Hellcats (40 page)

Nonetheless, it's important to remember that, regardless of the various reasons for Operation Barney's existence, nothing can diminish in any way the stature and integrity of Admiral Lockwood—Uncle Charlie—and his devotion to his service and his men. And nothing can diminish what the heroic Hellcats achieved during one of the most dangerous and daring operations of World War II.

 

 

Charles Lockwood addressed many of
the issues surrounding Operation Barney in a book he wrote in 1951 entitled
Sink 'Em All
. A memoir of the submarine war, the book provides a broad overview of that war from Lockwood's perspective as ComSubPac. He describes Operation Barney, though not in detail, and pays a special tribute to Lawrence Edge. Four years later, Lockwood wrote the full story of Operation Barney, from its inception to its execution, in a book entitled
Hellcats of the Sea
. As he did in
Sink 'Em All
, he paid tribute to Edge, this time devoting a full chapter to the
Bonefish
. There are no revelations in
Hellcats of the Sea
, but Lockwood does admit to his desire to extact revenge on the Japanese for the loss of Morton and the
Wahoo
. He inscribed a copy of his book to Sarah Edge as follows: “To Sarah as a small tribute to the memory of a gallant submariner, Lawrence Lott Edge—God rest his soul.”

Lockwood retired from the Navy in 1947. He moved to Los Gatos, California, living in a home he named “Twin Dolphins.” In retirement he devoted himself to local civic issues, writing about submarines, lecturing, and hunting. He witnessed the revolution in submarine design and technology he had anticipated with the launching in 1954 of the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS
Nautilus
(SSN-571), and, in 1960, the deployment of the first ballistic missile-firing sub, the USS
George Washington
(SSBN-598). For Lockwood, those magnificent ships were the fulfillment of what he'd envisioned back in the dark ages of submarining: true submarines endowed with unlimited submerged endurance, high underwater speed, and deep-diving capabilities, and armed with powerful torpedoes and missiles.

Lockwood died in 1967 and is buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California. Had Uncle Charlie lived to see photographs of the sunken
Wahoo
and the other recently discovered subs, he might not have believed his eyes. Then again, as an old submarine sailor, he knew that anything was possible, even that with time, the sea would give up its secrets. (Photos of the wrecks of the discovered submarines can be viewed on Google Images.)

Lockwood's right-hand man, the brilliant Richard G. Voge, after serving as operations officer of ComSubPac, joined the staff of CNO Nimitz. Voge took on another of Lockwood's pet projects, an official administrative and operational history of the submarine force. After completing this massive work, Voge retired from the Navy in 1946 with the rank of rear admiral. He died in 1948. The histories Voge compiled were never published as originally planned but instead became the massive volume entitled
United States Submarine Operations in World War II
, published in 1949 by the United States Naval Institute.

Chester W. Nimitz, the Navy's last fleet admiral, retired in 1947. He died in 1966 and, like Lockwood, is buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California. The Navy's current fleet of
Nimitz
-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are named in his honor.

Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King retired in 1945 after relinquishing his post as CNO to Admiral Nimitz. King died in Kittery, Maine, in 1956.

Captain Earl T. Hydeman, commander of Hydeman's Hellcats, died in 1993. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sarah Edge, accompanied by her daughter, Sarah (Boo), and her son, Lawrence Jr., sponsored the
Bonefish II
(SS-582), launched on November 22, 1958, at New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey. The
Bonefish II
, a diesel-electric-powered
Barbel
-class submarine, was one of the last of its type in the U.S. Navy. The Navy decommissioned her in 1988.

Sarah Edge maintained an active life in Atlanta society and wrote a biography of her grandfather, entrepreneur and developer Joel Hurt. Years later she remarried and enjoyed her six grandchildren, who now have children of their own. Sarah died in 1985.

 

 

Most, but not all, of
the Hellcat submariners are dead now. Operation Barney itself, the most daring submarine raid of all time, is largely forgotten. Though the
Bonefish
and her crew rest in the deep waters of the Sea of Japan, they and the men of the
Sea Dog
,
Crevalle
,
Spadefish
,
Tunny
,
Skate
,
Flying Fish
,
Bowfin,
^ag
and
Tinosa
are toasted, as are all the subs and submariners of World War II, but especially those on eternal patrol, whenever and wherever submarine veterans gather to remember what their comrades did when they were Hellcats.

No totals are shown for the
Tunny
, as she sank no ships. The
Spadefish
sank the Russian
Transbalt
, an 11,400-ton cargo ship. The Hellcats also sank more than a dozen small craft by gunfire.