Religious services held on U.S. Navy submarine. Crew members of a U.S.

Religious services held on U.S. Navy submarine. Crew members of a U.S. Navy submarine attend religious services before starting on a war patrol in enemy waters. U.S. submarine assault against Japanese shipping in the period between December 7, 1941, and May 8, 1945, resulted in the sinking of more than four and a half million tons, and by June1, 1945, a total of 1,142 Japanese vessels had been sunk. U.S. President Harry S. Truman in a June 1, 1945 message to Congress said: "The Navy is now engaged in a series of grim tasks; a battle af attrition with the Japanese Air Force in the water around Japan and Okanawa; a tightening of the blockade of Japan; redeploying its own forces from Europe; aiding the Army to redeplay and preparing for the climatic operations yet to come".