RON THE "WAR HERO"
L. RON HUBBARD AND THE U.S. NAVY, 1941-50

4.4  Claim and counter-claim

• Hubbard was a commander of corvettes.
  ("What Is Scientology?" 1998 ed., and many other official biographical accounts)

Hubbard never served aboard a corvette. He performed deck duties aboard three ships - the USS YP-422, a gunboat (23 June 1942 - 28 July 1942); the USS PC-815, a subchaser (21 April 1943 - 7 July 1943); and the USS Algol (AKA-54), an attack cargo ship (22 July 1944 - 28 September 1944).
Source: L. Ron Hubbard summary record of service

"Corvette" refers specifically to a class of small British warships of between approximately 600-1300 tons. The first modern corvettes (the term was coined for flush-decked sail-powered frigates in the 19th century) were built in British yards in 1939.  A number were transferred to the US Navy in a reverse lend-lease arrangement and were referred to as Temptress-class vessels.   Others were operated by the Canadian, Free French, Greek and Norwegian navies.
Source: Royal Naval Historical Branch, London

• Commanded the former British corvette Mist [i.e. the USS YP-422].
  ("A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", 1960)

The USS YP-422 was definitely neither British nor a corvette. She was originally a heavy beam trawler, the Mist, before the US Navy acquired and converted her into a gunboat. The YP designation indicates that she was an offshore patrol craft.  The name Mist has been used only once for a Royal Navy vessel, for an Admiralty drifter built in Aberdeen in 1918.
Sources: Naval Historical Center, Washington D.C.; Royal Naval Historical Branch, London

• Promoted to Commodore of Corvettes in the North Pacific.
  ("Facts About L. Ron Hubbard - Things You Should Know", Flag Divisional Directive 69RA of 8 March 1974, revised 7 April 1974)

Hubbard's service record shows that the highest rank he achieved was Lieutenant.  Furthermore, no corvettes served in the Pacific, so there is no possibility that Hubbard could have been aboard a corvette in that theatre.
Source: L. Ron Hubbard summary record of service; Royal Naval Historical Branch, London

• Commanded the Fourth British Corvette Squadron.
  ("A Short Biography of L. Ron Hubbard", The Auditor magazine, issue 63)

There was no such formation. There was a Fourth Escort Group, which was a mixture of corvettes and destroyers operating out of Londonderry in Northern Ireland. However, this was involved in escorting convoys to and from the Russian Arctic; no biography of Hubbard has ever suggested that he served in that theatre.
Source: Royal Naval Historical Branch, London

• Hubbard sunk one (or two) enemy submarines off the Oregon coast.
  ("L. Ron Hubbard - A Chronicle", 1990; "Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996)

Hubbard claimed to have sunk at least one enemy submarine in an "engagement" off Tillamook, Oregon, on May 23-25, 1943. However, the subsequent inquiry by the US Navy found that there was no definite evidence of any submarines having been present and that there was a known magnetic deposit nearby on the sea floor which could have caused anomalous readings on Hubbard's detection equipment. The PC class of subchasers were relatively weakly armed; the 317 PCs destroyed only three submarines (only one of those in the Pacific) in the entire war. Furthermore, the Imperial Japanese Navy did not record any submarines having been in the area or being lost at the time in question. Independent intelligence reports published after the war by the United States Navy and Britain's Royal Navy did not record any Japanese submarines having been sunk further east than Hawaii.
Sources: Admiral Fletcher minute of 6 June 1943; Naval Historical Center, Washington D.C.; Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II (1989); Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses during World War II by all causes (US Navy Department, Feb 1947); German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat Casualties during the War - Particulars of Destruction (UK Admiralty, June 1946)

• Hubbard was machine-gunned/broke an ankle in action against the Japanese/was injured by shrapnel fragments in his hip and back.
  (Thomas Moulton testimony in Armstrong trial, 1984 / "Ron The Poet/Lyricist", 1996 / "Ron - Letters and Journals", 1997)

Hubbard's US Navy and Veterans Administration medical files show that he did not suffer any combat-related injuries but instead suffered mainly from a duodenal ulcer, for which he received treatment.  He was not awarded the Purple Heart.  His autopsy in January 1986 revealed no sign of healed gunshot wounds.
Sources: L. Ron Hubbard summary record of service; Hubbard's Veterans Administration file; US Navy records of medical examinations of Hubbard; L. Ron Hubbard autopsy report

•  Hubbard was "crippled and blinded" at the end of the war.
  ("What Is Scientology?" 1998 ed., and virtually every other official biographical account)

The immediate cause of Hubbard's hospitalisation in 1945 was a duodenal ulcer, for which he received treatment. He also claimed to be suffering from bursitis, arthritis, short-sightedness caused by "exposure to tropical sunlight" and a variety of other complaints.
Sources: Hubbard's Veterans Administration file; US Navy records of medical examinations of Hubbard