Ships
- USS Haddock (SS-231) Commanding officer from 1 December 1943 · In command when she torpedoed Unyo on 19 January 1944 · Relieved on 7 February 1945
John Paul Roach was born on 31 August 1909 in Texas. uboat.net dates his death 8 December 1967.
He took Haddock (SS-231) on 1 December 1943 as a temporary commander. The eighth patrol left Pearl Harbor on 14 December with Tullibee and Halibut (SS-232). On 19 January 1944, about 140 miles east-southeast of Guam, near 12°12′ N, 146°26′ E, he put torpedoes into Unyo. Three struck the starboard side, forward, and one was a dud. The bow sagged. Unyo stayed underway and was not sunk. A storm off Tateyama in the first days of February tore the damaged bow off. Barb (SS-220) sank her on 17 September 1944.
He still had Haddock (SS-231) for the ninth patrol in the Bonins and the tenth, which left Pearl Harbor on 8 October 1944 with Halibut (SS-232) and Tuna. On 25 October she was off Cape Engaño. The pursuit of retiring Japanese ships did not end in a hit. She was back at Pearl Harbor on 10 December. The eleventh patrol left on 23 January 1945. William Herman Brockman, Jr. relieved him on 7 February, while the boat was at sea.