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Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood will forever
be known in submarine history as the legendary COMSUBPAC, Commander Submarine
Force Pacific Fleet, who led the silent service to victory during World
War II in the Pacific. Born in Midland, Virginia, on 6 May 1890, Lockwood
graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1912. He was assigned command
of the submarine USS A-2 (SS-3) in 1914. He command the ex-German submarine
UC-97 from March 1919 to August 1919, and the submarine USS V-3 (SS-163)
from May 1926 to December 1928. The ex UC-97 was used to evaluate the capabilities
of German submarine equipment.
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 During
World War II Lockwood served in the thick of action, as U.S. Naval Attache
to Great Britain from February 1941 to March 1942 and Commander Submarines,
Southwest Pacific, from April 1942 until February 1943. Following the death
of Rear Admiral Thomas England in February 1943, Lockwood shifted his flag
to Pearl Harbor, assuming the direction of Pacific Fleet submarines. During
his tour, Lockwood improvised tactics to make the most effective use of
submarines and pushed the Navy’s Bureaus of Ships and Ordnance to provide
his men with the most effective submarines and torpedoes possible. He oversaw
the tests that proved early U.S. torpedo unreliability and prompted the
improvements that made them the highly effective weapons they became in
1944 and 1945. U.S. submarines sank more than 5.6 million tons of enemy
shipping including more than 1,100 merchant ships and 200 warships. U.S.
submarine attacks on enemy shipping accounted for more than fifty percent
of enemy ships lost during the war.
Of the 16,000 U.S. submariners in the war,
375 officers and 3,131 enlisted men on fifty-two submarines were lost.
The U.S. submarine force's wartime success was achieved with the lowest
casualty rate of any combatant submarine service on either side. Lockwood's
strong leadership and devotion to his troops won him the nickname "Uncle
Charlie" and a promotion to Vice Admiral in late 1943. Lockwood died in
June 1967.
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ADM
Lockwood (right) with John Wayne (left) and Hollywood Producer (center)
during filming of "Operation Pacific."