Charles A. Lockwood Biography Quotes 2 Report mistakes

Early Life and Naval Beginnings
Charles Andrews Lockwood (1890, 1967) emerged as one of the pivotal American naval leaders of the twentieth century, best known for transforming the U.S. submarine force into a decisive arm of victory in the Pacific during the Second World War. Born on May 6, 1890, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1912, choosing the then-experimental world of undersea warfare for his specialty. From his earliest assignments he cultivated a reputation as a thoughtful, demanding submariner whose technical curiosity matched his tactical imagination. In the interwar years he alternated between sea commands and staff roles, helping to shape the small but increasingly sophisticated submarine community and gaining experience in the Pacific that would prove crucial when global war came.

World War II and Ascendancy in the Pacific
When war erupted in 1941, Lockwood was already a seasoned leader within the submarine arm. He initially served in forward areas and then took on broader responsibility for submarine operations in the Southwest Pacific, where American boats based in Australia supported early, hard-fought campaigns. In January 1943, after the tragic death of Rear Admiral Robert H. English in a plane crash, Lockwood was summoned to Pearl Harbor to assume command of the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC). He reported directly to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who valued Lockwood's operational clarity and willingness to challenge entrenched assumptions. Lockwood succeeded English and followed earlier wartime leadership by Rear Admiral Thomas Withers Jr., inheriting a force with brave crews but uneven results.

Fixing the Torpedoes and Recasting the Fight
A central crisis confronted him: American torpedoes, in particular the Mark 14 fitted with the Mark 6 exploder, were failing at an alarming rate. Depth-keeping errors, premature detonations, and duds were undermining patrols and costing lives. Lockwood moved quickly. He ordered rigorous live-fire testing in the Pacific, demonstrated the defects beyond dispute, and pressed the Bureau of Ordnance to authorize immediate fixes. His insistence, backed by Nimitz in theater and ultimately supported in Washington by Fleet leadership under Admiral Ernest J. King, broke a bureaucratic logjam and restored confidence in the weapons. The push for reform was not without friction. In the Southwest Pacific, Lockwood had professional disagreements with Rear Admiral Ralph W. Christie over torpedo performance and claims; in contrast, he found a cooperative partner in Rear Admiral James Fife Jr., whose coordination across theaters improved tactics and intelligence sharing.

Leadership, Skippers, and Tactics
Lockwood's style mixed relentless standards with visible advocacy for his crews. He relieved underperforming skippers promptly, promoted proven leaders, and fostered a culture of aggressiveness grounded in preparation. Among the commanding officers who came to the fore under his tenure were Dudley W. "Mush" Morton of USS Wahoo, whose daring patrols electrified the force; Richard H. O'Kane, Morton's former executive officer and later the celebrated skipper of USS Tang; Eugene B. Fluckey of USS Barb, renowned for audacity and innovation; Lawson P. "Red" Ramage of USS Parche; Samuel D. Dealey of USS Harder; and Slade Cutter of USS Seahorse. Lockwood backed the adoption of coordinated attack groups, American "wolfpacks", to mass firepower, shared lessons learned rapidly, and improved training pipelines. He emphasized better maintenance, logistics, and radar employment, and pushed forward the submarine support infrastructure from Pearl Harbor to Midway and later to Saipan and Guam as the campaign advanced. He also assigned submarines to "lifeguard" duty during air offensives, rescuing downed aviators and strengthening joint operations with carrier task forces.

Turning the Tide and the Final Campaigns
With reliable torpedoes, more confident tactics, and sharpened leadership, results transformed. U.S. submarines increasingly strangled Japan's maritime lifelines, sinking a large share of its merchant shipping and numerous warships. Lockwood encouraged calculated boldness but never forgot the cost; letters to families and close attention to crew welfare marked his tenure. In 1945 he oversaw operations that pressed into the Sea of Japan, including the hazardous penetration through mined waters by coordinated groups later popularly associated with the "Hellcats" concept. His headquarters emblematic phrase, "Sink 'Em All", captured the relentless pressure he believed necessary to end the war, yet he paired that mantra with disciplined fire control and careful target selection shaped by intelligence.

Postwar Service and Writing
After victory, Lockwood continued to guide the submarine force through demobilization and transition, ensuring that hard-earned wartime knowledge informed peacetime doctrine and technology. He retired as a vice admiral, then turned to writing to preserve the record of the undersea campaign and the people who fought it. With writer Hans Christian Adamson he authored works that became touchstones of submarine history and popular memory, notably Sink 'Em All and Hellcats of the Sea, as well as a study of an earlier naval disaster in Tragedy at Honda. These books, anchored in operational experience, introduced a wider public to the realities of submarine warfare and to the skippers and crews whose patrol reports had once been known only within classified channels.

Legacy
Lockwood died on June 6, 1967, leaving behind a legacy stamped on the very identity of the U.S. submarine force. Within the Navy he is remembered as "Uncle Charlie", the demanding but protective commander who trusted capable officers and gave them the tools to succeed. His partnership with Chester W. Nimitz, his battles with bureaucracy over torpedo defects, and his stewardship of extraordinary skippers such as Morton, O'Kane, Fluckey, Ramage, Dealey, and Cutter shaped the undersea war as decisively as any new piece of hardware. Memorials and institutions associated with the submarine service, including facilities at Pearl Harbor, bear his name and spirit. More than the sum of ships sunk or tonnage figures, Charles A. Lockwood's legacy lies in a professional culture of rigorous testing, candid reporting, and aggressive, intelligent action, habits of mind he helped instill in a force that proved indispensable to victory in the Pacific.

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