Every September 20, we observe POW/MIA Day to honor and remember the brave individuals serving in submarines during World War II who were captured as prisoners of war, including those who never returned home safely. These submariners, driven by an unwavering sense of duty, faced immense challenges – some enduring captivity in the line of service – with all making sacrifices for their country:

•  USS Grenadier (SS-210) – The vessel was scuttled after suffering severe damage during combat in 1943, and the entire crew of 76 men were taken captive. Four of them died in prisoner of war (POW) camps, and the remaining 72 were repatriated after the war.
•  USS Perch (SS-176) – After the vessel suffered severe damage during combat in 1942, the entire crew of 59 was taken captive. Six of them died in POW camps, while the remaining 53 were eventually repatriated.
•  USS Permit (SS-178) – One crewmember, Herman Joseph Tihen, survived after being captured and repatriated after the war.
•  USS Robalo (SS-273) – After the Robalo sank in 1944, four of its 81 crew members were believed to have survived, but were captured and died during captivity.
•  USS S-36 (SS-141) – No men were lost when the S-36 ran aground, but Chester Arthur Guynup who had been left behind in the Philippines was captured on Corregidor and died in a POW camp.
•  USS S-38 (SS-143) – One crewmember, Earl Charles Harbin, was transferred to USS Canopus (AS-9) for medical treatment and captured during the fall of the Philippines. He died of his injuries at the Bilibid POW Hospital in the Philippine Islands.
•  USS S-44 (SS-155) – Two men, Ernest Arthur Duva and William Francis Whitemore, were the only two crewmembers to survive the sinking of the submarine. They spent time working in a Japanese copper mine, and were later repatriated at the end of the war.
•  USS Sculpin (SS-191) – 84 men were aboard the Sculpin when it sank in 1943. Among the survivors, 20 POWs later died while being transported to Japan when the Japanese vessel was torpedoed by an American submarine. Another 21 crewmembers of the Sculpin spent time as POWs working in a Japanese copper mine an were later repatriated.
•  USS Seadragon (SS-194) – After being captured, crewman Arthur Irving Diaz died when the Japanese transport ship Arisan Maru he was aboard was sunk. John Charles Guidos and Samuel Frederick Harrison survived in POW camps and were repatriated.
•  USS Sealion (SS-195) – Four men were killed in the sinking of the sub during a Japanese air raid in December 1941, while another, Howard Firth, was captured and died in captivity.
•  USS Tang (SS-306) – Only nine out of 87 men who survived the 1944 sinking of the Tang were later picked up by the Japanese. All nine men were sent to a POW camp and were later repatriated.
•  USS Triton (SS-201) – In December 1941, Triton crewmember Harold Ray Thompson was transferred ashore at Wake Island due to illness. He was subsequently captured during the Japanese capture of Wake Island, survived the war in a POW camp. He was later repatriated after the war.
•  USS Tullibee (SS-284) – Out of 80 crew members, Clifford Weldon Kuykendall was the only one to survive the sinking of the Tulibee in 1944 and was captured by the Japanese and later repatriated.