Let’s really turn this circus on its pointy head…L. Ron Hubbard was a naval officer during WWII and was so utterly incompetent he was relieved of command…twice!
[L. Ron Hubbard] was an officer in the United States Navy during World War II, briefly commanding two ships, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815. He was removed both times when his superiors found him incapable of command.
YP-422 was briefly commanded by Lieutenant L. Ron Hubbard, later known as the controversial founder of Scientology. Hubbard was assigned to Lawley & Son Shipyard, in the Neponset area of Boston, Massachusetts in connection with the conversion of the YP-422 from 25 June to 28 July 1942 when she was placed in commission with Hubbard in command.
Hubbard was relieved of his command on 1 October 1942, a few weeks after YP-422 underwent a 27-hour training exercise in August 1942. A dispatch sent by the Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard on 25 September 1942 described Hubbard as “not temperamentally fitted for independent command”.
USS PC-815 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. It was commanded for about eighty days in 1943 by L. Ron Hubbard, who later became the founder of Scientology. After Hubbard was removed from command for inadvertently shelling Mexican territory, the PC-815 served as a shore patrol vessel off San Diego, California. She was lost with one of her crew in September 1945 after being hit by the destroyer USS Laffey. PC-815* 's short career led to the vessel being dubbed the “jinxed sub-chaser”.
Claims of submarine contact off Cape Lookout
In the early hours of 19 May 1943, the crew of PC-815 detected what Hubbard thought was first one then later two Imperial Japanese Navy submarines approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) off the shore of Cape Lookout. Both the sonar operator and Lt. Hubbard himself thought that the echo of an active sonar ping, combined with apparent engine noises heard through the ship’s hydrophone indicated contact with a submarine.
Over the next 68 hours, the ship expended 37 depth charges in a “battle” that also involved the U.S. Navy blimps K-39 and K-33, the United States Coast Guard patrol boats Bonham and 78302, and the subchasers USS SC-536 and USS SC-537, all summoned to act as reinforcements. PC-815 was finally ordered back to base on 21 May.
In his eighteen-page after-action report, Hubbard claimed to have “definitely sunk, beyond doubt” one submarine and critically damaged another. However, the subsequent investigation by the Commander NW Sea Frontier, Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, cast a skeptical light on Hubbard’s claims. His summary memorandum to Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, stated:
It is noted that the report of PC 815 is not in accordance with “Anti-Submarine Action by Surface Ship” (ASW-1) which should be submitted to Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet.
An analysis of all reports convinces me that there was no submarine in the area. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan states that he was unable to obtain any evidence of a submarine except one bubble of air which is unexplained except by turbulence of water due to a depth charge explosion. The Commanding Officers of all ships except the PC-815 state they had no evidence of a submarine and do not think a submarine was in the area.
Fletcher added that “there is a known magnetic deposit in the area in which depth charges were dropped”, absolving the responding blimps from any fault as their method of detecting submarines relies on a Magnetic Anomaly Detector. This also implied that Lt. Hubbard and his crew were operating the ship’s sonar equipment incorrectly.[8] After the war, British and American analysis of captured Japanese Navy records confirmed that no Japanese submarines had been lost off the Oregon coast. Hubbard, however, never accepted that he had been mistaken about the “battle.” Both he and Tom Moulton, one of his officers, claimed that the official denials of any Japanese submarine presence off the Pacific coast had been motivated by a desire to avoid panic among the U.S. population.[10] Years later, Hubbard told Scientologists:
[quote]I dropped the I-76 or the Imperial Japanese Navy Trans-Pacific Submarine down into the mouth of the Columbia River, dead duck. And it went down with a resounding furor. And that was that. I never thought about it again particularly except to get mad at all the admirals I had to make reports to because of this thing, see? This was one out of seventy-nine separate actions that I had to do with. And it had no significance, see?
But the other day I was kind of tired, and my dad suddenly sprung on me the fact that my submarine had been causing a tremendous amount of difficulty in the mouth of the Columbia River. Hadn’t thought about this thing for years. Of course, it’s all shot to ribbons, this thing. It’s got jagged steel sticking out at all ends and angles, and it’s a big submarine! It’s a — I don’t know, about the size of the first Narwhal that we built. And the fishermen coming in there and fishing are dragging their nets around in that area, and it’s just tearing their nets to ribbons — they’ve even hired a civilian contractor to try to blow the thing up and get it the devil out of there — and has evidently been raising bob with postwar fishing here for more years than I’d care to count.
However, the mouth of the Columbia River is some 75 miles north of Cape Lookout, the area in which Hubbard’s naval reports claimed his anti-submarine action took place.
Unauthorized shelling of Coronado Islands and failure to follow orders
A month later, the PC-815 traveled to San Diego, which was to become her home port. She arrived there on 2 June, and at the end of June was ordered to sea to join an anti-submarine training exercise.[3] The exercise, held on 28 June, ended early and Hubbard took the opportunity to order an impromptu gunnery exercise while anchored just off the Mexican territory of South Coronado Island to the south-west of San Diego. The Mexican government sent an official protest to the U.S. Government, as no gunnery operations had been scheduled.
Another view of USS PC-815 on trials
On 30 June a Board of Investigation was convened concerning PC-815 which concluded that Hubbard had disregarded orders, both by conducting gunnery practice and by anchoring in Mexican territorial waters without proper authority. His orders stated that the PC-815 was supposed to return after completing that day’s training. Hubbard argued that his crew was inexperienced, it was foggy, and he was tired so he did not return to port as ordered. A month earlier in his after action report concerning the recent fiasco off Cape Lookout, he had described the same men as “experienced” and “highly skilled”. Vice Admiral Fletcher, who both chaired the board and read the prior after action report, rated Hubbard “below average” and noted: “Consider this officer lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation. He acts without forethought as to probable results. He is believed to have been sincere in his efforts to make his ship efficient and ready. Not considered qualified for command or promotion at this time. Recommend duty on a large vessel where he can be properly supervised”. Hubbard was relieved of command effective 7 July 1943.[/QUOTE]
