A Rain-Swept Refuge at the Edge of the World

On a stormy May evening in 1942, the remote Western Australian port of Albany received winter rains earlier than usual. Princess Royal Harbor, typically bustling with wheat, wool and beef exports, now hosted only six battered U.S. submarines and their tender USS Holland. This became the unlikely frontline when Japanese forces, having swept through Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, massed beyond the “Malay Barrier” threatening Australia itself.

The strategic situation appeared dire. As submarine commander Charles Lockwood recalled, Australia’s western coast lay “open and inviting as a dead clamshell” to invasion. Should Australia fall, the next Allied fallback position might have been Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land. This was the precarious context when Lockwood assumed command of Southwest Pacific submarine forces – inheriting depleted assets, malfunctioning torpedoes, and exhausted crews who nonetheless maintained astonishing morale.

The Asian Fleet’s Bitter Retreat

Lockwood’s forces represented the shattered remnants of the Asiatic Fleet that had endured a fighting withdrawal from Manila to Java. The December 1941 losses were catastrophic: submarine Sealion destroyed at Cavite Navy Yard; S-36 scuttled after grounding in the Makassar Strait; Shark lost evacuating personnel from Corregidor; Perch forced to surrender after crippling depth charge attacks near Java.

Survivors reached Fremantle with haunting stories. The submarine tender Canopus, converted into a floating machine shop after being bombed, was finally scuttled during the Bataan surrender. Two remaining tenders – Holland and the converted freighter Otus – now struggled to support twenty submarines while housing refugees. Crews slept on their boats during repairs, returning to patrols as exhausted as when they arrived.

“Sink ‘Em All”: The Unbreakable Spirit of Albany

Amid this gloom, Lockwood discovered unexpected resilience at Albany’s Masonic Hotel. Young submariners gathered around a piano singing adapted lyrics to the Australian tune “Bless ‘Em All”:

“Sink ‘Em All! Sink ‘Em All!
Sink Tojo and Hitler too!
Sink their cruisers and carriers!
Sink their tin cans and their lousy crews!”

This defiant spirit, unsullied by alcohol, embodied what Lockwood called “the natural exuberance and expression of young souls.” It mirrored the desperate heroism seen in the Philippines – like USS Trout smuggling out 20 tons of Philippine gold reserves, or Spearfish evacuating 27 personnel from Corregidor hours before surrender, including nurses who baked pies during the tense voyage.

The Torpedo Scandal: Fighting With Broken Weapons

Submarine successes came despite crippling technical failures. Torpedoes consistently ran 11 feet deeper than set, passing harmlessly beneath targets. Magnetic exploders either detonated prematurely or failed entirely. When Lockwood’s team proved the defects using fishing nets in King George Sound, the Bureau of Ordnance initially dismissed their findings.

The consequences were tragic. As Lieutenant Commander “Moke” Millican reported after watching four torpedoes miss a stationary tanker: “We’re going to run out of targets before the Bureau runs out of excuses.” Not until September 1943 would functional torpedoes arrive, after submariners had risked their lives with what they called “the damned things.”

Improvised Sanctuaries: The Australian Lifeline

Recognizing his crews’ exhaustion, Lockwood established rest camps modeled on Hawaii’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel program. Through “Reverse Lend-Lease,” Australia provided four seaside hotels where crews recovered between patrols. Albany’s unused quarantine station housed 250 trainees. These innovations maintained morale through what Lockwood called “the most difficult period of the war.”

The Australian alliance proved vital but occasionally strained. When a U.S. sailor boasted “the Navy’s here to protect you,” an Australian retorted: “I thought you came here because you were run out of Pearl Harbor!” Yet cooperation produced remarkable successes – like USS Searaven’s daring rescue of 33 Australian airmen from Timor, earning the first Naval Cross awarded to a submarine reservist.

Turning the Tide: From Desperation to Dominance

Early victories hinted at submarines’ potential. USS Tautog sank three Japanese submarines during one patrol, including I-28 near Truk. USS Salmon mistakenly claimed cruiser Yubari (actually the invaluable repair ship Asahi). By war’s end, U.S. submarines would sink 1,178 merchant ships and 214 warships – over 5 million tons, crippling Japan’s maritime lifeline.

The Albany period marked warfare’s lowest ebb and first hopeful signs. As Lockwood reflected, these crews “fought practically single-handed for nearly two years,” laying foundations for victory from the most remote outpost of Allied resistance. Their story, born in an Australian rainstorm, became one of history’s greatest naval turnarounds.