John Joseph Carano- Killed Aboard USS Albacore - Sunk by a Mine

John Joseph Carano was born in Akron, Ohio on April 28, 1926. His parents were, Salvatore Carano 47 and Angela Carano 43 both born in Italy, according to the 1940 US Census. Salvatore worked as a tailor in a department store. John had a twin sister Jean and both were the youngest of seven children. They lived at 1038 Big Falls Ave. Here are the family members listed in the 1930 US Census:

Silver (Salvatore) Carano, 37, Angelia Carano, 33, Marie Carano, 13, Phillip Carano, 10, Ophelia Carano, 9, David Carano, 7, James Carano, 5, John Carano, 3, and twin Jean Carano, 3

Machinist Mate Third Class John Carano’s Service Number is 285 33 98. He mustered aboard the USS Albacore on October 24, 1944.

The USS Albacore, a Navy Submarine, muster list in 1944 lists him and 84 others aboard upon departure for a Pacific Patrol. Tragically, Carano died November 7, 1944, along with the rest of the crew, 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 Joseph Carano is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. He also has a grave marker at the Evergreen Cemetery in Lansing. Picture uploaded to this site.

“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://www.ancestryinstitution.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-03173-00295?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=73edbe4875dd767f1f2e46589263591f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=tqd228&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=30803204

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.

Carano, John Joseph, MoMM3c