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The Wartime Diary of George W.

Bedell.
During the wartime years, submariners were advised not to keep
diaries. There was a great deal of concern that if the submarine
were captured, the diary would fall into enemy hands and might
reveal secret operational information. Therefore, very few diaries
exist today.

George W. Bedell MoMM2c(SS) kept a personal diary from Jan

5, 1945 until May 15, 1945 describing his life on board USS
SENNET (SS-408). Thanks to the generosity of his daughter,
Carolyn Bedell-Saint, his diary is reprinted below.

George W. Bedell was

born June 6, 1919 on a
quiet farm in Springfield
Gardens on Long Island
in New York. In early
1941 he married
Dorothy Farley and went
to work on the Long
Island Railroad. His
daughter, Carolyn, was
born in the spring of
1943. That fall, George
joined the US Naval
Submarine Service. His
first duty was on board 1945 - George Bedell, kneeling on the left,
USS SILVERSIDES holds USS SENNET's battle flag. (Bedell-
(SS-236), and then he Saint)
transferred to the
commissioning crew of
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the USS SENNET (SS-

408) in July of 1944.
George's primary duties
on SENNET as a
MoMM2c(SS) were
maintaining and
operating the diesel
propulsion systems.
However, fleet
submarines had small,
close-knit crews who
shared many duties and
all their secrets.
Bedell's diary gives us
an exciting glimpse into
the life of all
submariners in World
War II. George Bedell
was honorably
discharged in December
of 1945. He received
the Submarine Combat
Ribbon with 2 stars, the
Philippine Pacific
Ribbon with 2 stars, the
American Theater
Ribbon, and the Victory
Ribbon. After his
discharge he returned to
New York and the
railroad. A son was
born in 1946 and
subsequently 3
grandchildren and 1
great grandchild.
George Bedell departed
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on Eternal Patrol on
March 12, 1987.
George Bedell's diary is the exclusive copyrighted property of his
descendants. Reprints, reproductions, or copies of this material are
expressly forbidden without prior approval of Carolyn Bedell-Saint.
Contact Stan Pollard at 408.stan@gmail.com for further information.

George Bedell's Diary...

SENNET's first war patrol
Jan 5, 1945 - Left Pearl Harbor on some mission. Destination
unknown to crew members. I am standing 12 to 4 watches.

Jan 6, 1945 - Underway as before. Been thinking about Dot and

Carolyn a lot lately. Miss them an awful lot.
Took a trim dive late this afternoon. It was almost a last one.
Boat took a 31 deg down angle and started diving fast. Blew bow
bouyancy at 150 feet, nothing happened - backed down
emergency and blew all main ballast. Air finally took hold and
she came out of it. We were all pretty scared for awhile.

Jan 7, 1945 - Underway as before - Ran into rough weather today,

about 1/2 the crew is sick. So far I feel alright. Had swell turkey
dinner today, with all the trimmings.

Jan 8, 1945 - Underway as before -

1030 General Alarm - Battle stations submerged. Spotted
airplanes and went deep 500' Stayed down 1/2 hour, surfaced, all

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clear. Had battle surface drill this afternoon - Fired deck guns &
40 mills. We sure are curious as to what our mission is.

Jan 9, 1945 - 0010 Underway as before. Just came on watch. We

are not running engines forward and looks like it might be a nice
peaceful watch.
1130 - Sighted Midway - Are pulling in to top off with lube and
fuel oil.
1400 - Went ashore and had 3 bottles of beer - compliments of the
base. We are going to lay in tonight and leave early in the
morning.

Jan 10, 1945 - 0830 Left Midway and are heading north toward
Japan. Still in the dark as to what our mission is. I am now
standing 4 to 8 watches.

Jan 11, 1945 - 1030 Took a trim dive and while at battle stations
submerged the exec spoke over the 1 MC and gave us the dope.
We are headed for the Bonin Islands. They are 325 miles off the
Japanese mainland. We are to operate against the spit-kits which
are reporting the B 29 bombers on their way to Japan. We are to
take pictures of them. Also to battle surface on a few to see how
much fire power they have and how they react to attack. The old
man put out an order forbidding anyone to shave until we sink our
first ship. He also offered a quart of bourbon to the lookout who
spots the first ship we do sink. After we get the pictures we are
going to hang around and sink anything and everything we see.

Jan 12, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Weather getting bad. Sea is pretty rough.

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Jan 13, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Weather very bad - Barometer falling rapidly. Quite a few of the
fellows are sick.

Jan 14, 1945 - Weather is awful. We have run into a typhoon.

Wind is 110 miles an hour. Seas are mountainous and we sure are
being knocked around. Almost impossible to stand on your feet
while on watch.

Jan 15, 1945 - 0800 Just came off watch and am going to hit the
sack. We are almost out of the storm area. Seas are a little high
and rough but nothing like before. We are sure glad it has calmed
down.

Jan 16, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine.

0550 Had radar contact at 7 miles. Went to flank speed and battle
stations. Tried to intercept target but could not make contact
again. We are in Japanese waters now and should contact
something soon.
2000 Just came off watch am going to eat and than read awhile
before going to bed.

Jan 17, 1945 - Underway as before - Still haven't sighted anything

to attack. Nothing eventful today. Just another long day at sea.

Jan 18, 1945 - Underway as before. Dove a couple of times

today. We have had some trouble with bow bouyancy. The vent
does not operate properly. We received orders to attack a convoy
moving thru our area tonight but have lost so much time due to
the weather we cannot contact it.

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Jan 19, 1945 - Underway as before - The officers have thought up

a good trick which we are going to try out soon if we do not run
across any enemy ships. The chief Elec has rigged up a floating
light out of two flashlight batteries and a 5" shell case. We are
going in near shore some dark night and put it over the side and
then submerge. We expect the Japs to send a ship out to
investigate this light. When they do the rest is up to us. We hope
it works.

Jan 20, 1945 - 2005 We have contacted two small ships and are
going to attack I guess. We are laying dead in the water. They
are dead ahead of us about 1300 yards. We are standing by to go
to battle stations.

Jan 21, 1945 - Sunday a day of rest (HA-HA) It is now 2100

Sunday night and it is all over for awhile. This has been one hell
of a day and I'll try to recall the events that happened to us. The
two ships that we were tracking last night was joined by a large
tanker and an escorting tin can. All four started for Tokyo and at
0330 AM we went to battle stations and moved in for a night
radar run on the tanker. At 0340 we fired a spread of four fish
fwd and went deep. We caught two depth charges that helped us
down. We layed at 500 feet. The fish missed and the can and
escorts started looking for us. They pinged and made runs on us
till 8 o'clock. We lay down there silent and sweating till they
left. I and everybody else were sure scared. When they left we
surfaced and making all possible speed we got in front of them
again. We made another submerged run on the tanker and fired
our last two fish at 1700 yards. We were close enough to see the
bastards running around the decks. These fish also missed and
they really tried to get us this time. We caught two more depth
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charges immediately and went to 580 feet. They kept working us

over until 3 o'clock this afternoon and it sure was hell. We finally
made a run right under two of them and got away. We surfaced
and there was the can setting dead in the water waiting for us. We
really pulled the cork that time to get down. He kept pinging and
trying for us and then finally gave up and went after the other 3
ships. We were real careful coming up this time and it was all
clear. While I have been writing this we have picked up another
contact and I'm wondering what will happen next.

Jan 22, 1945 - It is now 2300 and it has been another tough day.
The two contacts we picked up last night is a radar boat and a
gunboat. We tracked them all last night and this morning early
we submerged and went to battle stations. We made countless
approaches on them with doodle bugs and they were all misses.
We have fired 8 doodle bugs today. We are going to surface
now and charge batteries and follow them tonight and try again
tomorrow.

Webmaster's Comment - According to Bubblehead Bob, TMCS(SS)

Robert Marble 65-66, the "Doodle Bug" that George Bedell refers to is
possibly the MK 27 acoustic (passive) homing torpedo. It was a 19"
diameter, swimout torpedo that chased a target's propeller noises. It
could also be the MK 28 torpedo, a smarter, heavier torpedo that reached
the Pacific boats at the end of WWII. The MK 28 was 21" in diameter,
impulse launched, and battery powered. By the time the MK 28 got to
the fleet, there were few targets left. -- Jim Fields 46-49 gave me some
more info -- The SENNET carried some MK 28 "stubby" torpedos
which the crew called "Doodle Bugs." Two MK 28 "stubbys" could
stowed on a rack that normally held one standard MK 14 torpedo. The
MK 28 had to be fired at depths below 200' to keep it from picking up
on SENNET's own propeller noises.

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Jan 23, 1945 - 1220 Well we did it at last. At 1014 this morning
while submerged we fired two doodles at them and four minutes
later at 1018 he exploded like a fire cracker. We surfaced just in
time to see him go under. It was the gunboat. A 750 tonner. We
are going to chase the radar boat and try for him.
It is now 2030 and we still haven't got him. We battle surfaced on
him at 1810 tonight and got a couple of hits on him. The seas
were high and rough and we found it hard to do accurate firing.
He was pretty steady in the water and mounted two 3" guns and
one 5" besides 40 mills and machine guns. He started to get our
range and when the shells started falling around us the old man
secured and we submerged. We fired 51 rounds. We are going to
follow him again tonight and try again in the morning.

Jan 24, 1945 - 0900 Well it looks like we lost him. During the
night a heavy fog came up and he got away in it.
1030 Boy we just had another close one. A plane dived out of the
clouds on us at 1004 and we just got under the water when he let
go with two large bombs. When they went off they sounded like
they were right on the deck. Boy if my hair isn't gray by the time
we get back to port it won't be gray ever. We've been depth
charged, shot at, and bombed. I wonder what's next.
1800 We have just picked up a contact on SD radar and we are
making a run on it. There goes the alarm for battle stations.
2130 The target is another radar boat and we are going to track it
all night and see if we can doodle bug it tomorrow.

Jan 25, 1945 - We have spent all day submerged making runs on
the target but he is just laying dead in the water and we need
screw beats to fire a doodle bug at. It is 2100 and we are still
submerged. I have just taken a shower and am going to bed. We
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are going to track him tonight and try again tomorrow. If the seas
calm down a bit we will probably battle surface on him if we can't
get any screw beats.

Jan 26, 1945 - 0800 Well we lost the target. During the night a
bad storm came up and he hauled tail for the mainland.

Jan 27, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine.

Nothing doing today.

Jan 28, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine.

Received orders to come into port. Don't know where yet but we
are all glad this is over.

Jan 29, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine.

Jan 30, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine.

Jan 31, 1945 - 1407 Tied up alongside the sub tender Fulton at
Saipan in the Marianas. We are getting 5 days rest and recreation
ashore here.

SENNET's second war patrol

Feb 1, 1945 to Feb 7, 1945 - Here at Saipan the Japs are still back
in the hills. We have played ball and drank beer and explored the
island.

Feb 7, 1945 - Started war patrol # 2 along with Lagardo and

Haddock. We are going back to the Bonin's. I am standing 8 to
12 watches.
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Feb 8, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Nothing doing today.

Feb 9, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine. We had

a movies in the forward room. Today saw "Above Suspicion" -
with Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford. Very good picture.

Feb 10, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine. We

had another movie this afternoon. It was "Ball of Fire" with
Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. It was a swell picture.
Nothing doing at sea yet.

Feb 11, 1945 - The Haddock spotted a periscope at 2000 yards

and we went to flank speed and hauled tail. We don't know
whose sub it was and we didn't wait to find out. No more
movies. We are almost to the area and the gunners mates are up
topside greasing the guns and getting them in perfect working
order.

Feb 12, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Chased down a couple of times by planes today. Nothing else
doing.
2300 Picked up two radar boats and have started in pursuit.

Feb 13, 1945 - 0610 - General Alarm - Standing by to go to

stations for battle surface.
0620 - Here we go - ! !
1400 - It was a cold gray morning when we went up, misty and
overcast. A fine morning for death and death held a field day. It
was not yet light enough for shooting and we stood around the
guns, waiting for the targets to show up. The range finders kept
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calling out ranges and the sight setters kept calling for deflection
angles. At 0720 it was light enough and we opened fire on the
radar boat. The first four shells bracketed him and the range and
deflection was corrected. We began rapid firing and we were
getting plenty hits. At 0740 he blew up and sank. We went after
the gun boat next and in about 15 minutes we had silenced his
guns and the captain ordered the 50 caliber machine guns manned
and we were going in close. The Japs abandoned ship when we
moved in. We went in to 150 yards and with 4 shells from the 5"
guns we sank her.

Webmaster's Comment - The next portion of George Bedell's Feb 13th

diary entry has been deleted at the family's request. The day's diary
entry ends with, "We submerged then and stayed down all day."

Feb 14, 1945 - 0100 We are on the surface now charging batteries
and have picked up two more of these radar boats. We are going
to battle surface on them again in the morning.
1000 - At 0700 this morning we battle surfaced and opened fire.
They returned the fire at once and Forsythe, a gunners mate on
the forward 5" gun was hit in the back by shrapnel. We got some
hits on them and we were moving in when we were attacked by
planes. We are only 120 miles off the coast of Japan and they
radioed in for help. We submerged and have been down all day.
2200 - We have received orders to leave this area and proceed to a
new area off Kobe. We are on the way there now.

Feb 15, 1945 - 1100 - We are submerged 12 miles off the mouth
of the entrance to Kobe harbor waiting to see what we can pick
up in the way of boats going out of the harbor. This ought to be a

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lot of fun here for somebody. We can easily see the coast of
Japan through the periscopes.

Feb 16, 1945 - 12 Midnight - Today was a very tough day. At 2

AM last night while on the surface charging batteries we detected
a tin can tracking us. We went to battle stations and let him
follow us, keeping close watch on him. At 0620 we submerged
to periscope depth and made ready all torpedo tubes. At 0700 he
was 27000 yards away and started for us making all possible
speed. Our captain sure outsmarted that son of a nip. Instead of
going deep we changed course and with our stern to him waited.
When he closed to 1800 yards we fired 3 fish at him. This is the
hardest target of all to hit, just a knife edge bow and we thank
God we were lucky. Two fish caught him dead on and he
stopped dead and with one big explosion blew up and
disappeared. We were lucky. If we had missed him we sure
would have taken some beating. At the same time he attacked
we were being attacked by a plane which we knew nothing about.
At the moment we sent the fish on their way he dropped two
aerial bombs on us. We were at 60 feet and they must have went
off right on deck. They hit just as we were starting down and
helped us go down faster. We have been up and down all day
trying to get away from here. Every time we surface we get
attacked by a plane and chased down. Our air banks are low and
the batteries are lower. If we don't get left alone soon to charge
we are going to have some fun tomorrow. I've never been very
religious but since going on patrol in these boats I've sure become
acquainted with God. I'm praying now for a break. The diving
alarm just went off again. Here we go down. That makes 7
times today we have been chased down. Well I'm going to bed
now and try to sleep. God I'm tired.
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Feb 17, 1945 - Well here it is another midnight. After that last
dive last night the planes must have went back to Tokyo. We
were not bothered again all night and got in a air and battery
charge. Bright and early this morning they were out again and
we were caught on the surface and driven down. We are only 70
miles from Kobe, the Japanese mainland and the planes are
shuttling back and forth with no strain. When we dove the old
man said the hell with them today. We're all tried and need some
rest so keep the boat at 300 feet. We will stay down all day and
surface tonight. That is what we did and we all got some much
needed sleep. Right now we are on the surface charging
batteries. We are 20 miles from Japan. Tomorrow we are going
to start hunting again. Well I'm off to bed now.

Feb 18, 1945 - 0710 - Submerged this morning and stayed down
all day. Come up to periscope depth and take a look around
every half hour. We are patrolling up and down in front of the
mouth of a narrow strait on the southern end of Japan. We are
between 500 and 1000 yards off the shore and the captain says he
could see people on the beaches when we would come up and
look. Still haven't spotted any targets. We have surfaced late
tonight and have run out to sea to charge batteries.

Feb 19, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Feb 20, 1945 - Underway as before - Still patrolling off Japan.

Feb 21, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Feb 22, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine.

Chased down by planes a few times today. No ships as yet.
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Feb 23, 1945 - Underway as before. Sneaked into Kobe harbor

today and took pictures thru the periscope of ships and shore
installations here. Went out again tonight.

Feb 24, 1945 - Ran into a convoy of 2 tankers and 3 escorts.

Could not get near enough to fire at them.

Feb 25, 1945 - Received orders today to go to Iwo Jima to

support the marines in their landing there and to keep the Japs
from running in more troops.

Feb 26, 1945 - Underway as before - Regular sea routine. Picked

up two B-29 fliers in a rubber boat this afternoon. They were
shot down over Tokyo and went out to sea to keep from being
captured.

Feb 28 to Mar 5, 1945 - Patrolled off Iwo and supported invasion.

Shelled shore installations. No shipping encountered.

Mar 5, 1945 - Underway for Guam and refit and rest.

Mar 8, 1945 - Tied up alongside tender Apollo at Guam.

Mar 9, 1945 - Sent to rest camp.

SENNET's third war patrol

Mar 24, 1945 - Back aboard ship. Loading stores and
ammunition.

Apr 3, 1945 - 3 PM - Underway on war patrol #3.

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Apr 4, 1945 - Underway for area off Kui Suidi.

Apr 5, 1945 - Ordered to change course. Heading for Okinawa

in the Ryukyus. There is a task force of Japs consisting of 1
Battleship, two cruisers, and 10 cans which are heading for
Okinawa also. We are trying to intercept them.

Apr 6, 1945 - Underway as before. - No sign of the Nips yet.

Apr 7, 1945 - The zoom boys beat us to the Nips. 350 American
planes spotted the task force, and when they got thru the
battleship was sunk, both cruisers sunk, and 6 of the cans were
sunk. We received a message that the four cans are running our
way. Maybe we'll get a shot at them.

Apr 8, 1945 - Spotted the cans late this evening and made a run
on the last one. We fired four fish at him and got 3 hits. He
sank in about 3 minutes. We dove, and the other 3 cans made
runs on us for about three hours. They sure gave us hell.
Finally we lost them and surfaced to charge batteries. At 2 AM
we received a message that a flight of fighters from Iwo Jima ran
across the 3 cans we had after us and sank all three.

Apr 9, 1945 - Underway as before. Proceeding to our designated

area.

Apr 10, 1945 - Underway as before.

Had four torpedoes fired at us today. The O.D. hollered for right
full rudder, and we had two pass on either side. Lucky thing the
lookouts spotted them. We bent on 4 engines and made knots out
of there.
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Apr 11, 1945 - Underway as before. Nothing doing today.

Apr 12, 1945 - Sighted small trawler today and submerged under
him. Fired a doodle at him and missed. He scrammed.

Webmaster's Comment - According to Bubblehead Bob, TMCS(SS)

Robert Marble 65-66, the "Doodle Bug" that George Bedell refers to is
possibly the MK 27 acoustic (passive) homing torpedo. It was a 19"
diameter, swimout torpedo that chased a target's propeller noises. It
could also be the MK 28 torpedo, a smarter, heavier torpedo that reached
the Pacific boats at the end of WWII. The MK 28 was 21" in diameter,
impulse launched, and battery powered. By the time the MK 28 got to
the fleet, there were few targets left. -- Jim Fields 46-49 gave me some
more info -- The SENNET carried some MK 28 "stubby" torpedos
which the crew called "Doodle Bugs." Two MK 28 "stubbys" could
stowed on a rack that normally held one standard MK 14 torpedo. The
MK 28 had to be fired at depths below 200' to keep it from picking up
on SENNET's own propeller noises.

Apr 13, 1945 - Heard the news of the President's death late this
evening. Wonder how much it will effect (sic) us.

Apr 14, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine. Ran

into another small trawler this morning. Their (sic) too small to
fire a fish at - don't draw enough water. We are too damn close
to the Japanese mainland to battle surface (only three miles) so
we fired another doodle at this one. Just as before - missed. I
don't think these doodles are much good. Their (sic) mostly
experimental anyway.

Apr 15, 1945 - Underway as before. Regular sea routine. Gee,

these all day dives are getting monotonous. For the last 5 days

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we have dove every morning at 5 o'clock and surfaced at 8

o'clock at night. We have to due to being so near the main land.

Apr 16, 1945 - Underway as before. Submerged off Bungo

Suido.

Apr 17, 1945 - I guess there's a God up there somewhere that

looks out for us. He sure looked out for us tonight, although we
are not out of this mess yet. At 2300 last night we contacted a
large Jap task force on the radar at 31,000 yds and went in
pursuit. At 2330 the O.D. on deck and the lookouts spotted the
wakes of two torpedoes fired at us. One crossed our bow at
about 200' ahead of us, and the other just did miss us. As it went
past we crossed over its wake. That's how close it was. We
dove and waited 1/2 hour, and figuring it to be a Nip submarine,
we decided to surface and get out of there. We surfaced at 12
o'clock and run 10 minutes and had two more torpedoes fired at
us. With hard right rudder we dove, and they ran right alongside
of us just missing us again. This time we stayed down 1 hour
and listened on the sound gear. Not hearing anything, the
Captain decided to try again. We surfaced and ran 7 minutes
when the lookouts spotted 4 torpedo boats closing in on us from
all sides. Before they could fire any fish, we dove again. Right
now they are running back and forth over us waiting for us to
surface. I guess we will stay down all night and all day
tomorrow too. Thank God they don't carry any depth charges, or
we would sure be having a bad time right now.

Apr 18, 1945 - Underway as before -

0300 - We sure have had a bad time lately. Last night those PT
boats followed us all night and we had to stay submerged. All
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day today we were down too, and when we did not surface by late
afternoon they finally left. We started a battery charge and just
got it in at 11 o'clock this evening when a plane dove out of the
night right at us. We submerged and waited 1/2 hour and
surfaced again. We figured he had kept going. What a surprise.
We just got on the surface when two of them dove at us. The
first one dropped a small bomb that just missed our stern, and the
second one strafed us from bow to stern with 50 cal machine
guns. We submerged and stayed down all night.

Apr 19, 1945 - 0005 - Underway as before.

Quiet today for a change. We have changed areas, and maybe
this one will be a little easier on our nerves than the last one. I
hope so.
Well, we did it again. At 0710 this morning we sneaked into the
harbor at Kiiu Suido to see if there was any shipping around. We
ran right into a very large freighter, one smaller tanker, and 5
escort vessels. We went to battle stations and made a run on
them. We fired 3 fish at the freighter and started to come left to
fire at the tanker, when two of the fish hit the freighter at 1400
yards. He must have been carrying ammunition or high octane
gas as he just disintegrated. The concussion when he exploded
was so great that it broke light bulbs and the glass faces of engine
dials. We lost control of the boat for a moment and had no
chance to shoot at the tanker. We started deep with the escorts
making all speed for us. The first one started dropping charges
that shook the hell out of us, and as he passed over us, we let go
with a doodle bug at him. It hit him, and he sank. The rest of
them became cautious then and started pinging on us to find out
our exact position. We kept on going down, and what a surprise
we got. We hit bottom at 270 feet. Either we were wrong about
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our position, or the chart of the harbor was wrong. Gee, that's a
hell of a feeling when you start getting depth charged and want
plenty of water over you and get caught in shallow water. We
started to get out of there in a hurry, and they followed us all day
and kept dropping charges. At 1530 this afternoon we finally
lost them. We are out to sea now charging batteries, and maybe
we can get some sleep.

Apr 20, 1945 - 0100 - Today is my wedding anniversary and

maybe it will be celebrated with some more noise. I guess we
are going back into the harbor in the morning and see if we can
get the tanker.

Apr 21, 1945 - Ran into a trap this morning, and we were lucky to
get out. The damn Nips must have figured we'd be back after
that tanker. They had a small tanker out in the bay when we
came in and 5 P.C. boats and 2 tin cans waiting in a cove a little
distance away. They were sitting there waiting for us with sound
gear. When we were well inside the bay, the P.C. boats moved
out into the entrance and the cans started pinging on us. They
started dropping charges, and we tried to get out. That was the
worst depth charging we have had yet. It was pretty awful for a
while. When we went under the P.C. boats to get out, they
dropped all they had. We got hit with everything from 300
pounders all the way up to 1000 pounders. We were lucky and
finally got out in deep water where we lost them.

Apr 22, 1945 - We are 30 miles out now, and we have a lifeguard
station today. It ought to be quiet for a change.
Gee, we just had some lousy luck. A fighter pilot flew over us in
trouble and signaled he could not make it back to his base, and he
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was going to bail out and let us pick him up. He jumped, and
and just before he hit the water, a gust of wind swung him and he
got tangled up in his chute and the poor guy drowned before we
could get to him. The guys on the boat here sure feel terrible
about it. Well, I guess his number was just up, that's all.

Apr 23, 1945 - Pulled 70 miles out to sea today and submerged.
The Captain decided we needed a little rest to quiet our nerves.
The last week has been a small idea of hell I guess. Well, we'll
be back at it again tomorrow.

Apr 24, 1945 - Tried to go in again this morning. They were

waiting for us and picked us up on sound. They worked us over
and after about 2 hours we lost them. They were 5 P.C. boats.

Apr 25, 1945 - Out to sea resting up again. All day dives and
charge at night.

Apr 26, 1945 - Went in to Kii Suido again this morning. Got in
and saw nothing all day. They must be laying low.

Apr 27, 1945 - Out to sea last night and in again this morning.
Same as yesterday - nothing doing.

Apr 28, 1945 - Started into Kii Suido again this morning and
caught an unescorted 3000 ton cable layer operating just off the
harbor mouth. Threw 3 electric fish at him and got two hits. He
sank in about 5 minutes. 2 P.C. boats came out looking for us
and dropping charges. We went deep and got out of there.

Apr 29, 1945 - Out to sea again.

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Apr 30, 1945 - Same as yesterday - still out at sea.

Webmaster's Comment - During the next 15 days, George Bedell dated

his diary entries as April instead of May. Since it is obvious that he
meant to date the remaining diary entries as May 1 through May 15, I
have made the corrections to avoid confusion for the reader.

May 1, 1945 - Went back into Kii Suido again this morning. Ran
into a big, brand new tin can. We fired 5 steam fish at him. He
spotted the fish and made a sharp change of course. All 5
missed. We started down and rigged for depth charges. He
made a wide turn and came barreling over us when we were a
little over 200 feet down. He laid 4 600 lb charges right on us
from stem to stern. Light bulbs broke, and the cork on the
bulkheads flew in all directions. We thought we were really in
for a bad time, but the damn fool kept going and headed for Japan
at full speed. Boy, we were lucky. We started out to sea and ran
into two spit kits. They dropped 6 charges, and we lost them.
We have hopes of going back to the barn tonight as we only have
2 fish and one doodle bug left. We all hope so.
2330 We have just received orders to leave the area and head for
Saipan to refuel and proceed to Pearl Harbor for refit.

May 2, 1945 - Underway - regular sea routine.

May 3, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

May 4, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

May 5, 1945 - Received news broadcast today that there are

rumors that Germany has surrendered. This is unconfirmed
news, but we hope so.
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May 6, 1945 - Met tender ORION off Saipan and refueled.

Heading now for Pearl.

May 7, 1945 - Underway - regular sea routine.

May 8, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine. Rumors

of Germany's unconditional surrender confirmed. War in Europe
is now over.

May 9, 1945 - Underway - regular sea routine. Heard of N.Y.'s

planned celebration. Sure wished I were there. Wonder how
much longer it will last over here.

May 10, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

May 11, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

Received promotion today to MoMM2/c

May 12, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

Crossed international date line. Yesterday is now today.

May 13, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

May 14, 1945 - Underway as before - regular sea routine.

May 15, 1945 - Underway as before - Due in Pearl tomorrow

morning. Rendezvous with escort at 0600. 60 miles out.

This concludes the third war patrol for USS SENNET and George
Bedell's diary. Either he was transferred before SENNET's next
patrol, or he simply stopped keeping his diary. USS SENNET
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made a fourth war patrol in which she penetrated the heavily

mined Sea of Japan earning the Navy Cross for her skipper and
qualifying her crew to join the elite "Mighty Mine Dodgers
Society."

George Bedell's diary is the exclusive copyrighted property of his

descendants. Reprints, reproductions, or copies of this material are
expressly forbidden without prior approval of Carolyn Bedell-Saint.
Contact Stan Pollard at 408.stan@gmail.com for further information.
Webmaster's Comment - If you have a diary about the war years or other
interesting periods on board the USS SENNET or any other submarine
and would like to share it with your shipmates, contact Stan Pollard at
408.stan@gmail.com.

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