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| RM2c John Moffitt served on the submarine USS Tullibee. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22583244/john-joseph-moffitt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tullibee_(SS-284) |
John was born April 18, 1919 in New London, Connecticut. His parents Thomas and Sadie were born in New York. His father worked in a shipyard. John had one older sister. I cannot find the family in the 1930 or 1940 censuses.
John enlisted in the US Navy on March 5, 1940 and served as a Radio Man 2nd Class aboard the submarine USS Tullibee (SS-284). The Tullibee was commissioned on 15 February 1943, completed shakedown training in April 1943, and sailed for Hawaii on 8 May 1943.
She began her first war patrol on 19 July 1943 in the area of the Western Caroline Islands, where she damaged one Japanese freighter and sunk a cargo ship. Tullibee began her second war patrol on 28 September 1943 in the East China Sea between the Ryukyu Islands and the China coast, and sunk a cargo ship and damaged another cargo ship and a tanker. On her third war patrol, Tullibee departed Pearl Harbor on 14 December 1943 for the Mariana Islands to intercept enemy shipping between Truk and Japan, and returned to Pearl on 10 February after sinking an enemy net tender.
Tullibee sailed out of Pearl Harbor to begin her fourth war patrol on 5 March 1944, headed for her patrol area in the Palau Islands where she was scheduled to support aircraft carrier strikes against those islands on 30–31 March. On 27 March, Tullibee made radar contact on a convoy consisting of a large passenger-cargo ship, two medium-sized freighters, a destroyer, and two other escorts. Tullibee closed to 3,000 yards and launched two torpedoes from her bow tubes at the targets. About two minutes later, the submarine was rocked by a violent explosion and quickly sank, taking RM2 Moffitt and all but one of the crew to a watery grave. It was only learned after the war that one of Tullibee's torpedoes had run a circular course and she had sunk herself.
John Joseph Moffitt is memorialized in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Thank you RM2 Moffitt for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for John.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Silver Star hero Gerard Bunce of the 2nd Infantry Division. You can read about Gerard here.
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