John Frederick Davidson, USN

Born  3 May 1908Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York, USA
Died  21 Jan 1983(74)Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA


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Ranks

3 Jun 1937 Lt.
1 Jan 1942 T/Lt.Cdr.
30 Jun 1942 Lt.Cdr.
30 Mar 1945 T/Capt.

Retired: 1964


Decorations

Warship Commands listed for John Frederick Davidson, USN


ShipRankTypeFromTo
USS S-44 (155)Lt.SubmarineApr 1939Oct 1940
USS Mackerel (204)Lt.Submarine31 Mar 1941mid 1942
USS Blackfish (221)Lt.Cdr.Submarine19 Oct 19422 Jun 1943
USS Blackfish (221)Lt.Cdr.Submarine19 Oct 194322 Feb 1944

Career information

We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.

Events related to this officer

Submarine USS Mackerel (204)


12 Apr 1942 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Mackerel departed New London, Connecticut for the Chesapeake Bay area.

15 Apr 1942 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Mackerel arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia from New London, Connecticut.

4 May 1942 (position 0.00, 0.00)
USS Mackerel was attacked in error with gunfire by the Panamanian merchant El Lago off Watch Hill, Rhode Island (Block Island Sound). She was not hit.


Submarine USS Blackfish (221)


19 Oct 1942
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. John Frederick Davidson) departed from New London bound for the north-west coast of Africa. Blackfish was to take part in the landing in North Africa.

9 Nov 1942 (position 17.45, -14.50)
Patrolling in the Dakar area of the central Atlantic, intercepted a French convoy with 3 freighters. USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) attacked, firing 2 torpedoes aimed at the sloop Commandant Bory in position 17°45'N, 14°50'W. The sloop reported a premature off the beam and no damage.

27 Nov 1942
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 1st war patrol at Rosneath, Scotland.

21 Dec 1942
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) departed from Rosneath, Scotland for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the North Atlantic.

18 Jan 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 2nd war patrol at Rosneath, Scotland.

1 Feb 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) departed from Rosneath, Scotland for her 3rd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

19 Feb 1943 (position 43.30, -2.54)
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) attacked a section of German Vorpostenboote (auxiliary patrol craft), torpedoed and sank V 408 / Haltenbank (432 GRT) north of Bilbao, Spain in position 43°30'N, 02°54'W, but is then counterattacked, depth charged and damaged by V 404.

22 Feb 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 3rd war patrol at Plymouth, England.

5 Apr 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) departed from base for her 4th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Norwegian Sea.

14 May 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 4th war patrol at Rosneath, Scotland.

19 Oct 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) departed from Brisbane, Australia for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol north of New Guinea.

23 Nov 1943 (position 2.28, 140.06)
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Yamato Maru No.2 (439 GRT) between New Guinea and Palau in position 02°28'N, 140°06'E.

24 Nov 1943
Patrolling in the Palau area, at about 2300 hrs Blackfish attacked a target on radar without visual contacts, firing 6 torpedoes and claiming 2 hits and a sinking. The target, estimated by the radar officer to have been a 4500-ton vessel, has never been identified and no Japanese report found to confirm any damage or sinking at this time.

4 Dec 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 6th war patrol at Milne Bay.

24 Dec 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) departed from Milne Bay for her 7th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Bismarck Archipelago.

29 Dec 1943
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. John F. Davidson) refuels at Tulagi, and departed from the next day.

8 Jan 1944
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) makes a periscope attack against an oiler, estimated at 4500 tgr, firing 3 torpedoes and claiming 2 hits for damage. There is no confirmation of actual hits or target identification.

16 Jan 1944 (position 4.03, 148.41)
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) torpedoed and sank the Japanese troop transport Kaika Maru (2087 GRT) about 275 nautical miles south-west of Truk in position 03°50'N, 148°41'E.

In the same attack, Blackfish also claims damaging a "4500-ton tanker" with 1 hit out of 4 torpedoes. This is unconfirmed.

3 Feb 1944 (position -1.36, 150.09)
On patrol north of New Ireland, position 01°36'S, 150°09'E, USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) fires 6 torpedoes at a "1800-ton destroyer", claiming 2 hits and damage to the target. This is unconfirmed.

13 Feb 1944
USS Blackfish (Lt.Cdr. J.F. Davidson) ended her 7th war patrol at Brisbane.


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