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(Admiral Fluckey continued)
Many of the Submarine Force’s littoral missions today were prefigured by
Admiral Fluckey’s exploits in World War II. Against the Japanese, he
pioneered a role for submarines in both land attack and sabotage. He took
Barb into heavily defended coastal waters to launch torpedo, rocket, and gun
bombardments, many of which inflicted severe damage on Japanese coastal
installations. On one occasion, he even sent a party of commandos ashore in
rubber boats to destroy a 16-car train with demolition charges.
In 1945, Admiral Fluckey was ordered to new construction in Groton,
Connecticut, but was soon transferred to the Office of the Secretary of the
Navy to work under Secretary James Forrestal on unifying the Armed Services.
In December 1945, Admiral Chester Nimitz, the in-coming Chief of Naval
Operations, selected him to be his Personal Aide. Later in his distinguished
career, Admiral Fluckey served as Commanding Officer of Submarine Division
52, of Submarine Squadron Five, and of the submarine tender USS Sperry
(AS-12). He was selected for Flag Rank in 1960 and reported as Commander,
Amphibious Group Four, and later as COMSUBPAC. He also had successful tours
as the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the U.S. Naval
Academy and as the U.S. Naval Attache in Lisbon, Portugal. He retired in
1972.
n 1992, Admiral Fluckey recounted his WWII patrols on Barb in the book,
Thunder Below!, which won the prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison prize for
Best Naval Literature in 1993. Stephen Spielberg’s DreamWorks Films recently
picked up the film option. Healthy and active at age 85, Admiral Fluckey
works on the behalf of more than 80 charitable and non-profit organizations.
Just this past September, he gave an inspiring speech at the annual United
States Submarine Veterans, Inc (USSVI) convention in Hagerstown, Maryland.
He and his wife Margaret reside in Annapolis, Maryland. |
