Its final torpedo curved back toward the submarine and struck it.
The sinking of Tang occurred seven months after Tullibee's loss, demonstrating that the danger had not been eliminated.
These disasters were particularly tragic because the submarines were not defeated through an ordinary enemy attack.
They were destroyed by weapons intended to give their crews a decisive advantage.
For the men aboard, there was little distinction in the final result.
A torpedo striking a submarine's hull could produce catastrophic flooding, regardless of who had launched it.
The Men Lost With USS Tullibee
The loss of Tullibee represented far more than a mechanical failure.
It was the destruction of a fighting ship and nearly its entire wartime crew.
One important detail requires correction in many simplified accounts of the disaster.
Although the Gato-class submarine's standard complement is commonly listed as 60 officers and enlisted men, wartime crews could be larger.
Memorial records for Tullibee identify 79 men lost in the sinking, with Kuykendall as the sole survivor—80 men aboard in total.
The frequently repeated figure of 59 dead appears to confuse the submarine's standard complement with its actual wartime personnel.
The loss included commanding officer Charles F. Brindupke and the officers and enlisted men serving under him.
Their deaths were part of a much larger sacrifice made by the American submarine force.
During World War II, the United States lost 52 submarines, and thousands of submariners died in combat and operational disasters.
The submarine service was among the most hazardous assignments in the American armed forces.
Yet American submarines made an enormous contribution to the defeat of Japan.
By attacking merchant shipping and naval vessels, they disrupted the transportation system on which Japan's military and economy depended.
Tullibee participated in that campaign during its brief operational life.
The submarine received three battle stars for its World War II service.
Those honors recognized its participation in combat operations before the fatal fourth patrol.
The vessel never returned to an American port.
Its final resting place remains in the Pacific near Palau.