The passage combines patrol results with reconnaissance, mine-laying, commando landings, and evacuation work. Only eight fleet submarines operated from Fremantle at the start of 1943, yet six departed on patrol during the first two months. Their missions ranged from attacks on Japanese shipping to photographing Christmas Island, landing a naval party on Mindanao, rescuing personnel from Timor, and laying mines off Borneo. The account makes Fremantle a forward operational base whose small submarine force supported both commerce destruction and unconventional warfare across the Dutch East Indies and Philippines.
Chapter · 43:09-45:44
Fremantle's American submarine force in 1943
A detailed reading follows the small but active American submarine force operating from Fremantle in 1943.