A marker in Evergreen Cemetery in the section for a prominent local family does not show a grave. Instead it is a memorial. The body of Navy Reserve Lt.jg David Bennett McCorquodale has never been found. Neither has the World War II submarine on which he was serving.
He is one of dozens of young men from Orange who lost their lives during the war. Several of them are buried in Evergreen Cemetery, though a survey has not been made.
McCorquodale was on the USS Gudgeon SS-211, a submarine that set history during World War II.
The submarine had been based out of Pearl Harbor, but was out of the harbor on the infamous December 7, 1941, attack. The Naval History and Heritage Command online reports the Gudgeon on January 27, 1942, became the first U.S. submarine to sink an enemy ship during war.
McCorquodale was not on the submarine at that time. Online lists of the men aboard the submarine report he had been a petroleum engineer for Shell Oil Company in Texas and Louisiana before enlisting. He was 28-years-old when he died.
The Gudgeon was named after a fish. By the spring of 1944, the sub had completed 11 missions. It is credited with sinking 25 Japanese ships and damaging eight more.
McCorquodale was on board when the Gudgeon sailed from Pearl Harbor on April 4, 1944, for its 12th patrol on the open sea of the Pacific Ocean. The last known sighting was at Johnston Island, where the sub topped off fuel and left. It was never heard from again.
The Navy sent a message to the sub on May 11 for a special assignment, but the Gudgeon never responded. The message was sent again on May 12. Once again, there was no reply.
On May 14, the special assignment was given to another sub and the Gudgeon was ordered to go to Midway. It should have arrived by May 23, but did not. The Navy on June 7 reported the submarine as presumed lost.
No one knows where the Gudgeon went down, though some groups have searched for it. One search was even featured in a cable television show.
Japanese pilot reports found after the war talked about bombing a submarine, which some believe was the Gudgeon. However, according to history reports, translations have been difficult to discern. Some naval buffs believe the sinking may have been near Iwo Jima.
The United States pays tribute to the military members who lost their lives in action on Memorial Day. Lt.jg David Bennett McCorquodale is one of those local “boys” who never returned home from war.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
Thank you for sharing this story about one of Oranges heroes. Such a fine looking young man from a great Orange family.
Thank you for the information Ms. Toal. I love hearing these stories. Our WW II veterans are special and are a living history. All of our veterans are. In our family we have four. Two alive and two that have passed. Love to all our veterans!!
Met a lady once in Bridge City that told me about her brother who was lost on a sub and never heard from again. Wonder if this is the same person. She told me this very same story.
That lady might have been Susan McCorquodale who taught 2nd grade at Anderson School for the 1946-47 term. At that time she was in her early 20s and lived with her parents several blocks east of the school on Park.
RIP Lieutenant McCorquodale.` Thank you , Margaret.
During WW2, submarines on patrol were out of contact with friendly forces for extended periods of time. Even when operating in a Wolf-Pack, they generally couldn’t tell exactly where their pack-mates were or how they were doing. While they could broadcast their status using their radios, this was limited to avoid radio intercepts and direction finding giving away their presence in an area.
This meant that more often than not, the first indication that a boat was lost was either a boat missing a radio check-in or the boat being overdue on returning to port (an example of this is the Wahoo). However, without confirmation of the boat actually being lost, they would still be marked as On Patrol. Removing the boat would be admitting the boat, and its crew, were gone.
Leaving it as On Patrol turned into a mark a of respect for those lost, and the tradition stuck.