DODANE, Robert Lee, U.S. Naval Academy Annapolis, MD, CLASS OF 1940 GRADUATE Admission Date 17 Jun 36
Robert Lee Dodane
Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy
Service # 0-085367
United States Navy
Entered the Service from: Indiana
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Awards: Purple Heart

Rank/Rate Lieutenant Commander
Service Number 0-085367
Birth Date July 22, 1916
From Fort Wayne, Indiana
Decorations Purple Heart
Submarine USS Trigger (SS-237)
Loss Date March 28, 1945
Location In area 32° 16'N to 30° 40'N by 132° 05'E to 127° 50'E
Circumstances Probably sunk by air and surface attack
Remarks: Declared Lost All Crew Dead

USS Trigger (SS-237) (with new skipper Commander David R. Connole and 88 other Crew-members) stood out to sea on 11 March 1945, to begin her 12th war patrol and headed for the Nansei Shoto area. On 18 March, she attacked a convoy west of the islands, sinking the cargo ship Tsukushi Maru No.3 and damaging another. She reported the attack on 20 March, and the submarine was subsequently ordered to radio as many movements of the convoy as possible to help find a safe passage through a known mined area of the East China Sea. On 24 March, Trigger was ordered to begin patrolling west of the islands the next day, outside the 100 fathom curve, and to steer clear of restricted areas. On 26 March 1945, she was ordered to join a wolf pack called "Earl's Eliminators" and to acknowledge receipt of the message. A weather report came from the submarine that day but no confirmation of her having received the message. The weather report was Trigger's last transmission. On 4 April, she was ordered to proceed to Midway, but she had not arrived by 1 May and was reported as presumed lost. Trigger was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 July 1945.

Postwar Japanese records showed a Japanese aircraft detected and bombed a submarine on 28 March 1945. Two Kaibokan-Mikura, escort ships CD-33, and CD-59 were then guided to the spot and delivered an intensive depth charging. After two hours, a large oil slick appeared.

LtCdr Robert Lee Dodane's Declared Dead Date 21 Apr 1946

Robert L Dodane