Charles A . Lockwood Charles Andrews Lockwood ( 6 May 1890 – 7 June 1967 ) was an admiral of the United States Navy . He is known in submarine history as the legendary commander of Submarine Force Pacific Fleet during World War II . He devised tactics for the effective use of submarines , making the members and elements of " silent service " key players in the Pacific victory . Early life and career . Lockwood was born in Midland , Virginia on 6 May 1890 , and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in the class of 1912 . Following brief cruises aboard the battleships USS " Mississippi " ( BB - 23 ) and USS " Arkansas " ( BB - 33 ) , and a short tour as instructor in the Naval Training Station , Great Lakes , in September 1914 he reported to the tender USS " Mohican " for indoctrination in submarines . Submarine commander , World War I and postwar era . By 1 December 1914 he had his first submarine command , " A - 2 " , followed by " B - 1 " . American entry into World War I found him in command of Submarine Division 1 , Asiatic Fleet . From that time , with the exception of a tour on the Asiatic station where he commanded gunboat s " Quiros " ( PG - 40 ) and " Elcano " ( PG - 38 ) on the Yangtze Patrol and the destroyer " Smith Thompson " ( DD - 212 ) , practically all his sea service was in and connected with submarines . In addition to those listed above are added " G - 1 " , " N - 5 " , " UC - 97 " ( ex - imperial German navy ) , " R - 25 " , " S - 14 " , and " Bonita " ( SS - 165 ) . World War II service . In June 1939 he became Chief of Staff to Commander Submarine Force , U . S . Fleet , on the cruiser " Richmond " ( CL - 9 ) . This important service was interrupted in February 1941 when he was sent to London as naval attaché and principal observer for submarines . Following promotion to rear admiral in May 1942 he arrived in Perth , Western Australia as Commander , Submarines , Southwest Pacific ( COMSUBSOWESPAC ) . Lockwood also acted as Commander Allied Naval Forces , Western Australia , until July 1942 , overseeing the major bases at Fremantle and Exmouth ( Codename " Potshot " ) , amongst others . In February 1943 , following the death of the COMSUBPAC , Rear Admiral Robert Henry English , in a plane crash in California , Lockwood was transferred to Pearl Harbor to become Commander , Submarines , Pacific Fleet ( COMSUBPAC ) , in which capacity he served the rest of the war , being promoted to vice admiral in October 1943 . Lockwood ' s strong leadership and devotion to his sailors won him the nickname " Uncle Charlie " . Submarine patrols were long voyages and many times the crew finishing up on " iron rations " of poor food as their food supplies ran out , so Lockwood made great strides in providing for rest and recuperation ( R & R ) for his sailors when they returned to port , such as two - week stays at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel , and crates of ice - cream and leafy vegetables to greet returning submarine crews . Lockwood oversaw the introduction into the Pacific Fleet of a few hundred newly constructed fleet submarines from American shipyards , and the manning of them with newly trained officers and men . Older boats , like the S - class , were removed from combat and sent back to the US for use in training or to be scrapped . He oversaw the moving forward of the Pacific Fleet submarine bases from Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , and Australia to places like Saipan - where a submarine tender was stationed for a period of time - Guam , the Admiralty Islands , and Subic Bay , the Philippines . This reduced the very long ocean voyages for American submarines , and steadily tightened the noose on Imperial Japanese supply lines , especially in the East China Sea and the South China Sea . He pushed the Navy ' s Bureau of Ships and Bureau of Ordnance to provide his men with the most effective submarines and torpedo es possible . He oversaw the tests that proved the unreliability of U . S . torpedoes , which at the time were often running too deep or failing to detonate , and prompted the improvements that made them the highly effective weapons they became in 1944 and 1945 . In fighting for better torpedoes Lockwood had to fight the Mark 14 torpedo and Mark VI exploder supporter Admiral Ralph Waldo Christie . Most importantly , Lockwood cleaned out the " dead wood " , replacing timid and unproductive submarine skippers with ( often ) younger and more aggressive officers . During the early stages of the Pacific War , US skippers were relatively complacent and docile , compared to their German counterparts who understood the " life and death " urgency in the Atlantic . There was plenty of room for error and cautious judgement since the Japanese did not take the US submarine threat seriously . In 1942 and early 1943 , US submarines proved little threat to Japanese warships and merchant ships alike . As a result of Lockwood ' s initiatives , the " silent service " suddenly began racking up many kills , including key enemy warships . Most importantly , US submarines were responsible for severing Japan ' s shipping routes to their colonies in Southeast Asia , by sinking close to half of their merchant ships . The Imperial Japanese Navy was caught off guard and never recovered . Lockwood ' s wartime awards were the Navy Distinguished Service Medal three times , and the Legion of Merit award . Post - war career and retirement . After the war , Lockwood served as the Naval Inspector General until his retirement in June 1947 . In retirement at Los Gatos , California , he authored and contributed to several best - selling books on naval history and submarine operations , including " Tragedy at Honda " , " Sink - Em All " , " Through Hell and Deep Water " , " Hell at 50 Fathoms " , " Zoomies , Subs and Zeros " , " Hellcats of the Sea " , " Battles of the Philippine Sea " , and " Down to The Sea in Subs : My Life in the U . S . Navy " . He served as the technical advisor to the 1959 film On the Beach . In one of his book promotion speeches following the war , Lockwood mentioned that he was an avid deer hunter . After the speech , he was approached by Ralph T . Duncan , a pharmacist living in Los Gatos , California . Duncan invited Lockwood to be his guest that year at Jake ' s Opening Hunting Club , near Boonville , California . They became fast friends . After Lockwood had been deer and quail hunting at the club for several years as Duncan ' s guest , Lockwood learned of an amazing coincidence : Lockwood ' s predecessor as submarine fleet commander , Robert Henry English , had died on the same hunting club property in the crash of the " Philippine Clipper " flying boat . Upon Admiral English ' s death , Lockwood had been given command of the Pacific submarine fleet . Lockwood died on 7 June 1967 . He is buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno , California alongside his wife and Admirals Chester Nimitz , Raymond Spruance , and Richmond Kelly Turner , an arrangement made by all of them while living . Namesake . The frigate USS " Lockwood " ( FF - 1064 ) was named in his honor .