Frederick Luedemann
Frederick Luedemann (10th from the left in the upper row I think) was a Fireman-First Class on the United States submarine Shark, which was sunk with all hands near Hainan Island October 29, 1944.Or near Luzon. One account states the following:
SHARK was lost during her third war patrol, probably in the vicinity of
On 24 October, SEADRAGON received a message from SHARK stating that she had made radar contact with a single freighter, and that she was going to attack. This was the last message received from the submarine, and all subsequent attempts to contact SHARK failed.
She was reported as presumed lost on 27 November. According to Japanese records examined after the war, on 24 October 1944, in
The Shark was a Balao class submarine, and the photo of another Balao class sub, the Lagarto, gives some details of her appearance.
This was brought to the attention of yr obd't servant by one of my namesakes-of whom there are five that I know of and one who I actually paid some bills for without knowing it. It's all good.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let Light Perpetual shine upon them.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends-John, 15:13
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UPDATE:
From the Indianapolis Star:
Local Pilot Gets Navy Cross for Sinking Warship
An Indianapolis navy pilot credited with scoring a direct hit on a Jap destroyer and sinking it June 20, 1944, has been awarded the Navy Cross at the Miami (Fla.) navel air station.
He is Lieut. Carl F. Luedemann, 25 years old, brother of Miss Martha Luedemann, 1009 Villa avenue.
The citation accompanying the award read, in part: “Lieut. Luedemann distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy as a pilot of a carrier-based torpedo plane in an engagement with the Japanese fleet.
Despite heavy and intense anti-aircraft fire and the presence of enemy fighter planes, he successfully maneuvered his plane into a position to attack an enemy destroyer, obtained a direct hit, sinking the destroyer.”
Lieut, Luedemann, a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School, was enrolled in the school of engineering at Purdue University prior to enlisting in the navy in May, 1941.
He left for overseas duty in August, 1943 and returned to the United States last September.
A brother, Frederick Luedemann, Fireman first class, is serving aboard a submarine in the South Pacific.
posted by Robert Luedeman semi retired attorney and amp mechanic @ 7:18 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
The story of the USS Shark 314 is truly a "Mystery at Sea". Was it the USS Snook that sank the Arisan Maru or the USS Shark? The only real way to know is to salvage the submarine from the bottom of the Luzon Strait and see if the topedoes are intact.
http://www.lindadow.net/pdffiles/arisani.pdf
Oh, Frederick had a brother. But thats another story...
An interesting mystery from Davy Jones' locker. I was able to find the SS-314's commissioning party group photos and I think Fred was in the top row.
If you're the Robert Luedeman from Tulsa you owe me a few bucks.
If you ever get to Des Moines drop by. I'll spring for coffee.
Nope, wrong Robert Luedeman.
I hail from Indianapolis, born in 1955. We lived on the south side until I was 10, then we moved to Mooresville, a small town outside Indianapolis. I entered the Air Force in 1974 and started my career in Computer technology.
I later moved to Nashville in 1994 and spent 10 years there working in publishing and broadcasting. After my company filed Bankruptcy I moved to Alabama to work for a Bank.
The Luedeman(n)s in Indianapolis migrated from Germany around 1850. John Luedemann had several sons; Edward and Carl are a few that I know about. John is buried in Crown Hill very close to Benjamin Harrison's grave. Edward dropped the second "N" in the family name during World War II. My father Robert Luedeman Senior was Edward’s son. Dad is retired and still living in Mooresville IN. He writes columns for the local paper and plays golf these days.
Thanks for the coffee offer, I'll take you up on it next time we are in Iowa.
Best,
Robert Luedeman
Well, you will be interested to know that my grandfather dropped the second N in the family name during world war one. He was a mariner and had the distinct displeasure of being torpedoed three times by his erstwhile countrymen-once in the first world war and twice in the second. His father Albert became a prosperous maker of jams, jellies, preserves and mustards. I have here a tag from a barrel of the stuff that I will dig out and photograph for this blog.
My mother may know more about the family and I shall ask her. She is getting on in years but can always outsmart me.
The story of Carl Luedeman, the older brother. The following is from an article from the Indianapolis Star.
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Local Pilot Gets Navy Cross for Sinking Warship
An Indianapolis navy pilot credited with scoring a direct hit on a Jap destroyer and sinking it June 20, 1944, has been awarded the Navy Cross at the Miami (Fla.) navel air station.
He is Lieut. Carl F. Luedemann, 25 years old, brother of Miss Martha Luedemann, 1009 Villa avenue.
The citation accompanying the award read, in part: “Lieut. Luedemann distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy as a pilot of a carrier-based torpedo plane in an engagement with the Japanese fleet.
Despite heavy and intense anti-aircraft fire and the presence of enemy fighter planes, he successfully maneuvered his plane into a position to attack an enemy destroyer, obtained a direct hit, sinking the destroyer.”
Lieut, Luedeman, a graduate of Arsenal Technical High School, was enrolled in the school of engineering at Purdue University prior to enlisting in the navy in May, 1941.
He left for overseas duty in August, 1943 and returned to the United States last September.
A brother, Frederick Luedeman, Fireman first class, is serving aboard a submarine in the South Pacific.
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Carl came back to Indianapolis and graduated from Purdue University as an engineer. He lived in Indianapolis for several years, later moving to Florida to retire. He died around 2005.
Albert? I would love to learn more. What part of Germany did he come from and did he claim to be Prussian?
Thanks Robert, may you have a great Memorial weekend.
Hi I am Gary Luedemann and I think Carl F Luedemann is my Great Uncle. If I knew who Carls father was I can figure it out.
Me Gary Luedemann
My Father Clarence Frederick Luedemann
My Grandfather Theodore Christian Luedemann
Theodore had 5 brothers
Otto, William C, Walter F, Edward W, Frederick G, Henry H
Theodore had 4 sisters
Katherine, Flora M, Laura, Katie
I'm Gary Luedemann's younger brother. I met Carl F. Luedemann years ago at my father Clarence's house. I was named after Carl F. Luedemann. My father introduced us, he said, "Karl, meet Carl", then shook his head and said, "I meant to say, Karl Luedemann, meet Carl Luedemann". The story was the torpedo fell directly down the smoke stack of the destroyer. I was joking with my son's, "Like the exhaust port on the Death Star in Star Wars". I can't find anything that verifies this but what my father and Carl Luedemann told me.
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