GHQ  Historic Corregidor  | Harbor Defense of Manila & Subic Bays  |  Corregidor Under Siege  Retaking Corregidor  |  Rediscovering Corregidor  | Units & Personnel  |  Concrete Battleship Secret Corregidor PX  |  Now Showing |  Archives  |  Bulletin Board | Galleries  |  Mail Call | Links | 503d on the Rock  | 503d Heritage Bn. Rock Force

 

 

 
 
 

THERE IS NO REPEAT NO MORE GOLD REMAINING ON OR NEAR CORREGIDOR - HERE'S WHY.

USS Trout (SS-202) was credited with sinking 23 enemy ships, giving her 87,000 tons sunk, and damaging 6 ships, for 75,000 tons.  She received a Presidential Unit Commission for the Gold patrol (her 2nd.)  During her first ten patrols she made 32 torpedo attacks, firing 85 torpedoes, including 34 hits, 5 confirmed premature detonations, 5 confirmed duds, and 25 suspected duds. She was also involved in six battle surface actions and was attacked with depth charges eight times. She was reported overdue on 17 April 1944 and presumed lost on her eleventh war patrol, with all 81 hands.  LCDR Frank Wesley (Mike) Fenno (pictured) was awarded the DSC for the Gold cruise, and the entire crew were awarded the Silver Star by the Army. Trout was lost on its 7th patrol when under the command of LCDR A. H. Clark.  Fenno had transferred to Pampanito. He survived the war and retired as a Rear Admiral. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

streamer.gif (1024 bytes)

Researcher's Note

The USS Trout was to continue her war patrol and sink two more enemy vessels prior to her delivery of the securities at Pearl Harbor. The securities shipment placed on board the USS Trout at Corregidor eventually made its way to the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, where is was subsequently transferred to a light-cruiser and shipped successfully to the vaults of the San Francisco Mint in the United States.

Over the next year or so, Capt. Mike Fenno, commander of the USS Trout, attempted vainly to claim appropriate "salvage" of the securities with his superiors for the benefit of a small percentage to be shared among his crew. However, suspiciously the maritime salvage laws of the United States Navy were changed one month after Trout’s successful mission, thereby 'clarifying'  the Trout mission as a "Government to Government Transfer."  Mike Fenno and his crew never did receive any sort of salvage award. In fact, the USS Trout was subsequently lost with all hands in the South China Sea in 1944. As far as this researcher is aware, only two men were transferred off the vessel prior to her demise in 1944 – the only two who could years later accurately reflect the events described above.

Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby safely evacuated Corregidor via a second US submarine shortly before the surrender to the Japanese on 6 May, 1942.

Ed Michaud
Framingham MASS.

 streamer.gif (1024 bytes)

 

POST-WAR RECOVERY OPS 1945-88 | SPEEDY GONZALES  |   BATTERY MORRISON  | AH-MOON'S   |  THE ENGINEERING TUNNEL   |   GRAVE - GOLD   |   THE MARCOS CONNECTION   |   THE NORTH DOCK GOLD HOLE   |   THE FOURTH LATERAL   |   THE NORTH HARBOR SALVAGE BARGE   |    THE PRESIDENTIAL YACHT "CASIANO"   |   THE LORCHA DOCK   |  SILVER PESOS    |  NO MORE GOLD   |   CONCLUSION

CORREGIDOR - THE TREASURE ISLAND OF WWII    |    GOLD IS ALSO BALLAST    |    THE GOLDEN PATROL OF THE USS TROUT |  SALVAGING A SILVER TREASURE  | THE JAPANESE OVERSTRIKE

 

H Version 09.09.11