In Memory of The USS Tullibee (SS-248) Lost on March 26, 1944 - 79 Submariners Lost

TULLIBEE (SS-248) Vietnam Memorial Park Ocean Springs MS The monument is located on Bienville Blvd, Vietnam Memorial Park, Ocean Springs (Jackson County), Mississippi. A large grey granite panel memorial commemorates the loss of the USS Tullibee (SS-248) in WWII. Lost on March 26, 1944 - 79 submariners lost. What started as a memorial to the USS Tullibee has kind of morphed over the years into a general submarine and subsurface veterans and families section of the Vietnam Memorial Park. That is in keeping with the organic nature of this installation, which started as a Vietnam War Memorial, and now honors vets from many other 20th century wars as well. The USS Tullibee (SS-248) was sunk most likely by a turn-around of her own torpedo as she took aim at a Japanese troop convoy in 1944. Only one member of Tullibee's crew survived to tell her tale. The monument is a large grey granite panel decorated with various subsurface warfare emblems. The memorial reads as follows: "IN MEMORY OF THE USS TULLIBEE (SS-248) LOST ON MARCH 26, 1944 79 SUBMARINERS LOST Tullibee began her career in the submarine force in July 1943, with her first patrol in the Western Caroline Islands. On this patrol she sank one freighter and damaged another. Her second patrol in an area south of Formosa she sank a transport ship and damaged a tanker and a transport. On her third patrol in the Mariana Islands, Tullibee sank a freighter. This gave Tullibee a total of 16,500 tons of shipping sunk and 22,000 tons damaged. On her fourth patrol, leaving midway on March 14, 1944, Tullibee was not heard from again. The following story of Tullibee is the statement made by the lone survivor, O.W. Kuykendall CM2: Tullibee on station March 25, 1944. On March 26 radar contact was made on a convoy consisting of a troopship, two freighters, to escort vessels, and a destroyer. Tullibee made several surface runs on the transport, but held fire due to squally weather. At 3000 yards and still unable to see the target, she fired two bow torpedoes. A minute or two later a terrific concussion shook the boat. Kuykendall, who had been on the bridge, found himself in the water. Kuykendall stated the explosion was due to a circular run by one of the Tullibee’s torpedoes. There were shouting men in the water when Kuykendall regained consciousness. After the blast, after about 10 min., everything was silent. On March 27, a Japanese escort vessel came in and rescued him. He learned that the transport they had fired at was sunk. The story of Kuykendall’s captivity is much the same as the survivors of Grenadier, Sculpin, Tang, Perch, and other US submarines. He was questioned and beaten when he refused to talk. On April 19, he was taken to Ofuna Naval Interrogation Camp where he stayed until September 30. From that date until he was rescued on September 14, 1945, he was forced to work in the copper mines at Ashio."