Maurice H. Rindskopf | WWII sub commander, 93

Rear Adm. Maurice H. Rindskopf, 93, the youngest commander of a U.S. fleet submarine during World War II who directed the sinking of 15 Japanese vessels, one of the highest totals in the war, died July 27 at his home in Annapolis, Md.

The cause was prostate cancer, said his granddaughter, Amy Rindskopf.

Adm. Rindskopf was 26 when, as a lieutenant commander, he took over the USS Drum after its captain fell ill and had to undergo surgery. Fleet submarines like the Drum were, at that time, the Navy's top-of-the-line long-distance subs, built just before the war and during it. The Navy still had World War I-era submarines, but they were primarily used as patrol vessels.

The future admiral was an ensign when he was first assigned to the Drum in 1941 and was the officer in charge of torpedo targeting (and later executive officer) before being named commander in June 1942. In his three years aboard, he was directly involved in the firing of 125 torpedoes, leading to the confirmed sinking of 15 ships - most of them cargo vessels - with a total tonnage of more than 80,000. Of all the submarines in World War II, the Drum ranked No. 8 in confirmed tonnage sunk. Eleven other Japanese ships were damaged by the Drum.

Adm. Rindskopf would receive the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, and the Bronze Star for his wartime service. He later served as commander of two submarine flotillas and of the Navy's submarine school in New London, Conn. After being promoted to admiral in 1967, he was assistant chief of staff for intelligence to Adm. John S. McCain Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Command during the Vietnam War and father of Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Not all of the sinkings during Rindskopf's time at the helm of the Drum were of large vessels.

On his first patrol as commander, the targets were two sampans - small, flat-bottomed wooden boats - that were being used as spy vessels off the islands of Palau. Using a torpedo would have been overkill, so they were sunk by gunfire.

"There were two survivors swimming in the ocean and rather than kill them, which he was authorized to do, he took them on board and put them to work in the kitchen," the admiral's granddaughter said. "He said they ended up becoming very good cooks." - New York Times News Service