SILENT SERVICE

[jcelect]

Patrols!

A patrol on a sub is lonely thing, whether it's on a diesel boat or a nuc! My first boat was the USS Seacat(SS399) out of Keywest, FL. I was on her for the "Cuban Crisis". We were walking on cases of canned food in the berthing compartment! Then came 5 patrols on the USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN 602). That's out and under for 64 days, that's no TV, no Internet, no cell phones, and no other means of communication! We did not know where we were but I have seen the main sea chest injection temp(water around the boat) at 30 degs F! ! ! Remember, we could not launch missiles under ice! I think the water above Russia in the Artic Circle is about that temp! I will never regret the time I served but I decided then it was not the life for a family man! Thanks to all that have and are still serving!
jcelect Joe Cebull EM2 SS/FBM 1961-1969

 

[Capt Steve]

Service runs in the family...

Great thread, thanks for posting. My father put 30 years in the Navy retiring as a Master Chief. He served on a number of submarines for 20+ years.

When I was 11 I got to go out to sea for a day on one of his old diesel boats with some other kids whose fathers were crew. They let us have the run of the boat. Got to use the periscope, launch a dummy torpedo, stand watch from the bridge, even go out on deck while off of San Diego. Definitely a day I will never forget.

An earlier post mentioned Merrill's Maraders... my uncle was a medic with them in Burma. Lots of veterans scattered throughout our family... no wonder I enlisted in the Army the middle of my senior year in high school... One week after graduation{6/26/69}, I was on the bus to Fort Old for basic training barely 17 and half.

 

[Snapping Twig]

My Dad went through Farragut and ended up in Pensacola achieving CPO and was an aerial gunnery instructor. SBD, SB2C, PBY were what he taught on.

I can't help but think he taught some of the heros in the Battle of Midway, among others.

So many stories about aircraft failures - landing gear, engine departure, wing departure.

Apparently, if you used the speed brake on the SB2C at the speed you were required to use it on a dive, there was a 50-50 chance the wings would pull off.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I have known three submariners of the modern era. Two of them say they loved it and would have stayed in EXCEPT they wanted a wife and children and couldn't do both.

I have crawled through a couple WW II subs and there's no way I could have been a submariner. Humans are funny in that some dangers don't bother us at all, other situations can terrify brave men.

We have a local real estate tycoon in the DSM area who grew up dirt poor in southern IA, enlisted at 17yo and found himself piloting landing craft during the Pacific Island campaign. He states he has been able to not think about that most of his life. But, when the honor flights started it all came back. He has said going in was scary enough, but carrying wounded and dead back was horrible.

I understand why most combat vets don't talk about it much until they're old.

 

[the ringo kid]

I have long had a fascination with WW11 era subs and assumed if I was drafted I would sign with the Navy and volunteer for submarine duty. I have toured a couple and looked in awe at what was accomplished with bare minimum tooling.
A friend who served there talked about the realities of crawling into a bunk that someone just left with your own "fart sack" and the tight quarters that dampened my enthusiasm some. Still one of the last great corsairs to get in, get out and get gone. Pre radar subs put fear into enemies hearts that is difficult to repeat.

One of the men who served (that I was friends with) on U 181--had served on a destroyer. His boat (I cant recall its name) was sunk-and many of the surviving ccrew were presse into service as submariners though they were not trained to be. That was because there wasnt "openings" on other surface ships as well as they needed replacemnets on U boats.

Anyway, before he passed away, he sent me his Destroyer war badge for safe-keeping. He kept that badge as his sole momento from the war-and being on a destroyer-was his happiest time in service. Another U 181 friend-gave me the only momento he had left from the war--which was his U Boat war badge. He also gave me his fathers only momento from imperial times--his dad's1901 "Loyalty To the Regiment" cross, which was his cross to the exact unit he served with full career: 15th Kompanie von Sachsen Regiment.

The above (including a few other items from other German servicemen) are what they thought of me-fully knowing I wasnt nor are--some freak who idolizes what Hitler and his pigs stood for.

 

[the ringo kid]

No, there are several subs that were ahead of her in numbers sunk and tonnage. Not that she had a poor sinking record by any means. The Bowfin didn't make the top 10 either with US wartime records or after JANAC butchered the records after the war.

The WWII sub that had the record for highest number of subs sunk was the USS Tang (SS-305) and most probably the highest tonnage sunk too. In 5 war patrols she sank 33 ships and of those 5 patrols, the second patrol ended up with the Tang not having a chance to fire any torpedoes. Instead on that patrol, she recovered 22 airman on lifeguard duty, which was a record at the time. On her 5th and final war patrol, the Tang was sunk by a circular run of their last torpedo fired on the patrol. Nine survived the sinking and war, with 78 crewmen lost. The commander, Dick O'Kane, did survive the sinking and the war (just barely) and was awarded the CMOH for this patrol. He was a true American hero, as was his boat along with all the other submarine vets that served in WWII.

If you want a good read on the Tang and also of 5 patrols of the USS Wahoo that O'Kane participated in, he wrote a book titled "Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the USS Tang". It gives you a very thrilling record of the Tang's short existence and also a very good idea of what war patrols in a US submarine in WWII were like. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you for the correct info. Also, for the heds-up on book. I think I shall like very much to read that book. One book I highly suggest addint to that one-is Otto Giese's book: "Shooting the War :Through a lens." Its one of the best ive ever read-including any subject.

 

[les.b]

As I think about the Submarine "Silent" Service, I also have to remember that I made the acquaintance of a Russian Submarine Captain, I'll call him "Capt. Nick", while I was in Russia on my first stay, and have corresponded with him occasionally since 1998. Hard to believe that my first visit to Russia was almost 20 years ago.

He was retired at the time I met him. He served on Russian nuclear submarines. Quite a character, and I haven't thought of him for awhile. Somewhere I have some photos of him in his "garage", which is sort of a Russian "man cave". He has all sorts of memorabilia there, and much of it is really interesting not just because of its submarine connection, but as artifacts of the Cold War. I'll try to dig up some photos to post here.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Capt Steve]

A great read on the silent service...

For a great read on what our "Silent Service" actually did for decades read "Blind Man's Bluff". I read it and gave it to my dad. He laughed after reading it and admitted it was spot on. Yep, we did that, and this and that again was his response.

My mom then read it and had a hissy fit. If I had only known that is what you were actually doing...

Sorry I cannot remember the author's names but they were investigative reporters who did their homework and got it right.

 

[Cyrano]

For a great read on what our "Silent Service" actually did for decades read "Blind Man's Bluff". I read it and gave it to my dad. He laughed after reading it and admitted it was spot on. Yep, we did that, and this and that again was his response.

My mom then read it and had a hissy fit. If I had only known that is what you were actually doing...

Sorry I cannot remember the author's names but they were investigative reporters who did their homework and got it right.

Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew. I have a copy and it's a GREAT book.

 

[muddocktor]

I just ran across a fact on the USS Bowfin that is kind of funny. If any of you remember the movie "Operation Petticoat" starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, there was a scene in it where they were lining up to shoot some torpedoes at an anchored ship and one of the nurses accidentally fired the torpedo prematurely and hit a truck. That scene was actually based on an incident with the Bowfin where it had fired at some ships and an errant torpedo hit a dock and blew a bus into the water.

BTW, Operation Petticoat is a great comedy movie and fun to watch if you run across it on the TV.

 

[mtgianni]

No, there are several subs that were ahead of her in numbers sunk and tonnage. Not that she had a poor sinking record by any means. The Bowfin didn't make the top 10 either with US wartime records or after JANAC butchered the records after the war.

The WWII sub that had the record for highest number of subs sunk was the USS Tang (SS-305) and most probably the highest tonnage sunk too. In 5 war patrols she sank 33 ships and of those 5 patrols, the second patrol ended up with the Tang not having a chance to fire any torpedoes. Instead on that patrol, she recovered 22 airman on lifeguard duty, which was a record at the time. On her 5th and final war patrol, the Tang was sunk by a circular run of their last torpedo fired on the patrol. Nine survived the sinking and war, with 78 crewmen lost. The commander, Dick O'Kane, did survive the sinking and the war (just barely) and was awarded the CMOH for this patrol. He was a true American hero, as was his boat along with all the other submarine vets that served in WWII.

If you want a good read on the Tang and also of 5 patrols of the USS Wahoo that O'Kane participated in, he wrote a book titled "Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the USS Tang". It gives you a very thrilling record of the Tang's short existence and also a very good idea of what war patrols in a US submarine in WWII were like. I highly recommend this book.

O'Kane also wrote Wahoo about a previous boat he was the Executive Officer on. Great reads. He was also in the same POW camp as the subject of Unbroken; Louis Zamporini.

 

[richardw]

Hey Chief, it sounded like we grew up together right down to the Zenith B& W TV. I think I saw every war movie ever televised back then, and there were lots of them made after WW II and Korea. I think that had something to do with my enlisting in the Corps right out of HS. In a two year period between my four tours I went from infantry to recon (after lots of training). Part of that was familiarization with submarine travel.

I spent some days in the sub base at St. Thomas, VI. We boarded the USS Sea Liom, a trainer. Had to go out on the sub for three trips. Two were one day no night and one was three days two nights. I gained on healthy respect for the submariners onboardm even when they would describe what it be like if they took on water while submerged. They sighed and we just prayed it would never happen. Tough sailors they are.

 

[les.b]

Memorial Day, 2018 Bump....

Here in the early morning hours of another Memorial Day, I think about all of my family members who served, but especially about my Uncle Gene, who was killed back in 1944, aboard his submarine, the USS Scamp.

See post #11 above for some more details.

And thanks again, Chief, for starting this thread!!!

Best Regards, Les

 

[crazyphil]

In 1961 I was teaching in Idaho Falls. Our next door neighbor was a
Navy man training at the INEL. He made beer in his garage and I helped
him drink some of it. In 1963 he was on the U.S.S. Thresher. One of our
first Nuke Subs. It went down and never came up.

I think about him today, and all of my uncles, cousins, and friends who
served, and those we lost. Our freedom is not free. We enjoy it at a very
high price.

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should
thank God that such men lived." General George S. Patton

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

My father's father was wounded in WWI. My father's side of the family - all deceased now - served in WWII. One great uncle was in a wheelchair for life from crash landing on a carrier in WWII, the rest came home intact and had families. I remember Sunday evenings from the Eisenhower years to the Ford years at my grandparents house, talking, drinking, eating, pitching horseshoes and playing cards with them. I pray to recapture those evenings in the hereafter.

 

[kthom]

Thanks to all for the real stories of those who have served. I am fortunate, I think, to be able to say that both my father and my father-in-law are WWII vets. Both served honorably in the US Army. My dad was an MP and his duties in Europe included prisoner transport and security, guard duty of sensitive and classified installations, as well as town patrols during periods of leave for those who had the opportunity for it occasionally. My FIL was intended to be an infantry medic, but was assigned to work in field hospitals, including wards that held those who had mental problems due to their experiences during combat. He also spend a good bit of time working in an outfit tasked with identification and autopsies of those KIA along with the graves registration duties associated with that business. He also served in England, France, and surrounding areas.

Both of those men are still living. My father is 94 and is unfortuately in the full grasp of Alzheimers, which is a very sad end of his life. My FIL is 96 and still lives alone and takes pretty good care of himself under the circumstances. As you all know, there are getting to be relatively few of those WWII vets still living. Their service and what they gave for us, along with that of so many others service given makes my own US Army service time very unremarkable in context, but I am proud to have been able to contribute, this during the Vietnam era. The legacy that we are all beneficiaries of because of those who served, most remarkably in many cases, is hard to really comprehend, even for us who were more exposed to these men during and after their service given. I'd like to know more about the service time of my dad and FIL, but both were and are very recticent to discuss that. Like most all of that generation, they did what they had to do without much complaint. At least, my association with men of this caliber has helped me to understand what "service" really is! We must never forget the cost of the freedom that we enjoy because of those who served, in whatever capacity. It takes all of them to get the job done! My thanks goes out to all who are members here for their service, and for their stories that make that service obvously real. I know that many things are left unsaid because they are difficult to talk about and remember. That's part of the price of service, and as we know, so many gave all they had to give. I am grateful.

 

[ameridaddy]

... As you all know, there are getting to be relatively few of those WWII vets still living. ...The legacy that we are all beneficiaries of because of those who served, most remarkably in many cases, is hard to really comprehend....I am grateful.

Many books and movies have been made about them, but they’re going away fast. When they’re gone, I doubt we’ll ever have that recipe again.
Whom do I mean? My mother’s generation. My father's, uncles' and grandfather's generation. Nearly all of the WWII generation. They grew gardens, they collected scrap metal, they bought war bonds, they did without nylons, they walked a lot and cut back on trips. They enlisted, they went to places they’d never heard of, and endured years of tedium sometimes interspersed with days of terror. They worked hard dirty jobs, they did without butter and meat and new clothes. They supported their country out of a deep sense of duty and patriotism and all that made the place great in the first place.
They didn’t want the war they found themselves in, and they definitely didn’t like the numbers of boys dying in places they never heard of and often couldn’t spell or pronounce. But they understood, from a deep well of pure common sense that it was necessary and they had to knuckle down, suck it up, and get it done.
The youngest of them are now ninetyish and won’t be around much longer, but I salute them all . . . the old guys in wheelchairs who still manage to stand when the flag goes by . . . the young women who raised their children without fathers in a time when parents were important to a child’s growth ... the entertainers who buoyed the nation’s spirits with their bond drives, their wave-the-flag movies, and their willingness to put themselves in harm’s way by joining up themselves.
With great clarity of vision, they saw what was the right thing to do, rolled up their sleeves, tightened up their belts, locked arms, and kicked butt.
I appreciate what they did for me and I am deeply, deeply honored to have had the opportunity to grow up among them.

 

[REM 3200]

I have a cousin who made 3 war patrols in the USS Drum.
It really affected him and he still doesn't talk much about his WW2 experiences.
His name is listed on the crew manifest at the USS Drum display in Mobile, Alabama.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

When I read threads like this I realize there are Giants among us. My Dad didn't serve, he was born in 1904 and was already 37 when the war started, and I think he had a heart problem. My Mom worked at Brecon sewing powder bags after I was born in 1943. My Sisters, 10 and 12 years older than I, took care of the family while she worked.

My BIL was in the South Pacific during the war, but never talked much about it. About 5 years ago I was privileged to know an old gentleman that was on Iwo Jima and he wouldn't talk about it either. He was a fine man. Another older guy I knew went ashore at Normandy Beach 6 hours after the first landing. He still had his .45 that he carried ashore. He was a anti-aircraft company Captain.

So I can truly say that there a few Giants left among us, for which I am truly grateful to have known some of them. God bless them and the memories they left us and those who are still walking with us.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

By the way: Do a google search for Brecon Talladega, and you will find a lot of information if you are interested in this sort of stuff.

 

[ShivasIrons]

I had the pleasure to work beside a brick mason who was a WWII Submariner. His name was Worth Powell and he served on the Uss Seahorse. Fantastic Sea Stories... I can still hear him in my memory today.

Probably how I ended up in the Navy...