Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, SOURCE of Scientology and Dianetics.
As the Church of Scientology tells us, LRH was a genius, an explorer, a war hero and Naval commander who sank two Japanese subs off the coast of Oregon.
Now I happen to live off the coast of Oregon, not far at all from the site of the battle. I also happen to be a sailor and participate in the NaNoWriMo every year, largely without success. Last years novel was sparked by the stories from older long term residents I spoke to about the Japanese subs that had been stopped - and we have a rather nice number of museums locally. I began to dig. The novel is still languishing in the back of my brain, but the Battle of Tillamook Bay - now that's a true story I would like to tell.
There are some facts that are agreed upon by the Co$ and the rest of the world. For example:
Lafayette Ronald (Ron) Hubbard was born 100 years ago today, February 13, 1911 in Tilden, Nebraska.
That one everyone agrees on. Some of the other facts surrounding Mr. Hubbard... well, that's where things start to get complicated.
This diary is not about the full life of L Ron Hubbard, $cientology or even his place in history. This diary intends to focus only on the events of his command of the USS PC-815 and the action off the coast of Oregon taking place from May 19 - 21, 1943. I am heavily indebted to the research of a number of authors, particularly Russell Miller, author of Bare-Faced Messiah, and Chris Owen, author of Ron the "War Hero" L.Ron Hubbard and the United States Navy. the Freedom of Information Act, the United States Navy and local informants in the states of Oregon and Washington.
The USS PC-815 was a patrol class sub chaser built in Portland, Oregon at Albina Engine & Machine Works Inc., in 1943. It had been commissioned as one of 317 ships of that class to serve as short range harbour based sub chaser runs and escort ships.
Lt. Hubbard received orders Jan 13, 1943 to report from Sub Chasing School in Florida to Portland as the commander of USS PC-815 when she was completed. He had some time to kill until she was finished, but with a $6.00 per day allowance an his wife only as far away as Bremerton, WA, Lt. Hubbard seems to have enjoyed his time in Portland. He reported for duty on April 20, 1943 with the other officers as noted in the log book.
The USS PC-815 made her maiden voyage up the Columbia River in fine form to the Port of Astoria, arriving about May 17th. The main port has changed somewhat, but there are the remnants of the Naval Seaplane base just behind Tongue Point and a decommissioned hull that is similar in lines to the PC class boats still there. It was there this summer at any rate when I took a sail over to have a look around.
Shortly after their arrival in Astoria and taking on their ammunition for gun tests in the Pacific the PC-815 was part of a search and rescue mission for a downed aircraft out over the Bar, roughly between Ft. Canby and Warrenton. It appears their original orders were to Seattle to be fitted for radar and depth charge launchers and they were diverted into joining the search. The USS PC-815 was fitted with sonar and an older type of bow rack to allow the manual release of depth charges that were factory equipment.
After a day's search Lt. Hubbard was ordered to San Diego for radar installation and a shake down cruise. On May 19th at 3:40 am her sonar reported a return echo. Their location was approximately 10 miles off Cape Lookout heading down the coast, putting them roughly between Bay City and Tillamook Bay. At 4:50 am there was contact made on the surface and PC-815 opened fire. The crew, being well trained Naval men, duly destroyed the target, a log.
Lt. Hubbard seems to have been of the opinion this was a victory of morale and was pleased with the crew and their accuracy. As this was a shake down cruise the navy also has no problems with the destruction of the invading log - but that wasn't Lt. Hubbard's only target. His team made four more attacks searching for the source of the 3:40 am return echo, depleting their supply of ammunition, and by the sixth run had used their full compliment of depth charges as well. His initial requests for emergency resupply were met with no response.
At 9:06 am the Naval blimps K-33 and K-39 were onsite to help locate the Japanese submarines that Lt. Hubbard insisted were lurking outside of Tillamook Bay. As the waters were clear in this calm day and the PC-815 had not been attacked, Lt. Hubbard presumed the target sub to be damaged in some way while they and the two air ships continued to attempt to locate the target with no success.
In the early afternoon another ship, the USS SC-536 arrived to assist but was unable to make contact with the target despite repeated attempts. Lt Hubbard actually led the charge run of the other ship over the area from his own deck, blowing a whistle to signal the charges drops.
Large air pockets were sighted and confirmed by the airship crews and at some point between the hours of 2:00 pm (1400) and 4:00 pm (1600) sonar on the USS PC-815 reported a second contact approximately 420 yards from the first. I do not care to speculate about the distance given, but will note that in modern Oregon that would be a dog whistle of another sort and likely to assist one in sighting enemy subs off the coast if one were so inclined.
At 4:46 pm a Coast Guard vessel resupplied the USS PC-815, the transfer including a cargo of twenty seven more depth charges. The USCGC Bonham also arrived from Coos Bay, OR to assist in the search during the afternoon of May 19, 1943. By the end of the day another sub chaser, the USS SC- 537 had also joined in, bringing the total of military vehicles searching the coast to seven - three Naval ships, two Coast Guard and two Naval Air Ships.
The search for the elusive Japanese targets continued in a standard grid throughout the night and into the next morning. At one point in the night there was a sighting to the north of their search pattern and USS SC-537 was detached to investigate. On reporting a fishing vessel it seems that they were less than enthusiastic in rejoining Lt. Hubbard in his naval victory. The USCSC Bonham was also detached to other waters, leaving the bulk of the work to Lt Hubbard and the crew of the USS PC-815.
At 7:00 am on May 21, 1943 Lt Hubbard sighted air bubbles, oil and according to some reports a periscope which was fired upon. USS SC-536 joined in a last coordinated attack and between them the ships exhausted their depth charges. During this pitched battle the USS PC- 788 was requested to assist and did so, but rather unwillingly and soon departed along with USS SC-536. At midnight the USS PC-815 was ordered to return to Astoria, ending the Battle of Tillamook Bay.
The official position of the US Navy is that there were no submarines destroyed or found during the dates in question. There was an inquiry, Lt. Hubbard supplied a report of over 100 pages on his actions and those of his men and he remained convinced that he personally destroyed two Japanese subs off the coast of Oregon. Having been out in those waters myself, read the reports and confirmed what other authors have concluded - and for myself - I can tell you what happened:
Lt. Hubbard fought with a known magnetic deposit for two days with seven military vehicles. He also destroyed an invading log. So happy birthday L. Ron Hubbard! Thank you for saving Oregon from nature.
If you would like to see copies of the actual documents and sources, including the text of the authors I mentioned above, they can be found through a google search easily enough, or through the library portal at http://www.xenu.net aka Operation Clambake. Chris Owen refers to it as the Battle of Lookout Point, but I think Tillamook Bay is more accurate. He goes quite in depth into the source materials, the Naval inquiry and the specific report details made by both Lt. Hubbard and other commanders involved. It's well worth the read in its entirety.