USS Tang was sunk by one of its own torpedoes in 1944 after the weapon circled back.
The incident occurred during Tang’s fifth and final war patrol in the Taiwan Strait on 25 October 1944. The submarine had fired a spread of torpedoes at Japanese shipping when one of the weapons unexpectedly turned back toward the launch platform. It struck Tang, causing severe damage and sinking the boat.
Commander Richard O’Kane and eight other crew members survived the sinking and were captured by Japan. O’Kane later received the Medal of Honor, and the patrol made Tang one of the best-known American submarines of the Pacific War. The submarine was credited with sinking numerous Japanese vessels before its loss.
This event is often simplified as a simple “torpedo malfunction,” but wartime torpedoes could suffer from guidance, depth-control, and circular-run problems. Tang’s loss illustrates how dangerous submarine weapons could be even to the crews who launched them.