This Week in Military Heroism: CDR Howard W. Gilmore Sacrifices Himself for His Ship
February 7, 1943
This week in military heroism, Commander Howard W. Gilmores sacrifice made him the first American submariner to receive a Medal of Honor for his bravery. His actions made him a legend in the Navy, and his self-sacrificing command of Take her down! echoes through generations of naval seamen.
Commander Gilmores Mission
Commander Howard Walter Gilmore entered the Navy in 1920. Two years later, he was appointed to the Naval Academy, and graduated in 1926. He underwent submarine training in 1930, and assumed command of his first ship in 1941. The day after receiving his first assignment, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and he was transferred to a ship call the Growler in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Gilmore commanded the Growler through four Pacific war patrols. Allied submarines would patrol Axis-occupied waters, taking down merchant marine ships and Japanese battleships. During the war, submarine warfare against the merchant marine ships was a crucial element to the Allied battle plan, and was the main cause of the collapse of the Japanese economy.
During his first patrol as Commander, Gilmore sank three Japanese destroyers, and narrowly avoided torpedoes fired back by the enemy. On the second patrol, the Growler sank four merchant ships carrying 15,000 tons of goods near Taiwan. His third patrol trip did not see any major action.
Making the Ultimate Sacrifice
On the Growlers fourth trip, Commander Gilmore continued to target enemy shipping assets. He was surveilling a Japanese shipping convoy, preparing to charge in a surface attack, when an enemy convoy escort ship appeared out of the darkness.
Gilmore spotted the Japanese ships approach, and shouted Left full rudder! Gilmore maneuvered the Growler around to ram the enemy ship at a speed of 17 knots, striking the Japanese ship but disabling the Growler in the process.
With the Growler on the surface and damaged, the Japanese crew immediately fired wave after wave of machine gun rounds, killing a junior officer on deck as well as the lookout. Gilmore and two other submariners were seriously wounded.
The Growler needed to dive underwater in order to make its escape. Gilmore ordered his crew to clear the bridge, sending injured and dazed seamen into the belly of the ship for safety.
Knowing that quickly submerging the ship was the only method of saving his crew, and that he himself was too injured make it inside the submarine in time, Gilmore gave the order. Take her down! he called to Lieutenant Commander Arnold Schade. Realizing that Gilmore was making the ultimate sacrifice for his men, the lieutenant commander submerged the ship, and Gilmore floated away into the night.
The Growler escaped from the skirmish crippled, but salvageable. The ship made its way to safety in Brisbane, Australia, where it was repaired and fought again under the command of Lieutenant Commander Schade.
For sacrificing his own life for the sake of his men, Commander Howard W. Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Over 70 years later, Gilmores final command of Take her down! serves as a rallying cry for todays submariners.
