08/14/2026
On Eterrnal Patrol;
CRM Walter Klock went Missing when USS Flier sank on August 13, 1944, he was 27 years old…
Born in Austin, Minnesota to Walter & Violet Klock on November 23, 1916, Walter Joseph Klock had at least one younger brother.
He enlisted in the Navy, trained as a submariner and was listed as being married to Velma L Klock, they resided in San Diego, California.
By 1944 Walter was serving on the Gato-class submarine USS Flier SS-250 which departed Pearl Harbor for her first war patrol on January 12, 1944 but ran aground near Midway Atoll and was towed to Mare Island Navy Yard in California for repairs.
Leaving again on her first war patrol on May 21, 1944, USS Flier was in the South China Sea west of Luzon and sank at least one merchant ship and hit several others.
After a refit at the submarine base in Fremantle, Western Australia, USS Flier departed on her second war patrol on August 2, 1944.
Late on the night of August 12th, while passing through the Balabac Strait on the surface, USS Flier hit a naval mine and sank under a minute.
Fifteen officers and crew survived the sinking, but only eight made it to shore where they met up with Philippine guerrillas.
A radio message was sent to the Navy and the survivors were picked up by USS Redfin SS-272.
Chief Radioman Walter Klock was not among the survivors and is Memorialized with the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
Younger brother Robert William Klock served in the Navy during WW2 and the Korean War, he passed away at the age of 49 in 1971.
Walter with his wife Velma Klock;
