Thomas Burton Klakring (December 19, 1904 – July 24, 1975) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and career

T. B. Klakring, the only child of Colonel and Mrs. Leslie Klakring, was born in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

with the Class of 1927. Lieutenant Commander Klakring commanded USS ''Guardfish'' (SS-217), from her commissioning in May 1942 through her fourth war patrol in March–April 1943. ''Guardfish'' first war patrol was in the hitherto unpatrolled waters off northeast

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and southern

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

. Klakring worked out a tactic of getting inside of the sea lanes at night — just off the shore — to put his ship in position to attack the many ships moving along the coast. On 4 September, Klakring attacked a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

off Kuji, sinking two ships; a third which had retreated into the harbor was then hit and sunk from a range of over 7,500 yards. In all, ''Guardfish'' sank five major cargo ships with a total tonnage of almost 17,000 tons, and damaged others. It was one of the most successful patrols of the war, and on ''Guardfish'' return, Klakring was decorated with the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

. In a rare press conference called to publicize the accomplishments of the ordinarily "Silent Service", he embellished his success, spinning a yarn about being close enough to a town to see a horse race being run, "but we were just a little too far away to be sure which horse won." On his second patrol, Klakring took ''Guardfish'' to the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

, where he attacked a seven-ship convoy on 21 October, sinking two ships. For her outstanding success on these first two war patrols, ''Guardfish'' received a Presidential Unit Citation. ''Guardfish'' was sent to the

Bismarck Sea The Bismarck Sea (, ) lies in the south-western Pacific Ocean within the Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean exclusive economic zone. It is located north-east of the island of New Guinea and south of the Bismarck Archipelago. It has coastlines i ...

for her third patrol. There Klakring sank another cargo ship and two

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

naval vessels — ''Patrol Boat No. 1'' and the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

''Hakaze'' — near

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, New Ireland. In November 1944, Klakring led a seven-sub wolfpack — "Burt's Brooms" — from the

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to the

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. Klakring chose John S. Coye's ''Silversides'' as his flagship; the others were ''Saury'', ''Tambor'', ''Trigger'', ''Burrfish'', ''Sterlet'', and ''Ronquil''. Their mission was to 'sweep' Japanese patrol craft out of the way of a planned raid by Admiral

William Halsey William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (30 October 1882 – 16 August 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others be ...

Fast Carrier Task Force The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet) was a group of ships in World War II. It was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through th ...

. However, according to Jasper Holmes, one of the

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Station HYPO Station HYPO, also known as Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC), was the United States Navy signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence unit in Hawaii during World War II. It was one of two major Allied signals intelligence units, called Fl ...

, "The Japanese responded to the raid by rushing additional patrol craft and air search planes into the area, and there were probably more pickets in the area after the sweep than there were when it started." Upon retirement in 1949, Captain Klakring received a

tombstone promotion A tombstone promotion is an advance in rank awarded at retirement. It is often an honorary promotion that does not include any corresponding increase in retired pay, whose only benefit is the right to be addressed by the higher rank and have it en ...

to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. He later served as vice president of the

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Corporation's

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Division. Klakring died on 24 July 1975 at

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Honors

For his heroism while commanding ''Guardfish'', Klakring was awarded the

with two Gold Stars (in lieu of second and third awards). In addition, ''Guardfish'' was awarded her first Presidential Unit Citation while under Klakring's command. Admiral Klakring's other decorations include the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

China Service Medal The China Service Medal was a service medal awarded to U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel. The medal was instituted by Navy Department General Order No. 176 on 1 July 1942. The medal recognized service in and around China befo ...

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a United States service medals of the World Wars, military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recogniz ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal, and the

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

. In 1982, the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

USS ''Klakring'' (FFG-42) was launched, sponsored by Beverly Bohen, a niece of R.Adm. Klakring.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klakring, Thomas Burton 1904 births 1975 deaths United States Navy officers United States Naval Academy alumni United States submarine commanders Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star United States Navy personnel of World War II