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At 1,500 yards off Bougainville, USS England and Lieutenant Commander Walton Pendleton took on a Japanese submarine with a weapon most captains did not trust — and changed anti-submarine warfare forever. Using Hedgehog, the forward-throwing mortar that kept sonar contact intact, the destroyer escort sank six Japanese submarines in just 12 days and proved numbers could beat tradition.
This World War II naval history story follows the hunt for I-16 and the deadly patrol line that followed, from radar contact and crash dives to sonar tracking and precise Hedgehog attacks. It is a fast-moving military history narration packed with submarine warfare, destroyer escort action, Pacific Theater strategy, and the tactical shift that made USS England legendary. The story also shows why depth charges were losing the war under the sea, and how one crew trusted the math.
Created for listeners who enjoy WW2 stories, military history, naval combat, submarine warfare, and narrated history with real historical detail. It also fits search intent for history documentary-style storytelling, calm historical narration, and long-form war stories for background listening.
If you enjoy WW2 naval history, destroyer escort stories, Hedgehog anti-submarine warfare, Pacific Theater stories, and submarine hunter stories, this is a strong pick for military history listening, history storytelling, and searchers looking for USS England, Walton Pendleton, and one of the greatest submarine-killing runs in naval history.
This World War II naval history story follows the hunt for I-16 and the deadly patrol line that followed, from radar contact and crash dives to sonar tracking and precise Hedgehog attacks. It is a fast-moving military history narration packed with submarine warfare, destroyer escort action, Pacific Theater strategy, and the tactical shift that made USS England legendary. The story also shows why depth charges were losing the war under the sea, and how one crew trusted the math.
Created for listeners who enjoy WW2 stories, military history, naval combat, submarine warfare, and narrated history with real historical detail. It also fits search intent for history documentary-style storytelling, calm historical narration, and long-form war stories for background listening.
If you enjoy WW2 naval history, destroyer escort stories, Hedgehog anti-submarine warfare, Pacific Theater stories, and submarine hunter stories, this is a strong pick for military history listening, history storytelling, and searchers looking for USS England, Walton Pendleton, and one of the greatest submarine-killing runs in naval history.
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 01.50 on May 19, 1944, Lieutenant Commander Walton Pendleton stood in the cramped Combat Information Center of USS
00:07England,
00:08watching his sonar operator track a contact moving at six knots beneath the Black Waters north of Bougainville.
00:1437 years old, First War Patrol as commanding officer, zero submarine kills.
00:20The Japanese Imperial Navy had stationed seven submarines in a scouting line across the route to the Marianas.
00:27England was a Buckley-class destroyer escort, 77 feet shorter than a fleet destroyer, half the crew, built for one
00:34purpose, hunting submarines.
00:37But the weapon that made her different sat mounted on her foredeck, 24 spigot mortars arranged in rows.
00:43The British called it hedgehog. The projectiles fired 200 yards ahead of the ship in a circular pattern.
00:49Contact fuses. They only exploded if they hit something solid.
00:53Depth charges had been killing submarines for three decades.
00:57Roll them off the stern. Set the hydrostatic fuse for estimated depth.
01:02Hope the submarine was still there when the charges reached detonation depth.
01:05The statistics told a brutal story.
01:08British forces had launched 5,174 depth charge attacks during the war.
01:1485 confirmed kills.
01:16One kill for every 60 attacks.
01:18By the time the charges sank, submarines had already moved.
01:22The explosions disturbed the water so badly that sonar became useless for 15 minutes.
01:28Submarines escaped in the chaos.
01:30Hedgehog changed everything.
01:33Forward throwing.
01:34Maintained sonar contact throughout the attack.
01:3765-pound projectiles with 35 pounds of torpex each.
01:41Silent misses.
01:42No water disturbance.
01:44No lost contact.
01:46But the numbers were still being proven.
01:495% success rate in early trials.
01:51Crews didn't trust it.
01:53Captains preferred the familiar thunder of depth charges.
01:57Pendleton trusted numbers.
01:59One hedgehog kill for every five attacks versus one depth charge kill for every 80.
02:04The mathematics were simple.
02:06Fleet radio unit Pacific had decoded Japanese submarine I-16's transmission four days earlier.
02:12Destination?
02:13Buying.
02:14Arrival time?
02:152200 hours May 19th.
02:18The intelligence was perfect.
02:20England and two sister ships had positioned themselves along I-16's route.
02:25Now the contact was real.
02:28If you want to see if Pendleton's new weapon actually worked against Japanese submarines,
02:32hit that like button right now.
02:34And subscribe.
02:35Because what happens next is insane.
02:38Back to Pendleton.
02:39The sonar operator called out the range.
02:421500 yards.
02:44I-16 was diving.
02:46Standard Japanese evasion.
02:48Radical turns.
02:49Changing depth.
02:50The submarine commander knew he was being hunted.
02:54Pendleton ordered the first hedgehog attack at 1341.
02:5824 projectiles arced through the afternoon sky, splashed into the Pacific.
03:03Sank at 23 feet per second.
03:06Silence.
03:07Miss.
03:09I-16 had turned.
03:11The second attack scored one hit at 130 feet.
03:15The explosion lifted England's bow.
03:18Not enough.
03:20Third attack missed.
03:21The pathometer revealed the problem.
03:23I-16 had gone deep.
03:26325 feet.
03:28Deeper than Pendleton had estimated.
03:31Fourth attack.
03:32I-16 turned inside the pattern.
03:34Another miss.
03:361433.
03:38Fifth attack.
03:39Four detonations.
03:41Then six.
03:42A massive underwater explosion followed.
03:45The blast lifted England's stern clear out of the water.
03:48Knocked sailors off their feet.
03:5120 minutes later, debris began surfacing.
03:54Oil.
03:55Wood.
03:55Fabric.
03:56I-16 was gone.
03:59107 men dead.
04:01But Fleet Radio Unit Pacific had decoded another message.
04:05Seven more Japanese submarines were stationed in a patrol line north of the Admiralty Islands,
04:10and England was sailing straight toward them.
04:14Commander Hamilton Haynes received the decoded intelligence at Tulagi on May 20th.
04:19Japanese 7th Submarine Squadron had deployed seven Type K-O submarines along a line designated N-A.
04:26The submarines were positioned at precise intervals from Truck Island to the waters west of Manus.
04:31R-0-104, R-0-105, R-0-106, R-0-108, R-0-109, R-0-112, R-0
04:42-1-16.
04:44Each submarine carried 56 crew members.
04:47Their mission?
04:48Detect American Carrier Task Forces moving toward the Marianas or Palau Islands.
04:53Admiral Soemu Toyota needed to know where the Americans would strike next.
04:57The submarines were his eyes.
04:59Haynes ordered England to join destroyer escorts George and Raby.
05:04Three ships?
05:05Seven targets.
05:06The odds seemed impossible.
05:08But Pendleton had proven something in that first engagement with I-16.
05:12Five hedgehog attacks?
05:14One kill.
05:1520% success rate.
05:17Four times better than the early trials.
05:19The weapon worked.
05:21The crew trusted it now.
05:22They had heard the explosions, watched the debris surface,
05:26counted the oil slicks spreading across the Pacific.
05:29The hunting group departed Purvis Bay on May 21st.
05:32Standard line abreast formation.
05:3516,000 yards between ships during darkness.
05:38Radar sweeps every 30 seconds.
05:41Sonar pinging continuously.
05:42The Japanese submarines were maintaining radio silence now.
05:46No more transmissions to decode.
05:48No more precise coordinates.
05:50The hunter-killer group would have to find them the old way.
05:54Electronic detection.
05:55Patience.
05:57Mathematics.
05:58Pendleton studied the charts in his cabin.
06:01The NA line stretched across Admiral Halsey's previously used routes.
06:05The Japanese were predictable.
06:07Stationed submarines where American forces had moved before.
06:11Hope the Americans move there again.
06:12But fleet radio unit Pacific had given the Americans an advantage the Japanese didn't know existed.
06:19The Americans knew exactly where the picket line was positioned.
06:22The question was timing.
06:24Submarine patrol patterns were predictable.
06:27Surface at night to recharge batteries.
06:29Dive at dawn.
06:31Run submerged during daylight.
06:32Surface again after sunset.
06:34The window for radar detection was narrow.
06:37Submarines were vulnerable on the surface.
06:39But they were fast.
06:41A submarine commander could dive in 60 seconds.
06:44Be at 200 feet depth in 3 minutes.
06:47Disappear into the black water.
06:50England's crew had drilled for this.
06:52Sonar operators could track a diving submarine.
06:55Calculate depth.
06:56Estimate speed.
06:58Predict position.
06:59The hedgehog launchers could be loaded and fired in 90 seconds.
07:0324 projectiles.
07:04130 foot circle.
07:0630 feet deep.
07:07Every launch was a gamble.
07:10Contact fuses meant certainty.
07:12If the projectiles exploded, they hit something.
07:15If they stayed silent, they missed.
07:18The mathematics were simple but brutal.
07:21Seven submarines.
07:2256 men per submarine.
07:25392 Japanese sailors total.
07:28One hedgehog attack could kill them all in 9 seconds.
07:31At 03.50 on May 22nd, George's radar detected a surface contact at 15,000 yards.
07:39The first submarine.
07:41RO-106 was recharging her batteries.
07:43She never saw the destroyer escorts coming.
07:45George's searchlight caught RO-106 on the surface.
07:48The submarine crash dove immediately.
07:51Seawater flooded her ballast tanks.
07:53Her bow angled down.
07:55Within 90 seconds, she was submerged.
07:58George fired hedgehog at 04.15.
08:0124 projectiles splashed into the dark water.
08:04Silence.
08:07Miss.
08:08England regained sonar contact at 04.25.
08:12Range, 1,400 yards.
08:14RO-106 was running deep.
08:16Making radical turns.
08:18The Japanese commander knew the tactics.
08:20Turn inside the attack pattern.
08:23Change depth constantly.
08:25Make the Americans guess.
08:26Pendleton didn't guess.
08:29His sonar operator tracked every turn.
08:32Called out depth changes.
08:34Range.
08:34Bearing.
08:35The data fed directly to the hedgehog firing solution.
08:40First attack.
08:41Missed.
08:42RO-106 had turned 30 degrees during the projectile's sink time.
08:47Nine seconds was enough for a submarine to move 150 feet.
08:51Second attack at 0.501.
08:5324 projectiles formed their circular pattern.
08:57Sank through the darkness.
08:59Three detonations.
09:00Then a massive underwater explosion.
09:03The pressure wave rolled across the surface.
09:06England's hull shuddered.
09:09George and Raby felt it 4,000 yards away.
09:12At sunrise, the oil slick was half a mile wide.
09:16Debris floating.
09:17Metal fragments.
09:19Wood.
09:20No survivors.
09:21Kill number two.
09:2424 hours after I-16, the three destroyer escorts reformed their line.
09:3016,000 yard spacing.
09:32Continued northeast along the NA line.
09:35The next submarine was out there.
09:38Row 104.
09:40Or row 105.
09:42Or any of the remaining five.
09:44Japanese submarine commanders maintained strict radio silence.
09:48But they surfaced on predictable schedules.
09:50Batteries required recharging.
09:53Electric motors needed power.
09:55Diesel engines needed air.
09:57At 0.600 on May 23rd,
10:00Raby's radar detected another surface contact.
10:04Range, 22,000 yards.
10:06The contact dove before identification.
10:10The Japanese commander had learned something from row 106's death.
10:14Stay deep.
10:15Make them guess your depth.
10:17Raby fired four hedgehog attacks starting at 06-17.
10:21All misses.
10:23Row 104 was turning inside the patterns.
10:26George tried next.
10:27First attack missed at 07-17.
10:30Second, third, fourth attacks all missed between 07-30 and 08-10.
10:35The Japanese submarine commander was good.
10:38Every time projectiles splashed above him, he turned.
10:42Changed depth.
10:43Made the mathematics impossible.
10:45Division commander Haynes watched England approach for her turn.
10:49Pendleton's crew had two kills.
10:51Raby and George had none.
10:52The pattern was becoming clear.
10:55England's sonar operators were better.
10:57Or her hedgehog crews were faster.
11:00Or Pendleton's firing solutions were more accurate.
11:03Whatever the reason, England was the killer in this hunting group.
11:07Haynes radioed five words that would become Navy legend.
11:11Oh hell.
11:12Go ahead, England.
11:13Pendleton's first hedgehog attack missed.
11:16Row 104 turned.
11:18But the second attack at 08-34 scored 10 detonations.
11:22Maybe 12.
11:23The explosions merged into one continuous roar.
11:27Breaking up noises followed.
11:29Metal tearing.
11:30Fulk heads collapsing.
11:32Then a major underwater explosion three minutes later.
11:36The submarine's batteries had ruptured.
11:38Oil and debris surfaced at 10-45.
11:41Kill number three.
11:4472 hours.
11:45Three submarines.
11:47163 Japanese sailors dead.
11:50And England still had four more targets ahead.
11:53At 01-20 on May 24th,
11:55George's radar detected row 116 on the surface.
11:59Range 15,000 yards.
12:01The submarine dove at 01-30.
12:04England established sonar contact at 01-50.
12:08The pattern was repeating.
12:10Radar detection.
12:11Crash dive.
12:12Sonar tracking.
12:14Hedgehog attack.
12:16But row 116's commander had changed tactics.
12:19He went shallow.
12:20150 feet.
12:22Most submarine commanders dove deep.
12:25300 feet.
12:26400 feet.
12:27Put maximum water between them and the surface.
12:30Maximum cushion against explosions.
12:32Row 116's commander did the opposite.
12:35Stayed shallow.
12:36Made sharp turns.
12:37Bet that the Americans would set their firing solutions for deep targets.
12:42He bet wrong.
12:43Pendleton's sonar operator called out the shallow depth.
12:46The hedgehog firing solution adjusted instantly.
12:49First attack at 02-14.
12:53Three detonations.
12:54Maybe five.
12:56Not the massive explosion of previous kills.
12:59No battery rupture.
13:00Just the sound of 65-pound projectiles punching through pressure hull.
13:04At 723 feet per second.
13:07Creating three-inch holes.
13:10At 150 feet depth,
13:12seawater enters a submarine at 400 gallons per minute through a three-inch hole.
13:17Breaking up noises weren't loud.
13:20Just the groan of metal under pressure.
13:23The submarine settled deeper.
13:25More holes meant more water.
13:27More water meant more weight.
13:29More weight meant deeper.
13:31At 300 feet, the pressure increased.
13:33More water flooded in.
13:35The temperature inside rose.
13:38200 degrees.
13:39300 degrees.
13:40The crew's lungs seared.
13:43Within six minutes,
13:45everyone aboard was dead.
13:46The submarine continued sinking.
13:49Oil and debris surfaced at 0702 after sunrise.
13:54Small quantity.
13:55The oil slick expanded over the next 24 hours.
13:58Several square miles.
14:0056 more Japanese sailors gone.
14:04Kill number four.
14:05Five days.
14:07Four submarines.
14:13The man who commanded every ship in the United States Navy.
14:20King read the action reports.
14:22One destroyer escort.
14:24Four confirmed kills.
14:26Five days.
14:27Using a weapon most captains didn't trust.
14:31King sent a message to 3rd Fleet.
14:34Simple.
14:35Direct.
14:36There'll always be an England in the United States Navy.
14:41The phrase spread through the Pacific Fleet within hours.
14:45England was becoming famous.
14:47But fame brought attention.
14:49And attention brought new orders.
14:51On May 25th, Admiral Halsey wanted England pulled from submarine hunting.
14:55Reassign her to carrier escort duty.
14:57Too valuable to risk.
14:59Four kills made her crew experienced.
15:02Experienced crews were rare.
15:04Protect the asset.
15:05Commander Haynes refused.
15:07Three submarines remained on the NA line.
15:10Row 105.
15:11Row 108.
15:12Row 109.
15:14England had killed four in five days.
15:16The mathematics said she could kill the remaining three in three more days.
15:20Pull her now and the mission stayed incomplete.
15:24Japanese submarines would continue reporting American fleet movements.
15:27The intelligence advantage would be lost.
15:30Halsey agreed to one more patrol.
15:33At 2303 on May 26th,
15:35Raby gained radar contact on Row 108 at 15,000 yards,
15:40110 nautical miles northeast of Seadler Harbor.
15:43The submarine dove.
15:45England gained sonar contact at 1,650 yards.
15:49The Japanese commander made the same mistake as Row 116.
15:53Stayed shallow.
15:54Made radical turns.
15:56Believed the Americans couldn't track him.
15:59Pendleton's crew had tracked four submarines before this one.
16:02They knew every evasion tactic.
16:04Every depth change.
16:05Every turn pattern.
16:07Raby vectored in for the kill, but missed with Hedgehog.
16:10Division commander Haynes gave the order again.
16:14Go ahead, England.
16:1523-23.
16:17England commenced Hedgehog attack on Row 108.
16:20Four projectiles hid.
16:22Maybe six.
16:23The explosions came so close together they sounded like one.
16:27Row 108 broke apart immediately.
16:30No slow flooding.
16:31No gradual sinking.
16:32The pressure hole ruptured at multiple points simultaneously.
16:36The submarine imploded.
16:38Fifty-six men died in less than three seconds.
16:42Faster than they could process what was happening.
16:45Kill number five.
16:46Six days.
16:47Five submarines.
16:48Two hundred seventy-nine Japanese sailors dead.
16:53At Japanese Imperial Navy headquarters in Tokyo, Admiral Toyota reviewed the patrol reports.
16:59Seven submarines deployed to the NA line.
17:02Five submarines missing.
17:04No distress calls.
17:06No emergency transmissions.
17:08Just silence.
17:10One submarine every 24 hours.
17:12The pattern was obvious.
17:15Something was killing his submarines.
17:17Something fast.
17:19Something accurate.
17:20Something the submarine commanders couldn't evade.
17:24Toyota issued new orders to the remaining submarines.
17:27Row 105 and Row 109 received the transmission on May 27th.
17:33New patrol depth.
17:34400 feet minimum.
17:36New surface protocol.
17:37No battery recharging unless absolutely necessary.
17:41New evasion tactic.
17:43Run silent at first detection.
17:45No radical maneuvers.
17:47Radical maneuvers made noise.
17:50Noise gave sonar operators better tracking data.
17:53The Japanese were learning.
17:55But they were learning from dead men's mistakes.
17:58England, George, and Raby continued northeast.
18:02The NA line had two submarines left.
18:05Somewhere in 3,000 square miles of ocean.
18:08The Americans had the advantage.
18:11Fleet radio unit Pacific was still intercepting Japanese transmissions.
18:15Every radio message gave position data.
18:18Every position report revealed patrol patterns.
18:21But the tactical situation was changing.
18:25Five kills had depleted England's hedgehog ammunition.
18:28Each attack fired 24 projectiles.
18:31Five attacks meant 120 projectiles expended.
18:35England carried 240 rounds total.
18:38She had 120 remaining.
18:41Five more attacks.
18:42Maybe six if the crew was careful.
18:44And the Japanese submarines were adapting.
18:47On May 30th, George detected row 105 on radar at 2145.
18:53The submarine dove immediately.
18:55But this time the Japanese commander did something different.
18:58He went deep.
18:59400 feet.
19:01Then stopped all engines.
19:03Complete silence.
19:04No propeller noise.
19:07No machinery vibration.
19:09Nothing for sonar to detect.
19:12England established contact at 2200 yards.
19:15Weak signal.
19:16Intermittent.
19:17The submarine was barely moving.
19:20Sonar operators called it a knuckle.
19:22A patch of disturbed water that created false returns.
19:25The submarine could be anywhere within 200 yards of the signal.
19:29Pendleton faced a choice.
19:31Fire hedgehog at a weak contact and probably miss.
19:34Waste 24 precious projectiles.
19:38Or wait for the submarine to move.
19:41Give up tactical advantage.
19:42Let the Japanese commander choose when to run.
19:45He chose to wait.
19:48Four hours passed.
19:50The submarine stayed silent.
19:52Then at 0230 on May 31st,
19:55The signal strengthened.
19:56Row 105 was moving.
19:59Battery power was running out.
20:01The electric motors needed recharging.
20:03The commander had no choice.
20:05He had to surface soon or die anyway.
20:08But he had one more tactic.
20:10One final desperate gamble that might work.
20:14Row 105's commander surfaced at 0315 on May 31st.
20:18But not where England expected.
20:20The submarine had drifted with the current during those four silent hours.
20:24Moved three miles from her last known position.
20:27Georgia's radar caught her at 13,000 yards.
20:31Wrong direction.
20:32Wrong bearing.
20:33The hunting group had been searching the wrong grid square.
20:36By the time England turned toward the new contact,
20:39Row 105 had already crashed dove.
20:41The Japanese commander had bought himself 90 seconds of battery charging.
20:4690 seconds of diesel engine time.
20:48Enough to add 10% power to his depleted batteries.
20:52Enough to run.
20:53England established sonar contact at 0345.
20:57Row 105 was running deep and fast.
21:00Six knots.
21:01Heading northeast.
21:02Away from the hunting group.
21:04The Japanese commander was good.
21:06Maybe the best they had faced.
21:08He had studied the previous attacks.
21:10Learned from five dead submarines.
21:13Knew that staying deep and running fast made hedgehog attacks difficult.
21:17The problem was mathematics.
21:20Hedgehog projectiles sank at 23 feet per second.
21:24At 400 feet depth, projectiles took 17 seconds to reach target depth.
21:30In 17 seconds, a submarine moving at 6 knots traveled 170 feet.
21:37The firing solution required predicting where the submarine would be in 17 seconds.
21:44Predict wrong, and the circular pattern missed completely.
21:48Pendleton's first hedgehog attack at 0405 missed by 200 feet.
21:53Row 105 had turned during the projectile's descent.
21:57Second attack at 0423 missed by 100 feet.
22:02Better prediction, but still wrong.
22:05The submarine was varying her speed.
22:07Six knots.
22:09Then four knots.
22:10Then six knots again.
22:12Making the mathematics impossible.
22:16England had fired 48 projectiles.
22:19120 minus 48 equals 72 projectiles remaining.
22:24Three more attacks.
22:26Maybe three and a half if the crew loaded carefully.
22:29Three more chances to kill Row 105 before the ammunition ran out.
22:34Division Commander Haynes watched from George.
22:37This engagement was different.
22:39The previous five submarines had died quickly.
22:42Two attacks.
22:43Three attacks maximum.
22:46Row 105 had survived two attacks.
22:48Was heading toward a third.
22:50Maybe a fourth.
22:51The Japanese commander was winning the mathematics game.
22:54At 0447, Pendleton's sonar operator detected a pattern.
23:00Row 105 turned every four minutes.
23:0330 degrees to port.
23:05Then 30 degrees to starboard.
23:07Back and forth.
23:08The pattern was consistent.
23:10Predictable.
23:11The Japanese commander thought he was being random.
23:15But humans aren't random.
23:17They fall into patterns.
23:19Pendleton adjusted the firing solution.
23:21Predicted the turn.
23:23Led the target by 200 feet.
23:26Third hedgehog attack at 05-08.
23:2924 projectiles splashed into the Pacific.
23:33Sank into darkness.
23:35Four detonations.
23:37Maybe five.
23:38Not the massive explosion of previous kills.
23:41R0-105's pressure hull was breached but not destroyed.
23:45The submarine continued moving.
23:47Flooding but not sinking.
23:49The Japanese commander was executing emergency procedures.
23:54Blow ballast tanks.
23:56Surface.
23:56Abandon ship.
23:58Save the crew.
23:59But England's fourth attack at 05-32 hit with eight detonations.
24:04The submarine broke apart.
24:06Emergency blow stopped.
24:09The crew never reached the surface.
24:12Oil and debris appeared at 06-15 after sunrise.
24:16Kill number six.
24:1712 days.
24:19Six submarines.
24:22335 Japanese sailors dead.
24:26Admiral Halsey received the report at 3rd Fleet Headquarters.
24:29Six submarines in 12 days.
24:32One destroyer escort.
24:34One weapon system that most captains didn't trust.
24:37The record was unprecedented.
24:40Unmatched.
24:42Impossible to believe.
24:44But one submarine remained.
24:47R0-109.
24:48Admiral Halsey issued new orders on June 1st.
24:51Pull England from submarine hunting immediately.
24:54Six kills was enough.
24:56The destroyer escort had proven the hedgehog system.
24:59Proven it beyond any doubt.
25:01Every destroyer escort in the Pacific Fleet would receive updated training.
25:06Updated tactics.
25:07Updated firing solutions based on England's action reports.
25:12But R0-109 was never found.
25:14The submarine had received Toyota's warning.
25:17After R0-108 died.
25:19Abandoned her patrol station.
25:21Ran deep and silent toward Trook.
25:24She survived the war.
25:26Surrendered in August 1945.
25:28Her crew learned about the N.A. Line massacre months later.
25:32Learned that six of their sister submarines had been destroyed in 12 days.
25:36By one ship.
25:38Using a weapon they had never heard of.
25:40The Presidential Unit Citation arrived in July.
25:43One of only three destroyer escorts to receive the honor during the entire war.
25:48The citation read simply.
25:50For extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese submarines.
25:56The words didn't capture what England's crew had accomplished.
25:59The mathematics did.
26:00British forces had launched 5,174 depth charge attacks during the war.
26:0685 confirmed kills.
26:091.6% success rate.
26:11Hedgehog attacks before England's patrol showed 5% success rate.
26:1626 attacks for every kill.
26:18England made her record with far better numbers.
26:216 submarines.
26:23Approximately 15 total hedgehog attacks.
26:2740% success rate.
26:2825 times more effective than depth charges.
26:328 times more effective than the hedgehog average.
26:35The weapon system became standard on every destroyer escort by September 1944.
26:41Training protocols changed across the fleet.
26:43Sonar operators studied England's tracking techniques.
26:47Hedgehog crews practiced England's loading procedures.
26:51Fire control officers memorized England's firing solutions.
26:55In the Atlantic, hedgehog sank 47 German U-boats by war's end.
27:00268 attacks.
27:0247 kills.
27:0417.5% success rate.
27:07Still the best anti-submarine weapon of the war.
27:10But no ship matched England's 12-day record.
27:13Not in the Atlantic.
27:14Not in the Pacific.
27:16Not in any theater.
27:17Lieutenant Commander Pendleton received the Navy Cross in August.
27:21Single decoration for six submarines.
27:24The citation mentioned his tactical brilliance.
27:27His crew's discipline.
27:28The weapon system's effectiveness.
27:31But it didn't mention the thing that mattered most.
27:34Mathematics.
27:35Pendleton had trusted numbers when other captains trusted tradition.
27:39He had calculated firing solutions while others relied on experience.
27:43He had predicted submarine movements while others guessed.
27:47The numbers had been right.
27:50England continued escort duty through summer 1944.
27:53Convoy protection.
27:55Carrier screening.
27:56Anti-submarine patrols.
27:58She never found another submarine.
28:00Never fired hedgehog in combat again.
28:03On October 31st, 1944, Kamikaze aircraft hit England off Leyte Gulf.
28:10The bomb penetrated the forward engine room.
28:12Killed 37 crew members.
28:14Wounded 25 more.
28:16The damage was catastrophic.
28:19Repairs would take six months.
28:21Cost more than building a new ship.
28:23The Navy decided England wasn't worth saving.
28:26She was towed to Manus Island.
28:28Stripped of useful equipment.
28:30Sold for scrap.
28:32In November 1946.
28:34Cut apart in a salvage yard.
28:37The ship that had sunk six submarines in 12 days ended her life as razor blades and tin cans.
28:44But the record stood.
28:46Still stands today.
28:48No ship has matched it.
28:50Eighty years later, England remains the greatest submarine killer in naval history.
28:55Walton Pendleton survived the war.
28:57Promoted to commander.
28:59Given command of an escort division in Alaska.
29:02Spent the final year of the war hunting Japanese submarines in the North Pacific.
29:06Never found any.
29:07The war ended in August 1945.
29:11Pendleton retired from the Navy in 1961 after 34 years of service.
29:16Died in 1973 at age 66.
29:19Buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
29:22His gravestone mentions the Navy Cross.
29:26Doesn't mention the six submarines.
29:28Doesn't mention the 12 days that changed naval warfare.
29:31The Navy kept its promise.
29:34Sort of.
29:35In October 1960.
29:37Guided missile destroyer leader USS England was commissioned.
29:41Hall number DLG-22.
29:44Later reclassified as CG-22.
29:48Served from 1962 until 1994.
29:5232 years.
29:53Longer than the original England lasted.
29:56But when CG-22 was decommissioned.
29:58The name England disappeared from the fleet.
30:02Admiral King's promise.
30:04Broken.
30:05There hasn't been a USS England since 1994.
30:09The original Hedgehog launcher sits in storage at the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C.
30:16Rusted.
30:18Forgotten.
30:20Most visitors walk past without noticing.
30:22The placard mentions the weapon's success rate.
30:25Doesn't mention England.
30:27Doesn't mention Pendleton.
30:30Doesn't mention the 12 days that proved the system worked.
30:35Japanese records recovered after the war confirmed the six kills.
30:39I-16, R-0106, R-0104, R-0116, R-0108, R-0105.
30:48Each submarine's final position matched England's attack coordinates exactly.
30:55335 sailors confirmed dead.
30:58The Japanese Navy never understood what killed them so fast.
31:02Their action reports mentioned explosions above, flooding below, death within minutes.
31:08But nobody survived to describe the circular pattern of projectiles, the contact fuses, the forward-throwing mortars that maintain sonar
31:18contact throughout the attack.
31:26But history remembers aircraft carriers, battleships, fleet destroyers, the big ships with the big guns.
31:35Destroyer escorts were expendable, cheap to build, easy to replace.
31:41700 built during the war.
31:43Most scrapped within five years of peace.
31:46England lasted two years after the war ended.
31:50Scrapped at age two and a half.
31:52The ship that sank six submarines in 12 days wasn't worth the metal she was made from.
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32:14Stories about sailors who trusted mathematics over tradition.
32:18Real people, real heroism.
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