James Wiggin Coe

Commander James Wiggin "Red" Coe (13 June 1909 – 6 November 1943 (missing), 8 January 1946 (presumed dead)) was an American submariner. A submarine ace, Coe commanded the USS Skipjack and Cisco during operations in the Pacific theatre of World War II. After a number of successful patrols, Coe and the Cisco failed to return from patrol in November 1943, and her captain and crew were presumed dead in 1946.

Early life and career
Born in Richmond, Indiana, Coe attended Morton High School and then the US Naval Academy and Annapolis, Maryland. Commissioned in June, 1930, he served aboard the USS Nevada and then the USS Chicago. From 1931 he commenced training in submarines, and served on the USS S-27 in 1933, followed by the USS S-29 in 1935 and the USS S-33 in 1937. After two years back in the United States as an instructor he took command of the USS S-39 following the outbreak of World War II, and transferred to the Skipjack in 1942.

Skipjack
While in command of the Skipjack, he wrote a letter to his superiors in the supply division complaining about a lack of toilet paper aboard his vessel. Included in the memorandum was "a sample of the desired material" to help supply identify what was being asked for, while commenting that in the mean time "personnel during this period has become accustomed to the use of “Ersatz” the vast amount of incoming non-essential paper work" and closing with the remark that "in order to cooperate in war effort at small local sacrifice, the SKIPJACK desires no further action to be taken until the end of current war which has created a situation aptly described as “War is Hell”." The letter later served as inspiration for a scene in the 1959 comedy film Operation Petticoat. He also fired the first Mark 14 torpedo to be shot with it's magnetic influence disabled as part of a new test run ordered by Rear-Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, which took place off of King George Sound in June 1942.

Loss of the Cisco
Given command of the Cisco in January 1943 he was awarded the Navy Cross "for extraordinary heroism" while serving in the pacific sinking Japanese merchant shipping. In November was dispatched to the South China Sea, but failed to return. He earned a posthumous Purple Heart. His successful patrols with the Skipjack and Cisco gave him some notoriety, leading to his name appearing in a contemporary tally entitled Top Skippers of World War II By Number of Confirmed Kills. In the Philippines, a military rest camp in Subic Bay - part of the U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay - is named in his honour, as is a street in Naval Station Pearl Harbor.