World War II Honoree

Alexander William Wolf

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Honored By

U.S. Submarine Veteran

He was killed on a training mission with the loss of 49 Officers and men on board USS S-28 (SS-131) on 04 July 1944 off Hawaii at 21° 20'N, 158° 23'W. On 3 July 1944, USS S-28, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Jack G. Campbell, United States Naval Reserve, began training operations off Oahu with United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Reliance (WPC-150). The antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises continued into the evening of the 4th. At 1730, the day's concluding exercise began. Contact between the two vessels became sporadic, and, at 1820, the last brief contact with USS S-28 was made and lost. All attempts to establish communications failed. Assistance arrived from Pearl Harbor, but a thorough search of the area failed to locate the submarine. Two days later, a diesel oil slick appeared in the area where the S-boat had been operating, but the 8,400-foot depth of the water at the site of the sinking exceeded the range of available rescue and salvage equipment, so no attempts were made to rescue the crew or raise the hull of the submarine.