US submarines rescued over 500 downed airmen throughout the Pacific Campaign in WWII. One of these Navy fliers was former President George Bush.
On the return leg from a bombing run over an oil refinery in the area of Saigon, a badly damaged B-24 bomber and its crew were trying desperately to make the pre-arranged rendezvous point before having to ditch.
The B-24, piloted by Capt. Benson and co-piloted by 1Lt. J.V. Vandruff, had been the lead plane in the formation and had taken the brunt of the attack by Japanese Zero fighters. Although the crew had thrown as much gear overboard as possible, including the machine guns and ammunition, the plane could make it no further than about 100 miles north of Saigon, parallel to the coastline but reached the important rendezvous point.
All of the crew bailed out at 1,500 feet and safely touched down in the ocean with the exception of the radar officer, whose parachute did not open and he fell to his death.
The bomber crew was now stretched out over ten miles and out of sight of one another and drifted for several hours. A P-38 and a Navy Catalina, an amphibious search plane, spotted three of the downed crew and prepared to take them aboard.
A Random But Fateful Encounter
By pure chance the COBIA was hunting for enemy shipping in the immediate vicinity of Cam Ranh Bay and detected the P-38 and Catalina during a periscope search. The COBIA, realizing that the presence of the search planes might mean something was up, surfaced and raised the planes via radio to find out. The P-38 confirmed that there were aviators in the water, and asked the submarine for assistance.
With the sun beginning to set, the COBIA began its search and soon found the aviators, who were all very grateful to see the submariners in such a hostile place.
When Capt. Benson had touched down, he had landed close to the five-man life raft that had been automatically released when the plane crashed. Drifting alone in the raft, Benson spotted the COBIA and assumed that it was an enemy patrol vessel out searching for him and his crew. As the COBIA approached, Benson flipped the raft over and hid beneath it, hoping the vessel would not spot him.
As the COBIA neared the life raft, the submariners prepared to destroy it by using the 20mm and 40mm guns in order to sink it. Before the order of open fire was passed, Lt. Jim Marion signaled the gunners to hold their fire and dove in for a closer look.
Ready for Anything
Marion swam over to the raft and flipped it over, revealing Benson with combat knife in hand, who was prepared to fight it out to the bitter end if necessary. After several tense moments and some convincing by Marion that the “enemy” was actually an American submarine, Benson was welcomed aboard the COBIA with the other seven men of his bomber crew.
For the next week, the airmen witnessed firsthand what life was like aboard the COBIA, especially the great food from the wardroom’s galley. The COBIA safely delivered the bomber crew to Subic Bay in the Philippines, but not before presenting 1Lt. Vandruff with a certificate drawn up by Lt. Marion.
“Know ye of these presents that I, Davy Jones, have on this date delivered up one (1) Zeroed Zoomie, Lt. Jean Vandruff, by name, into the custody of the Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Cobia, to dispose of as he may see fit. Signed "Davy Jones", Nan-Hai-Branch, Lat. Twelve N., 4/8/45, Received in good condition, (Albert L. Becker) C.O., USS Cobia”
To this day, the seven rescued airmen are considered to be part of the COBIA's crew by the submariners and are listed as such on the roster.