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Thank you to all who helped make these caches worthy of Wisconsin Geocaching Association Cache of the Month - January, 2005.

Click Here for links to all the other caches in the Manitowoc WWII Submarine Series.

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Parking is available at the only public “entrance” – N 43* 58.286' W 087* 42.115'

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There is no longer a need to verify your find with the Secret Submarine Code Word.

Rasher: A vermilion colored rockfish or scorpionfish found along the California coast.

Keel laid: 4MAY42     Launched: 20DEC42    Commissioned: 8JUN43 with Cdr Edward S. Hutchinson in command

On her first war patrol, 24 September through 24 November 1943, RASHER operated in the Makassar Strait-Celebes Sea area, and sank a passenger-cargo ship in a submerged attack at dawn on 9 October. Four days later, off Ambon Harbor, she spotted a convoy of four merchantmen escorted by two destroyers and a "Pete" seaplane, fired two salvoes of three torpedoes each, and crash dived to avoid the destroyers, and bombs from the scout plane. A freighter broke up and sank, while the escorts struck back in a vigorous but vain counterattack. On the afternoon of 31 October, while patrolling the shipping lanes off the Borneo coast, RASHER commenced trailing a tanker, but because of a patrolling float plane, was unable to attack until night. RASHER then surfaced, attacked and sent the tanker to the bottom after a thunderous explosion of exploding torpedoes and gasoline.

The submarine's next victim was a tanker which lost her stern to a spread of three torpedoes on the afternoon of 8 November. RASHER escaped the escorts by diving deep and silently slipping away. A midnight attack on a second convoy off Mangkalihat resulted in hit on a tanker, but vigorous countermeasures by enemy destroyers prevented any assessment of damage. RASHER escaped the enemy surface craft and, her torpedoes expended, headed home and arrived at Fremantle on 24 November.

Uncertain as to the number of war patrols made. Sank 18 ships during its first 5 patrols for a total of 99,901 tons of shipping. The most tonnage sunk by any submarine in the world except for the submarine USS FLASHER. It also damaged 62,481 tons of shipping. Earned 7 Battle Stars, 4 Navy Crosses, 12 Silver Stars, 16 Bronze Stars, 1 Legion of Merit, 1 Navy & Marine Corp Medal, 6 Commendation and a Presidential Citation.

Decommissioned and struck from the Navy List 20DEC71      Sold for scrapping 7AUG74

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