Dudley Walker "Mush" Morton – On Eternal Patrol Aboard the Submarine USS Wahoo

Dudley Morton was born in Owensboro, Kentucky on July 17, 1907. From the 1910 US Census we learn that Dudley’s father, William, 27, worked as a master mechanic for Norton Coal Corporation. His mother, Elizabeth, 25, had only two children living at home at this time; Dudley, then 3 years old, and his older brother, William D., 5. They lived on the Shawneetown and Caseyville Road in Caseyville, Union County, Kentucky.

According to the Find a Grave website, mysticalrainbow649 originally shared this on 14 Oct 2010. “Morton attended the Miami High School, Miami, Florida and entered the U.S. Naval Academy as a Midshipman from the Fourth Florida District in 1926. He was on the Varsity Football Team and Varsity Wrestling Squad all four years and was variously called "Mush", "Mushmouth" and "Dud" by his classmates. Graduated and commissioned Ensign on June 5, 1930, he subsequently advanced to the rank of Commander. His Navy Service Number was O-063274.”

After graduation he was ordered to the USS SARATOGA for passage to the West Coast where he had duty in connection with the fitting out of the USS CHICAGO at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. He served in her from ship's commissioning on March 9, 1931 until June, 1933 when he reported to the Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut for instruction. Upon completion of that course in December, 1933 he was ordered to the Asiatic Station where he served in the USS CANOPUS and later in the USS S-37, flagship of Submarine Division Ten until January 1937.

On May 16, 1936, according to the U.S., Consular Reports of Marriages, Dudley Married Harriet Rose Nelson, 23 years old, at the Community Church, Iltis Huk, Tsingtao, China. An article also reported the marriage: “NELSON-MORTON - Word has been received by rela tives and friends of the marriage of Mr. Dudley Walker Morton, Lieut Junior Grade, VS. Navy, to Miss Harriet Rose Nelson, De Kalb, married, on May 16, in Tsingtao, China. Lieutenant Morton is a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Dix Morton, formerly of Owensboro, and is a nephew of Miss Sallie Morton and Mr. Sam Morton, of Owensboro. (The Owensboro Messenger (Owensboro, Kentucky) 22 Jul 1936, Wednesday Page 10) This researcher also found a list for the passenger ship USS Washington that traveled from Southampton, England to New York City. Aboard on May 26, 1937 were Dudley Morton and his wife Harriet.

Morton was stationed in the Navy Yard, Philadelphia from February 1937 until May 1939 when he joined destroyer USS FAIRFAX and served as her Executive Officer until June, 1940. He next refitted the submarine USS R-5 and commanded her until April, 1942. He was attached to the Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut in May and in June 1942 was ordered to Submarine Squadron Four for duty as a Prospective Commanding Officer. Ordered to the ill fated submarine, USS WAHOO, he joined her on November 2, 1942. Following participation in her Second War Patrol, he assumed command on December 31, 1942.

Dudley Morton, along with 79 other sailors, was tragically lost on October 11, 1943, when a Japanese antisubmarine air and sea force holed the Wahoo and she sank with all hands on board. A memorial to the men of the Wahoo is called Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii. Morton also had a memorial headstone placed at the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He was awarded a Navy Cross with three Gold Stars and a Purple Heart Medal posthumously.

Wreck site found: Beginning in 1995, the Wahoo Project Group started the search for her location based on available evidence. In 2005 electronic surveys showed what turned out to be a US Gato class submarine in the strait. On October 31, 2006 the US Navy confirmed the wreckage of the Wahoo in 213 feet of water in the La Perouse Strait.

On July 8, 2007, the US Navy held a wreath laying ceremony at the confirmed site of the sinking of the Wahoo. On October 11, 2007, the US Navy held an official remembrance ceremony for the crew of the Wahoo. The ceremony was conducted at the USS Bowfin Museum and Submarine Park at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

**Details of Wahoo’s amazing war history and final patrol (see **https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-022/h-022-4.html for more details) are given below:

**Morton’s first and Wahoo’s Second War Patrol - **Following the "fiasco" that was their first war patrol, Dick O'Kane was confident that Wahoo would get a new skipper during their rest period. When Commander Kennedy unexpectedly reported back aboard as the boats' skipper, O'Kane took action. In a bold breach of protocol, he met with the Division Commander, Joe Grenfell, and poured out his reservations about his captain. Rather than being sacked himself, O'Kane's petitions got results. A Prospective Commanding Officer was added to Wahoo's wardroom, a man with seniority similar to Kennedy's. Grenfell hoped he would be able to assist Kennedy while on patrol - two heads being better than one. The PCO's name was Lt. Commander Dudley W. "Mush" Morton.

Morton was not without a checkered past himself. He had been criticized for an attack against a German U-boat he had made during an Atlantic patrol as CO of the antique R-5. Transferred to Pearl, he was given command of Dolphin. After a cursory review in which he found the boat to be in deplorable condition, he advised his wardroom to seek other assignments, calling her a "death trap". When Morton requested command of another boat ComSubPac was furious. Only through the personal intervention of his former Annapolis football coach, Captain John "Babe" Brown, was he able to land in the PCO pool. The opportunity to sail with Wahoo as a "makey learn" was a welcome reprieve.

Another new face aboard Wahoo was Forest J. Sterling, Yeoman Second. O'Kane immediately set him to work in the ship's office. It was there that he reacquainted himself with an officer he had met while serving on the China Station in the 30's, Lt.Cdr. Morton. The outgoing officer regularly announced his presence in the ship's office with a hearty slap on the Yeoman's back.

With her bridge cowl cut down and a new 4-inch gun and two 20mm guns installed, Wahoo set sail on November 8, 1942. Her destination was patrol area Dog in the Solomon Islands. Any hope of Morton being a positive influence on Kennedy's aggressiveness was quickly dashed. Kennedy informed his officers that they would continue to patrol submerged during the day with strictly regulated periscope sweeps.

They began patrolling off Buka, to the northeast of Bougainville. On the night of November 30, smoke was sighted during a lightning storm. Ignoring Morton and O'Kane's suggestions to pull ahead for an attack the next morning, Kennedy dove. During the ensuing sound approach, the target got by.

Following a period of seventeen days without enemy contact, Kennedy shifted south to the Shortlands. On December 8, a large tanker was sighted, a target they had been alerted to watch for by ULTRA. It too got by them.

Emotions on board were running high. Morton and O'Kane had found themselves uniquely matched in personality and temperament. Aggressive by nature, both men felt the loss of each target personally. Kennedy's response only exacerbated the problem in his wardroom. The lack of rapport he had with O'Kane repeated itself in his relationship with Morton. Kennedy was "a perfectionist" and constantly interjected himself in the minutia of his command. At the same time "his inability to delegate isolated him from his officers". It didn't help that Morton got along famously with his crew.

With morale plummeting, O'Kane contemplated usurping Kennedy on the basis of his failed attacks. In a reckless (or coldly calculating) moment, O'Kane left a book of Navy regs open in the conning tower. The page detailed conditions under which Executive Officers could assume command. Arriving unexpectedly, Kennedy read the passage learning the full depths of his XO's mistrust. In a moment fraught with tension, Kennedy pondered, "Dick, what am I going to do with you?"

On December 10, a convoy wandered across Wahoo's uncertain path. Made up of three freighters and a destroyer, Kennedy conducted perhaps his best attack. The 5,355 ton Kamoi Maru was sunk. The destroyer dropped over forty depth charges, shaking the boat. A leak in the negative tank's vent valve caused her to slip to 350 feet before depth control was recovered. Surfacing later, O'Kane and Morton urged Kennedy to engage the remaining two freighters but he would have none of it.

Another freighter was sighted on the 12th but again, an aggressive attack was not made and the ship escaped. Kennedy's wardroom decided that the success of the 10th was an aberration, rather than a turning point.

On December 12th a large submarine was sighted on the surface, I-2. The fire control party developed the solution before calling Kennedy. Arriving at the scope, all that was left to do was to give the order to fire. Kennedy did. A hit was observed and they watched the boat sink with men on the bridge. Later, collapsing bulkheads were heard on the sound gear. Kennedy wrote in his report, "This attack was brought to a successful end largely through the splendid coordination of four officers, whose performance was outstanding. They were: Lt. G.W. Grider - O.O.D. and Diving Officer; Lt. R.H. O'Kane - A.A.O.; Lt. R.W. Paine - T.D.C. Operator; Lt.Cdr. D.W. Morton - A.A.O."

At the end of her patrol period, Wahoo was transferred to SubSoWesPac at Brisbane, Australia. She arrived there on December 26, 1942.

Kennedy and Morton went before Admiral James Fife to review the patrol. Kennedy optimisticaly focused on the two sinkings. Fife then asked for Morton's comments. According to Lt. Jack Griggs, a junior officer, Morton told the Admiral that "Kennedy was a yellow S.O.B. and should be relieved of command." Kennedy protested. But when O'Kane was called in to corroborate, the damage was done. Kennedy was awarded a Silver Star and a transfer to the surface fleet.

Thus Wahoo was without a commander. In a prescient, and tradition breaking, move Fife gave the PCO command of the boat he had trained on. On New Year's Eve 1942, Dudley Morton, a "makey learn", became captain of Wahoo.

Sixth war patrol, August 1943 - On 13 August, Wahoo entered the Sea of Okhotsk, having completed the passage through the Etorofu Strait. She arrived in the Sea of Japan the following day and sighted three medium freighters headed south. The submarine launched one torpedo at the trailing ship; it missed. The next day (15 August), while still on the trail of those three freighters, Wahoo sighted a large freighter on a northerly course. Deciding to attack the larger, single target, the submarine broke off the pursuit of the three freighters, surfaced, and commenced tracking the new target, diving to make a submerged approach. Wahoo launched one torpedo; it hit at the point of aim but was a dud. She fired two more torpedoes. Both missed. Wahoo then swung around to bring her stern torpedo tubes to bear and headed directly for the target. The submarine fired another torpedo which missed and must have broached and exploded before the end of the run. Wahoo soon sighted an Otori-class torpedo boat and commenced evasive action, letting the large freighter escape. She decided to move over on the Hokkaidō-Korea shipping route and spend the night and the following day transiting to that area.

On 16 August, Wahoo sighted a freighter headed south, but made another contact in a better position for attack. Shifting targets, she launched one torpedo at a medium-sized freighter. It missed. The next day, the scene was repeated with the same results. No pursuit was undertaken, in hopes of a loaded target heading south. However, Wahoo sighted a freighter heading north in ballast and commenced a submerged approach. Morton launched one torpedo which missed. Just as the torpedo left its tube, a southbound freighter passed close aboard this target, but the torpedo missed. Wahoo then surfaced and chased the southbound freighter. While pursuing this ship, the submarine sighted another target well ahead and away from the coast, so she again shifted targets. While tracking this new target, she passed two small northbound ships – one looked like a tug and the other resembled a tanker. Wahoo made a submerged approach and launched a torpedo at the medium-sized freighter. It was a miss. She fired again; still a miss, but this torpedo, probably broaching, exploded. The submarine surfaced and headed further out to sea.

Within four days, twelve Japanese vessels were sighted; nine were hunted down and attacked to no avail. Ten torpedoes broached, made erratic runs, or were duds. In light of the poor torpedo performance, ComSubPac ordered Wahoo to return to base.

On 19 August, the submarine sighted a ship and commenced tracking, but she withheld her fire when her crew recognized the flag as Soviet (an ally of the United States at the time). Wahoo made for La Perouse Strait. The next day, she sighted a sampan and fired warning shots across the bow. When the sampan failed to stop, the submarine opened up on it with her 20 mm and four-inch guns. The sampan was soon a wreck. Six Japanese fishermen surrendered and were taken on board as prisoners of war. Eight hours later, Wahoo opened fire on two more sampans, enveloping them in flames. Members of the crews jumped overboard but showed no desire to be rescued. Wahoo completed the passage of Etorofu Strait, and then arrived at Midway on 25 August. She immediately got underway for Pearl Harbor, and she arrived there on 29 August.

**Seventh and Final War Patrol "Sea of Japan, Eternal Patrol" - ** Furious over the torpedo failures of WAHOO's Sixth War Patrol and stung by criticism of the attack plan he adopted for the patrol area, Mush Morton's mind was clear on one thing. He had to return to the Sea of Japan. The targets were there and he had proved it could be penetrated. Now all he needed was a chance for redemption.

For his boss, Admiral Charles Lockwood, the decision to send him there was not so easy. Morton's fierce aggressiveness had been an inspiration to the submarine force. But how could that kind of pace be kept up without some devastating price being paid? Lockwood knew he would have to give WAHOO to someone else soon, the question was when. In turn, Morton knew his days of combat command were drawing to a close so he pushed hard for a return trip. One more shot was all he wanted. After all, he was Lockwood's star. Lockwood relented.

Perhaps to demonstrate his confidence in his top skipper, Lockwood approved the use of the new Mark-18 electric torpedo on the patrol. Still in the development stage, WAHOO would carry a mixed load of these new wakeless fish to partially supplant the older Mark-14's which had let him down so much of late. Morton was ebullient about the possibilities that lay ahead.

On September 5, 1943, WAHOO sailed from Pearl Harbor for Midway. They arrived on September 13 and stopped to top off their fuel tanks. During the short stay, Yeoman Forest Sterling received orders to Advanced Yeoman's School, a long hoped for opportunity. Morton offered him the choice: finish the patrol or find a replacement on Midway and trade places. Sterling and Morton found Yeoman 2c William T. White, eager to leave the remote island for a berth on the famous boat. Both men quickly gathered up their few personal effects and the exchange was made.

At 1600 hours on September 13, WAHOO departed Midway for the Sea of Japan via La Perouse Strait. Forest Sterling watched them fade from sight on the horizon. They were never seen by American forces again.

On October 5, 1943, the Japanese news service Domei announced that an "inter-island steamer", the 8000 ton transport KONRON MARU, had been torpedoed in the Sea of Japan. She had gone down in seconds, taking with her the lives of 544 nationals. Time magazine reported the announcement on October 15. Lockwood and his staff had known immediately that WAHOO was busy and eagerly awaited Morton's report. However, at the appointed time she failed to transmit.

Undaunted, signals were sent to try and raise her. Hopes for her safe return remained high. But as the hours turned into days and the days into weeks, Lockwood was faced with the unthinkable: Morton and WAHOO were overdue and presumed lost She was posted as such in November, 1943.

Japanese records, and interviews with eyewitnesses conducted years later, revealed what Lockwood and his staff could only have imagined. At 0830 hours on October 11, 1943 the 6-inch shore batteries on Soya Misaki promontory sighted a surfaced American submarine making a dash through the twenty mile wide Cape Soya Strait. They immediately opened fire and the submarine submerged.

The airfield at Wakkani was notified and a total of four Japanese airplanes arrived on the scene. The submarine was initially betrayed by a trail of oil visible from the air. The pilots then reported seeing a black conning tower and hull. This they used as a point of aim, dropping bombs over the next five hours (view the official Japanese REPORT). With the entire coast now alerted to the enemy submarine's presence, two Submarine Chasers, #15 and #23, joined the battle. They made contact with the submarine and began to drop depth charges.

At 1207 hours, following a depth charge run by Submarine Chaser #15, a bright metallic object, assumed to be a severed propeller blade, was glimpsed in the ensuing explosions. Oil continued to rise to the surface. Auxiliary #18 joined the Submarine Chasers and aircraft, several more bombs and depth charges were dropped. However, no further contact with the submarine was reported.

At approximately 1400 hours a very large volume of oil reached the surface. Over the course of the afternoon the ensuing slick stretched 50 meters wide and 2000 meters long. A sample taken revealed it to be diesel fuel. The aircraft were recalled, the ships returned home and an American submarine was reported sunk. That submarine was undoubtedly the USS WAHOO.

Years later a former member of WAHOO's wardroom would draw his own conclusions about that final issue of oil. In his mind, that sudden belch of fuel coming so long after the attacks meant only one thing: Morton and his men were still fighting. Caught on the surface, driven down and hounded mercilessly for five hours, punctured and without the use of one screw, WAHOO settled to the bottom 20 meters down. Trapped, Morton tried one last valiant attempt to bring his boat to the surface. He gave the order to pump all fuel overboard, hoping it would make the difference and lighten the boat enough for it to rise.

Sadly, this did not happen. Instead, as the hours waned, Commander Dudley W. "Mush" Morton and 79 officers and men made the transition from American heroes to legends of the deep.

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This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Resources:

Special thanks to all of those who provided information about this sailor in order for me to have the privilege of compiling this story.

http://warfish.com/

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Dudley+Walker_Morton&event=_owensboro-daviess-kentucky-usa_32186&birth=1907&death=1943_japan_5000&gender=m&keyword=Navy&priority=usa&race=White

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7488&h=20496610&tid=&pid=&queryId=ebee0eb766af483434f87ea3567c2c23&usePUB=true&_phsrc=vvO1114&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1652/images/32180_520305891_0009-00718?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=15971

https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/173809379/person/292269811589/media/1bb5d781-e963-4714-8956-21bafecfc09f?_phsrc=vvO1110&_phstart=successSource

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24504413/dudley-walker-morton