On this day in 1943, Owensboro-native and commander of the submarine USS Wahoo(SS-238), “Mush” Morton goes down with his ship near the Japanese island of Hokkaido. He was the commander of this submarine on it’s 3rd thru 7th patrols. Initially, he was assigned the highly dangerous task of penetrating the Sea of Japan and was reported ‘missing in action’ in December when his submarine was presumed lost. It wasn’t until after the war that the fate and date was found among Japanese records.
On October 11th, his submarine was attacked with depth charges after being found by Japanese anti-submarine aircraft. It was one of the most-celebrated submarines in the world of World War II. The Wahoo sank at least 19 Japanese ships, more than any other submarine.
