On the evening of June 6, 1944, USS Harder entered the Sibutu Passage near Tawi-Tawi—a narrow, heavily patrolled approach to a major Japanese fleet anchorage.
Commander Samuel D. Dealey found three tankers guarded by two destroyers. As Harder moved into position on the surface, moonlight exposed her.
The destroyer Minazuki turned to attack.
A submarine confronted by a charging destroyer was supposed to evade, dive deep, and survive the depth charges certain to follow.
Dealey turned toward the danger.
He submerged, swung Harder’s stern toward the oncoming warship, and fired three torpedoes at 1,100 yards. Two struck. Minazuki sank within five minutes.
The next morning, a Japanese aircraft directed another destroyer, Hayanami, toward Harder. Dealey again seized the initiative. At just 650 yards, he fired three torpedoes. Two hit amidships, and the destroyer disappeared after a devastating explosion.
Then came the depth charges.
Harder endured them and remained on patrol.
On the evening of June 8, destroyers swept the passage in a line abreast, hunting the submarine that had already broken their screen. Dealey chose an attack position where two targets overlapped. From 1,000 yards, Harder fired four torpedoes. The second and third struck Tanikaze, whose boilers erupted as the ship sank almost immediately.
Dealey was daring, but not reckless. Naval History and Heritage Command records show that he disengaged when an attack did not offer the right setup. His aggression was disciplined—built on judgment, positioning, and the willingness to act when the narrow opportunity appeared.
Across four days, Harder sank three destroyers and heavily damaged or destroyed two others. The attacks helped force the Japanese Mobile Fleet to leave Tawi-Tawi early, disrupting its plans before the Battle of the Philippine Sea. On June 11, Harder reconnoitered the anchorage and transmitted observations vital to the approaching American fleet.
Dealey and all 78 other men aboard Harder were lost during the submarine’s sixth patrol on August 24, 1944. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for the fifth patrol, in addition to four Navy Crosses. Harder received the Presidential Unit Citation for her first five patrols.
Tenacity is not waiting for danger to choose the terms. It is knowing when to evade, when to close, and when to turn the hunter into the target.
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