Son of Harry Merrill and Mary Lovila Crawford Ervin; Siblings included George and Donna Ervin
He enlisted into the US Navy on 4 Mar, 1940 in Des Moines, Iowa and attended basic naval training at the US Naval Training Station in Lake County, Illinois. After completion of training, he was assigned to submarine service and served on various submarines that included, USS S-18, USS Seagull, USS Plunger, USS Pollack, USS Kenmore, and the USS Robalo, which he was on at the time of his death.
The USS Robalo (SS-273), was a Gato-class submarine. She was launched on 9 May, 1943. Afterward, the Robalo deployed to the pacific to conduct combat naval operations.
On one of her first war patrols, she sortied from Pearl Harbor-hunting Japanese ships west of the Philippines. She damaged a large freighter-firing four torpedoes' at 3,100 yards while she was en route to her new station in Fremantle. She spent 36 of her 57 day mission-submerged
In March 1944, concern about a surprise attack from a strong Japanese force, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Jr. made contact on his SJ radar and reported "many large ships!" The Robalo, along with USS Flasher (SS-249), USS Hoe (SS-258), USS Hake (SS-256), and USS Redfin (SS-272) all ran to intercept. No attack ever materialized
During another patrol, the Robalo went to the South China Sea to interdict Japanese tanker traffic from French Indochina-to the fleet anchorage at Tawi Tawi. On a "wildly aggressive patrol" lasting 51 days, the Robalo fired twenty torpedoes in four attacks. She was bombed by a Japanese antisubmarine aircraft, suffering shattered and flooded periscopes and loss of radar, while taking a harrowing plunge to 350 feet after her main induction was improperly closed in diving to escape. When she returned to Fremantle, she was credited with sinking a 7500-ton tanker which was not confirmed postwar.
The Robalo departed Fremantle on 22 June 1944 on her third war patrol. She set a course for the South China Sea to conduct her patrol in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar Strait and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined), she was scheduled to arrive on station about 6 July and remain until dark on 2 August 1944. On 2 July, a contact report stated Robalo had sighted a Fusô-class battleship with air cover and two destroyers for escort, just east of Borneo. No other messages were ever received from the submarine and when she did not return from patrol, she was presumed lost.
On 2 August, 1944, a note was dropped from the cell-window of Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on Palawan Island in the Philippines. It was picked up by an American soldier who was on a work detail nearby. The note was in turn given to H.D. Hough, Yeoman Second Class, who was also a prisoner at the camp. On 4 August, he contacted Trinidad Mendosa, wife of guerrilla leader Dr. Mendosa who furnished further information on the survivors.
From these sources, it was concluded The Robalo was sunk on 26 July 1944, 2 miles off the western coast of Palawan Island from an explosion in the vicinity of her aft battery, probably caused by an enemy mine. Only four men swam ashore, and made their way through the jungles to a small barrier northwest of the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp where Japanese Military Police captured them and jailed them for guerrilla activities.
After an air strike on Palawan, the Japanese were so angered that they pushed prisoners into a ditch, poured in gasoline and burned them alive.
The Robalo was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944.
MoMM1 Ervin was declared Missing-Killed in Action. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines; Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal.
Memorial Park Cemetery - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
First Congregational UCC Columbarium - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
He enlisted into the US Navy on 4 Mar, 1940 in Des Moines, Iowa and attended basic naval training at the US Naval Training Station in Lake County, Illinois. After completion of training, he was assigned to submarine service and served on various submarines that included, USS S-18, USS Seagull, USS Plunger, USS Pollack, USS Kenmore, and the USS Robalo, which he was on at the time of his death.
The USS Robalo (SS-273), was a Gato-class submarine. She was launched on 9 May, 1943. Afterward, the Robalo deployed to the pacific to conduct combat naval operations.
On one of her first war patrols, she sortied from Pearl Harbor-hunting Japanese ships west of the Philippines. She damaged a large freighter-firing four torpedoes' at 3,100 yards while she was en route to her new station in Fremantle. She spent 36 of her 57 day mission-submerged
In March 1944, concern about a surprise attack from a strong Japanese force, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Jr. made contact on his SJ radar and reported "many large ships!" The Robalo, along with USS Flasher (SS-249), USS Hoe (SS-258), USS Hake (SS-256), and USS Redfin (SS-272) all ran to intercept. No attack ever materialized
During another patrol, the Robalo went to the South China Sea to interdict Japanese tanker traffic from French Indochina-to the fleet anchorage at Tawi Tawi. On a "wildly aggressive patrol" lasting 51 days, the Robalo fired twenty torpedoes in four attacks. She was bombed by a Japanese antisubmarine aircraft, suffering shattered and flooded periscopes and loss of radar, while taking a harrowing plunge to 350 feet after her main induction was improperly closed in diving to escape. When she returned to Fremantle, she was credited with sinking a 7500-ton tanker which was not confirmed postwar.
The Robalo departed Fremantle on 22 June 1944 on her third war patrol. She set a course for the South China Sea to conduct her patrol in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar Strait and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined), she was scheduled to arrive on station about 6 July and remain until dark on 2 August 1944. On 2 July, a contact report stated Robalo had sighted a Fusô-class battleship with air cover and two destroyers for escort, just east of Borneo. No other messages were ever received from the submarine and when she did not return from patrol, she was presumed lost.
On 2 August, 1944, a note was dropped from the cell-window of Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on Palawan Island in the Philippines. It was picked up by an American soldier who was on a work detail nearby. The note was in turn given to H.D. Hough, Yeoman Second Class, who was also a prisoner at the camp. On 4 August, he contacted Trinidad Mendosa, wife of guerrilla leader Dr. Mendosa who furnished further information on the survivors.
From these sources, it was concluded The Robalo was sunk on 26 July 1944, 2 miles off the western coast of Palawan Island from an explosion in the vicinity of her aft battery, probably caused by an enemy mine. Only four men swam ashore, and made their way through the jungles to a small barrier northwest of the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp where Japanese Military Police captured them and jailed them for guerrilla activities.
After an air strike on Palawan, the Japanese were so angered that they pushed prisoners into a ditch, poured in gasoline and burned them alive.
The Robalo was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944.
MoMM1 Ervin was declared Missing-Killed in Action. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines; Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal.
Memorial Park Cemetery - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
First Congregational UCC Columbarium - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
Son of Harry Merrill and Mary Lovila Crawford Ervin; Siblings included George and Donna Ervin
He enlisted into the US Navy on 4 Mar, 1940 in Des Moines, Iowa and attended basic naval training at the US Naval Training Station in Lake County, Illinois. After completion of training, he was assigned to submarine service and served on various submarines that included, USS S-18, USS Seagull, USS Plunger, USS Pollack, USS Kenmore, and the USS Robalo, which he was on at the time of his death.
The USS Robalo (SS-273), was a Gato-class submarine. She was launched on 9 May, 1943. Afterward, the Robalo deployed to the pacific to conduct combat naval operations.
On one of her first war patrols, she sortied from Pearl Harbor-hunting Japanese ships west of the Philippines. She damaged a large freighter-firing four torpedoes' at 3,100 yards while she was en route to her new station in Fremantle. She spent 36 of her 57 day mission-submerged
In March 1944, concern about a surprise attack from a strong Japanese force, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Jr. made contact on his SJ radar and reported "many large ships!" The Robalo, along with USS Flasher (SS-249), USS Hoe (SS-258), USS Hake (SS-256), and USS Redfin (SS-272) all ran to intercept. No attack ever materialized
During another patrol, the Robalo went to the South China Sea to interdict Japanese tanker traffic from French Indochina-to the fleet anchorage at Tawi Tawi. On a "wildly aggressive patrol" lasting 51 days, the Robalo fired twenty torpedoes in four attacks. She was bombed by a Japanese antisubmarine aircraft, suffering shattered and flooded periscopes and loss of radar, while taking a harrowing plunge to 350 feet after her main induction was improperly closed in diving to escape. When she returned to Fremantle, she was credited with sinking a 7500-ton tanker which was not confirmed postwar.
The Robalo departed Fremantle on 22 June 1944 on her third war patrol. She set a course for the South China Sea to conduct her patrol in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar Strait and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined), she was scheduled to arrive on station about 6 July and remain until dark on 2 August 1944. On 2 July, a contact report stated Robalo had sighted a Fusô-class battleship with air cover and two destroyers for escort, just east of Borneo. No other messages were ever received from the submarine and when she did not return from patrol, she was presumed lost.
On 2 August, 1944, a note was dropped from the cell-window of Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on Palawan Island in the Philippines. It was picked up by an American soldier who was on a work detail nearby. The note was in turn given to H.D. Hough, Yeoman Second Class, who was also a prisoner at the camp. On 4 August, he contacted Trinidad Mendosa, wife of guerrilla leader Dr. Mendosa who furnished further information on the survivors.
From these sources, it was concluded The Robalo was sunk on 26 July 1944, 2 miles off the western coast of Palawan Island from an explosion in the vicinity of her aft battery, probably caused by an enemy mine. Only four men swam ashore, and made their way through the jungles to a small barrier northwest of the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp where Japanese Military Police captured them and jailed them for guerrilla activities.
After an air strike on Palawan, the Japanese were so angered that they pushed prisoners into a ditch, poured in gasoline and burned them alive.
The Robalo was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944.
MoMM1 Ervin was declared Missing-Killed in Action. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines; Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal.
Memorial Park Cemetery - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
First Congregational UCC Columbarium - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
He enlisted into the US Navy on 4 Mar, 1940 in Des Moines, Iowa and attended basic naval training at the US Naval Training Station in Lake County, Illinois. After completion of training, he was assigned to submarine service and served on various submarines that included, USS S-18, USS Seagull, USS Plunger, USS Pollack, USS Kenmore, and the USS Robalo, which he was on at the time of his death.
The USS Robalo (SS-273), was a Gato-class submarine. She was launched on 9 May, 1943. Afterward, the Robalo deployed to the pacific to conduct combat naval operations.
On one of her first war patrols, she sortied from Pearl Harbor-hunting Japanese ships west of the Philippines. She damaged a large freighter-firing four torpedoes' at 3,100 yards while she was en route to her new station in Fremantle. She spent 36 of her 57 day mission-submerged
In March 1944, concern about a surprise attack from a strong Japanese force, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Jr. made contact on his SJ radar and reported "many large ships!" The Robalo, along with USS Flasher (SS-249), USS Hoe (SS-258), USS Hake (SS-256), and USS Redfin (SS-272) all ran to intercept. No attack ever materialized
During another patrol, the Robalo went to the South China Sea to interdict Japanese tanker traffic from French Indochina-to the fleet anchorage at Tawi Tawi. On a "wildly aggressive patrol" lasting 51 days, the Robalo fired twenty torpedoes in four attacks. She was bombed by a Japanese antisubmarine aircraft, suffering shattered and flooded periscopes and loss of radar, while taking a harrowing plunge to 350 feet after her main induction was improperly closed in diving to escape. When she returned to Fremantle, she was credited with sinking a 7500-ton tanker which was not confirmed postwar.
The Robalo departed Fremantle on 22 June 1944 on her third war patrol. She set a course for the South China Sea to conduct her patrol in the vicinity of the Natuna Islands. After transiting Makassar Strait and Balabac Strait (which was well-known to be mined), she was scheduled to arrive on station about 6 July and remain until dark on 2 August 1944. On 2 July, a contact report stated Robalo had sighted a Fusô-class battleship with air cover and two destroyers for escort, just east of Borneo. No other messages were ever received from the submarine and when she did not return from patrol, she was presumed lost.
On 2 August, 1944, a note was dropped from the cell-window of Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on Palawan Island in the Philippines. It was picked up by an American soldier who was on a work detail nearby. The note was in turn given to H.D. Hough, Yeoman Second Class, who was also a prisoner at the camp. On 4 August, he contacted Trinidad Mendosa, wife of guerrilla leader Dr. Mendosa who furnished further information on the survivors.
From these sources, it was concluded The Robalo was sunk on 26 July 1944, 2 miles off the western coast of Palawan Island from an explosion in the vicinity of her aft battery, probably caused by an enemy mine. Only four men swam ashore, and made their way through the jungles to a small barrier northwest of the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp where Japanese Military Police captured them and jailed them for guerrilla activities.
After an air strike on Palawan, the Japanese were so angered that they pushed prisoners into a ditch, poured in gasoline and burned them alive.
The Robalo was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 September 1944.
MoMM1 Ervin was declared Missing-Killed in Action. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines; Recipient of the Purple Heart Medal.
Memorial Park Cemetery - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
First Congregational UCC Columbarium - Mason City, IA; Cenotaph here
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Military Service Number# 321 39 73
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