Edward John Szendrey – On Eternal Patrol Aboard Submarine USS Seawolf

Edward Szendrey was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 1913. From the 1930 U. S. Census, we learn that his father, Edward G., 38, was a wire worker at the Wire Rope Company. His mother, Mary, 31, had four sons and four daughters living at home at this time. Both his father and mother were born in Hungary. Edward was 16 at the time of this census. The family lived on Maple Street in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.

This researcher found conflicting information about the wife or wives of Edward. U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index lists his wife as Mary V Shoup, with two children Elizabeth Marguerite and a son Frank Joseph. The U.S., World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties records his wife as Marguerite Safford Szendrey living in California. (Maybe it was his daughter claiming government death benefits and the listing as “wife” may have been wrong.) No official marriage records can be found.

Edward Szendrey began his Navy career aboard the USS Cuttlefish (USS-171) sometime in 1938. He attained the rate/rate of Electrician’s Mate First class.

From Wikipedia:

USS Cuttlefish (SC-5/SS-171), a Cachalot-class submarine and one of the "V-boats," was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cuttlefish. Cuttlefish arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 June, 1939 and was based there on patrol duty, as well as joining in battle problems and exercises in the Hawaiian area. That autumn, she cruised to the Samoan Islands.

Szendrey’s next duty was aboard the USS Pike (USS-173) on October 31, 1939, according to the U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls. He served on this submarine until 1944, promoted to Chief Petty Officer and then commissioned as an Ensign in 1942.

USS Pike (SS–173) was laid down on 20 December 1933 by Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, Maine; launched on 12 September 1935. On 1 December 1939, she served with Submarine Squadron 5 (SubRon 5) out of Cavite, P.I. Departing on 20 June 1940, she cruised along the coast of China from Shanghai to Tsingtao. Returning to Cavite on 24 August, she voyaged in the Philippines.

In response to the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor, she put to sea on 8 December, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Willam A. New to guard sea lanes between Manila and Hong Kong. Sailing from Manila, she moored at Port Darwin, Australia, 24 January 1942. On her third war patrol from 5 February-28 March, she detected the enemy off the Alor Islands 20 February and 24 February, and off Lombok Strait on the 28th.

On her fourth war patrol, she sailed from Fremantle, Australia on 19 April, and patrolled north of the Palau Islands and off Wake Island, before reaching Honolulu on 25 May. From 30 May – 9 June, she patrolled north of Oahu. Overhauled at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, she guided bombers to Wake Island in December, and escaped from a severe depth-charging on 14 January 1943 during an attempted attack off Japan. Departing Pearl Harbor on 31 March, she fired torpedoes at targets off Truk from 12–14 April, and shelled Satawan Island on the 25th.

Getting under way from Pearl Harbor on 22 July, Pike sank 2,022-ton Japanese cargo ship Shoju Maru near Marcus Island 5 August. Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 28 September, she arrived at New London, Connecticut, 3 November. During the remainder of World War II, she trained submarine crews at the Naval Submarine Base New London.

Highlights of Edward’s WWII patrols in the South Pacifc from the Together We Served website:

1942-1942 World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)

1942-1942 Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Midway

1944-1944 Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Philippine Sea

After being promoted to Lieutenant JG on January 1, 1944, Edward mustered aboard the USS Seawolf (SS-197). Here are some details of the war patrols during this time:

Seawolf returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 January 1944 and sailed for San Francisco two days later. After undergoing a major overhaul at Hunters Point, the submarine headed west on 16 May, with Lieutenant Commander Richard Barr Lynch in command. When she reached Pearl Harbor, she was assigned the task of photographing Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, in preparation for the forthcoming attack on that stronghold. She carried out this mission despite constant enemy air patrols from 4 June–7 July.

Seawolf returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 January and sailed for San Francisco two days later. After undergoing a major overhaul at Hunters Point, the submarine headed west on 16 May, with Lieutenant Commander Richard Barr Lynch in command. When she reached Pearl Harbor, she was assigned the task of photographing Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands, in preparation for the forthcoming attack on that stronghold. She carried out this mission despite constant enemy air patrols from 4 June–7 July.

The submarine headed to Majuro for voyage repairs and was rerouted to Darwin. There, she received orders sending her on a special mission to Tawitawi, in the Sulu Archipelago. The submarine approached to within 700 yards (640 m) of the beach, offloaded supplies and men, picked up a Captain Frank Young, an Allied Intelligence Bureau coast watcher, and took him to Brisbane. The operation order also called for Seawolf to land a party and their supplies on northern Palawan Island.

Seawolf stood out of Brisbane on 21 September to begin her 15th war patrol under the command of Lieutenant Commander Albert Marion Bontier. She reached Manus Island on 29 September, refueled, and sailed the same day carrying stores and Army personnel to the east coast of Samar.

Lt Jg Szendrey was aboard the USS Seawolf, with 86 other sailors and 16 US Army soldiers, upon departure for the boat’s fifteenth Pacific Patrol from Brisbane, Australia. Tragically, he died, along with the rest of the crew and soldiers on October 3, 1944, when the submarine was probably sunk by an American destroyer. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart posthumously. A memorial grave stone was placed at the American Memorial and Cemetery at Fort William McKinley, Manila, the Philippines. His service number was O-185688.

A team of 16 Army soldiers was aboard the USS Seawolf for a secret landing on the Island of Samar, Sumatra. The soldiers were to establish underground radio communications with the Philippines as part of the 978th Signal Services Company. Ten of these Army men were born in the Philippines, and were U.S. Citizens.

The following was compiled by Paul W. Wittmer and Charles R. Hinman, originally from: U.S. Submarine Losses World War II, NAVPERS 15,784, 1949 ISSUE:

SEAWOLF (LCDR A. L. Bontier) left Brisbane on 21 September 1944 beginning her 15th patrol, and arrived at Manus on 29 September. Leaving Manus on the same day, SEAWOLF was directed to carry certain stores and Army personnel to the east coast of Samar.

On 3 October SEAWOLF and NARWHAL exchanged SJ radar recognition signals at 0756. Later the same day an enemy submarine attack was made at 2° 32'N, 129° 18'E, which resulted in the sinking of U.S.S. SHELTON (DE-407). Since there were four friendly submarines in the vicinity of this attack, they were directed to give their positions and the other three did, but SEAWOLF was not heard from. On 4 October, SEAWOLF again was directed to report her position, and again she failed to.

U.S.S. ROWELL (DE-403) and an aircraft attacked a submarine in the vicinity of the attack on SHELTON, having at that time no knowledge of any friendly submarines in the area, and it was thought that SEAWOLF must be held down by these anti-submarine activities. ++It is possible that SEAWOLF was the submarine attacked.++

The report from ROWELL indicates that an apparently lethal attack was conducted in conjunction with a plane, which marked the spot with dye. ROWELL established sound contact on the submarine, which then sent long dashes and dots_ (Editor's note: Rowell's War Diary characterizes the signal as "a continuous dash") _which ROWELL stated bore no resemblance to the existing recognition signals. After one of the several hedgehog attacks a small amount of debris and a large air bubble were seen. It has been established that the Japanese submarine RO-41 sank SHELTON on 3 October, and was able to return to Japan.

In view of the above facts, and the fact that there is no attack listed in the Japanese report of anti-submarine attacks which could account for the loss of SEAWOLF, it is possible that SEAWOLF was sunk by friendly forces in an anti-submarine attack on 3 October 1944, in the vicinity of 02° 32'N, 129° 18'E. It is also possible that she was lost due to an operational casualty or as a result of an unrecorded enemy attack.

During her first fourteen patrols, SEAWOLF sank 27 enemy ships, and damaged 13. This gave her total tonnage for ships sunk and damaged of 108,600 and 69,600, respectively.

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-seawolf-197.htm

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Edward+John+_Szendrey&event=_New+Haven-Connecticut&pg=2&birth=1913_williamsport-lycoming-pennsylvania-usa_14708&death=1944_manila-philippines_30955&gender=m&keyword=WWII+Navy+Muster+Rolls&priority=usa&race=White&_phtarg=tqd3000&queryId=1d6838727dccf45f08a17a03ebb11c5c&successSource=Search

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1122&h=10710&tid=&pid=&queryId=273eb7a7d4c33bde38f265c234602a70&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd2998&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/23774159:1143?indiv=1&tid=&pid=&queryId=273eb7a7d4c33bde38f265c234602a70&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd3001&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/628618757:60901?indiv=1&tid=&pid=&queryId=273eb7a7d4c33bde38f265c234602a70&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd3007&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/618042031:60901?indiv=1&tid=&pid=&queryId=1d6838727dccf45f08a17a03ebb11c5c&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd3009&_phstart=successSource

https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=539059&source=fold3

Szendrey, Edward John, LTJG