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Post by Karl Welteke on Oct 16, 2009 20:17:15 GMT 8
[img src=" "] [/img] This is the cover of a book the former Commanding Officer wrote. USS Lanikai was commissioned and was to be sent to confront or search for Imperial Japanese Naval Forces in the South China Sea by President Roosevelt. It survived WWII but sunk in Subic in 1947. Only a few years ago was it found and made news. A corner in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) Museum has been prepared in it’s memory and artifacts of the ship have been recovered and are displayed here. Search the WWW , there is plenty of INFO on this very interesting vessel. I believe the divers from the Vasco/Magellan rustic Maritime Theme Restaurant, Dive Shop, -Museum and Inn were instrumental finding it. [img src=" "] [/img] 12 men of the 18 men crew were Pilipino Sailors. Recently I had reason to visit the SBFZ Museum and noticed this new addition to the museum, the ‘USS Lanikai Story’. I took these pics but they are not too good but it is the story that counts; here is the URL with 21 images: s74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/PI-Sailor/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/SBFZ%202009/WWII%20USS%20Lanikai%20sunk%20in%20Subic/Karl, the PI-Sailor
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Post by okla on Oct 16, 2009 23:33:12 GMT 8
hey karl...Thanks for posting. This is good stuff about the mission of the USS Lanikai. I have always, from what i read/heard,etc, felt that the mission of this vessel was not so much to provoke the Japanese, but rather to snoop out information on their movements,etc. FDR surmised that a sailing vessel probably would be more effective in gathering info about the whereabouts,etc of the Nipponese navy than some larger man-o-war type USN ship such as a destroyer or even the crusier USS Houston or one of her sisters, Boise or Marblehead (i think the Boise wasnt available for some reason or other). An American ship of the line would draw too much attention, methinks. I have wondered, though, why submarines were not used more extensively. I realize that the subs performed poorly in the combat role in those early days of the conflict, but as far as scouting,etc i would seem that they would have been very well suited for such missions. Still, a sailing ship might just get in closer without raising as much attention from our future foe. Just my humble. Thanks again for posting this stuff. We will probably never know the full story as regards the mission of the USS Lanikai, but it is an intriguing story.
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Post by Karl Welteke on Oct 17, 2009 12:54:17 GMT 8
Thanks Okla. I lean towards your line of thinking; I never was much of a ‘Conspiracy Theorist’. Karl
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Post by Karl Welteke on Jul 3, 2010 11:19:56 GMT 8
A son of a crew member wrote me this interesting email:
Hello! Enjoyed your notes and photos taken of the Lanikai museum. My father, John Gorman, was in the U.S. Navy and sailed with Kemp Tolley on that infamous journey to Australia aboard the Lanikai during the war. Admiral Tolley contacted my father back in the 60's asking for information to be used in Tolley's book "Cruise of the Lanikai".My father is mentioned a few times in the book. I had heard about the museum a few years ago but I really appreciate the interest and photos you took. My father passed away back in 1976.He served in the Navy till 1960.He was briefed in the U.S. after the war and his story is in the national archives in Washington D.C. I am new to the Heritage website. Looks very interesting. Thanks again,
Geff Gorman
Geff, your comment is very much appreciated and welcome to these Corregidor and Bataan pages. The museum in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone has moved and I need to check out the displays at the new location! Karl
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