was appointed prospective commanding officer of the USS Cisco in January 1943. He became the submarine's first commanding officer when it was commissioned on May 10. He was awarded the Navy Cross "for extraordinary heroism" while serving in the Pacific sinking Japanese merchant shipping. In September 1943, Cisco sailed on its first war patrol to the South China Sea, where his submarine was presumed lost in action. (Postwar analysis concluded that Cisco was sunk by Japanese forces on September 28.) Coe was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. Japanese ships sunk by submarines under Coe's command March 4, 1942 - USS S-39 sank fleet tanker Erimo (6500 GRT). May 6, 1942 - USS Skipjack sank transport ship Kanan Maru (2567 GRT). May 8, 1942 - USS Skipjack sank transport ship Bujun Maru (4804 GRT). May 17, 1942 - USS Skipjack sank troop transport Tazan Maru (5477 GRT). October 14, 1942 - USS Skipjack sank transport ship Shunko Maru (6780 GRT). Source - U-Boat.net Legacy Coe's successful patrols with the Skipjack and his command of the Cisco gave him some notoriety, leading to his name appearing in a contemporary list of the Top Skippers of World War II By Number of Confirmed Kills''. A military rest camp in Subic Bay in the Philippines – part of the U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay – is named in his honour, as is a street in Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Awards Navy Cross Purple Heart (posthumous) Combat Action Ribbon (posthumous) American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with five battle stars World War II Victory Medal (posthumous) Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Philippine Defense Medal (posthumous) Navy Cross citation <blockquote>The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander James Wiggins Coe (NSN: 0-63137), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. S-39 (SS-144) during the FIRST through the FOURTH War Patrols in the Southwest Pacific from 8 December 1941 through March 1942, and as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. SKIPJACK (SS-184), on the THIRD War Patrol of that submarine during the period 14 April 1942 to 17 May 1942, in enemy controlled waters at Cam Ranh Bay. While conducting war patrols as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. S-39, Lieutenant Commander Coe boldly and successfully delivered an attack under hazardous and difficult conditions which resulted