‘USS Dorado Project’ aims to solve WWII’s biggest submarine mystery

On October 6, 1943, the freshly commissioned Gato-class diesel-electric submarine USS Dorado departed from its homeport of Groton, CT, bound for the Panama canal zone, a seven- or eight-day cruise away. But the sub was never heard from again, and the 77 men onboard were ultimately deemed lost with their ship.

While the Dorado was only one of 52 U.S. submarines sunk over the course of the war, it was the only one lost in the Atlantic. And while the cause of Dorado’s disappearance is believed to be known – evidence points to friendly fire from an American patrol bomber in the region that was tracking a nearby U-Boat – the sub itself has never been recovered. To amateur historian Thaddeus Weaver, that’s a wrong that deserves to be righted.

“The submarine was lost in 1943 and for 83 years, those family members have wondered what happened to their sons, their brothers,” Weaver, a contract multimedia specialist at the Naval War College in Newport, RI, told Sandboxx News. “There are living sons and daughters of these sailors, and they never knew what happened to their father.”

After coming across a brief accounting of the Dorado tragedy in 2021, Weaver became fascinated with how little was known about the fate of this American ship. Even a Court of Inquiry assembled after the submarine went missing failed to draw definitive conclusions about its loss and whether friendly fire was the cause – a lack of debris around where the sub was believed to have sunk made that especially difficult. And amid the ambiguity and lack of final determination, a critical oversight was made, Weaver found. Unlike the crews of the 51 other sunken subs, that of the Dorado never received posthumous Purple Heart medals honoring their sacrifice, he said.

The USS Dorado being fitted out, August 1943. (Naval Historical Center)

Weaver’s initial curiosity led to his creating a 50-minute Youtube documentary compiling what’s known about the sub’s fate and weighing the possible causes of her disappearance. Weaver ultimately did conclude that the Dorado was a victim of friendly fire and dedicated his project to the lost crew members. Yet, that project would prove to be just the start of a larger quest.

In September 2023, Weaver attended a memorial service at the U.S. Navy Submarine Museum in Groton for another lost sub, the USS Albacore, sunk in 1944 near Japan, and filmed interviews with family members and descendants of the lost crew. He was impressed with the significance of designating a place and opportunity to honor the fallen. The Albacore had been lost to history for eight decades when, in May 2022, a Japanese team located and identified the sub’s wreck off Hokkaidō.

“I got to hear them share stories that had been passed down from grandmother to mother, etc.,” Weaver said. “And it was just a very special time and very meaningful to me.”

That service was also where Weaver got connected with David Johnston, a naval historian and volunteer researcher for the Navy’s History and Heritage Command (NHHC); and Steve Katona, another volunteer researcher for NHHC. Both had been involved in the discovery and identification of Albacore.

“I said, ‘Hey, you know, I know of another submarine. I’ve been researching it for a couple years,” Weaver said. “And they watched the documentary, and things kind of developed from there.”

The three are now team members on what they’re calling “Project USS Dorado,” an effort that seeks to locate and survey the missing sub. That, Weaver said, could lead to definitive conclusions about the cause of its sinking and provide closure and an opportunity for memorial.

Related: Famous sunken submarine USS Albacore discovered after 78 years

Thaddeus Weaver’s documentary on the disappearance of USS Dorado.

A secondary goal, he said, is to revive the case for awarding the Purple Heart to families of the crew. Those lost in other friendly fire incidents received the Purple Heart, Weaver said, and he’s been able to learn that no determination was made preventing its award to Dorado’s crew. As far as he can tell, it’s a case of simple oversight.

“The matter of getting [the award] reassessed is the harder nut to crack, as it’s 80 years removed, and because the Purple Heart has to be given to the nearest of kin,” Weaver said. “These things could be done. It’s just a matter of getting enough impetus behind the movement.”

The team recently presented their proposal to Rear Admiral Samuel Cox, the director of NHHC in Washington, D.C. and it was “very well received,” Weaver told Sandboxx News.

For the future, they plan more presentations, hoping to find a sponsor and resources for exploration of the region where they believe Dorado was sunk. It’s an ambitious goal, Weaver said, but he added that even creating more opportunities to tell Dorado’s story would be a worthwhile outcome. Without a war record, he said, the sub has largely been overlooked and left out of the narrative.

“It’s still good to bring to light the sacrifice the crew made in service of our country,” he added.

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