The Final Dive of the F-4 (March 1915)

F-4; THE FIRST SUBMARINE LOSS FOR THE US NAVY It was on the morning of March 25, 1915, that F-1, F-3, and F-4 left Honolulu for local operations. F-4 did not return, and the eventual detection and recovery was a classic of naval salvage. She was later “interned” at the bottom of Pearl Harbor after […]

The USS Albacore SS 218 and her Sponsor – February 1942

The story of World War 2 is always a combination of the stories of the ships that served and the men who were involved in their lives. This story is about the USS Albacore, but it is also a story about some of the men who were around when she was launched. The ship’s sponsor […]

Crossing the line February 8, 1974

Our fears are always more numerous than our dangers Seneca Forty-eight years ago, I was brought into one of the most ancient organizations called the Ancient Order of the Deep. The Crossing the Line Ceremony is as old as the sea. From the Official Navy Web Site: Although crossing the equator may seem like a […]

All Hope was abandoned – the S-26 (Part 2)

Submarine rescues were still pretty rare in 1942. The rescue of the sailors from the sunken USS Squalus in 1939 was made possible because of the emerging technology that allowed a rescue bell to be attached to the boat. On the morning of May 23, 1939, the submarine USS Squalus slipped beneath the storm-tossed surface […]

Sinking of the S-26 Boat January 1942

Subsafe Anyone who has ever sailed on a US Navy submarine probably had at least some idea about the reasons for all the training and emphasis on safety that was given to them. From the beginning of submarine operations in the early 1900’s, diving on a submersible ship in an unforgiving ocean has always […]

The Loss of the SS-233 USS Herring

With Pearl Harbor fresh in the minds of the American public, any good news was welcomed by the American people. In January 1942, the news was not encouraging. The Japanese war machine was continuing its relentless march down the Malay Peninsula, Manila had fallen, and Bataan was being threatened, and newspaper reports of catastrophe after […]

Losing the World’s Largest Submarine – The Unsolved Mystery of the Surcouf (1942)

Losing the World’s Largest Submarine – The Unsolved Mystery of the Surcouf The Washington Times had a picture of an odd-looking French submarine on page A-3 of the January 20, 1942 edition. The caption read: Free French Operate World’s Largest Sub. I had previously written a story about a French submarine that escaped Germany’s clutches […]

The Old Submariner

Submariner I sometimes don’t know where I’m going, but Oh, all the places I’ve been. Wrapped up in a hull made of steel, with a crew of fine sailors locked in. The missions are lonely and silent, the dangers untold with no yield, But we still climb down the steel ladders, the hatches above us […]

Submarine Base Pearl Harbor – Buried Secrets

Buried Secrets One of my favorite submarine reference books is called “United States Submarine Operations in World War II” written by Theodore Roscoe in conjunction with the Bureau of Naval Personnel and published by the United States Naval Institute. Reading through the book is like a looking through a periscope to the past. The people […]

Coins of all denominations – The Story of the USS Seawolf SS 197

USS Seawolf (SS 197) When the Japanese attacked the Philippines at the beginning of World War 2, all of the defensive plans that had been painstakingly drawn out before the war fell by the wayside. The tragedy of Pearl Harbor ensured that the relief that was supposed to come and rescue in the aftermath of […]