US Navy RADM Eugene Fluckey - Submarine Warfare Pioneer & Medal of Honor Recipient During WWII

Read Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey

Welcome back everyone, in this episode of Duty & Valor I’ll tell you the story of a man who commanded a submarine during some of the heaviest fighting in the Pacific during WWII, inflicting heavy enemy losses.  A man who would employ ingenious tactics to revolutionize nighttime submarine warfare.  A man who ordered the first rocket attacks from US submarines in combat.  A man who would direct his men to attack a railroad in what would be the only US landing on the Japanese home islands.  A man who would receive the Medal of Honor only to return to combat and lead his men to some of their greatest accomplishments of the war.  This is the story of Rear Admiral Eugene Bennett Fluckey.

Eugene Fluckey was born on October 5th, 1913 in Washington DC to parents Isaac and Lulu Fluckey.  He would go on to graduate from Western High School at the early age of 15.  To prepare him for entrance into the US Naval Academy, his parents sent him to Mercersburg Academy in PA and Columbia Prep school in Washington.  Then he would go on to enter the Academy in 1931 and graduated in 1935.  

Early in his Naval career, Adm. Fluckey would be assigned to the battleship USS Nevada and the destroyer USS McCormick before attending the Submarine School in New London, CT.  After graduating in 1938, he would go on to serve on the submarines USS S-42 and USS Bonita.  He would be part of five war patrols while aboard the Bonita before returning to the Naval Academy for graduate studies in 1942.  And later he would be selected to attend the Prospective Commanding Officer’s School in New London, CT.  Upon graduating, he was given prospective command of the submarine USS Barb and would be named its commander following one war patrol.   He would be the USS Barb’s commander from April 1944 to August 1945.

From May 21st to July 9th 1944, during his eighth war patrol, Adm. Fluckey battled cold weather, fog, and ice floes while planning what was called “five intelligently planned and well executed” torpedo attacks which resulted in the sinking of two enemy transports, three freighters, and two trawlers.  For this Adm. Fluckey would be awarded the Navy Cross.

On his ninth war patrol which ran from August 4th to October 3rd 1944, Adm. Fluckey would launch torpedo attacks that would sink a tanker, two freighters, and an auxiliary aircraft carrier.  Adm. Fluckey and the crew of the Barb would also rescue 14 British and Australian POW’s who had survived after the Japanese ship they were prisoners on was sunk by a torpedo attack.  In the face of heavy enemy counter attacks, the Barb would only receive minor damage and it would make its way back to port safely.  For his exemplary command, Adm. Fluckey would receive a Gold Star in lieu of his second Navy Cross.

Adm. Fluckey’s tenth war patrol ran from Oct. 27th to November 25th, 1944.  During this patrol, he would guide the Barb into shallow waters while evading heavy countermeasures and escort screens to launch devastating torpedo attacks on enemy ships.  They would go on to sink five enemy ships and damage another three, including an aircraft carrier.  He would see himself being awarded another Gold Star in lieu of a third Navy Cross.  

 In January 1945 Adm. Fluckey would direct the Barb into the shallow waters of Mamkwan Harbor in Eastern China where they had spotted a concentration of 30 Japanese ships.  In only about 30 feet of water, Adm. Fluckey maneuvered the Barb through the harbor which was protected by the natural rock formations, countless mines, and other defensive measures.  The Barb was able to get to a range of 3,000 yards of its first target where it would deploy its forward facing torpedoes.  After achieving four direct hits, he would have the Barb turn to where it could fire torpedoes from its stern tubes.  In total the crew had eight direct hits on six targets, one being an ammunition ship.  With two frigates chasing, Adm. Fluckey directed the Barb to make its escape at top speed and four days later the Barb would sink a Japanese freighter.  It was his leadership during this 11th war patrol where Adm. Fluckey would be awarded the Medal of Honor.  He was presented the award on March 23rd, 1945 by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

Later that year in June, Adm. Fluckey would volunteer the Barb to be fitted with rockets, a first in US submarine warfare.  Following the re-arming, the Barb left Midway on June 8th and by the early morning of June 22nd, it was in position off of the coast of Shari in the north east of Hokkaido Island, where it would commence a new phase of submarine warfare as it fired twelve rockets into the town.  Then Adm. Fluckey commanded the Barb further north where it would go on to fire an additional 68 rockets, targeting various industrial sites over the following month.      

On July 23rd, Adm. Fluckey spotted an active rail line running along the coast and he knew this was their next target.  He devised a plan to have a team of men make their way to shore to damage the rail line.  He picked one unmarried man from each division on his submarine to form an eight man landing party.  In addition to being unmarried, he also wanted all of the men to have a Boy Scout background, as he felt they would be able to find their way back without issue.  The Barb was then positioned a kilometer from the shore where the landing party would disembark and paddle to shore on rubber rafts.  Once the men made it to the train track, they would wire explosives under the rails with a switch that would trigger once a train passed over it.  All of which was done under the nose of a sleeping Japanese guard who was manning a watchtower.  And as the men were paddling back to the Barb, a 16 car train rode over the switch, detonating the explosives.  This caused all of the train cars to derail, resulting in the deaths of 150 passengers.  This would end up being the only US ground combat operation on the Japanese homeland during WWII.   

Adm. Fluckey thought highly of the men on the Barb and credited them with their success whenever an opportunity arose.  In his final report he would go on to pay tribute to the intelligence, bravery, and fighting spirit of his men.  He said his men were ones  “who will fight to the last bullet and then want to start throwing the empty shell cases. These men are Submariners.”

Adm. Fluckey was credited with many great things, but most importantly he was credited with not losing a single US Submariner during his command of the Barb.

Following the war he would go on to work at the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the War Plans Division, and at one point he would be a personal aide to Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.  In 1947 he would also take command of the USS Halbreak, also a submarine.  From there, Amd. Fluckey would serve as the flag secretary to Admiral James Fife, and later as the US Naval Attache to Portugal.  Afterwards he would be assigned as the Commander of the submarine tender USS Sperry and then he commanded Submarine Flotilla Seven from October 14th, 1955 to January 14th, 1956.  In addition to returning to the US Naval Academy as the chairman of the Electrical Engineering Dept. he would be assigned other leadership positions until his retirement in 1972.   

Following his retirement, Adm. Fluckey and his wife Marjorie started running an orphanage in Portugal.  He would run it with Marjorie from 1974 until her death in 1979.  The orphanage would go on to close in 1982.

On June 28th, 2007, Adm. Fluckey passed away at the age of 93.  He is buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery.

To learn even more about his life, Adm. Fluckey wrote a book titled Thunder Below!, where he retells the story of the USS Barb and its heroic men.

Thank you for listening, and if you enjoyed this week's show, We kindly ask that you follow us and leave a review and 5 star rating.  And join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.