commander Richard H. O'Kane being congratulated by President Harry S. Truman.

In the years following World War II, Commander O'Kane served with the Pacific Reserve Fleet as Commanding Officer of the submarine tender Pelias (AS-14), testified at Japanese war crimes trials, was Executive Officer of the submarine tender Nereus (AS-17) and was Commander Submarine Division 32. He was a student at the Armed Forces Staff College in 1950–51 and was subsequently assigned to the Submarine School at New London, Connecticut, initially as an instructor and, in 1952–53, as the Officer in Charge.

Promoted to the rank of Captain in July 1953, O'Kane commanded the submarine tender Sperry (AS-12) until June 1954 and then became Commander Submarine Squadron Seven. Following studies at the Naval War College in 1955–56, he served in Washington, D.C., with the Ship Characteristics Board. Captain O'Kane retired from active duty in July 1957 and, on the basis of his extensive combat awards, was simultaneously advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral on the Retired List.

In 1998, the Aegis class, guided missile destroyer USS O'Kane (DDG-77) was named in honor of Rear Admiral O'Kane. He wrote books about his service on the Wahoo and Tang, called Wahoo & Clear the Bridge.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, O'Kane received three Navy Crosses, three Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit with "V" device for valor, the Purple Heart and several other decorations.

[edit] Books He Wrote

Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang by Richard 'Dick' O'Kane
Random House paperback re-released in 1996.
Wahoo: The Patrols of America's Most Famous World War II Submarine by Richard 'Dick' O'Kane
Random House paperback re-released in 1996.