Mapping US Submarine Losses in WWII (1941-1945)
While researching the next part of my "WWII Submarine Forces" series, I needed information on the location of American submarine losses during the war. Since the only map I could find was low quality and made shortly after the war, I decided to create an updated version.
The losses are color-coded by year:
Red - 1941/1942
Green - 1943
Blue - 1944
Purple - 1945
The black house markers are the bases that directly supported submarines on their war patrols. If you click on a submarine marker, you will have see an estimated date of loss, while a base marker will usually display the general period during which the base was established. I might come back at a later date and add further details.
Also note that the vast majority of these positions are merely best guesses. Submarines often operated alone and commonly went down with all hands, leaving their failures to check in as the only indication of their loss. Further, unlike German submarines, American boats were not kept under the same level of centralized control, which means that even the date of loss is often only an estimate.
The losses are color-coded by year:
Red - 1941/1942
Green - 1943
Blue - 1944
Purple - 1945
The black house markers are the bases that directly supported submarines on their war patrols. If you click on a submarine marker, you will have see an estimated date of loss, while a base marker will usually display the general period during which the base was established. I might come back at a later date and add further details.
Also note that the vast majority of these positions are merely best guesses. Submarines often operated alone and commonly went down with all hands, leaving their failures to check in as the only indication of their loss. Further, unlike German submarines, American boats were not kept under the same level of centralized control, which means that even the date of loss is often only an estimate.
