aboard we were in our shorts and a shirt, and that was it. A submariner doesn’t get any sunshine. Our skin was really fair. We were soon very sunburned. Our lips were blistered and swollen.” 6
The survivors felt as if they were sitting in a frying pan. Yet they could not move or shift their weight around to ease their pain.
The sun’s rays felt more intense as the hours passed. Throughout the day, the men were not given food or water. “It kept getting hotter and we kept asking for water,” recalled Bill Leibold. “Finally they brought us water . . . but it was boiling.”
Their suffering had only just begun. The Tang crew were about to find out that the Japanese harbored enormous contempt for enemy submarine crews, who had caused immense damage to their war effort.
At first, some of the Japanese survivors began to circle the Tang men, then they started kicking and slapping them. “Hog-tied like we were,” recalled Savadkin, “we just had to take it.” 7
The sailors grabbed the Tang survivors by the hair, yanked back their heads, and stubbed out cigarettes on their faces and necks. The sailors had plenty to be angry about. In the Tang ’s attack on their ship, “a steam boiler had busted open and some of the [Japanese] survivors were scalded like lobsters,” recalled Decker. “Soon enough, they realized, ‘Hey, here’s the guys who did this to us.’ They grabbed me by the hair, took a lit cigarette, and stuck it up my nose. They hit us with rifle butts and kicked us.” 8
Floyd Caverly was kneeling with his hands and feet tied together.
A Japanese officer approached.
“What is the name of your ship?” asked the officer in English.
Caverly had been told never to divulge information to the enemy.
“What is the name of your boat?” 9
“We didn’t have a boat name,” lied Caverly. “Just a number.”
The officer pulled out his sword.
“What was the name of your boat?”
“There was no name, sir.”
Caverly prepared to die.
The officer lifted his sword. Then he swiped Caverly with it. But he didn’t kill him. Instead he hit him alongside the head with the flat side of the sword.
Caverly didn’t feel too much pain. “I thought I’d have to go over the side of the boat after my head if I wanted one,” he recalled. “I figured that was the end.” 10
Caverly was sitting between O’Kane, to his left, and Torpedoman Hayes Trukke, to his right.
“Who is that next to you?” asked O’Kane.
“Trukke,” said Caverly.
O’Kane seemed surprised.
“Was he on board my boat?”
Caverly nodded.
Trukke had joined the Tang just before her final patrol. After being in the water, his wet hair now hung over his face.
Caverly looked at Trukke. He reminded him of a popular cartoon character who had long blonde hair. “O’Kane was a stickler for short haircuts and no beards,” recalled Caverly. “He was amazed, I guess, that someone was on his submarine who had long, scraggly hair.” 11
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG for the Japanese to realize that the Tang survivors were submariners and—more ominously—that they had rescued the very men who had caused such heavy damage and loss of life to their convoy in previous days. It seemed hard to credit, at first, that these few, bedraggled Americans had been responsible for the holocaust the evening before.
One by one, the Tang survivors were taken belowdecks to be questioned. “When it was my turn,” recalled Jesse DaSilva, “they took me to another part of the ship and had me sit down between three of them.They offered me a ball of rice, but I could not eat it. One of them had an electrical device and he would jab me in the ribs with this and I would twitch and jump. They all thought this was very funny. The one that could speak English carried a large club about the size of a baseball bat. He would ask questions and if he didn’t like the answers he would hit me on the head with this bat. After some time, when they figured
The survivors felt as if they were sitting in a frying pan. Yet they could not move or shift their weight around to ease their pain.
The sun’s rays felt more intense as the hours passed. Throughout the day, the men were not given food or water. “It kept getting hotter and we kept asking for water,” recalled Bill Leibold. “Finally they brought us water . . . but it was boiling.”
Their suffering had only just begun. The Tang crew were about to find out that the Japanese harbored enormous contempt for enemy submarine crews, who had caused immense damage to their war effort.
At first, some of the Japanese survivors began to circle the Tang men, then they started kicking and slapping them. “Hog-tied like we were,” recalled Savadkin, “we just had to take it.” 7
The sailors grabbed the Tang survivors by the hair, yanked back their heads, and stubbed out cigarettes on their faces and necks. The sailors had plenty to be angry about. In the Tang ’s attack on their ship, “a steam boiler had busted open and some of the [Japanese] survivors were scalded like lobsters,” recalled Decker. “Soon enough, they realized, ‘Hey, here’s the guys who did this to us.’ They grabbed me by the hair, took a lit cigarette, and stuck it up my nose. They hit us with rifle butts and kicked us.” 8
Floyd Caverly was kneeling with his hands and feet tied together.
A Japanese officer approached.
“What is the name of your ship?” asked the officer in English.
Caverly had been told never to divulge information to the enemy.
“What is the name of your boat?” 9
“We didn’t have a boat name,” lied Caverly. “Just a number.”
The officer pulled out his sword.
“What was the name of your boat?”
“There was no name, sir.”
Caverly prepared to die.
The officer lifted his sword. Then he swiped Caverly with it. But he didn’t kill him. Instead he hit him alongside the head with the flat side of the sword.
Caverly didn’t feel too much pain. “I thought I’d have to go over the side of the boat after my head if I wanted one,” he recalled. “I figured that was the end.” 10
Caverly was sitting between O’Kane, to his left, and Torpedoman Hayes Trukke, to his right.
“Who is that next to you?” asked O’Kane.
“Trukke,” said Caverly.
O’Kane seemed surprised.
“Was he on board my boat?”
Caverly nodded.
Trukke had joined the Tang just before her final patrol. After being in the water, his wet hair now hung over his face.
Caverly looked at Trukke. He reminded him of a popular cartoon character who had long blonde hair. “O’Kane was a stickler for short haircuts and no beards,” recalled Caverly. “He was amazed, I guess, that someone was on his submarine who had long, scraggly hair.” 11
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG for the Japanese to realize that the Tang survivors were submariners and—more ominously—that they had rescued the very men who had caused such heavy damage and loss of life to their convoy in previous days. It seemed hard to credit, at first, that these few, bedraggled Americans had been responsible for the holocaust the evening before.
One by one, the Tang survivors were taken belowdecks to be questioned. “When it was my turn,” recalled Jesse DaSilva, “they took me to another part of the ship and had me sit down between three of them.They offered me a ball of rice, but I could not eat it. One of them had an electrical device and he would jab me in the ribs with this and I would twitch and jump. They all thought this was very funny. The one that could speak English carried a large club about the size of a baseball bat. He would ask questions and if he didn’t like the answers he would hit me on the head with this bat. After some time, when they figured
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