Thomas B . Klakring Thomas Burton Klakring ( December 19 , 1904 – July 24 , 1975 ) was a United States Navy submarine commander during World War II . T . B . Klakring , the only child of Colonel and Mrs . Leslie Klakring , was born in Annapolis , Maryland graduated from the United States Naval Academy with the Class of 1927 . Lieutenant Commander Klakring commanded USS " Guardfish " ( SS - 217 ) , from her commissioning in May 1942 through her fourth war patrol in March – April 1943 . " Guardfish " first war patrol was in the hitherto unpatrolled waters off northeast Honshū and southern Hokkaidō . Klakring worked out a tactic of getting inside of the sea lanes at night — just off the shore — to put his ship in position to attack the many ships moving along the coast . On 4 September , Klakring attacked a convoy off Kuji , sinking two ships ; a third which had retreated into the harbor was then hit and sunk from a range of over 7 , 500 yards . In all , " Guardfish " sank five major cargo ships with a total tonnage of almost 17 , 000 tons , and damaged others . It was one of the most successful patrols of the war , and on " Guardfish " return , Klakring was decorated with the Navy Cross . In a rare press conference called to publicize the accomplishments of the ordinarily " Silent Service " , he embellished his success , spinning a yarn about being close enough to a town to see a horse race being run , " but we were just a little too far away to be sure which horse won . " On his second patrol , Klakring took " Guardfish " to the East China Sea , where he attacked a seven - ship convoy on 21 October , sinking two ships . For her outstanding success on these first two war patrols , " Guardfish " received a Presidential Unit Citation . " Guardfish " was sent to the Bismarck Sea for her third patrol . There Klakring sank another cargo ship and two Japanese naval vessels — " Patrol Boat No . 1 " and the destroyer " Hakaze " — near Kavieng , New Ireland . In November 1944 , Klakring led a seven - sub wolfpack — " Burt ' s Brooms " — from the Marianas to the Japanese home islands . Klakring chose John S . Coye ' s " Silversides " as his flagship ; the others were " Saury " , " Tambor " , " Trigger " , " Burrfish " , " Sterlet " , and " Ronquil " . Their mission was to ' sweep ' Japanese patrol craft out of the way of a planned raid by Admiral William Halsey ' s Fast Carrier Task Force . However , according to Jasper Holmes , one of the cryptographers at Station HYPO , " The Japanese responded to the raid by rushing additional patrol craft and air search planes into the area , and there were probably more pickets in the area after the sweep than there were when it started . " On retirement , Captain Klakring received a tombstone promotion to the rank of rear admiral . He later served as vice president of the General Dynamics Corporation ' s Electric Boat Division . Klakring died on 24 July 1975 at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego , California . Honors . For his heroism while commanding " Guardfish " , Klakring was awarded the Navy Cross with two Gold Stars ( in lieu of second and third awards ) . In addition , " Guardfish " was awarded her first Presidential Unit Citation while under Klakring ' s command . Admiral Klakring ' s other decorations include the Silver Star , Bronze Star Medal , China Service Medal , American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Medal , Asiatic - Pacific Area Campaign Medal , and the World War II Victory Medal . In 1982 , the frigate USS " Klakring " ( FFG - 42 ) was launched , sponsored by Beverly Bohen , a niece of R . Adm . Klakring .