World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseDudley Walker Morton was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, United States in 1907. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States in 1930; while at the academy, he acquired the nickname "Mushmouth", later shortened to "Mush", after a character in the cartoon strip Moon Mullins whose large square jaw and prominent mouth resembled those of Morton's. Between the early 1930s through mid-1942, he served aboard USS Saratoga, USS Chicago, USS Canopus, USS Fairfax, USS S-37, and USS R-5, the last of which as the commanding officer. In Oct 1942, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander while in nominal command of USS Dolphin, which at the time was under repairs at Pearl Harbor in US Territory of Hawaii. In Nov 1942, he was relieved of that position in order to become the prospective commanding officer of USS Wahoo; he officially received that command on the final day of 1942 while in Australia. Between Jan and Oct 1943, he led USS Wahoo on four war patrols, during which the submarine sank 19 ships for a total of 55,000 tons.

ww2dbaseThough those numbers were impressive, Morton's career was marred by the Buyo Maru incident of 26 Jan 1943, in which he ordered his men to fire upon 20 lifeboats containing survivors of the Japanese transport Buyo Maru, an action that was in clear violation of the Hague Convention of 1907. US Navy defended Morton and his executive officer Richard O'Kane, claiming that the survivors of Buyo Maru were Japanese Army troops and they had opened fire with rifles and machine guns on the American submarine, thus USS Wahoo was justified in returning fire. It was later foudn out that some of the surivors that USS Wahoo's crew fired upon included prisoners of war of 16th Punjab Regiment of Indian 2nd Battalion, thus Morton's order might had resulted in the death of Allies.

ww2dbaseIn mid-Oct 1943, while making a patrol in the Sea of Japan, USS Wahoo became missing and was presumed lost. After the war, a study in Japanese records revealed that USS Wahoo was sunk by an anti-submarine aircraft with three depth charges in Soya Strait between Hokkaido island and Sakhalin island on 11 Oct 1943.

ww2dbaseIn 1960 Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood wrote about Morton (in the foreword for the book Wake of the Wahoo) "[w]hen a natural leader and born daredevil such as Mush Morton is given command of a submarine, the result can only be a fighting ship of the highest order, with officers and men who would follow their skipper to the Gates of Hell.... And they did." O'Kane, who witnessed the Buyo Maru Incident as a participant, noted that had it not been that incident that left a black mark on Morton's records, Morton probably would have been nominated for a Medal of Honor.

ww2dbaseForrest Sherman-class destroyer DD-948 was named in Mush Morton's honor in 1959.

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