John Fortier - Killed Aboard USS Albacore - Sunk by a Mine

When John Fortier was born on February 17, 1922, in New Orleans, Louisiana, his father, Frank, was 24 and his mother, Martha, was 21. They lived at 358 Pine Street according to the 1940 US Census. John Francis, listed as F Frank, was 18 years old at the time of the census. The 1930 US Census recorded the family living at 383 Broadway Street in New Orleans. The father listed his occupation as a teacher in the public school there. F Frank had an older sister Margaret and Marie L Fortier, aged 67 lived there as well. After high school, F Frank attended Tulane University, majoring in engineering.

Fortier’s draft registration card gave his enlistment in the Navy as June 30, 1942, from New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana. On this document his employer is listed as Higgins Corp. – Michaud, LA.

F Frank mustered aboard the USS Albacore on September 30, 1944, as a Lieutenant JG. His service number was O-269104. He and 84 other members of the crew perished with the sinking of the USS Albacore.

John Francis Fortier, Jr. died 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 a Purple Heart posthumously.

John Francis Fortier, Jr. is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

“USS ALBACORE on ETERNAL PATROL”

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.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=14563170&tid=&pid=&queryId=8cdb4c3003aef13932279bdaa22bd871&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd545&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/1265/images/32826_B064434-00331?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd546&_phstart=successSource&pId=120241844

https://search.ancestryinstitution.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2442&h=123241105&tid=&pid=&queryId=99ce162a6e703181f4186f22eab6e5a1&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd590&_phstart=successSource

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.

Fortier, John Francis, Jr., LTJG