The tomb-like silence that reigned in the conning tower was suddenly shattered by a series of explosions. “Depth Charges! Depth Charges!” exclaimed one of the quartermasters.
“Depth Charges, Hell,” said the Captain.
Those are Darter torpedoes, and she is getting her licks into the Jap fleet.”
It was 0532 in the morning of October 23, 1944. The above was part of the conversation that took place in the conning tower of the U.S.S. Dace, Submarine 247, as the first shot in the Battle for Leyte Gulf was fired by her sistership in the wolfpack, the U.S.S. Darter.
The Dace and the Darter had left their forward base on October 3, 1944, on the second phase of a scheduled fifty-five day war patrol. Their destination was Palawan Passage, the body of water lying between the island of Palawan and that shoal-infested area of the South China Sea known as the Dangerous Ground. Their mission was to guard the passage; to report all contacts; and to attack enemy ships.
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