Willis Ashford Lent (January 5, 1904 – August 28, 1959),
nicknamed
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
"Pilly", was a
rear admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. Serving as commanding officer of the submarine
[''Triton'' a]
Dictionary of American fighting ships
during the Second World War, Lent made the first torpedo attack against the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
of the war.
Early life
Lent was born in
West Roxbury, Massachusetts
West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the town of Brookline to the north, the cities and towns of Newton and Needham to the northwest and the town of Dedham to the s ...
,
and graduated from the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
in 1925.
[Willis Lent](_blank)
at the Arlington National Cemetery, retrieved March 2, 2008 On August 15, 1940, he assumed command of ''Triton'' as she was commissioned.
First patrol
Upon the outbreak of World War II,
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Lent and ''Triton'' were assigned to
Submarine Division 62
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...
. ''Triton'' made a training cruise to
Midway from August 30 to September 15, then participated in local and fleet operations in the Hawaiian area. On November 19, Lent headed west to conduct a practice war patrol and arrived off
Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...
on November 26. On December 8, he saw columns of smoke rising over the island but assumed it was caused by construction work being done ashore. That night, when he surfaced to charge batteries, he was informed by radio Wake and Pearl Harbor had been bombed and was ordered to stay out of range of Wake's guns. The next morning, Lent observed the Japanese bombing the island. On the night of December 10, he was surfaced, charging batteries, when flashes of light from Wake revealed a
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
or light
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
on a parallel course. The submarine was silhouetted against the moon, and the enemy ship turned towards. Lent went deep and began evasive action.
When the Japanese ship slowed astern, Lent came to and fired four
Mark XIV torpedo
The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 elec ...
es – all his stern
tubes
Tube or tubes may refer to:
* ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film
* ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom
* "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show
* Tube (band), a ...
, the first American submarine torpedo shots of World War II
[Blair, p.105.] – on
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
bearings
(in keeping with prewar doctrine). He heard a dull explosion 58 seconds later and believed one torpedo had hit, then went to and cleared the area. (No sinking was recorded, and Lent was not credited with one.) After their initial repulse on December 11, the Japanese returned with two
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s, and ; thanks in part to the confusion at Pearl Harbor, Lent was not informed,
[Blair, p.123.] and ''Triton'' made no attacks on them, so any chance to delay or prevent the invasion was lost, as was a chance (always exceedingly rare) of sinking or damaging a Japanese aircraft carrier.
Neither did he make any effort to evacuate the 350 Marines.
On December 21, he was ordered to return to Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor on December 31.
Second patrol
Lent was sent by Admiral
Withers
The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...
,
COMSUBPAC, to the
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...
in January 1942, where he met filthy winter weather patrolling between
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
, Shanghai,
Dairen
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...
, and
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Lent made fourteen contacts, firing twelve torpedoes,
[Blair, p.208.] earning credit for sinking two ships totalling 12,000 tons (reduced to 5982 tons
JANAC postwar) Withers was praiseful, but nitpicked Lent's "squandering" torpedoes
because production from
Newport Torpedo Station
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is the United States Navy's full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapons ...
was running drastically behind use. He also criticised Lent's failure to follow up attacks and undue caution around Japanese aircraft.
This was following prewar doctrine, however.
Third patrol
After his return, Lent was transferred to command of the ''Tambor''-class submarine , departing for the East China Sea in April 1942. He found a convoy of seven ships, including the "magnificent passenger freighter" ''Taiyo Maru'' (14,500 tons) (built in Germany in 1911 as the ).
[Blair, p.226.] Lent fired four torpedoes, two for influence, two for contact; the influence feature failed to function, but the other two sank ''Taiyo Maru'', sending over a thousand oil field technicians with her.
Lent then went to , where he suffered 36
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s over the next four hours, so he did not observe the sinking, and on his return to Pearl Harbor, joined the chorus of complaints about the
Mark XIV torpedo and its Mark VI exploder. He was echoed by his division commander,
Marmaduke O'Leary; Admiral
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
COMSUBPAC (replacing Withers), "
ubbornly following the policy of his predecessors -and the Gun Club line", instead blamed his skippers and crews.
Lent's biggest opportunity was , which he was detailed to intercept in the
Bungo Suido but he never sighted her.
[Blair, p.231.]
Battle of Midway
''En route'' home,
[Blair, p.236.] with the decryption of the Japanese plan to invade Midway, Lent was reassigned to the second
[Blair, p.240.] of three submarine patrol lines defending the island.
His was one of eighteen
boats around the island, which (except for ) accomplished nothing of consequence during
the battle. Operating south of ''Nautilus'', Lent picked up an 06.15 contact report of a force already out of reach. At 08.37, he surfaced and headed for Midway in hope of intercepting Japanese in retreat, but was forced to dive by American aircraft (still likely to attack, as ''Grayling'' learned), and quickly surfaced again to continue.
Subsequent wartime career
Lent went on to command the troubled
HOR
Hor Awibre (also known as Hor I) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt, 13th Dynasty reigning from c. 1777 BC until 1775 BCK.S.B. Ryholt, ''The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period'', ''Carsten ...
-engined with
SubRon 12 in England (which made dozens of patrols but did no recorded damage) and then
SubRon 16,
[Blair, p.813.] relieving
Tex McLean, who went to the Submarine School.
Lent's wartime score totalled 20,482 tons.
Postwar
In 1955, having been decorated with both two
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...
es and the
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
, Lent retired and under the
tombstone promotion
A tombstone promotion is an advance in rank awarded at retirement. It often does not include any corresponding increase in retired pay, in which case it is an honorary promotion whose only benefit is the right to be addressed by the higher rank an ...
law
[Blair, p.884.] was made rear admiral. He later worked with the
Electric Boat Division
General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...
of the General Dynamics Corporation.
Notes
References
*.
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lent, Willis
United States Navy admirals
1959 deaths
United States Navy personnel of World War II
People from Boston
United States Naval Academy alumni
Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
1904 births
People from West Roxbury, Boston
Military personnel from Massachusetts