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Surrounded in the Philippines
 Within
60 days of the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese Navy had
established a virtual strangle-hold on the Pacific. Nipponese
controlled waters spread from the Bearing Sea to the Indian Ocean,
ranging from China to New Guinea, and eastward beyond Wake Island.
The two last bastions of American hope lay at Midway and on the
big Philippine Island of Luzon. Unlike Midway, which was still
surrounded by Allied controlled water, the Philippines were cut
off and surrounded by hundreds of miles of hostile sea, heavily
patrolled by a seemingly invincible Japanese Navy.
Luzon itself had felt the crushing blow of
an unstoppable aerial bombardment that had virtually destroyed the
Far East Air Force. By the end of January, rarely could a single
American plane be fielded to try and deter the Japanese attacks
from the sky. Japanese General Homma's highly trained and
combat-experienced forces were well-entrenched on Luzon by early
January, and were advancing southward against a poorly supplied
American force under General Jonathan Wainwright and the valiant
but battered Philippine Scouts who desperately struggled to defend
their homeland.
 Before
the Philippine Capitol City of Manila was declared an open city
and occupied by the Japanese on New Years Day, General Douglas
MacArthur and his command moved to the island fortress of
Corregidor. The rocky, tadpole-shaped island measures only a
mile-and-a-half at its widest point, but its meager 3-square-mile
surface was defended by strong rock and sandbagged emplacements
and a massive tunnel command post. Situated at the opening to
Manila Bay, Corregidor was a commanding position protected by three miles
of open water on its north shore, the closest point to any land
mass. That landmass was the Bataan Peninsula where the
Japanese continued their advance, despite a valiant resistance
against all odds.
From the air Corregidor stuck out like a
sore thumb, a tempting and easy target for Japanese bombers. When
enemy intelligence became aware of MacArthur's presence on the Island
Fortress, along with his staff and command, the ROCK as
it was nicknamed, became a prime target. With dwindling supplies,
the anti-aircraft batteries that had shot down thirteen enemy
bombers in the first of what became daily air attacks, were close
to shutting down. A desperate call for resupply was sent back to
Pearl Harbor. Corregidor was close to being bombed into a rock
pile.
The United States Pacific Fleet was still
reeling from the attack at Pearl Harbor that had sunk or damaged
every one of the seven battleships assigned to the Pacific, as
well as dozens of other craft. Reinforcing and resupplying the
Philippine Defense Force was a virtual impossibility--even had
there been an shipping lane into the Island. For the Japanese forces fighting to control Bataan, it
was simply a matter of time before Wainwright's forces were out of
ammunition and supplies, and starved into defeat. Also, without
resupply, the guns on the Rock would soon cease firing and
Corregidor would become a helpless target to be quickly bombed
into submission.
Any American
craft attempting to traverse the thousands of miles of
Japanese-controlled Pacific waters to resupply the Philippine
Islands by air or on the surface was destined to swift
destruction. It was for that reason that the Navy turned to an
unusual supply ship: the U.S.S. Trout (SS-202), an American
submarine.
Cargo Sub
Lieutenant Commander Frank Wesley Fenno had missed all
the action on that fateful December day when the United States was
attacked and plunged into war. Fenno's submarine, the U.S.S.
Trout, had been on a peace-time patrol in the waters near Midway
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Soon thereafter he
witnessed the attack on Midway by returning ships of the enemy
fleet from a distance too great to intervene. Returning to Pearl
Harbor to refuel and rearm upon completion of what was now the vessel's first
War Patrol, the U.S.S. Trout was actually disarmed. Stripped of
virtually all unnecessary items including TORPEDOES, save for one
torpedo in each of the submarines tubes, the Trout was refitted
for a special mission. That mission was later vaguely spelled out
in Frank Fenno's first award of the Navy Cross:
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For exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility, as Commanding Officer of the
U.S.S. Trout (SS-202), in successfully completing an unusual and special mission through enemy controlled waters for the United States War Department during the month of January 1942. Upon completion of this mission, and while returning to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, through enemy infested waters , with a special cargo on board, the
U.S.S. Trout attacked and sank a 5,000 ton enemy merchant vessel on February 10, 1942. Furthermore, on the same date, upon being attacked by torpedoes from an enemy patrol vessel, the
U.S.S. Trout attacked and sank the enemy attacking ship, and continued her voyage to Pearl Harbor, arriving there without damage to material or injury to personnel throughout the hazardous operations. |
That "unusual and special mission" was to be
the delivery of 3,500 rounds of high altitude anti-aircraft artillery for the
defenders at Corregidor. Since no surface or air craft could negotiate the
Nipponese gauntlet, the only hope lay in reaching the island beneath the
surface. It was a daring and desperate attempt to provide relief to the
Philippine Defense Force. The award of the Army's Distinguished Service Cross,
also presented to Lieutenant Commander Fenno for this top secret mission
provided more details than the Navy Cross citation:
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For
extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations
against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer,
U.S.S. Trout, while operating his submarine in
enemy-controlled waters during January - March 1942 in the
performance of an unusual and hazardous mission for the War
Department. Carrying a heavy load of antiaircraft ammunition
urgently needed by the beleaguered forces of General Douglas
MacArthur in the Philippine Islands, the U.S.S. Trout departed
from Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii for Corregidor Island,
Manila Bay, at 0900, 12 January 1942, refueling at Midway
Island on 16 January 1942. The Trout proceeded on the surface
until 21 January, traveling submerged thereafter during
daylight hours. At 0230, 27 January, an unsuccessful night
attack was made on a lighted enemy vessel, resulting in the
Trout being chased by the vessel at such speed as to force the
Trout to dive in order to escape. On 3 February 1942, after
dark, the Trout made rendezvous off Corregidor with an escort
motor torpedo boat. The Trout then followed the escort at high
speed through a winding passage in a mine field to South
Docks, Corregidor Island, where she unloaded 3500 rounds of
antiaircraft artillery ammunition for the Army Forces
defending Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor... |
As harrowing as the trip through the enemy controlled
waters of the Pacific had been, slipping into Manila Bay was much more
dangerous. Enemy surface ships heavily patrolled all approaches, and Japanese
aircraft monitored all activity in the harbor. The Trout slipped in
beneath the enemy cordon and surfaced in the heavily guarded
harbor at 7:40 pm, under cover of darkness. Ten minutes later, maneuvering
cautiously in the night, Fenno made contact with Patrol Boat 43 (PT-43) which
was under the command
of a bearded officer who looked more like a pirate than a sailor. The grizzled
Lieutenant John Duncan Bulkeley and his small squadron had been waging his own
desperate war against the Japanese for two months. He had already earned the Navy Cross himself, and
was destined to add two Army DSCs as well, becoming a legend in his own
right.
Bulkeley's PT Boat guided the Trout to the dock at
Corregidor where almost immediately the process of unloading the 3,500 rounds of
badly needed artillery commenced by hand. As the bucket brigade
conveyed the cargo ashore, the Trout rose higher and higher in the water. By
midnight Fenno knew he was facing a new problem, BALLAST. Without something to
replace the weight removed when the cargo was unloaded, he would be unable to
properly submerge for the dangerous return home. Fenno requested 25 tons of
rock and sand bags to replace the lost ballast, but was denied. Every rock,
every bag of sand, was desperately needed for the defensive positions on the
battered island fortress.
The solution that was finally approved was
destined to make the Trout's return trip to Pearl Harbor one of the
most unusual in history!
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On December 24, 1941, when
the fall of the Philippine Islands appeared imminent and General MacArthur
departed Manila to continue the fight from Corregidor he had company.
Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon also took the necessary step of
moving the seat of government to the island fortress, where he remained
until he was evacuated in February.
In the days between
Christmas and New Years, under the watchful distant eyes of the Japanese,
and often under fire, small boats ferried MacArthur, Quezon, both men's'
families, staff, and personal belongings to the Malinta Tunnel on the
Rock. As these boats carefully made their way into the mouth of the harbor
they also carried other important and valuable items: documents,
diplomatic papers, securities, and---GOLD!
The Treasury of the
Philippine economy, held in twelve banks in Manila, could NOT be left
behind to fall into Japanese hands. The nation's wealth would certainly inure to
further destruction if it made its way into the treasury of Japan. Under
the First War Powers Act, Francis B. Sayre, The High Commissioner to the
Philippine Islands, ordered the burning of $3,000,000 in American
currency, $28,000,000 in Philippine paper currency and $38,000,000 in Treasury
Checks. (Serial numbers were recorded for the destroyed bills, a large
task in itself.) Francis Sayre assigned
the task of supervising the destruction of paper currency to his Executive
Assistant and financial advisor, Woodbury Willoughby, who upon burning
nearly $80,000,000, effected the transfer of 20 tons of Philippine gold
and silver, which could not be so easily destroyed, to Corregidor. The
ultimate plan was that at some later date, if conditions did not improve,
the gold and silver would be taken into deep water and sunk where the
Japanese would be unable to recover it.
Thus, as Lieutenant
Commander Frank Fenno sought a solution to his need for weight to provide
ballast for his submarine, the rock and sand he had requested became...
GOLD! |
The bucket brigade that unloaded the
artillery rounds from the Trout swiftly bent to the task of
alternating their conveyor-belt system to pass bar after bar of
Philippine gold down their ranks and into the belly of the
submarine. Each of the 40-pound gold bars carried a value of
$23,000 dollars, marketable in the currency of virtually any
nation in the world. As the crew of the Trout stowed each
bar inside the submarine, they knew that each 40 pound golden bar
also provided more than a monetary value, it provided the weight
necessary to submerge their submarine and get them safely home.
For them, gold might be the difference between life and death.
 By
3:00 am a total of 319 gold bars, with a monetary value of more
than 7 million dollars, were loaded inside the Trout to
provide more than six tons of needed ballast. Fenno's ballast
problem was being solved by simultaneously solving another problem
for Francis Sayer and Woodbury Willoughby, safely preserving the
Philippine gold reserve from falling into Japanese hands without
having to jettison it into the sea.
The gold itself provided only part of the
needed ballast however. The remainder was to be provided from 630
bags of coins, each bag containing a thousand silver pesos. Time
ran out before the transfer of all this wealth could be
accomplished, so in the pre-dawn hours Frank Fenno maneuvered his
submarine away from the dock, cruised three miles out into the
deeper waters of the harbor, and submerged. Throughout the day on
February 4, the Trout lay quietly on the floor of the
harbor, sheltered from enemy eyes in the sky by 140 feet of sea.
That night the Trout again surfaced
in the dangerous waters of Manila Bay, where it was met by a small
boat from Corregidor carrying the remaining bags of silver pesos.
The closing lines of Fenno's Distinguished Service Cross citation
tell the rest:
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Twenty tons
of gold and silver, securities, diplomatic and United States mail
and two additional torpedoes were loaded on the Trout for the
return voyage. The Trout cleared Corregidor dock at 0400, 4
February, and bottomed in Manila Bay during daylight 4 February.
Surfacing that night, additional securities and mail were loaded
before the Trout departed from Manila Bay through the mine field.
On the return trip one enemy merchant vessel and one patrol vessel
were attacked and sunk. The Trout arrived at Pearl harbor 3 March
1942 after 51 days at sea. |
 Two
days before arriving back at Pearl Harbor, the Trout rendezvoused
with the U.S.S. Litchfield, which then escorted the
submarine and its $10 million cargo into home port. On March 3,
1942, the Trout moored next to the U.S.S. Detroit
for transfer of the gold bars and paper securities, for
transportation back to the United States and safe keeping until
the end of the war.
Though details of the Trout's golden
voyage remained secret for three months, Frank Fenno was awarded
the Navy Cross for his ship's Second War Patrol. General MacArthur
submitted him for the Army's Distinguished Service Cross as well.
On May 25, 1942, TIME magazine at last publicly published
limited details of the Trout's unusual mission, noting that
in addition to the awards to Lieutenant Commander Fenno, each of
the 70 officers and enlisted men of the submarine's daring crew
were awarded the Silver Star for their 51-day daring run of the
enemy gauntlet to provide needed ammunition to their comrades at
Corregidor.
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Unloading Philippine Gold
from the USS Trout by hand, March 3, 1942.
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