It was just after 1119 (local time) that Lieutenant (jg) Lawrence F. Steffenhagen, USNR, swung his TDB Devastator around for a shot at the Japanese light carrier Shōhō’s port side.
Loosing his torpedo, he watched as it struck the enemy ship just aft of amidships—the second of five torpedoes launched by USS Lexington’s Torpedo Two that morning that on striking home sent Shōhō to the bottom.
Steffenhagen, a Minnesota resident who had graduated from the University of Colorado in 1936, was awarded a Navy Cross for his heroic efforts. Almost three years later, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross for leading USS Wasp’s Torpedo Squadron Eighty-Six during a highly successful attack against Japanese forces at the Kure Naval Base on Honshu.
Released to inactive service after the war, he was recalled to active duty in 1947. Steffenhagen eventually retired as a Captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
