Samuel David Dealey Samuel David Dealey ( September 13 , 1906 – August 24 , 1944 ) was a United States Navy submarine commanding officer during World War II . He is one of the most decorated American serviceman for valor of the war , receiving the Medal of Honor , four Navy Cross es , Distinguished Service Cross ( Army ) , and the Silver Star Medal for his service on the submarine . Early life and career . Sam Dealey was born on September 13 , 1906 in Dallas , Texas . He was appointed to the U . S . Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland , from Texas and graduated in June 1930 . Dealey was commissioned an Ensign and reported for sea duty aboard , where he was promoted in June 1933 to Lieutenant ( junior grade ) . In March 1934 , he briefly transferred to , then reported that summer for submarine training at the Submarine School , New London , Connecticut . After graduating , he served on board the submarines and . Remaining on sea duty , he reported on board then . In May 1937 , he was assigned as Aide to the Executive Officer at Naval Air Station , Pensacola , Florida ( NAS Pensacola ) . While theere , in June 1938 , he was promoted to Lieutenant . In Summer 1939 , he was assigned as the executive officer ( first officer ) on board . In April 1941 , he reported to Experimental Division One for duty as the Prospective Commanding Officer ( PCO ) of to support at - sea experiments off New London . He commanded for two years , serving aboard at the United States ' entry into World War II . World War II . However , when war broke out , Dealey ' s practical qualifications led to assignment as Commanding Officer of the new - construction Gato - class submarine , which he commissioned on December 2 , 1942 , not quite a year after Pearl Harbor . After a shakedown off the East Coast , Dealey survived a " blue - on - blue " attack by a Navy patrol bomber in the Caribbean to bring to the Pacific in the spring of 1943 . First patrol . left Pearl Harbor on her first war patrol on June 7 , 1943 , bound for the coast of southern Honshu . In Dealey ' s first attack on a two - ship enemy convoy late on the night of June 21 , the submarine was driven down deep by an aggressive enemy escort and crashed into the muddy bottom - an inauspicious beginning , even though it now appears that one enemy target may have been damaged . Dealey backed the submarine out of the mud , and two nights later had his first real success in torpedoing the Japanese seaplane tender " Sagara Maru " ( 7 , 000 tons ) and crippling the enemy ship so badly that it was beached on the Japanese mainland and abandoned as a total loss . Over the next four days , Dealey made seven attacks on three different enemy ship convoys , but post - war analysis credits him only with possible damage to one enemy ship . Second patrol . " Harder " returned to Midway Island on July 7 , 1943 with one of its four diesel engines completely broken down . The submarine was one of twelve " Gato " s boats fitted originally with the troublesome Hooven - Owens - Rentschler ( HOR ) engines , whose original design was licensed from the German firm Maschinenfabrik Augsburg - Nürnberg ( MAN ) in the 1930s . After some hasty repairs and bearing a generous inventory of spare engine parts , " Harder " returned to sea for a second war patrol off Honshu in late August . In 14 days made nine attacks , which netted Dealey five enemy ships sunk for 15 , 000 tons in the postwar accounting . Once again , the submarine suffered engine problems throughout the patrol but returned safely to Pearl Harbor , via Midway , on October 7 , 1943 . Third patrol . At the end of October 1943 , , Vice Admiral Charles A . Lockwood , ordered " Harder " , , and to the Marianas as a submarine wolfpack to attack Japanese shipping in preparation for the invasion of Tarawa . At that stage of the war , " coordinated operations " among submarines were still hampered by poor communications . Thus , after collaborating with in attacking an enemy freighter on October 12 - with results never clearly established - and sinking a small enemy minesweeper with gunfire that night , Dealey was soon separated from the rest and operating independently . On November 19 , he picked up an enemy convoy of three large Japanese freighters with accompanying escorts north of the Marianas and positioned for an attack , altogether firing ten torpedoes in his first attempt , scoring hits on two enemy targets . Driven below by the enemy escort ships , Dealey surfaced later that night to chase the enemy freighter that had managed to escape undamaged . Eventually firing 11 more torpedoes at the fugitive ship for two hits and four circular runs - then driven off by defensive gunfire from the tenacious Japanese gunners - Dealey broke off the engagement and returned to Pearl Harbor because of lack of torpedoes . Later , it was established all three enemy ships had sunk , the third - " Nikko Maru " - late that night , giving Dealey and " Harder " a total of 4 enemy ships sunk ( over 15 , 000 tons ) for their third war patrol . Once again , however , one of " Harder ' s " HOR engines had failed completely , and the other three engines were kept running only by cannibalizing the fourth engine . Thus , shortly after the submarine arrived in Hawaii on November 30 , " Harder " was sent back to Mare Island to be re - engined with General Motors diesel engines . Fourth patrol . Dealey brought " Harder " back to Pearl Harbor in late February 1944 and took her out for her fourth war patrol on March 16 , 1944 , accompanied by . Initially assigned lifeguard duty for downed U . S . aviators in the western Caroline Islands , " Harder " on April 1 was sent to rescue an injured navy pilot on a small enemy - held island just west of Woleai , which had been hit that day by an American aircraft carrier strike . Under an umbrella of friendly air cover , Dealey nosed " Harder " toward the beach until he could ground the bow up against the encircling reef and hold it there by working both screws . Then , in the face of Japanese sniper fire only partially suppressed by the circling aircraft , a rubber boat was sent in to retrieve the navy pilot , Ensign John Galvin , who was brought to safety in what soon became a legendary rescue . As Blair describes it : By the time " Harder " got to the reported position , the aviator , Ensign John R . Galvin , was already stranded high and dry on the beach . Dealey lay alongside a reef . Dealey ' s third officer , Samuel Moore Logan , and two volunteers jumped in the water with a rubber raft , secured to " Harder " by a line . They fought their way through the surf and coral to the island and picked up Ensign Galvin . As they were attempting to get back to " Harder " , a navy floatplane landed to help . It ran over the line and parted it . Another " Harder " volunteer jumped in the water and swam another line through the surf and coral to the beach . While navy planes circled overhead , Japanese snipers fired away from the foliage while the " Harder ' s " men pulled the raft and the five men aboard . The rescue was later hailed as one of the boldest on record . Continuing his war patrol , Dealey next scored his first of four successes against the toughest target of all - an enemy Japanese destroyer . Spotted by an enemy aircraft north of the Western Carolines on April 13 , 1944 , " Harder " became the quarry of a patrolling enemy destroyer " " Ikazuchi " , which closed to within before Dealey fired a spread of torpedoes . The destroyer sank within five minutes . Dealey ' s ensuing contact report quickly became famous : " Expended four torpedoes and sunk one Jap destroyer " . Four days later , Dealey also sank " Matsue Maru " ( 7 , 000 tons ) near Woleai - then surfaced again near the island on April 20 to bombard the beleaguered Japanese garrison with his submarine ' s deck gun . " Harder " ended its fourth war patrol at Fremantle , Australia , on May 3 , 1944 . Fifth patrol - Medal of Honor action . Next , Dealey was ordered to take " Harder " on patrol on May 26 , 1944 off the Japanese fleet anchorage at Tawi Tawi . Dealey was asked to pick up some friendly guerrilla fighters from nearby northeastern Borneo . Heading into the Sibutu Passage on the night of June 6 he came upon an enemy convoy of three tankers in ballast , escorted by two destroyers . One destroyer detected him and attacked . Again , Dealey let the enemy destroyer close , to less than } , before firing three torpedoes , and " Minatsuki " became his second destroyer victim . Then Dealey pursued , executing an end around . Diving to radar depth , he was attacked by the second destroyer . He fired all six bow tubes from just ; all missed , and " Harder " plunged accidentally to , losing contact . At 11 . 43 on 7 June , Dealey encountered another destroyer , " Hayanami " , south of Tawi Tawi , and attacked with three torpedoes from point blank range , ; all three hit . " Hayanami " blew up virtually overhead , and one of her sisters subjected " Harder " to a two - hour depth charge attack . By 17 . 30 , there were eight hunting him . Dealey slipped away . " Harder " transited the Sibutu Passage to pick up the guerrilla force on the night of June 8 / 9 and headed back early the next day . In the narrowest part of the Passage , Dealey spotted what appeared to be two more patrolling Japanese destroyers and made an undetected approach . Firing four torpedoes at the overlapping targets , he was rewarded with two hits in " Tanikaze " , which sank almost immediately . Dealey thought he had scored a hit and sunk another destroyer also , but ( notoriously inaccurate ) postwar records failed to confirm it . On June 10 , 1944 , Dealey sighted a large Japanese task force : three battleships , four cruisers , and their screening destroyers , but the submarine was spotted by an enemy airplane , and one of the enemy escorts pressed an attack on the sub . Dealey sent three torpedoes " down the throat , " heard several explosions , and thought he had scored another kill , before diving to avoid two hours of relentless depth - charging . Postwar , Japanese records later showed the destroyer was able to avoid his torpedoes . Dealey returned to Darwin on June 21 after an outstanding patrol that firmly established his reputation as the " Destroyer Killer , " with what was then thought to be a total of six to his credit . Of greater strategic importance was the ensuing decision by Japanese Admiral Soemu Toyoda to abandon Tawi Tawi anchorage as too exposed to enemy submarines , a sortie that then precipitated the Battle of the Philippine Sea . In a curious incident that still raises eyebrows today , Rear Admiral Ralph Waldo Christie , who commanded U . S . submarines at Fremantle , ordered " Harder " back to sea on the day she arrived , ostensibly to seek out and attack a Japanese cargo ship that carried nickel ore from Celebes to the homeland once a month - but also to give Christie an opportunity to participate personally in a short war patrol . Assigned on June 27 , 1944 to intercept a damaged Japanese cruiser returning from the Battle of the Philippine Sea , Dealey was unable to close for an attack and was similarly outmaneuvered by the " nickel ship " three days later , when Japanese patrol aircraft forced him down and kept him there . " Harder " returned to Darwin without further incident on July 3 , and the whole episode was treated simply as an extension of the ship ' s fifth patrol . During their time together , however , Admiral Christie took Dealey aside and noted his opinion that after five successful war patrols , it was time for Dealey to relinquish command to his executive officer , Tiny Lynch , and move on to other duty . Dealey demurred . With about a third of " Harder " s crew about to be replaced ( following the Navy ' s standard crew rotation policy ) , he felt a personal responsibility to break in the new men before turning the boat over to a fledgling Commanding Officer . Ultimately , Christie agreed Dealey could take " Harder " out for one more patrol , her sixth . Sixth patrol . After a two - week rest at " Bend of the Elbow " , Dealey considered himself sufficiently rested . Lynch , who would have gotten " Harder " , disagreed . Dealey left Fremantle on August 5 , 1944 , commanding a three - sub wolfpack , joined by ( Chester Nimitz , Jr . ) and ( Frank E . Haylor , who replaced John Broach ) . Their objective was the destruction of Japanese shipping off the west coast of the Philippines , south of the Luzon Strait . After being informed ( thanks to a contact report from William Kinsella ' s " Ray " , himself guided by Ultra ) Japanese convoy HI - 71 holed up in Paluan Bay in northern Mindoro , " Harder " and " Haddo " joined three other U . S . submarines ( " Guitarro " , " Raton " , and Kinsella ' s " Ray " , with only four torpedoes remaining ) , all under Dealey ' s command ( as senior officer present afloat ) . When the enemy convoy sortied at 05 . 45 on August 21 , the resulting mêlée - punctuated by intense depth charge barrages by the Japanese - left four enemy merchantmens totaling 22 , 400 tons on the bottom , with all five U . S . submarines unscathed . Of the four victims , two were credited to " Haddo " , and one to " Guitarro " , while Dealey failed to score , after Kinsella ' s attack ( the informal pack ' s first ) caused the convoy to steer away from " Harder " . Dealey and Nimitz then moved northward to Manila Bay , arriving that same evening , and shortly after midnight picked up three small targets on radar . These were three 900 - ton enemy frigates , late of HI - 71 . Co - ordinating with Nimitz , at around 04 . 00 , Dealey fired bow tubes , hitting " Matsuwa " and " Hiburi " ; " Haddo " scored hits in " Sado " . At first light , Dealey finished off " Matsuwa " and Nimitz " Sado " ; when Nimitz missed " Hiburi " , Dealey finished her off . The two submarines then moved northward along Luzon to rendezvous with " Hake " , but on the morning of 23 August , Nimitz expended his last torpedoes in sinking the destroyer " Asakaze " . Believing " Asakaze " had only been crippled and towed into Dasol Bay , south of Lingayan , " Harder " and " Hake " lay in wait outside . At 05 . 54 on August 24 , 1944 , two ships emerged from Dasol Bay - an enemy minesweeper and the old Thai destroyer " Phra Ruang " . " Hake " maneuvered to attack the destroyer , but became suspicious and broke off when the destoyer turned back into the bay . Meanwhile , the Japanese minesweeper continued out , pinging continually , and " Hake " moved off to evade . Haylor caught a last glimpse of " Harder " s periscope at 0647 . At 0728 , Haylor heard a string of 15 depth charge explosions in the distance ; then nothing . Remaining in the area all day , Haylor surfaced after dark , at 20 . 10 , and tried to contact Dealey , with no success . Over the next two weeks , Haylor continued his search , but no sign of Dealey or " Harder " materialized . On September 10 , Nimitz returned after refuelling and reloading , confirming Dealey had not returned , as Haylor hoped . It became apparent the enemy minesweeper had been successful on August 24 in ending their extraordinary run . Indeed , after the war , Japanese records showed an antisubmarine attack that morning off Caiman Point had resulted in oil , wood chips , and cork floating in the vicinity . Dealey ' s death produced waves of " profound shock " and grief through the entire Submarine Force . Dealey ' s loss is still blamed on fatigue by some , such as Lynch . It widened the gulf between Christie and Lockwood . In addition , Christie ' s attempt to nominate Dealey for a second Medal of Honor was thwarted by Admiral Thomas C . Kinkaid , who argued the award of an Army Distinguished Service Cross for the patrol precluded any Navy decoration . Dealey did eventually get the Medal , only the fourth submariner so honored . In the final analysis , Dealey had sunk 16 enemy ships , with total tonnage of 54 , 002 tons ( according to the postwar accounting - enough to make him number five among U . S . submarine skippers in World War II . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Commander , U . S . Navy . Born : September 13 , 1906 , Dallas , Tex . Appointed from : Texas . Other Navy awards : Navy Cross with 3 Gold 5 / 16 Inch Stars , Silver Star Medal . Citation : For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of the U . S . S . Harder during her 5th War Patrol in Japanese - controlled waters . Floodlit by a bright moon and disclosed to an enemy destroyer escort which bore down with intent to attack , Comdr . Dealey quickly dived to periscope depth and waited for the pursuer to close range , then opened fire , sending the target and all aboard down in flames with his third torpedo . Plunging deep to avoid fierce depth charges , he again surfaced and , within 9 minutes after sighting another destroyer , had sent the enemy down tail first with a hit directly amidship . Evading detection , he penetrated the confined waters off Tawi Tawi with the Japanese Fleet base 6 miles away and scored death blows on 2 patrolling destroyers in quick succession . With his ship heeled over by concussion from the first exploding target and the second vessel nose - diving in a blinding detonation , he cleared the area at high speed . Sighted by a large hostile fleet force on the following day , he swung his bow toward the lead destroyer for another " down - the - throat " shot , fired 3 bow tubes and promptly crash - dived to be terrifically rocked seconds later by the exploding ship as the Harder passed beneath . This remarkable record of 5 vital Japanese destroyers sunk in 5 short - range torpedo attacks attests the valiant fighting spirit of Comdr . Dealey and his indomitable command . Medal of Honor Controversy . Perhaps smarting from his decision to allow Dealey to undertake a sixth war patrol at a time when several colleagues thought he was tired and overly fatigued , RADM Christie nominated Dealey for a posthumous Medal of Honor immediately after the loss was reported . This action became mired in a controversy that stemmed from an earlier decision by General Douglas MacArthur to award the Army Distinguished Service Cross to Dealey for his prior accomplishments in the theater . RADM Christie ' s proposed nomination was opposed at the time by VADM Thomas Kinkaid , COMSEVENTHFLT and MacArthur ' s naval commander , and he disapproved Dealey for the Medal of Honor on the grounds that he had already been honored adequately . This dispute was one of several that led to growing personal animosity between Admirals Christie and Kinkaid , culminating eventually in Kinkaid ' s relieving Christie in December 1944 . Only when Christie left Kinkaid ' s command and returned to Washington was he able to push his case for Dealey ' s Medal of Honor - with General MacArthur ' s support - and it was awarded posthumously to Dealey ' s wife , Edwina , in 1945 . Decorations and awards . In addition to his Medal of Honor , his other awards include the Navy Cross with three gold 5 / 16 inch stars , the Distinguished Service Cross ( Army award , was presented by General Douglas MacArthur ) , the Silver Star Medal , and the Purple Heart Medal . While under his command the was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its performance in combat .