Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy --- Go to Genealogy Page for William T. Mabin

Notes for William T. Mabin

1945 Bill Mabin died on May 3 in the submarine USS Lagarto during World War II.

Ancestry.com has the following listing in its database, World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas:
William T. Mabin, inducted from Illinois, rank Signalman First Class, combat Organization United States Navy, date of death May 25 1946, monument at Fort William Mckinley, Manila, the Philippines, last known status listed as missing, U.S. Awards Purple Heart Medal.

In 2005, divers located the missing submarine, as described in the following article published in the Leelanau Enterprise:

Divers in Thailand find missing US World War 2 submarine USS Lagarto, CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network, by ERIC CARLSON
BANGKOK, Thailand (23 June 2005) -- For Nancy Mabin Kenney of Lake Leelanau, Father's Day this year was the first she can remember with the knowledge of exactly where her father has been for the past six decades.

His remains are in a submarine built on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1944 that was sunk by a Japanese minelayer in the South China Sea in 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.

Some 60 years after it went down, the USS Lagarto (SS-731) was located just weeks ago under 220 feet of saltwater in the Gulf of Thailand by a professional diver from Great Britain who recently reported his discovery through the U.S. Naval attache in Bangkok.

Kenney's biological father, Signalman First Class William T. Mabin, was among the 86 U.S. Navy submariners believed to have perished in the boat during a battle between American and Japanese naval forces on May 3, 1945.

Mabin's only child, Nancy, was just two years old at the time.

"It's always been a fact of my life that my father died in the war," Kenney said. "Unfortunately, I have no direct memory of him. I have often felt sadness at the loss of my father, but have never really mourned him until now – now that I know where he is."

Kenney said that news of the submarine's discovery last month by civilian divers off the coast of Thailand has taken its toll on her emotionally – and on her mother, 88-year-old Margaret Chambers of Glen Arbor Township.

Kenney said she spent some time with her mother on Father's Day, going through boxes full of letters her father sent during the war and correspondence the family received in the 1940s from other families affected by the sinking of the Lagarto and the loss of its crew.

"Communication was slow back then," Kenney pointed out. "Getting information was difficult; and some mystery about the fate of the submarine and its crew has always remained. My Father's Day gift will be to do everything I can to find out what happened so long ago, and to be an advocate to ensure these sailors receive the honors they deserve."

Kenney found out about the discovery of the wreck of the Lagarto via the Internet through a website devoted to World War II submarines that her son had accessed. Professional divers in Thailand reported that they'd been asked to investigate why fishermen's nets were being snagged on the seabed near what historical records revealed to be the last known position of the USS Lagarto.

Diver Jamie Macleod of Great Britain operates a diving school on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand. Contacted by the Enterprise via e-mail, Macleod said he became aware years ago that the wreck of the USS Lagarto was in his vicinity, but actually finding her was "beyond a dream."

He said new boats and equipment recently acquired by his company made the discovery possible.

"We began with the last known position and then cross-referenced with fishermen's marks," Macleod explained. "I can't describe to you the feeling of bumping into the bow of the wreck."

He said the wreck "is perfectly upright and seems to be intact..." Macleod, 43, said that in the years he's been involved in shipwreck exploration, "this is by far the most important find."

Kenney said she has yet to hear from the U.S. Navy about Macleod's discovery of the submarine and has written letters to members of Congress seeking more information.

"I certainly hope the Navy will see fit to honor these sailors and remember their families," Kenney said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis, told the Enterprise that Navy officials had been made aware of the discovery of the submarine through official channels and would take "appropriate action."

USS Lagarto

Davis said the latitude and longitude of the wreck had been known since the end of World War II; but he was not aware if anyone before Macleod had ever fixed the wreck's position precisely and dived down to take a look.

During World War II, some 52 U.S. Navy submarines were lost in action, along with 3,544 crewmen. Davis pointed out that the names of each of them, including SM-1 William T. Mabin of the USS Lagarto, are inscribed on a submarine memorial in Pearl Harbor where a ceremony was conducted just last month on Memorial Day.

In Wisconsin – where the submarine was built – May 3 was designated USS Lagarto Remembrance Day in Wisconsin following action by a submarine veterans group.

USS Lagarto was one of many submarines produced during World War II by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. in Manitowoc, Wis. The submarine was launched May 28, 1944, in Lake Michigan. After test trials and training in Lake Michigan, Lagarto entered a floating drydock and was floated down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where it departed for the Pacific.

Kenney said she spent a little time with her father at New London, Conn., and at Manitowoc, before he went off to war.

"All my life, I never really knew my father, but the people who knew him well kept him alive in my memory," Kenney said. "To think of what my mother's generation went through with all the uncertainty during the war is just overwhelming. But now it's up to my generation to support these men and make sure they're honored," she said.

More about the USS Lagarto

The Balao Class LAGARTO's keel was laid down by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, and Wisconsin 12 January 1944. It was launched 28 May 1944 and Commissioned 14 October 1944.

Under the command of Commander F. D. Latta, LAGARTO departed Subic Bay, P.I. on 12 April 1945 for her second WWII patrol in the South China Sea. On 27 April, she was directed to the outer part of Siam Gulf.

LAGARTO contacted USS BAYA (SS-318), already patrolling in Siam Gulf on 2 May 1945 exchanging calls with her by SJ radar. Later that day BAYA sent LAGARTO a contact report on a convoy she had contacted consisting of one tanker, one auxiliary and two destroyers. LAGARTO reported being in contact with the convoy and began coming in for an attack with BAYA. However, the enemy detected BAYA and drove her off with gunfire, whereupon the two submarines waited to plan a subsequent attack.

Early on the morning of 3 May 1945, LAGARTO and BAYA rendezvoused to discuss plans. LAGARTO was to dive on the convoy's tack to make a contact at 1400, while BAYA was to be ten to fifteen miles further along the tack. At 0010 on 4 May after a prolonged but unsuccessful attack, the alerted escorts drove off BAYA, and no further contact of any kind was ever made with LAGARTO.

Japanese information available now records an attack on a U.S. submarine made by the minelayer Hatsutaka, believed to be one of the two radar-equipped escorts of the convoy. The attack was made in about 30 fathoms of water and in view of the information presented above, the attack here described must be presumed to be the one that sank LAGARTO.

Commander Latta had previously made seven patrols as Commanding Officer of USS NARWHAL II (SS-167). Every patrol made by this officer was designated successful for the award of combat insignia, a record surpassed by no commanding officer in the Submarine Force.