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ALBACORE with Lt. Cmdr. H.R. Rimmer in command, left Pearl Harbor on October 24, 1944, topped off with fuel at Midway on October 28, and departed there for her eleventh patrol the same day, never to be heard from again. Her area was northeast of Honshu and south of Hokkaido, and because of the danger of mines, she was ordered to stay outside of waters less than 100 fathoms deep.
She was to depart her area at sunset on December 5, 1944, and was expected at Midway about December 12th. When she had not been seen or heard from by December 21st despite the sharpest of lookouts for her, she was reported as presumed lost.
Enemy information available now indicates that ALBACORE perished by hitting a mine. The explosion occurred on November 7, 1944, while ALBACORE was submerged, and was witnessed by an enemy patrol craft. The craft reports having seen much heavy oil and bubbles, cork, bedding and various provisions after the explosion.
Prior to her loss, ALBACORE had been a very successful submarine, especially in her engagements with Japanese combat vessels. Her record of enemy combatant ships sunk it the best of any U.S. submarine. She sank a total of 13 ships, totaling 74,100 tons, and damaged five, for 29,400 tons, during her first ten patrols. http://www.ussalbacore.org/html/memorial_garden.html
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