The sea was calm as the stars blinked over Kyushu, Japan, on the night of April 14, 1945. Beneath the waves lurked an American submarine with orders that bordered on madness: slip into a mined enemy harbor, attack anchored vessels, and get out alive.
At the helm was a man who would not hesitate—Commander George L. Street III.
By sunrise, three enemy ships were sunk, Japanese shore batteries had erupted in fury, and the USS Tirante had vanished like a phantom into the Pacific night.
“It was a mission that could have ended in the loss of the boat and all hands. That it didn’t is testament to leadership, planning—and raw courage.”
On April 11, 1900, the United States Navy quietly acquired a strange, torpedo-shaped vessel that would alter the nature of sea power for generations to come. It was not a battleship or a cruiser. It had no tall masts or broad decks. It did not fly into battle under a banner of cannon smoke and gallant brass. But it changed everything. That vessel, the privately built Holland VI, would become USS Holland, the first modern submarine commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Her acquisition on that date is now honored as the official birthday of the United States Navy Submarine Force.
The morning sun rose over a calm Atlantic on April 10, 1963, bearing silent witness to what should have been a routine trial for America’s most advanced submarine. Approximately 220 miles east of Cape Cod, USS Thresher (SSN-593), the pride of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear fleet, was conducting post-overhaul deep-dive trials following nine months of maintenance at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Onboard were 129 men—submariners, shipyard workers, engineers, and civilian technicians—all aboard to verify that Thresher was ready to return to frontline service.
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