James W . Blanchard James William Blanchard ( died 5 March 1987 ) was an American submarine commander during the Pacific War , who received the Navy Cross for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Taihō on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea . Early life and career . A native of Faison , North Carolina , Blanchard graduated the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland with the Class of 1927 . He was at the Submarine School in New London , Connecticut until , on 5 December 1943 , now a Lieutenant Commander , he took command of the Gato - class submarine " Albacore " in Brisbane , Australia , replacing Oscar Hagberg . USS " Albacore " . On 26 December 1943 , " Albacore " departed Australia for the first time under Blanchard ' s command in order to patrol north of the Bismarck Islands . Directed by Ultra signal intelligence to intercept a Japanese I - boat , " Albacore " made no contact when the I - boat failed to arrive . Blanchard spotted his first target on 12 January 1944 and sank the ammunition ship " Choko Maru " ( about 2 , 750 tons ) with two separate torpedo attacks . Two days later , he worked in concert with Wally Ebert in " Scamp " and " Bub " Ward in " Guardfish " . Ward , unable to get a shot , flushed the destroyer " Sazanami " ( 1 , 750 tons ) ; Blanchard sank her with a spread of four shots from his stern torpedo tube s , while Ward stood by taking periscope pictures . Another destroyer pinned him down and delivered fifty - nine depth charges , leaving Ebert and Ward free to pursue three tankers . Following more than a fortnight of uneventful patrolling , " Albacore " headed home , with fuel stops at Tulagi and Midway Island before reaching Pearl Harbor on 22 February . After three days of repairs , " Albacore " went on to Mare Island for overhaul . While there , John Crowley , newly assigned to command " Flier " , got in a heated dispute with his exec , Ben Adams , who nearly went to surface forces ; instead , he was transferred to Blanchard ' s boat , replacing Ralph De Loach , who was already scheduled to new construction . Second patrol . Blanchard , with new exec Adams , left Mare Island on 5 May 1944 and held training exercises with " en route " to Hawaii . He reached Pearl Harbor on 13 May and spent the next two weeks on final repairs and training . " Albacore " began her ninth patrol on 29 May and was assigned waters west of the Mariana Islands and around the Palau Islands . During the next few days , he made only one contact a Japanese convoy which she encountered on 11 June . However before he could gain a firing position , a Japanese aircraft forced him to dive and he lost contact . On the morning of 18 June , two days after American forces began landing on Saipan , Admiral Charles Lockwood ( ) moved four boats ( Anton Gallaher ' s " Bang " , Sam Loomis ' " Stingray " , James Jordan ' s " Finback " , and Blanchard in " Albacore " ) in the hope of intercepting a Japanese task force under Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa that Ultra reported bound from Tawi Tawi to Saipan . Blanchard shifted from west of the Mariana Islands to a new location 100 miles ( 185 km ) further south . At about 08 : 00 on 19 June , he raised his periscope and found himself in the midst of Ozawa ' s main body . Blanchard , with astounding aplomb considering how juicy the target was , allowed one Japanese carrier to pass unharmed and selected a second one for his target at 9 , 000 yards ( 8 , 200 m ) . Waiting while a destroyer passed before his sights , he saw his TDC had gone awry , so at 5 , 300 yards ( 4 , 850 m ) he fired six bow tubes by eye . Three Japanese destroyers immediately charged " Albacore " , and Blanchard dived . While on the way down , he heard ( and felt ) one solid hit , correctly timed for his last torpedo . About the same time , 25 depth charges began raining down on the submarine , some so close the cork insulation was shaken loose . Then Blanchard heard " a distant and persistent explosion of great force " , followed by another ; Blanchard believed this , too was a hit , but was mistaken . The sinking of " Taihō " . One of the torpedoes had hit Ozawa ' s flagship , the 31 , 000 - ton aircraft carrier " Taihō " , the newest and largest in the Japanese fleet . The explosion jammed the enemy ship ' s forward aircraft elevator , and filled its pit with gasoline , water , and aviation fuel . However , no fire erupted , and the flight deck was unharmed . Ozawa was unconcerned by the hit and launched two more waves of aircraft . Meanwhile , a novice took over the damage control responsibilities . He believed the best way to handle gasoline fumes was to open up the ship ' s ventilation system and let them disperse throughout the ship . This action turned the ship into a floating time bomb . At 15 : 30 , a tremendous explosion jolted " Taihō " and blew out the sides of the carrier . " Taihō " began to settle in the water and was clearly doomed . Although Admiral Ozawa wanted to go down with the ship , his staff persuaded him to transfer to the cruiser " Haguro " . After Ozawa shifted his flag , a second explosion ripped through " Taihō " and she sank by the stern , taking 1 , 650 officers and men with her . None of the men in " Albacore " thought " Taihō " had sunk , and neither did Lockwood . Blanchard was angry for " missing a golden opportunity . " After this , Blanchard was detailed to lifeguard duty for planes striking Yap and Ulithi . Amid a 29 June strike , he was strafed by a Japanese aircraft , which did not major damage . On 2 July , he shifted to intercept traffic between Yap and the Palau Islands . Just after 08 : 00 , he spotted a 900 - ton wooden inter - island steamer " Taimei Maru " loaded with Japanese civilians and battle surfaced for gun attack . After setting the ship fire , Blanchard dived again to avoid another airplane . The submarine surfaced soon thereafter and picked up five survivors , then later discovered a half - sunken lifeboat with a child in it . When the survivors reached Japan , they claimed Blanchard had mistreated them , and Emperor Hirohito filed a formal protest , very rare for the war . Blanchard put in to Majuro in the Marshall Islands on 15 July . He was praised for an aggressive patrol and received credit for damaging ( not sinking ) a " Shōkaku " - class carrier . American codebreakers from had lost track of " Taihō " after the Battle of the Philippine Sea and , while puzzled , did not realize she had gone down . Only months later did a POW reveal her sinking . " Months and months went by , " Blanchard recalled . " Then they picked up a POW someplace who said " Taihō " went down in the Battle of the Philippine Sea . Even then intelligence was doubtful . So I said , ' Keep him alive until he convinces them . ' " After confirmation was finally obtained , Lockwood upgraded Blanchard ' s Navy Commendation Medal to a Navy Cross . Later service . Blanchard commanded a submarine division later in the war , and a submarine squadron in 1946 – 47 . At the beginning of the Korean War , he was operations and plans officer for COMSUBPAC . He retired from the Navy in 1956 , receiving a tombstone promotion to the rank of rear admiral . Blanchard died on 5 March 1987 .