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Notable events involving Apogon include:

The history of USS Apogon as compiled on this page is extracted from her patrol reports.

This page was last updated in May 2015.

9 Aug 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) begins a period of trials and training off Portsmouth.

27 Aug 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Portsmouth for Newport for torpedo trials.

30 Aug 1943
With her torpedo trials completed USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Newport for New London.

13 Sep 1943
With her initial trials and training completed USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from New London bound for the Panama Canal Zone.

21 Sep 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived at Coco Solo.

25 Sep 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) transits the Panama Canal.

26 Sep 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Balboa bound for Pearl Harbour.

11 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbour. Voyage repairs were made during 11 to 15 October. On 16 October she commenced final training lasting till 31 October.

18 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Pearl Harbour for exercises.

20 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. After a few hours in port she departed again for the exercise area.

22 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour.

23 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Pearl Harbour for the exercise area.

24 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

25 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

27 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

28 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

30 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

31 Oct 1943
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. She then underwent a short repair period before proceeding on her 1st war patrol.

3 Nov 1943
Around 1200VW/3, USS Searaven (T/Lt.Cdr. M.H. Dry, USN) and USS Apogon (T/Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for their 9th and 1st war patrols respectively. They were ordered to patrol in the Eastern Caroline Islands and the shipping lanes between Truk and Kwajalein respectively. They were escorted out until 1900VW/3, by USS PC-584 (Lt.(jg) A.W. Bartlett, USNR). Before proceeding to their patrol areas they were to top off with fuel at Johnston Island. (1)

3 Nov 1943

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during her 1st war patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

5 Nov 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) refuels at Johnston Island.

13 Nov 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) enters her patrol area.

14 Nov 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) makes a torpedo attack on a Japanese convoy North-East of Truk in position 08°12'N, 154°10'E. All torpedoes fired missed their targets.

(All times zone L, -11)
1004 hours - Sighted smoke bearing 058°. Commenced approach.

1032 hours - Identified the targets as two merchant vessels. The were zig zagging on courses between 180 and 260°.

1059 hours - Sighted a Fubuki-class destroyer patrolling astern and on the quarters of the two merchant vessels.

1127 hours - Fired 6 torpedoes, three at each of the merchant vessels, thought to be of 7000 and 5200 tons. Range was 2100 and 2800 yards. Shortly after firing the leading merchant vessel (7000 tons) was seen to turn away and the destroyer closed so the torpedo wakes must have been sighted. Went deep.

1130 hours - Heard a torpedo explosion, possibly a hit on the second, smaller, merchant vessel.

1131 hours - The destroyer dropped the first pattern of depth charges (7 or 8). It was not close.

1140 hours - The destroyer dropped the second pattern of depth charges (8). They were closer than the first pattern.

1148 hours - The destroyer dropped the third pattern of depth charges, this pattern was even closer. The destroyer continued to make runs overhead but did not drop more depth charges.

1428 hours - Came to periscope depth. Sighted the destroyer bearing 180°, range about 6 nautical miles.

1455 hours - The destroyer was now out of sight.

1903 hours - Surfaced and sent a contact report.

25 Nov 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) attacks a Japanese merchant vessel with 3 torpedoes about 30 nautical miles East-North-East of Truk in position 07°38'N, 152°39'E. A hit is claimed.

(All times zone L, -11)
0407 hours - SJ Radar contact bearing 054°, range 20300 yards. From range and size of the pip concluded that this must be a large target. Commenced approach.

0430 hours - Picked up the sound of heavy screws and one set of light fast screws. Target was now bearing 044°, range 8500 yards, speed 9.5 knots. Course was between 250 and 300° and the target was zig zagging.

0435 hours - Sighted smoke and then the target.

0450 hours - Fired 3 torpedoes at the target, now seen to be a 2500 tons merchant vessel. Range was 1800 yards.

0452 hours - Saw one of the torpedoes hit about 40 feet inside the bow of the target. Saw a red glow followed by a large cloud of grey smoke. The target was seen to swing about 100° to starboard. The sound picked up high speed screws verified by radar at a range of 3000 yards. The escort had evidently been on the opposite side of the target. Turned away and made off at speed on all 4 engines.

0455 hours - Heard 6 explosions, most likely depth charges.

0506 hours - Target was now at 9000 yards bearing 310°. She was still smoking but another attack was not possible due to the proximity of Truk and approaching daylight.

4 Dec 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary gunboat Daido Maru (2962 GRT, built 1935) about 90 nautical miles north-east of Ponape in position 08°15'N, 159°06'E.

(All times zone L, -11)
1611 hours - SJ radar picked up a ship in the middle of a rain squall. Range 18200 yards, bearing 255°.

1613 hours - Sighted a ship in the rain squall.

1615 hours - Dived and commenced approach.

1630 hours - Sighted masts bearing 260°.

1650 hours - Sighted 2 merchant vessels both of about 3000 tons.

1722 hours - Sighted escort vessel patrolling astern and on quarters of the merchants.

1745 hours - Fired 3 torpedoes at the leading merchant vessel thought to be a naval auxiliary. Range was 1150 yards. Heard and saw 2 hits. The first hit seemed to blow off the stern, the second hit was near the foremast. Heard the escort speed up so went deep. The target was heard to sink.

1751 hours - Heard the first of a series of 16 depth charges being dropped. None were close.

1827 hours - The last depth charge was dropped.

1920 hours - Returned to 35 feet and did a radar sweep. Nothing in sight. Stayed submerged while reloading the torpedo tubes.

2100 hours - Surfaced.

In the patrol report of Apogon Lt.Cdr. Schoeni identifies this target as Daido Maru in which he was quite correct.

13 Dec 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from her patrol area for Midway.

18 Dec 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) ended her 1st war patrol at Midway. She commenced refit by USS Bushnell.

24 Dec 1943
While refitting at Midway after her 1st was patrol USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is damaged when another vessel came alongside in rough weather. She had to be docked to repair damage to her port propeller, therefore she had to proceed to Pearl Harbour.

26 Dec 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Midway for Pearl Harbour.

31 Dec 1943
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived at Pearl Harbour.

1 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is docked at Pearl Harbour.

5 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is undocked.

10 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Pearl Harbour for the exercise area.

11 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

11 Jan 1944
During 11/12 January 1944, USS Searaven (T/Lt.Cdr. M.H. Dry, USN) and USS Apogon (T/Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbour with USS Greenlet (Lt. J.T. Hodgson, Jr., USNR). (2)

15 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Mariana Islands area.

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

19 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived off Midway. Due to the rough weather she is unable to enter the harbour. The next day shows no improvement in the weather so Lt.Cdr. Schoeni decided to proceed to the patrol area without topping off with fuel and provisions.

30 Jan 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived in her patrol area off Saipan.

1 Feb 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) attacks a Japanese convoy about 60 nautical miles East-South-East of Saipan in position 14°40'N, 146°42'E. Two ships are claimed sunk. Nothing can be found in Japanese records substantiating this claim.

(All times are zone K, -10)
1907 hours (31 January) - SJ Radar contact bearing 317°, range 28000 yards. It was first thought to be land but it developed into a 6 ship convoy on a base course of 115°. As the moon was bright decided to track the convoy from about 16000 yards.

0005 hours (1 February) - The moon had set now and rain squalls made a dark night. Went to battle stations and commenced approach. The convoy was observed to be made up of 2 columns of 3 ships each. There were 3 escorts present.

0120 hours - Commenced approach from the port bow. The leading ship of the port column was observed to be a large ship. It was the plan to fire 3 torpedoes at the leading ship, 3 at the second, then swing round and fire 2 stern torpedoes at any target available.

0146 hours - In position 14°40'N, 146°42'E fired 3 torpedoes at the leading ship of the port column. Range was 2600 yards. Shortly before firing the convoy had zigged towards so Apogon had to retire at speed as not to be sighted.

0147 hours - The first torpedo was seen to hit the target resulting in a tremendous explosion. Apogon meanwhile passed 1000 yards ahead of the port escort. Swung around to put the second target astern.

0153 hours - Fired 4 stern torpedoes at the second ship of the port column. Range was 2700 yards. Apogon now went to flank speed to clear the area. One of the escorts dropped 14 depth charges in Apogons wake. 3 Minutes after firing the target fired a red flare. About 20 minutes later a tremendous explosion was seen in the area of this target.

0200 hours - One of the lookouts reported that the stern of the first target was sticking out of the water at a sharp angle. Lt.Cdr. Schoeni decided to track the convoy for a while and to attack submerged at dawn.

0530 hours - Dived and commenced approach.

0620 hours - Sighted smoke bearing 277°.

0644 hours - Sighted 3 merchant vessels and 3 escorts.

0730 hours - The leading escort was seen to hoist a 2 letter signal and gave zero angle on the bow. It appeared we had been sighted. Range was 2000 yards. Prepared 3 torpedoes for a down the throat shot on this escort, thought to be an Otori class torpedo boat.

0732 hours - Raised the periscope to find out that nothing could be seen due to the rain. When the rain cleared 10 minutes later it was seen that the convoy had turned away. The escort was seen 4000 yards away and was no longer in contact.

29 Feb 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from her patrol area.

9 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) ended her 2nd war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was escorted in by USS PC-578.

15 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is docked at Pearl Harbour.

19 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is undocked.

26 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed Pearl Harbour for the exercise area.

27 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

29 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. Later the same day she departed again for the exercise area.

31 Mar 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returned to Pearl Harbour. She then underwent a short repair period before proceeding on her 3rd war patrol.

2 Apr 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Japanese home waters.

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

4 Apr 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W. P. Schoeni, USN) refuels at Johnston Island.

4 Apr 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) topped up with fuel and provisions at Johnston Island.

5 Apr 1944
On board USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) a member of the crew is injured. Cdr. Schoeni decided to return to Johnston Island for medical treatment.

6 Apr 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) returns to Johnston Island to land the injured crewmember. A replacement is taken on board and Apogon is topped off with fuel again. She departed from after only 2.5 hours.

16 Apr 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) arrived in her patrol area.

15 May 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from her patrol area.

21 May 1944
At 1600 hours (zone -11), USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN), made rendez-vous with USS Burden R. Hastings (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Fay, USNR) that escorted her towards Majuro.

22 May 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) ended her 3rd war patrol at Majuro.

8 Jun 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) conducted post refit trials of Majuro. Her port shaft showed excessive vibration. Inspection by divers showed one bent blade and one blade badly nicked. No drydock was available and the propeller was replaced while waterborne.

14 Jun 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) conducted exercises off Majuro.

15 Jun 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) conducted exercises off Majuro.

18 Jun 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) conducted exercises off Majuro.

19 Jun 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) departed from Majoro for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Luzon Strait together with USS Thresher (Cdr. D.C. MacMillan, USN), USS Guardfish (Cdr. N.G. Ward, USN) and USS Piranha (Lt.Cdr. H.E. Ruble, USN).

Apogon was escorted out until 0300/20 by USS Cloues (Lt.Cdr. T.K. Dunstan, USNR).

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

12 Jul 1944
While attacking a Japanese convoy off the north coast of Luzon, Philippines, USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) is damaged when she is rammed by (most likely) the Japanese merchant Mayasan Maru in position 19°11'N, 122°38'E. Apogon is forced to terminate her patrol.

The convoy attacked was made up of the landing craft depot and repair ship Tamatsu Maru (9589 GRT, built 1943), the army cargo ships / merchants Kashii Maru (6825 GRT, built 1936), Tozan Maru (6500 GRT, built 1938), Nissho Maru (6526 GRT, built 1939), Mayasan Maru (9433 GRT, built 1942), Mizuho Maru (8506 GRT, built 1912), Arabia Maru (9480 GRT, built 1918) and the tanker Nichiran Maru (6503 GRT, built 1939). They were escorted by the corvettes Kaibokan 11, Kaibokan 20, Kaibokan 26 and Kaibokan 28 and submarine chaser Ch-28 (all offsite links).

(All times are zone I, -9)
11 July 1944
2239 hours - Received a convoy report from USS Thresher. Set course to intercept.

2314 hours - In position 19°51'N, 123°04'E made SJ contact bearing 273°, range 29800 yards. Went to full speed on all four engines to get ahead and cross to the starboard flank.

2345 hours - Guardfish reported she was also in contact.

12 July 1944
0046 hours - Sighted ship bearing 270°, range 8500 yards. This ship was about 5 nautical miles ahead of the convoy and was first thought to be Thresher. When range was closed to 6900 yards it was seen to be an escort vessel. Opened out the range.

0207 hours - Received orders for a coordinated attack on the convoy.

0227 hours - Reversed course for an approach on the convoy. Dived 17000 yards ahead of the convoy as there were two escorts.

0240 hours - Passed submerged between the two escorts that were heard pinging. The convoy could now be seen to be in three columns. The port column was seen to contain three merchant vessels as was the centre column. Apogon was dead ahead of the starboard column that contained two merchants. Planned to fire 6 bow torpedoes at the leading ship in the centre column and then fire the stern tubes at the starboard column.

0255 hours - Swung right for the attack on the centre column.

0304 hours - In position 19°11'N, 122°38'E commenced firing 6 bow torpedoes from 2000 yards. No explosions were heard after the expected running range. Shortly afterwards 3 explosions were heard with 8 to 10 second intervals. It was thought possible that hits were obtained in the far port column.

One of the merchants in the centre column must have seen the periscope as he had turned towards and was now very close. Apogon went deep but none the less she was rammed. Water entered the conning tower through the periscope and the SJ mast fitting. A few seconds later the first of seven depth charges went off. The first two were very close. Apogon went as deep as 430 feet. Despite 4 escorts in the area she managed to slip away.

Repairs were done during the day and Apogon surfaced at 2042 hours when it was found that all periscopes and the radar mast were bent at an angle of 47°. Patrol had to be abandoned and coourse was set towards Pearl Harbour.

19 Jul 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) set course towards Midway as one of her crew suffered from appendicitis.

22 Jul 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) makes a short call at Midway for some minor repairs and medical examination of a crewmember.

26 Jul 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. W.P. Schoeni, USN) ended her 4th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was escorted in by USS PC 1080. She then underwent battle damage repairs at the Pearl Harbour Navy Yard as of July 30th.

12 Sep 1944
With her repairs completed USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House, Jr., USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 5th war patrol, and was ordered to patrol off the Kurile Islands.

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

16 Sep 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House, Jr., USN) arrived at Midway for fuel and provision. Also some minor repairs were made.

17 Sep 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House, Jr., USN) departed from Midway for her patrol area.

23 Sep 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House, Jr., USN) sank the Japanese guard boat Choyo Maru No.6 (400 GRT) with gunfire about 800 nautical miles east of Honshu, Japan in position 34°57'N, 154°44'E.

(All times are zone -10 (K) )
1600 hours - Sighted a trawler type patrol vessel on the horizon bearing 296° through the high periscope. Manned surface battle stations and closed full speed on all 4 engines.

1620 hours - Attempted to open fire with the 4" gun from a range of 5000 yards. There were 3 misfires in a row from the ready ammunition locker. Continued to close to 3500 yards and opened fire with the 40mm and 20mm guns. The 20mm gun however soon jammed. Opened up the range to investigate the gun failures.

1649 hours - Closed again after bringing up 4" ammunition from below. At 4000 yards commenced firing the 4" gun followed soon by the 40mm and 20mm guns. The enemy was also firing but at ....

1710 hours - The enemy was hit aft. The hit started a big fire. The target soon began to settle.

1735 hours - The after ended of the target exploded.

1741 hours - The target was seen to sink. Shortly before radar interference was picked up. Decided to leave the area and not to search for survivors.

In all 96 rounds of 4", 320 rounds of 40mm, 90 rounds of 20mm and 25 rounds of .30 were used in this action.

27 Sep 1944
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Hachirogata Maru (1999 GRT, built 1944) in the Sea of Okhotsk off Shimushir Island in position 46°32'N, 146°48'E.

(All times are zone -10 (K) )
0411 hours - In position 46°27'N, 147°17'E obtained contact with SJ radar bearing 334°, range 15000 yards. Went to battle stations and commenced tracking and closing. It turned out to be a single unescorted target.

0552 hours - Fired three torpedoes from 1580 yards. Two hits were obtained.

0555 hours - The target was stopped.

0600 hours - SJ radar lost contact with the target. Loud breaking up noises were heard during this time. Apogon then turned towards the scene of the sinking to search for wreckage. Plenty of wreckage was seen as well as survivors. Two were picked up and Apogon then cleared the area.

23 Oct 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed her patrol area and set course towards Midway.

28 Oct 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) ended her 5th war patrol at Midway.

20 Nov 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed from Midway for her 6th war patrol. Once again she was ordered to patrol off the Kuril Islands.

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below. As no deck log is available (for the moment) positions were taken from the patrol report. Unfortunately the patrol report does not give daily noon positions.

19 Dec 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) attacked and damaged a Japanese ship thought to be a tanker in the Sea of Okhotsk.

(All times are zone -10 (K) )
19 December 1944
1910 hours - In position 49°03'N, 149°16'E obtained a radar contact bearing 004°, range 8700 yards. Commenced tracking.

1947 hours - Sighted the target bearing 070°.

1951 hours - Heard echo ranging from the targets direction. Commenced working to the northward of the target. Unable to pick up an escort on radar but for sure there must be one.

2037 hours - Made the torpedo tubes ready except for opening the outer doors. Still no escort was seen. The target was medium seize and had lines of a tanker with engines aft.

2041 hours - Finally sighted the escort on the port bow of the target.

2049 hours - In position 49°33'N, 149°40'E fired four torpedoes from about 3000 yards.

2051 hours - Obtained one hit on the target.

2102 hours - Saw a flash coming from the target.

2120 hours - Started to return to the firing point.

2147 hours - Back at the targets position at the time of firing. A heavy oil slick was covering a wide area. It was now thought the target has sunk but non the less continued to search for her.

20 December 1944
0512 hours - Obtained radar contact bearing 331°, range 9000 yards. There goes the claim for the target being sunk.

0521 hours - Again heard echo ranging. One escort was on the targets starboard bow.

0710 hours - Submerged 10 miles ahead of the target and started attack.

0800 hours - Two exlosions were heard close by immediately followed by another close exlosion. These must have been bombs dropped by an aircraft. Immediately went to 450 feet and rigged for depth charges and went to silent running.

0829 hours - The escort had now closed and dropped 5 depth charges but they were not very close.

1050 hours - Came up for a look. The target was seen but also an aircraft was patrolling the area so Apogon was unable to surface and chase. Abandoned the attack.

28 Dec 1944
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed her patrol area for Midway.

1 Jan 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) arrived at Midway.

2 Jan 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed Midway for Pearl Harbor.

5 Jan 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) ended her 6th war patrol at Pearl Harbor. She was escorted in by USS PC 485.

7 Jan 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed Pearl Harbour for the Mare Island Navy Yard where she was to be refitted.

15 Jan 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard.

4 May 1945
With her refit and trials completed USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed the Mare Island Navy Yard for Pearl Harbour.

11 May 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) arrived at Pearl Harbour. A period of training now followed before Apogon would be sent on another war patrol.

28 May 1945
USS Apogon (T/Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) and USS Manta (T/Lt.Cdr. E.P. Madley, USN) departed from Pearl Harbor for their 7th war patrol and 1st war patrol respectively. They were both ordered to patrol off the Kuril Islands. En-route to the patrol area they were to call at Midway to top of with fuel.

They were escorted out until 2000VW/28, by USS PC-486 (Lt. R.B. Whitney, USNR).

28 May 1945

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below.

1 Jun 1945
Around 0930X/1, USS Apogon (T/Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) and USS Manta (T/Lt.Cdr. E.P. Madley, USN) arrived at Midway from Pearl Harbour.

2 Jun 1945
After voyage repairs and taking on board fuel and provisions USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed Midway for her patrol area.

18 Jun 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) torpedoed and sank the Japanese army cargo ship Hakuai Maru (2636 GRT, built 1898) and the Japanese guardboat Kusonoki Maru no.2 south-west of Paramushiro, Kuril Islands in position 50°30'N, 155°01'E. These ships were escorted by the Japanese submarine chaser Ch-15 and three smaller escort vessels.

(All times are zone -10 (K) )
2110 hours - In position 50°39'N, 155°05'E obtained radar contact bearing 075°, range 17000 yards. Commenced tracking.

2137 hours - Sent contact report to USS Cabezon (Cdr. G.W. Lautrup, Jr., USN) and USS Dace (Cdr. O.R. Cole, Jr., USN). There were now 6 pips on the screen.

2320 hours - Went in for the attack.

2327 hours - In position in position 50°30'N, 155°01'E commenced firing 6 torpedoes. The first three torpedoes were fired at the two merchant ships that were overlapping. Range was 2150 yards. The last three torpedoes were fired at the closest escort vessel. Range was 1500 yards. It is thought a total of four hits were obtained. All three torpedoes fired at the merchant ships hit as well as one torpedo fired at the escort vessel.

2332 hours - Commenced firing the four stern torpedoes. The last torpedo did not leave the tube. The three torpedoes that were fired all hit the leading merchant vessel of the two that had been overlapping. Now out of torpedoes in the tubes Apogon retired from the area.

2 Jul 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) damaged the Japanese auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 58 and Cha 65 with gunfire off the Kuril Islands in position 49°28'N, 154°19'E.

(All times are zone -10 (K) )
0210 hours - In position obtained radar contact on two small ships bearing 045°, range 8300 yards. Commenced tracking.

0219 hours - Enemy course 210°, range now 6400 yards.

0238 hours - Range now 4090 yards, visibility 500 yards. It was thought the targets may be fishing vessels. Decided to wait for daybreak and attack with the gun.

0300 yards - Range now 4770 yards.

0314 hours - Headed for the targets, manned the guns.

0316 hours - Sighted the targets at a range of 3000 yards when the fog suddenly lifted.

0320 hours - Opened fire with the forward 40mm and 20mm machine guns.

0321 hours - Range was now 2200 yards. Swinging to bring the 5" gun to bear. The targets were returning fire with automatic weapons. Closed the range to 820 yards. The 5" gun had problems with the ammo supply and with this gun out of action Apogon was outgunned by the enemy which had turned out to be patrol vessels.

0327 hours - Broke off the action and turned stern on the enemy. Apogon had been hit several times. One of the enemy ships had been badly damaged and was down by the stern. The other one had also been hit but was not badly damaged and kept on firing on Apogon.

0329 hours - Heard an explosion. Apogon had been hit again. A low pressure blow was started up and air was heard escaping. With airfields nearby decided to break of the action.

0358 hours - Lost sight of the targets at a range of 8000 yards.

0637 hours - Submerged. A leak was dicovered in the bridge but it was not serious.

10 Jul 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed her patrol area to return to Midway.

14 Jul 1945
USS Apogon (Lt.Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) ended her 7th war patrol at Midway.

7 Aug 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed from Midway for her 8th war patrol. She was ordered to proceed to Saipan before proceeding to her patrol area near Marcus Island.

For the daily and attack positions of USS Apogon during this patrol see the map below.

12 Aug 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) was ordered to proceed directly to her patrol area.

15 Aug 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) arrived off Marcus Island. A few hours later she received a signal informing her that the was had ended. She remained on patrol.

27 Aug 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed her patrol area for Pearl Harbour and onward routing to San Diego.

2 Sep 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) ended her 8th war patrol at Pearl Harbor.

4 Sep 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) departed Pearl Harbour for San Diego.

11 Sep 1945
USS Apogon (Cdr. A.C. House Jr., USN) arrived at San Diego. She was escorted in by USS PC-815. While entering the San Diego Channel PC-815 was rammed and sunk in thick fog by the destroyer USS Laffey. Apogon picked up 28 survivors.

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