World War II Honoree

Andrew Zumar

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania

Honored By

U.S. Submarine Veteran

He was killed with the loss of 82 Officers and men onboard USS ESCOLAR (SS-294) most likely on 19 October 1944 off of Sasebo in the Tsushima Strait at coordinates Latitude 33° 31' N, Longitude 128° 48'E. Decorations: Purple Heart. ESCOLAR under the Command of Commander W. J. Millican departed Pearl Harbor on her first War Patrol on 18 September 1944, to proceed to Midway to top off with fuel. There she joined CROAKER and PERCH and left on 23 September to conduct a coordinated patrol (ESCOLAR's first patrol) in the Yellow Sea north of 30° 00'N. Commander Millican was in command of this coordinated attack group, which was designated 'Millican's Marauders'. PERCH reported that on 17 October she had received a message from ESCOLAR stating that she was in position 33° 44'N, 127° 33'E, and was heading for Latitude 33° 44'N, Longitude 129° 06'E. Neither PERCH nor CROAKER could raise ESCOLAR by radio after this transmission was received. Had ESCOLAR left her area on the scheduled date, she would have arrived at Midway about 13 November 1944. All attempts to contact ESCOLAR failed and she was reported as presumed lost on 27 November 1944. Reports were later found that seem to account for ESCOLAR's loss. According to these reports, Imperial Japanese Navy convoy MI-23 departed from Imari Bay on the morning of October 19. That afternoon, off Sasebo in the Tsushima Strait, one of the convoy's escorts detected an unknown submarine. Another escort Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer CD-38 attacked, dropping about 30 depth charges. Bubbles, oil, and debris rose to the surface. The reported position of this action was 33° 31' N, 128° 48'E. ESCOLAR was the only submarine that could have been in this area and she likely met her end in this encounter, going down with all hands.