George L . Street III George Levick Street , III ( July 27 , 1913 – February 26 , 2000 ) was a submarine r in the United States Navy . He received the Medal of Honor during World War II . Early Life and Career . Street was born in Richmond , Virginia . He joined the Naval Reserve in 1931 and was selected for an appointment to the U . S . Naval Academy in 1933 ; he graduated in 1937 . After serving in the gunnery and communications departments of and the navigation and engineering departments of , he volunteered for the Submarine School at New London , Connecticut . After graduating , Street served three years in , from her commissioning on April 14 , 1941 until February 27 , 1944 . Street served in this fleet submarine , first as Gunnery and Torpedo Officer , then as First Lieutenant and Torpedo Data Computer Operator and finally as Executive Officer and Navigator . World War II . While serving in " Gar " , he made nine war patrols . Street received two Silver Star s for his " for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving as Assistant Approach Officer aboard the . . . U . S . S . GAR ( SS - 206 ) " on " Gar " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s first and tenth patrols . On July 6 , 1944 , LCDR Street reported to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to fit out the , his first command . Commissioning the ship in November , the captain took his new boat for shakedown training in Long Island Sound and further training in waters off Panama and Hawaii . The ship ' s first war patrol , commencing March 3 , 1945 was southwest of Kyūshū , Japan ' s southernmost island . By that point in the war , most of Japan ' s merchant fleet had already been sunk , but Street went into shallow water close to shore and found several ships . Searching westward of Kyushu , " Tirante " patrolled the approaches to Nagasaki . She had good hunting . She sank the 703 - ton tanker " Fuji Maru " on 25 March and followed this success with the sinking of the 1 , 218 - ton freighter " Nase Maru " three days later . After the latter attack , Japanese escorts kept Tirante down for seven hours , before she slipped away from her hunters , unscathed . On 31 March , " Tirante " shelled and sank a 70 - ton lugger with 5 - inch and 40 - millimeter gunfire and , on 1 April , missed an LST - type vessel with a spread of three torpedoes . The submarine soon shifted to waters off the south coast of Korea , near the Strait of Tsushima . At twilight on 6 April , she battle - surfaced and captured a small Japanese fishing vessel and took its three crewmen prisoner before sinking the prize . The following day , " Tirante " torpedoed a 2 , 800 - ton cargo freighter loaded with a deck cargo of oil drums . The submarine surfaced , looked over the debris , and directed nearby Korean fishing craft to pick up two survivors who were clinging to pieces of wreckage . Nevertheless , although observers on the submarine reported witnessing the " maru ' s " sinking , post - war examination of Japanese records failed to confirm the " kill . " Having broken the Japanese codes , American naval intelligence men were able to anticipate Japanese movements . One intercepted enemy message told of an important convoy steaming toward " Tirante ' s " area . In response to this information , the submarine laid an ambush on 9 April . Picking out two targets , she fired three torpedoes at each . One spread missed , but the other struck the 5 , 500 - ton transport Nikko Maru — carrying homeward - bound Japanese soldiers and sailors from Shanghai . As the important auxiliary slipped beneath the waves , enemy escorts leapt to the offensive . To ward off the counterattack , " Tirante " fired a " cutie " ( a small anit - escort homing torpedo ) at one of the escorts and heard subsequent " breaking - up noises . " But again , post - war accounting failed to confirm the sinking . On 15 April 1945 , following a report from Naval Intelligence , Street took into Cheju harbor — on the surface , to avoid shoals and minefields . Using six of his seven remaining torpedoes , he sank a freighter and two of its escorts . For this action , was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation ( US ) , Street received the Medal of Honor , and his executive officer , LT Edward L . Beach , Jr . , received the Navy Cross . Beginning her second patrol , " Tirante " departed from Midway on 20 May as command ship of the nine - boat " wolfpack " dubbed " Street ' s Sweepers . " They patrolled the Yellow and East China Seas on the lookout for enemy targets — by then dwindling in number . " Tirante " located a four - ship convoy on 11 June , in the first patrol ' s hunting grounds off Nagasaki . She evaded the three escorts long enough to get a shot at the lone merchantman , an 800 - ton cargo freighter , and pressed home a successful attack . Post - war Japanese records , though , do not confirm a " kill . " The next day , " Tirante " pulled off nearly a repeat performance of her hit - and - run raid at " Cheju " . She crept into " Ha Shima " harbor , some seven miles from Nagasaki and picked out the 2 , 200 - ton " Hakuju Maru " moored alongside a colliery . From a range of 1 , 000 yards , the submarine fired a " down the throat " shot at the " maru " which exploded with a roar . The second torpedo failed to detonate , but the third completed the destruction begun by the first . As shells from shore guns fell around her , " Tirante " bent on speed and cleared the area . Resuming her roving patrols , " Tirante " and her sister submarines attacked shipping between Korea and Japan , destroying junks carrying supplies from Korea to the Japanese home islands . Boarding parties from the submarine would take off the masters for questioning , put the crew in life boats , and set the craft afire . " Tirante " sank a dozen in this manner and also destroyed two heavily armed picket boats with surface gunfire before returning to Guam on 19 July . For this patrol , LCDR Street was awarded the Navy Cross . That citation reads in part " . . . For extraordinary heroism . . . Tracking his targets relentlessly . . . ( he ) launched his smashing torpedo and gunfire attacks against hostile freighters , junks and picket boats , sinking over 7000 tons of shipping vital to Japanese supply . . . " " Tirante " departed Guam on 12 August on what would have been her third war patrol . The end of the war , however , cut this operation short and the submarine put into Midway on the 23d . Eventually sailing for the east coast of the United States , " Tirante " moored at the Washington Navy Yard in October — at which time Comdr . Street received his Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony . Medal of Honor Action . " Tirante ' s " first war patrol , beginning in March 1945 , cost Japan at least six ships . Most notably while patrolling the Yellow Sea between Quelpart Island ( Cheju Do ) and the mouth of the Yangtze , she received an intelligence report which informed her that an important Japanese transport was at Cheju , the main port on Quelpart Island . Under cover of darkness , Tirante began her approach on the surface . In defiance of possible enemy radar or patrolling planes or ships , she closed the coast and penetrated the mine - and shoal - obstructed waters within the 10 - fathom ( 60 - foot ) curve line . Prepared to fight her way out , Tirante then entered the harbor where she found three targets : two escort vessels and the 4 , 000 - ton " Juzan Maru " . The submarine launched three torpedoes at the " maru " , which blew up in a massive explosion . < nowiki > " < / nowiki > A tremendous , beautiful explosion , < nowiki > " < / nowiki > Commander Street would write in his report . < nowiki > " < / nowiki > A great mushroom of white blinding flame shot 2 , 000 feet into the air . Not a sound was heard for a moment , but then a tremendous roar flattened our ears against our heads . The jackpot , and no mistake ! < nowiki > " < / nowiki > The conflagration clearly illuminated Tirante and alerted the " Mikura " - class escort vessels " Nomi " and " Kaibokan No . 31 " which immediately got underway toward the invading submersible . While she headed back out to sea at flank speed , Tirante launched a spread of torpedoes which hit and destroyed both pursuers . En route to Midway , the submarine captured two Japanese airmen ( bringing her prisoner total to five ) and concluded her first war patrol on 25 April . Tirante ' s stellar performance earned Comdr . Street the Medal of Honor . Lt . Edward L . Beach , the executive officer — and later commander of Triton ( SSRN - 586 ) during the submarine ' s submerged circumnavigation of the globe — received the Navy Cross . The ship , herself , was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation . His medal of citation reads : 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 . " Tirante " during the first war patrol of that vessel against enemy Japan ese surface forces in the harbor of Cheju , Quelpart Island , off the coast of Korea , on 14 April 1945 . With the crew at surface battle stations , Comdr . ( then Lt . Comdr . ) Street approached the hostile anchorage from the south within 1 , 200 yards [ 1100 m ] of the coast to complete a reconnoitering circuit of the island . Leaving the 10 - fathom [ 18 m ] curve far behind he penetrated the mine d and shoal - obstructed waters of the restricted harbor despite numerous patrolling vessels and in defiance of 5 shore - based radar stations and menacing aircraft . Prepared to fight it out on the surface if attacked , Comdr . Street went into action , sending 2 torpedo es with deadly accuracy into a large Japanese ammunition ship and exploding the target in a mountainous and blinding glare of white flames . With the " Tirante " instantly spotted by the enemy as she stood out plainly in the flare of light , he ordered the torpedo data computer set up while retiring and fired his last 2 torpedoes to disintegrate in quick succession the leading frigate and a similar flanking vessel . Clearing the gutted harbor at emergency full speed ahead , he slipped undetected along the shoreline , diving deep as a pursuing patrol dropped a pattern of depth charges at the point of submergence . His illustrious record of combat achievement during the first war patrol of the " Tirante " characterizes Comdr . Street as a daring and skilled leader and reflects the highest credit upon himself , his valiant command , and the U . S . Naval Service . However , Captain Street was most proud of Tirante ' s Presidential Unit Citation . " As Captain Street put it , ' I really treasure that more than the Medal of Honor because every man was there with us . ' " Post - World War II . Street was promoted to Commander in July 1945 and , in January 1946 , left to become the Navy ' s technical adviser for the submarine documentary film " The Silent Service " . That summer , he transferred to the Office of Naval Research and assisted in organizing the first Undersea Symposium . His next assignment , as Commanding Officer of , lasted from November 1946 to June 1948 . This included operations as a radar picket submarine supporting aircraft carrier task forces . Following instruction at the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk , Virginia in 1949 , Commander Street served on its faculty in the Research and Development Division . In 1951 , after attending the Fleet Sonar School at Key West , Florida , he assumed command of the , a destroyer modified for anti - submarine purposes . Street commanded Submarine Division Sixty - Two 1952 - 1953 , evaluating the use of several radar picket submarines working as a team . He then returned to the Office of the Chief of the Naval Operations as Assistant for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Armed Forces Policy Council . In July 1955 , Street was promoted to Captain . Upon completion of classes at the National War College in Washington , D . C . in July 1956 , he served on the Staff to the Commander in Chief of the U . S . Atlantic Fleet . Returning to sea in July 1958 , he commanded the attack transport . A year later , Captain Street became Commanding Officer and Professor of Naval Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge , Massachusetts . In October 1961 , he took command of Submarine Squadron Five and , the next fall , joined the Staff of the Naval War College . His final assignment , beginning in December 1964 , was as Commander Submarine Group , San Francisco Bay Area and Commander Mare Island Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . Captain Street retired from active duty in 10 August 1966 . George L . Street III died on 26 February 2000 . In keeping with his request , half his cremated remains were dispersed at sea from a submarine , and half were buried at Arlington National Cemetery , Arlington , Virginia 15 March 2000 . Popular Culture . Edward Beach , " Tirante ' s " Executive Officer on her first patrol , modeled his first novel , " Run Silent , Run Deep " ( 1955 ) , on his wartime experiences .