A Mission Rooted in Vengeance
The loss of Morton and the submarine devastated Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, who was the commander of the US Pacific Fleet’s Submarine Force. He wrote in his journal: “This is the worst blow we’ve had. I’m heartbroken. God punish the Japanese!” In Lockwood’s eyes, Morton was the ideal undersea warrior.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
“He had a veritable lust for combat, and he was the deadliest kind of fighter — the cold kind.” Lockwood was determined to see “an hour of revenge.” And so, two years later, that day arrived. The American wolf pack – a band of nine submarines, nicknamed the Hellcats – was on a mission to penetrate submerged minefields in the Sea of Japan. The goal was to surprise the enemy and devastate their shipping.