American submarines in the Artic and the Caribbean during World War Two
 

I have a question that I have been trying to answer for some time and no luck. However I have a feeling some of the folks here could help find some answers. There was grandfather like figure that my dad spent a lot of time with when he was younger. He started out in Pearl Harbor however during the attack his ship was sunk. He said he was the only survivor and attempted to pull out as many of comrades as he could however the fire was too hot. I'm not sure were I could find out were there could be ship that had only "one" crew member remaining. After that he became submariner however what I can never figure out is his story's the Artic and chasing U-boats? No I am not making a satire post either, that's what was said. Spoke about having to use torpedo's to break ice and being chased by them. Now as far as I know there was short time were some subs went to Norway and such however it was very short. The next one is were I got stuck, US subs in the Caribbean during World War Two chasing U-boats. I could not find anything.... nothing... so I was thinking maybe the story's were not true or at least half truth. He had also spoke of mermaids helping him through a minefield and to an island. He also had tattoos of these mermaids and even had names for them. Crazy story however the seas are strange place. I am dying to know more about this and I have a lot time looking and looking and to no avail. The man was said to be very vague and rarely spoke about his time in the war. He said he was a machinist and spent most of time in the Navy. I did find some of his records and he was indeed in the Navy during World War Two other than that there was not much to be found. I would just like to know if such things could have happened and maybe what submarine he was on.

yes, it may difficult to find information on someone who served in such a unique capacity 80 years ago, especially if you do not have a ship name to track.

Clay Blair does not mention any US Sub action east of Hawaii so you are out-of-luck using his excellent history.

here are some resources, if you want to do more reading:

Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) ISBN 1-55750-452-0 pp.7–18
Schenia, Robert L. (1987), Latin America: A Naval History 1810–1987, Annapolis, Maryland, United States: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-295-8
United States Submarine Operations in World War II Hardcover, Theodore Roscoe ISBN 978-0870217319
i used to have this last one on my book shelves but it seems to have disapperated, so i cannot use it as a reference.



this is an online article with some highlights on German Uboat actions. i did not read it through but there may be nuggets of US reactions.
https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=276
this is an online document authored by the Army and it could have some references to USN actions.
https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/guard-us/ch16.htm
this reference may be the best of the lot but you have to register (free) and read it online or pay to download it. there are no search capabilities.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26098451

this should keep you occupied for 10 or 15 minutes. (lol)
good luck in your journey!

Thank you! Looks like great stuff that could help!

"The naval forces available for purposes of local defense were, like the Army garrison, concentrated in the Panama area, where Rear Adm. F. H. Sadler, Commander Panama Naval Coastal Frontier, had at his disposal a small and motley force of patrol planes, submarines, and subchasers. For "heavy" units, Admiral Sadler had two old destroyers and a gunboat, and the rest of his command consisted of 6 submarines, 3 converted yachts, 5 subchasers, 1 mine sweeper, and 12 patrol planes with their tender."

Soooo yes there may have been some but not many. If anyone has (public) records to names of sailors his name was Conrad Sonanders. I can't find much about him but mabey someone here could. I just really want to know how much of this hogwash and how much is true.

My dad can't quite remember when he died but it was about late 1980s and he died in West Liberty Ohio

Yup! That's them!

A year or two back I found one page about his navy service. Very very vague but it did state his service. I am now unable to find it, the page I think was pretty dated and I can't remember the name of it. After the war he worked in shipped yards as a machinist if that helps any.

Yes, the site was blue and cream with black and white photos in the background.