DALLAS — The wreckage of a famed World War II-era U.S. Navy submarine, which sank a record number of Japanese ships with renowned Dallas-born naval commander Samuel David Dealey at the helm, has been found.
The U.S. Navy’s History and Heritage Command announced shortly before the Memorial Day weekend that the department’s Underwater Archaeology Branch confirmed the discovery of the USS Harder.
“Harder was lost in the course of victory. We must not forget that victory has a price, as does freedom,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, a retired Navy rear admiral. “We are grateful that Lost 52 has given us the opportunity to once again honor the valor of the crew of the ‘Hit ‘em HARDER’ submarine that sank the most Japanese warships – in particularly audacious attacks – under her legendary skipper, Cmdr. Sam Dealey.”
The submarine’s wreckage was found about 80 years after its sixth and final patrol in the fall of 1944 when it was sunk in the South China Sea off the coast of Luzon, the northernmost island in the Philippines.
Japanese records showed the USS Harder fired three times after it spotted a Japanese ship, but the ship evaded and began a series of depth charge attacks. The submarine was damaged and sank with 79 people aboard, including Dealey.
The submarine was found using data collected by Tiburon Subsea CEO and the Lost 52 Project founder Tim Taylor. The Lost 52 Project is a New York-based organization that seeks to locate and preserve the 52 U.S. submarines lost during World War II.
The Lost 52 Project scanned the entire ship and stitched all the images together to create a multi-dimensional model used to study and explore the site. The organization has located multiple other World War II-era submarines as well.
Dealey was the submarine’s only commander.
Dealey’s other awards included a Navy Cross (Sept. 1943) for Harder’s first war patrol; a Gold Star in lieu of second Navy Cross (Nov. 1943) for its second war patrol; a second Gold Star in lieu of third Navy Cross (Feb. 1944) for its third war patrol; the Distinguished Service Cross (July 1944); a third Gold Star in lieu of fourth Navy Cross (July 1944) for fourth war patrol; and the Silver Star (posthumously, Oct. 1948) for the sixth war patrol.
The wreckage of the USS Harder is protected under U.S. law and “should be respected by all parties as a war grave,” according to the U.S. Navy’s History and Heritage Command.
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