The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-09-18
II. F0LTA'5 SUB TAXES BIG TOLL
 OF NIP VESSELS
Undersea Officer on Leave Here Relates Pacific
 War Experiences

short visit after he had helped to kick tte Japs off the Aleutian Islands, It. George Folta, Jr, USN, today related some of the hazards of underseas combat
 It. Folta, son of Interior Depart ment Counsel and Mrs. George Fol- ta, arrived here from Annette Island late yesterday aboard the steamer Columbia. He flew as far north, as Annette by Navy plane, and is here on 30-day leave following which he is to report back to San Francisco for assignment.
 Graduated from Annapolis just a week after Pearl Harbor, It. Folta is an officer in the regular Navy, so is not looking to a discharge. What he is looking forwad to is being joined by his Australian bride of approximately six months, who so far has been unable to get trans portation to this country. He hopes to have her with him at his next post.
 It. Folta has applied for admission to Massachusetts Institute of Tech nology for further studies in con- nection with his Navy career.
 Sa10 Destroyer Action
 It. Folta's first combat assign ment was to the destroyer Aylwin. Aboard that vessel, as Gunnery Off, cer, he participated in raids on the Marshall Islands, Wake, Marcus Island, Bouganville and the Bonins, among others. The Aylwin took part in the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and in several engagements off Guadalcanal, Santa Cruz and the Solomon Islands.
 Later, It. Foltas ship was assigned to patrol duty between Attu and Japan and participated in the battle of the Kommandorski Islands - from which the Jap fleet retreated after heavily damaging the U. S. Cruiser Salt Lake City. The Ayl win also took part in smelling Attu and Kiska and in the Aleutians campaign.
 His application for submarine duty accepted, in June, 1943, It. Folta attended Submarine School at New London, Conn.,, for three months, then was assigned to the submarine Bluegill, his home for the rest of the war.
 Assigned to BluegiH
 Aboard the Bluegill he was Tor pedo and Gunnery Officer. The Bluegill was sent to action in the South Pacific and first operated out of Milne Bay on the South eastern tip of New Guinea. She next was based at Perth, Australia, where It. Folta met and married his bride. Later stations for the Bluegill were Marcus Island, Biak and finally Subic Bay-following the conquest of Manila.
 The Bluegills list of victims in- cludes II sunk Jap warships, nine merchantmen and the capture of Pratas Island in the South China Sea- She is credited with sinking the last Nip ship attempting to run the blockade along the South China Coast with war supplies for Japan.
 The Bluegill did not come through her battles unscathed. On several occasions she was heavily bombed and in common with her sister un- dersea craft was the target of con- centrated attack every time her course was charted through Macas- sar Straits or one of the other pass es through the Dutch East Indies enroute to her hunting grounds. In particular, Allied submarines were the prime objectives of Nipponese subs
 Often the Bluegill returned to her base with her plates dented and buckled, deck guns torn loose or with other damage-once with serious leak in a forward compartment which set the crew to form a bucket brigade in order to keep the vessel trimmed.
 Depth Bomb Attacks
 Near misses by depth bombs re- suited in sub plunged into com plete darkness with all lights shat tered, glass in instruments broken and torpedo tubes put out of action. At the moment of the explosion, hatch covers sometimes would be lifted to that the bluish flash of the exploding bomb could be seen through the opening. On occasions control of the vessel was made diffi- cult by damage to stabilizing fins.
 once, in company with two other U s. Submarines, the Bluegill wiped out an entire Jap convoy bound from Formosa to the Jap Naval base at Brunei Bay, Borneo.
 Manila Bay Battle It. Folta declared the most form idable opposition put up by the Japs against American submarines was at the mouth of Manila Bay during the Leyte campaign. During that action, the Bluegill, with other underwater craft, hovered off the alouth of Manila Bay and took heavy toll of Jap shipping.
 Although the nervous strain of an attack by depth bombs while aboard quarry seeking to hide 400 feet