The First War Patrol 20 Oct to 07 Dec 1943
The 291 Boat Got underway at Brisbane, Australia on 20 October, 1943, with LT. Commander Henry G. Munson as her Captain and LT. Commander Frank Walker as her Executive Officer. Commander Task Group 71 ordered the boat, to the Sulu and South China Seas. CREVALLE headed toward the northwest coast via Grafton Passage, the Inner Route of Australia, and the Torres Strait to Darwin, Australia were fuel and stores were topped off.
In the early evening of 9 November 1943, CREVALLE encountered a large native (boat) which was crowded with Filipino men, women and children. They understood who we were and appeared emotionally glad to have encountered the friendly American Submarine on the high seas. They were told not to tell anyone of meeting us and the Filipino's were sent on their way with 5 pounds of rice. The CREVALLE received a live chicken and a stem of bananas in exchange for the rice. The crew in honor of the Captain, Henry Munson appropriately named the chicken "Henrietta" and Ships Mess man First Class, Charles Birck fabricated a uniform for it.
Note: This uniform is still in existence and is being held in custody by: Chris Munson, Henry Munson’s son.
Lt Cdr Henry Munson
Some time later "Henrietta laid two soft shelled eggs. She remained on board for the rest of the patrol and was discharged from the Naval Service of the United States when the boat completed the run and reached Fremantle, Australia.
About noon on 10 November 1943, CREVALLE made her first attack on Japanese shipping. She sighted a convoy of one escort vessel and three cargo ships. After six bow tubes and four stern tubes were fired, at the enemy vessels, one apparently solid hit was spotted. Captain Munson was thwarted in his observation of the target due to the immediate attack by the escort vessel. This was CREVALLES baptism of fire as she was severely but not effectively depth charged.
This was but the first of many depth charge attacks (depth charges or ash cans are barrel shaped explosives that are set off by hydrostatic depth sensing fuses) that the boat would sustain, during the length of the hostilities with Japan. CREVALLE escaped a brutal overhauling and on the following evening the night of 11 November 1943 she engaged and sank a 750-ton Japanese merchant vessel. Rather than waste a torpedo, CREVALLE quickly dispatched this smaller vessel by use of her deck guns. This action took place just off the southern entrance to Mindoro Strait in close proximity to Mindoro Island in the Philippines .
CREVALLE while patrolling submerged and west of Capones Island on the Tokyo-Manila shipping lane spotted a vessel of the TATUKAMI MARU (Japanese merchant ships are called marus) class at (7,065 tons) with two patrol boats as escorts. It was seen to come out of the mist at an estimated range of 6,000 yards. A sudden unfortunate zigzag of the ship at the firing position caused the CREVALLE crew to hastily shift tactics. Four torpedoes were fired down the throat (directly at the bow of the ship under attack with zero angle on the bow of the attacking submarine). One torpedo hit and the target was heard and seen to break up. The small escorts began an ineffective depth-charging pattern for a period of two hours. They then they broke off the pursuit and withdrew.
CREVALLE was still cruising the Philippine area near Capones Island. It was just after surfacing, in the early evening, that the SJ radar (Search Radar) picked up a ship's echo steaming at about 19 knots. With four main engines on the line CREVALLE making a fast end around run overtook the target, an auxiliary (jeep) aircraft carrier (used by navies to ferry aircraft to larger careers) of The Imperial Japanese Navy. An older MUTSOKI Class Destroyer accompanied the carrier. The two Japanese ships made a lucky and fortunate for CREVALLE zigzag in the direction of the boat. Six torpedoes were briskly launched to intercept the carrier. Four solid hits were observed on the vessel. After feverishly echo ranging and pining with her sonar the destroyer (tin can) never picked up the submarine. CREVALLE successfully avoided any counter attacks from the escort.
On 25 November 1943 a properly marked hospital ship with a huge red cross painted on her side was allowed to pass unmolested through CREVALLE'S patrol area. The boat's remaining four torpedoes were expended on a 4,000 ton unescorted cargo ship. Two hits were obtained and the Japanese vessel was observed to sink very rapidly.
Passage to Fremantle, Australia was uneventful except for a single bomb, dropped close aboard by a two-engine bomber near the Island of Makassar Upon arrival at Fremantle on 7 December 1943; Division 161 refitted and repaired the boat. (Now the Home of HMAS Ovens)
The first patrol lasted for 49 days and the Force Commander credited CREVALLE with 29,815 tons of enemy shipping sunk and 5,640 tons damaged. Commander Munson was awarded the Navy Cross and the entire crew was awarded the Submarine Combat Pin for having a "successful first patrol".
