Shortly after the Japanese planes had bombed the yard at Cavite in Manila Harbor. The shipyard was left in shambles and aflame. To the lower right hand edge of the photo you can see the bow of the Sealion SS195 in the air. She had been hit by two bombs. One hit the after end of the cigarette deck and exploded sending shrapnel flying everywhere and a piece penetrated the conning tower of the USS Seadragon moored next to Sealion and hitting and killing Ensign Samuel H. Hunter, Jr. The second bomb hit at the juncture of the Engine Room/Maneuvering Room killing four men instantly working on rebuilding electric motors. Their bodies were not recovered until the Sealion hulk was salvaged in 1959.

Sterling Cecil Foster ~ Chief Electrician
Melvin Donald O'Connell ~ Chief Electrician
Ernest Ephrom Ogilvie ~ Machinist's Mate, First Class
Vallentyne Lester Paul ~ Electrician's Mate, Third Class

After the Japanese planes had bombed the yard at Cavite in Manila Harbor. The shipyard was left in shambles and aflame. The Sealion SS 195 is in the center of this photo. She had been hit by two bombs. One hit the after end of the cigarette deck. The beam in the center of the photo at an angle is pointing right to the center of the Sealion conning tower fairwater that was destroyed by the first bomb hit. Only the very aft end of the fairwater is left. It can be seen directly below the left edge of the large building left center.

After the Japanese occupied the Philippines they raised the Sealion to see of they could salvage it and also to learn what they could about American submarine technology. The Sealion was beyond salvage just as the Americans had wanted her to be. They did take this photo of the damage to the conning tower fairwater. After the war it was found in among the captured documents. The quality of this many times copied image is bad and I worked very hard to try and salvage the photo so the details of the damage can be seen.

A large piece of metal can be seen pealed away and folded back to the left at the bottom of the two smokestacks from the port side of the fairwater. Another large section of steel is seen folded upwards on the port side of the periscope sheers. Harder to see is another large section folded down by the force of the explosion right towards the camera and appears as a white colored object in the center bottom of the photo. Everything else was simply blown away by the explosion. Destroyed was the Sealions' main induction and exhaust valves which was right where the bomb hit. The oval door leading from the conning tower to allow deck access can be seen in the lower center of the photo.

The remains of the USS Sealion as seen in November of 1945. Sealion was once more raised and moved out of the way for the reconstruction of the Cavite facility. All the plating around the conning tower has been stripped away, probably by the Japanese for projects and repairs of their own no doubt. A Filipino man can be seen fishing off the top of the conning tower. This view is from the forward Port side of the conning tower looking aft.

In 1959 the US Navy raised the Sealion for the final time and finally removed the remains of the four men killed. Family for two of the men were found and the remains were sent to them for burial. The other two were buried at sea with full honors from the USS Princeton LPH-5 on November 20, 1961.