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In August, 1944 while on her tenth war patrol USS FINBACK SS-230 was assigned lifeguard duty in the Bonins. She rescued 5 pilots, one of whom was George H. W. Bush. Click the photo on the left for a larger view.
The video below was taken by Gil Raynor with his Blackberry aboard USS JEFFERSON CITY on a day cruise Friday, June 20, 2008 out of San Diego. He took it while FINBACK veteran Cavin Mcphie talks about the rescues.
Pretty damned fast, as witness these drawings of the attitude of USS CHOPPER SS-342 during what started out as a routine dive to 150 feet one October day in 1969. She went through these angles in approximately 2 minutes. 2 minutes that probably seemed like an eternity to her crew. If you’re interested, visit Jim O’Brien’s page for the details.
While every submarine that ever ventured beneath the sea experienced things that were never intended, not many have survived something like this. And in fact, CHOPPER, although getting her crew to the surface and back to port, did not survive this. Having exceeded test depth, fought fires in the engine room, bounced off the ocean floor, and experienced a few other non-standard operations I can’t begin to imagine how harrowing this must have been.
The day we lost USS THRESHER SSN593 and 129 shipmates. This is a very moving tribute to those sailors and yard workers.
This is great. Kinda makes me wish I was a jarhead. Nah, not really. But this is a gooder. I don’t want to spoil it so just click here to go to Ranger Up and take a look.
Saw this posted on Martini’s BBS this morning.
Thank you for your service, sir.
J. Russell Coffey, one of three oldest living World War I veterans known in the U.S., rests while sitting in a wheelchair during an interview at Blakely Care Center in North Baltimore, Ohio, Friday, April 13, 2007. Coffey was the last WWI vet in the state, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. He died Thursday Dec. 20, 2007 at the age of 109, said the Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, about 35 miles south of Toledo. The other known surviving American soldiers are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va., and Harry Landis, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. (Madalyn Ruggiero/ AP Photo )
Yeah, I know we lose them by the score every day but this one is the brother of a good friend. The friend is Ron Smith who was a torpedoman on USS SEAL during WWII. I don’t remember how many war patrols he made but it was a bunch. On one patrol the crew counted over 300 depth charges dropped on them over several hours. I’ve told you before but it bears repeating. WWII submarine veterans were something. Anybody who volunteers for service where 25% of the men are lost is a hero in my book no matter what. And I’m very glad I got to serve with several of them.
Anyway, Ron’s brother Bob, who served on USS BLUEBACK, has terminal cancer and received his last rights yesterday. I never had the honor of meeting him but I know I would have admired him like I do all WWII submarine vets. Here is a photo I had put on a web page I did for Ron a number of years ago. They were home on leave together.
Ron is on the left and Bob on the right.
As the author of this video, James Hooker, says “when you start thinkin’ your Christmas sucks, think about these kids and how they spent their Christmas.” Oh yeah, Hooker is a co-founder of the Grammy Award winning The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Just thought you’d like to know.
Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow. – Dwight Eisenhower
The first one is by a nuke vet and is a tribute to all WWII submarine vets. Don’t know who did the second one but it is a tribute to the 52 boats and 3600 plus sailors who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Did you know that at 25%, the submarine force had the second highest death rate in WWII? The highest was Naval Aviation.
“I can assure you that they went down fighting and that their brothers who survived them took a grim toll of our savage enemy to avenge their deaths.” – Admiral Charles Lockwood, Commander Submarine Force Pacific
"You sleep safe in your beds, because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do you harm."
George Orwell
