Medal of Honor: Richard Hetherington O’Kane, World War II, October 23–24, 1944

Name: Richard Hetherington O’Kane
Rank: Commander
War: World War II (Pacific Theater)
Dates of Action: October 23–24, 1944
Unit: USS Tang (SS-306), U.S. Navy
Born: February 2, 1911 — Dover, New Hampshire
Entered Service From: New Hampshire

Summary of Action

Aboard the submarine Tang, Commander Richard O’Kane was already a legend among undersea warriors. On her fifth and final patrol, Tang prowled the Luzon Strait and found two heavily guarded Japanese convoys. Rather than attack from safety, O’Kane maneuvered boldly on the surface—charging directly into the heart of the enemy. With searchlights sweeping and shells crashing around him, he fired torpedoes point-blank into tankers and transports, dodging between burning wrecks and destroyer gunfire. The following night, he repeated the impossible—slipping past the escorts and annihilating a second convoy with precise, fearless aggression. His final torpedoes smashed into multiple targets before Tang herself was struck by her own errant shot. O’Kane survived the sinking and months of brutal captivity, but his unmatched leadership and valor had already written one of the most daring submarine stories in naval history.

Medal of Honor Citation

O’KANE, RICHARD HETHERINGTON
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, commanding U.S.S. Tang. Place and date: Vicinity Philippine Islands, 23 and 24 October 1944. Entered service at: New Hampshire. Born: 2 February 1911, Dover, N.H.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Tang operating against two enemy Japanese convoys on 23 and 24 October 1944, during her fifth and last war patrol. Boldly maneuvering on the surface into the midst of a heavily escorted convoy, Comdr. O’Kane stood in the fusillade of bullets and shells from all directions to launch smashing hits on three tankers, coolly swung his ship to fire at a freighter and, in a split-second decision, shot out of the path of an onrushing transport, missing it by inches. Boxed in by blazing tankers, a freighter, transport, and several destroyers, he blasted two of the targets with his remaining torpedoes and, with pyrotechnics bursting on all sides, cleared the area. Twenty-four hours later, he again made contact with a heavily escorted convoy steaming to support the Leyte campaign with reinforcements and supplies and with crated planes piled high on each unit. In defiance of the enemy’s relentless fire, he closed the concentration of ship and in quick succession sent two torpedoes each into the first and second transports and an adjacent tanker, finding his mark with each torpedo in a series of violent explosions at less than 1,000-yard range. With ships bearing down from all sides, he charged the enemy at high speed, exploding the tanker in a burst of flame, smashing the transport dead in the water, and blasting the destroyer with a mighty roar which rocked the Tang from stem to stern. Expending his last two torpedoes into the remnants of a once powerful convoy before his own ship went down, Comdr. O’Kane, aided by his gallant command, achieved an illustrious record of heroism in combat, enhancing the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.