Service number: 2997623
Silver Star
Awarded for Action During World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Haddock (SS-231)
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 375 (May 1948)
Citation: (Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Chief Quartermaster Edward M. Engebretsen (NSN: 2997623), United States Navy, was awarded the Silver Star (Posthumously) for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving aboard the U.S.S. HADDOCK (SS-231), during two War Patrols of that Submarine in Japanese waters, during World War II. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.
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Chief Quartermaster (CQM) Edward Mitchell Engebretsen, Submarine Service (SS), United States Navy, Service Number: 2997623

Early Life

Edward Mitchell Engebretsen was born on 4 August 1916 in Whitewater, Walworth/Jefferson County, Wisconsin. His father, Lee Edward Engebretsen, born 14 May 1886 in Wisconsin, died 13 January 1953 in Green County, Wisconsin, was a Resort Manager. His mother, Mildred Mitchell was born on 17 August 1886 in Le Mars, Plymouth County, Iowa and died on 12 March 1981 in Wisconsin. Edward’s parents were married on 31 August 1910 in Green County, Wisconsin. Edward was the second of three children in the family; he had an older sister and a younger sister.

Military

Edward Mitchell Engebretsen entered the U.S. Navy on 19 September 1934. He served at the following duty stations: 1937-1939, USS Tulsa (PG-22), 1939, USS Black Hawk (AD-9) and USS Whipple (DD-217), 1939-1940, Cavite Naval Base, Philippines, 1940, USS Henderson (AP-1) and USS Arizona (BB-39), 1941, USS Rigel (AD-13), 1941-1942, USS North Carolina (BB-55), 1942-1943, USS Haddock (SS-231), 1943, USS Drum (SS-228) and Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP) in Groton, Connecticut, 1943-1944, USS Angler (SS-240), 1944, Submarine Division 121 Relief Crew and USS Angler (SS-240). At the time of his death, he was assigned to the Submarine, USS Bullhead (SS-332) operating in the Pacific Theater.

USS Bullhead (SS-332) was laid down on 21 October 1943 at Groton, Connecticut by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on 16 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Howard Doyle; and commissioned on 4 December 1944, Commander Walter T. Griffith in command.

Following a month of shakedown training in Narragansett Bay, USS Bullhead (SS-332) sailed on 9 January 1945 for Key West, Florida where she received two weeks of additional training before pushing on to Panama. During a practice dive, the main induction failed to close rapidly enough because of low hydraulic pressure, and tons of water flooded in before it could be shut. The crew saved the submarine by shifting ballast, pumping out water, and continuing the dive. She proceeded on without incident and reached Pearl Harbor on 26 February. After voyage repairs, USS Bullhead (SS-332) left Oahu on 9 March.

USS Bullhead (SS-332) refitted at Subic Bay, then carried out eight days of exercises along the Luzon coast, and finally set out on her second war patrol on 21 May 1945. On the 16th, she entered the western end of the Java Sea. USS Bullhead (SS-332) discovered her next victim on the 18th. Once again, she trained her guns on a 700 ton vessel which sank soon after being hit at the waterline. After a brief refit period, in the course of which her 5 inch gun was replaced, the submarine left Fremantle, Australia on 31 July to begin her third patrol. She was to transit Lombok Strait and patrol in the Java Sea with several other American and British submarines. USS Bullhead (SS-332) rendezvoused with a Dutch submarine, Q-21, on 2 August and transferred mail to her. Four days later, the submarine reported that she had safely passed through the strait and was in her patrol area.

No further word was ever received from her, and, on 24 August, she was reported overdue and presumed lost. Postwar analysis of Japanese records revealed that a Japanese Army plane from the 73rd Chūtai, depth-charged a submarine off the Bali coast near the northern mouth of Lombok Strait on 6 August. The pilot claimed two direct hits and reported a gush of oil and air bubbles at the spot where the target went down. It was presumed that the proximity of mountains shortened her radar's range and prevented USS Bullhead (SS-332) from receiving warning of the plane's approach. The submarine went down with all hands. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 17 September 1945.

Death and Burial

Edward Mitchell Engebretsen was Killed in Action on 6 August 1945 near the Lombok Straits in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) when his submarine was hit by Japanese aerial bombs. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. In 1943, he had also been awarded a Silver Star Medal for his actions aboard the submarine USS Haddock. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines and at Greenwood Cemetery in Brodhead, Rock County, Wisconsin.

His Silver Star Citation follows:

“Chief Quartermaster Edward M. Engebretsen (NSN: 2997623), United States Navy, was awarded the Silver Star (Posthumously) for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving aboard the U.S.S. HADDOCK (SS-231), during two War Patrols of that Submarine in Japanese waters, during World War II. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.”

Sources

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/636355807/engebretsen-edward-mitchell-cqm/stories

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56782223/edward-mitchell-engebretsen

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76981993/edward-m-engebretsen

https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/309824

https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/alphabetical-listing/b/uss-bullhead--ss-332-0.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/596121793/?terms=%22edward%20m.%20engebretsen%22&match=1&clipping_id=116948923

https://www.naval-history.net/WW2UScasaaDB-USNbyNameE.htm

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/146616:1122?tid=&pid=&queryId=7017a3764d2ac1fbde0d5dc95fdd2852&_phsrc=VyO4438&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1143/?name=edward_engebretsen&count=50&name_x=1_1&fh=0

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you have any details, photos or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name. CDR Robert Mulvanny - Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars.

Engebretsen, Edward Mitchell, CQM