Captain Lauerman (USN, Ret.) was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1938, served on the gunboat USS Erie in 1939 as part of the "Banana Squadron" in South America, and attended submarine school in 1941. He was a submarine officer in the Pacific during World War II. Subsequent duty included various submarine commands, tours in the office of the Secretary of Navy, and service with the Judge Advocate General.
Lauerman describes service aboard the submarines USS Tambor (1941–1942), USS Halibut (1942–1943), USS Sealion (1943–1944), and USS Cabrilla (1944–1945) in the Pacific and the Aleutians during World War II. After the war, he served aboard USS Argonaut (1948–1950), a training submarine based at New London, Connecticut, and aboard USS Mount McKinley (1960–1962), an amphibious commandship. Lauerman discusses submarine warfare, unity of a ship's crew, and comparison of the World War II submarine with its modern counterpart.
Of particular interest in the interview are techniques used by submarines to find and destroy Japanese ships and to escape Japanese detection, encounters with Russian submarine crews at Dutch Harbor, an incident involving the USS Erie in Ecuador's political affairs, the rescue of Australian POWs, "wolfpacking," and training techniques used in 1948-1950 involving marines being carried on board submarines.
Gift of Henry C. Lauerman
Processed by M. Elmore; C. Carter, March 1984
Encoded by Apex Data Services
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1938-1962