Across the Blue Pacific
"Children's book about USS Albacore was written by officer's niece" (The Day, April 15, 2023)
2026 Update on the USS Albacore (SS-218)
On February 13, 2023, families of the 85 crew members of the USS Albacore (SS-218) were notified by the Department of the Navy that the identity of a wreck site found in 2022 off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan had been confirmed as the Albacore, lost on November 7, 1944.
The wreck lies at a depth of almost 800 feet.
The Naval History and Heritage Command at the Washington Navy Yard has an Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) that used information and imagery provided by Dr. Tamaki Ura, from the University of Tokyo, to confirm the identity of the submarine.
Lieutenant Ted Walker’s service aboard the Albacore began with the sub’s fourth war patrol. The eleventh patrol would be its last.
During World War II, the USS Albacore sank many enemy ships, including Japan’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, the Taiho. Its brave crew came from 29 states and Washington, D.C.
These American sailors lived together as close as a family … and are now on eternal patrol.
In 2023, the Navy held memorial services for the crew in Muskegon, MI; Groton, CT; and Portsmouth, NH.
The USS Albacore (SS-218) has been designated an official war grave.
The crew of the SS Albacore at a farewell party before their final and fatal patrol.
Louise Borden and the Pacific Ocean (California).
Photo of Ted Walker given to me by Clem O'Brien who served on many patrols with Ted but not the final patrol.
Ted as a young officer.
A page from one of the Albacore's war patrols in the Pacific.
USS Albacore off Mare Island, California (1944)
USS Albacore in Groton, CT (1942)
Armed Japanese trawler (photo taken from periscope of USS Albacore)
Crew List of the USS Albacore, 85 names (PDF)