Charles Edward Traynor, Jr. - Killed Aboard USS Albacore - Sunk by a Mine

Charles Edward Traynor, Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia on October 29, 1914. According to the 1920 US Census, his parents, Charles Traynor, 32, who worked as the superintendent of a printing company and his mother, Ethel Traynor 27, was listed as a house wife. They lived in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. Charles was 5 at the time and had no siblings. There were two other adults living at this address. The 1930 Census still has Charles as an only child. The family address was 36 Street W in Savannah.

From the US WWII Draft Card Registration, Charles Traynor Jr. registered October 29, 1914 at Kansas City Missouri. He was employed by the Union Bag and Paper Corp, 406 Laud Bault Building in Kansas City. He was 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds, big for a submariner. Interestingly, his next of kin was listed as Verna E Jenkins, who’s address was 4423 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas. No records can be found if or what college he attended.

Traynor joined the Navy in 1942. Charles’ Service Number was O-161520. He first mustered aboard the USS Albacore in 1943. Charles was then a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Records indicate he participated in five WWII patrols in the Pacific.

Together We Served Website:

Unit Assignments/ Advancement Schools

1943-1944, USS Albacore (SS-218)

Combat and Non-Combat Operations

1943-1943 Submarine War Patrols

1943-1943 Submarine War Patrols

1943-1943 Submarine War Patrols

1943-1944 Submarine War Patrols

1944-1944 World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater

1944-1944 Submarine War Patrols

1944-1944 USS Albacore (SS-218)

Tragically, Traynor died, along with the rest of the crew, November 7, 1944, when the submarine USS Albacore (SS-218) was sunk after striking a mine near Hokkaido, Japan. He was first listed as MIA and then declared ‘Dead while Missing'. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star posthumously.

Arthur Lemmie Stanton is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. In addition, a grave stone was place in the Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. The plot was listed as “Left of the Poet, Ainslee”.

“USS ALBACORE on ETERNAL PATROL” (from website)

The ALBACORE, with LCDR H. R. Rimmer in command, left Pearl Harbor on October 24, 1944, topped off with fuel at Midway on October 28, and departed there for her eleventh patrol the same day, never to be heard from again. Her area was northeast of Honshu and south of Hokkaido, and because of the danger of mineable waters, she was ordered to stay outside of waters less than 100 fathoms deep.

She was to depart her area at sunset on December 5, 1944, and was expected at Midway about 12 December. When she had not been seen, nor heard from by December 21 despite the sharpest of lookouts for her, she was reported as presumed lost.

Enemy information available now indicates that ALBACORE perished by hitting a mine. The explosion occurred on November 7, 1944, at Latitude 41° 49' N, Longitude 141° 11' E, while ALBACORE was submerged, and was witnessed by an enemy patrol craft. The craft reports having seen much heavy oil and bubbles, cork, bedding and various provisions after the explosion.

Albacore won nine battle stars for her service and the Presidential Unit Citation for her second, third, eighth, and ninth patrols during World War II.

Addendum Note: "On Thursday, (February 16, 2023) Naval History and Heritage Command said its Underwater Archaeology Branch used imagery and information from Tamaki Uki, a University of Tokyo specialist in developing autonomous underwater vehicles to confirm the identity of a submarine discovered by the researchers as Albacore."

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see 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 Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

Resources:

https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-albacore-218.htm

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=15675945&tid=&pid=&queryId=b2e9e01be13cf9ad63c8da55a987734e&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd995&_phstart=successSource

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60525&h=81029483&tid=&pid=&queryId=b2e9e01be13cf9ad63c8da55a987734e&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd996&_phstart=successSource

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=6061&h=7410923&tid=&pid=&queryId=ce36ef4f569aa09d7c683fe53589b373&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd999&_phstart=successSource

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14031849/charles-edward-traynor

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/20/wreck-of-wwii-submarine-uss-albacore-discovered-off-japan

Albacore (SS-218) “On Eternal Patrol” - Compiled by Paul W. Wittmer and Charles R. Hinman, originally from: U.S. Submarine Losses World War II, NAVPERS 15,784, 1949 ISSUE.

Traynor, Charles Edward, Jr., LTJG