Submarines and "The Sound of Music"

Most everyone who has ever watched the movie "The Sound of Music" (originally released on this day in 1965) knows that the movie is loosely based on the real-life story of Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp and his family.

As in the movie, the real Captain Von Trapp had been a highly successful submarine captain for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War.

However, the story's connection to the "silent service" doesn't end there...
Captain Von Trapp's first wife was Agathe Whitehead, granddaughter of Robert Whitehead, inventor of the first successful self-propelled torpedo, one of the inventions that would make the submarine successful in combat.

Agathe was heir to the Whitehead fortune and she and Captain Von Trapp had, to all accounts, a happy marriage. Agathe bore Captain Von Trapp seven children. Unfortunately, she passed away in 1922, and by 1926, the widowed Captain needed a tutor for one of his daughters. This tutor, Maria, was the inspiration for Julie Andrew's character in the movie.

Just as in the movie, Captain Von Trapp fled his native Austria rather than serve in the navy under Nazi leadership.

So, the singing Von Trapp children were not only the sons and daughters of a skilled and successful submarine captain, they were the direct descendants of one of the pioneers of submarine technology, and both the torpedoes on display here at AIMM, as well as the cutting edge torpedoes carried on America's nuclear-powered submarines can trace their history back to the Whitehead torpedoes, and indirectly, to the singing Von Trapp family from "The Sound of Music".

Photo of Maria Von Trapp from her immigration application, courtesy of the National Archives.

Leap Day Submarine History

Only a few events of submarine history have occurred on a leap day.


On 29 February 1944, USS Cavalla (SS-244) was commissioned.



On 29 February, 1992, USS Jefferson City (SSN-759) was commissioned.

Interestingly enough, both of these events have a connection to AIMM.

Like Razorback, Cavalla was present at Tokyo Bay, Japan on 2 September, 1945, when the Japanese surrender was signed aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63). Cavalla is now a museum in Galveston, TX.

AIMM staff member Joe Mathis was stationed aboard Jefferson City during his career.

Thank you to the Submarine Force Museum for publishing the information on which this blog post was based. (Official U.S. Navy photographs)

Rare WWII Incident

On this day in 1945, a very rare underwater collision occurred between two American submarines.

USS Hoe (SS-258), while patrolling off Indochina at a depth of 60 feet, struck USS Flounder (SS-251). Flounder was at a depth of 65 feet. After the collision, Hoe broached the surface, while Flounder was forced deeper.

Here is the story, as told in the patrol reports of both submarines:

USS Hoe (SS-258):

“While at 60 foot, speed 1.8 kts, course north, Lat. 13-30.9 N, Long. 109-29.1 E. struck what I thought to be a rock. Ship took a four degree up angle and broached. Went to battle stations and blew all main ballast tanks. …On the way to the conning tower one look in the forward torpedo room showed that we had not holed the pressure hull. (The shock felt to me as though we had grounded forward on the starboard side.)”

A short time later, after sighting a ship and an airplane, Hoe submerged and returned to her patrol.

Flounder's side of the story:

“All clear on sound, all clear by periscope, depth 65 feet. Suddenly the whole ship gave a peculiar shudder. Started deep. 30 seconds later ship gave another shake and water started entering boat through the APR cable. Shear valve was closed and stopped leak. Sound soon reported a tremendous rush of air and high speed screws, starting and stopping on our starboard bow. By this time we had figured out that someone has run into us. Screws began to get fainter so at 1711, came to periscope depth and took a look. Calm seas, blue skies, nothing in sight. We were then convinced we had run into a Jap sub and we hoped that he had sunk.”

The mystery was only solved later, when the patrol reports of the two submarines were compared.

Thanks to the Submarine Force Museum, Groton, CT for publishing the original article on which this blog post is based. Official U.S. Navy images.

New Artifact Found inside Razorback

Recently, during some routine restoration work aboard Razorback, a small, cloth-wrapped Koran, the holy book of the Islamic religion, was found, tucked away in a small cubbyhole.

Museum maintenance man Johnnie Studdard points to where the Koran was hidden away. It would have only been accessible to an officer in the upper bunk in the forward Junior Officer's stateroom, in the Forward Battery compartment (the officer's wardroom is to the left, the JO's stateroom is to the right.

This unique artifact has been cataloged and will be kept in our archival collection.

(Time) Pieces of History

When the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS Arkansas (CGN-41) was commissioned, the "plankowner" crewmembers were each presented with a watch.

These watches were made by Timex, at the plant here in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

John P. Gil, a director at the Little Rock law firm of Gil, Elrod, Ragon, Own & Sherman, P.A., recently donated these watches to the museum. Although the watches had been stored with the batteries still in them, the folks at the Timex plant were able to get some of them running again.




Unfortunately, this officer's watch was one of the ones that could not be restored.

While having the watches repaired at the Timex plant, the origin of the watches was passed on. One of the workers actually remembered working on them.

The watches will be incorporated into our permanent exhibit on the cruiser Arkansas.

Submarine Sinks First Warship

On this day in 1864, the Confederate submersible H. L. Hunley sank the Federal sloop USS Housatonic in Charleston harbor in a night attack.

Housatonic was part of the Union fleet that was blockading the harbor of the Confederate city, and the sinking was part of an unsuccessful attempt to break the blockade. The sinking was also the first ever successful attack on an enemy warship by an armed submersible.

Unfortunately, Hunley herself was lost in the attack, along with her entire crew of eight men. For many years, little was known about this pioneering vessel, except that she never returned from her final, successful, mission. Many attempts were made to find any trace of her, and many people assumed that she had either been completely destroyed or else she had been swept out into the ocean and lost forever.

In 1995, a group backed by successful author Clive Cussler found Hunley, not far from the site of her fateful attack. She was raised from the bottom in 2000 and is being studied and conserved in a specially-built facility in Charleston. An attached museum has exhibits, as well as a number of original artifacts. The exact cause of her loss remains a mystery to this day.

For more information about Hunley, you can visit the museum's website.

Image courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, DC.

New in the Archives

In a collection of material recently donated to the museum (which is still being fully cataloged by Mike Hopper, our Curator), an interesting couple of items were found.

This picture is of USS Tullibee (SSN-597). While designated as an attack submarine, Tullibee was a unique submarine. the three fins that you can see in this picture are part of the PUFFS Sonar array, an attempt to use a passive system to provide sufficiently detailed data about a target that a torpedo could be fired without ever using active sonar or even raising the periscope.

As designed, Tullibee featured a very quiet turbo-electric power plant. Tullibee was also the first submarine to feature a spherical sonar array in the bow (a feature that necessitated moving the torpedo tubes back and angling them outward - a feature still used today).

The collection also included an undated "Welcome Aboard" booklet, which featured general information about the submarine construction and capabilities. Both of these will be placed on our website soon and will be available for researchers to download.

In Memoriam - USS Shark (SS-174) - 11 February 1942

USS Shark (SS-174), the first submarine in the U.S. Navy to feature all-welded construction, was lost with all hands on or about 11 February 1942, somewhere off the Philippines. Shark was conducting her second war patrol. She was the first American submarine to be lost during a war patrol.

Following the war, an examination of Japanese records revealed three attacks which might have claimed Shark. One depth charge attack on 11 February, another anti-submarine attack on 17 February, and a third operation on 21 February. Additionally, in 1944, a Japanese press release claimed that a Japanese subchaser rammed an American submarine in Manipa Strait in February, 1942. However the attack described in the press release is not mentioned in the official Japanese records.

Since both English and Dutch submarines were also operating in the area at the same time as Shark, it is impossible to determine if any or all of the above mentioned attacks were successful in sinking Allied submarines. Another possibility is that of some kind of operational accident. However, based on the available records, the attack on 11 February is thought to have been the most likely cause of Shark's loss.

Official U.S. Navy photograph from the Naval Historical Center. Patch from the the AIMM collection.

New Documents on the Web Site

During recent restoration work aboard Razorback, a partial set of laminated "Emergency Bills" were found. Since they are in English, not Turkish, and since they use "USS Razorback" and not "TCG Muratreis", they were clearly used in the 1960s and were left aboard when Razorback was turned over to the Turkish Navy in 1970.

The entire set can be found on the website.

USS S-36 (SS-141) Runs Aground

Originally built in 1918, USS S-36 was, at the time of her construction, on the cutting edge of technology. Armed with four torpedo tubes and a 4-inch gun, S-36 was, along with her sisters of the same "S" class, the workhorses of the American submarine force in the 1920s and 1930s.

A number of "S" class boats were assigned to the Asiatic Fleet, which operated out of American bases in the Western Pacific, including Qingdao, China (then known as Tsingtao) and Manila, Philippines.

When hostilities broke out, S-36 was on patrol in the northern Philippines. Hampered by repeated equipment failures, S-36 ended her patrol on December 18th. After repairs, she was ordered to make a final patrol of Philippine waters, then retire to the East Indies, where Allied forces were gathering after the loss of the Cavite Naval Yard in Manila.

On January 1st, S-36 located a small Japanese transport tied up to the seawall in the port of Calapan, Philippines. She fired a single torpedo at her stationary target and claimed a sinking. However, postwar records could not confirm this.

At the end of her patrol, S-36 was ordered to Surabaya, Indonesia. During the trip, S-36 ran hard aground on a reef in Makassar Strait. Despite damage control efforts, the decision was made to abandon the submarine. Dutch forces evacuated the entire crew, who were reassigned to other submarines and continued to fight.

After all classified material was removed or destroyed, S-36 was left for the sea to claim.

S-36 was awarded one battle star for her WWII service.

It's Been a BUSY Winter

During the winter, when the weather prevents us from working outside, we still have plenty to do inside. We have been removing many of the front covers off of various indicator panels and other pieces of equipment and restoring them to their original condition.

This work includes carefully removing label plates, lights and other items, then stripping off the existing paint (sometimes as many as 20 layers). Once cleaned, the cover is then re-painted with a historically accurate paint.

While this is going on, the lights are checked for damage and broken lenses or bulbs are replaced. The label plates (often themselves covered with multiple layers of paint) are cleaned and the lettering restored (using paint applied with a needle).

The all the parts are re-assembled, and the restored cover plate is replaced.

All this work is done in a matter of days, because the restored cover plates have to be back in place to allow tours to be safely conducted.

All told, nearly 50 pieces of equipment has been restored this winter alone.

Photograph courtesy of Joe Mathis. More photographs of the work we are doing can be seen on the 2011 Restoration Page.

Photographs of all of the restoration work done over the last 6+ years can be found here.

In Memoriam - USS Swordfish (SS-193)

Swordfish (SS-193) was a very successful submarine, despite being a pre-war Sargo-class submarine with only four torpedo tubes forward (Razorback, like most WWII submarines had six torpedo tubes forward). During her career, Swordfish sank a destroyer and sank or damaged 28 merchant ships, including three that she engaged on the surface with her 3" 50-caliber deck gun.

Swordfish also holds the distinction for being the first U.S. submarine to sink a Japanese vessel during World War II. She also participated in the evacuation of critical personnel from the Philippines, including the President of the Philippines and his family.

USS Swordfish (SS-193) was lost with all hands during her thirteenth war patrol.

She had been ordered to conduct photographic reconnaissance of Okinawa, in preparation for the planned amphibious assault on the island, a Japanese stronghold. She transmitted a radio message on January 3rd and was never heard from again.

January 12th is given as the most likely date of her loss, as USS Kete (SS-369) reported radar contact with a submarine that morning, and then heard the sounds of a depth charge attack in the same area about four hours later. It is generally believed that the radar contact was with Swordfish, making it likely that she was lost in the subsequent depth charge attack. However, Japanese records do not record any attack, so her true fate may never be known.

In Memoriam - USS Argonaut (SS-166) - Sunk 10 January, 1943

USS Argonaut (SS-166) was sunk by Japanese forces on 10 January, 1943, after intercepting a Japanese convoy southeast of New Britain. An American pilot witnessed the attack from a U.S. Army plane and reported that Argonaut's torpedoes severely damaged a Japanese destroyer.


After withstanding an intense depth charge attack, Argonaut was forced to surface, apparently at a very steep up-angle. Her bow was shelled by the remaining destroyers in the convoy, and no further radio contact was made with her. Japanese records indicate that she was destroyed in this engagement by depth charging and subsequent gun fire.

Argonaut served three war patrols during WWII. During her second patrol, she coordinated with USS Nautilus to transport US Marines to Makin Island for an attack against enemy shore installations, and then to return the marines to Pearl Harbor, an operation which proved highly successful.

Just over four months after this accomplishment, Argonaut went down with all 105 hands.

Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

Sailor, Rest Your Oars. Passing of CAPT Ken Brown, USN (ret)

It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Captain Ken Brown, USN (ret).

Captain Brown passed away at Tripler Army Medical Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii after a battle with cancer.

Captain Brown had been Razorback's Commanding Officer from March, 1966 to May 1968.

Captain Brown was an active and enthusiastic supporter of the museum. He traveled to visit us several times, and was even kind enough to donate his personal scrapbook to us. The scrapbook contained over 200 photographs, newspaper clippings and other documents related to his time aboard Razorback.

While some of the photographs were routine, many others offered a candid look at life aboard a submarine during the height of the Cold War. The above photograph was taken on New Years Eve 1966. A number of items from Captain Brown's scrapbook are on display in the museum.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Captain Brown's family, and have not yet reached us. Please take a moment to remember this member of Razorback's crew.

Anniversary of Razorback's Return to Duty

On January 7th, 1954, Razorback returned to active duty after spending 16 months in the shipyard being modified and modernized under the GUPPY (Greater Underway Propulsive Power) program. The GUPPY modifications were so extensive and took so long to accomplish that submarines going through the program were routinely decommissioned, freeing up their crews for duty on other submarines.

Some of the major modifications included:

• Increased battery capacity
• Streamlined outer hull
• Addition of a snorkel
• Improved sensors

While the snorkel allowed Razorback to run her diesel engines while submerged at periscope depth, the streamlining of the outer hull greatly improved her underwater performance while on battery. Some of these changes were:

• Removal of both deck guns
• Removal of 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns
• Rebuilding of the bridge/periscope shears structure as a streamlined "sail"
• Capstans made retractable
• Deck cleats made retractable
• Deck safety rail stanchions made flush with the deck
• All deck safety rails made removable
• Replacement of the pointed bow and towing fairlead with a rounded bow (known as the "Guppy Bow")

These improvements increased Razorback's top underwater speed from approximately 10 knots to nearly 20 knots, and increased her "sustained" speed (the speed she could maintain for long periods) from 2 knots to over 10 knots.

Razorback could now attack a formation of warships and "sprint" away faster than the responding destroyers could search, and she could cruise underwater for days or even weeks at a time, performance unimaginable just a few years before. It would be hard to overstate the effects that these developments had.

We have a copy of the booklet issued for the recommissioning ceremony. Her CO at recommissioning was LCDR Charles E. Stastny, USN. Six other officers, eight Chief Petty Officers, and 74 enlisted men were assigned to Razorback when she was commissioned. A digital copy of this program is available on our website. (Adobe PDF File)

We also have a large collection of digital blueprints from the GUPPY conversion, including blueprints for USS Picuda (SS-382), USS Balao (SS-385), USS Sea Fox (SS-402), USS Threadfin (SS-410) and USS Stickleback (SS-415). Contact the museum for more information.

Holiday Hours

Holiday Hours

Friday December 30^th - Open Regular Hours
New Year's Eve (December 31^st) - Open 10a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
New Year's Day (January 1^st, 2012) - Closed

Christmas Menu from 1949

Joe Bonds was a LT(jg) aboard Razorback from 1945 to 1949. When he visited AIMM last year, he generously donated several pictures as well as a menu from the Christmas dinner in 1949.

An Adobe PDF copy of the menu, which has a full crew list, is available on the website.

New and Notable Submarine History at AIMM

Captain James Strong, USN (ret) has self-published a memoir, entitled, "Fortune Favors the Bold: Stories from Life at Sea". He graciously sent a copy to AIMM for the library.

Captain Strong first reported aboard USS Cochino (SS-345) in 1949, serving aboard her during her final deployment and surviving the accident that claimed the submarine, a member of her crew and six men from USS Tusk (SS-426) in August of that year. He then went on to serve aboard five other submarines. His final submarine assignment was Commanding Officer, Gold Crew, USS Lafayette (SSBN-616).

Although small at only 56 pages, Fortune Favors the Bold is an entertaining book and an enjoyable read. Captain Strong now lives in Savoy, IL. Fortune Favors the Bold was published by Minuteman Press in Champaign, IL.

Pearl Harbor Attack Fotage

From the official You Tube Channel of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

This footage of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was shot by CWO4 Clyde Daughtry. The original footage has since been lost, and the poor quality of this footage is due to the fact that it is a copy, and believed to be the best remaining version of this film in existence. Among the many valuable portions of this footage are shots of USS Nevada (BB-36) underway and firing back at Japanese aircraft, USS Oglala (CM-4) rolling over and sinking, and USS St. Louis underway (CL-4).

Naval History and Heritage Command, Photographic Section, UM-10.

USS Arkansas (BM-7) Commissioned 109 years Ago Today

The third ship to be named after the "Natural State" was commissioned 109 years ago today, 28 October, 1902.

USS Arkansas (BM-7) was a single-turreted "New Navy" Monitor, designed after the Civil War had shown that the days of wooden-hulled sailing warships was over.

She was also one of the last monitors built in the world.

Because of their design, monitors were not ocean-going and the development of the iron-hulled, ocean-going "dreadnaught" brought the monitor age to an end.

USS Arkansas served much of her career as a training ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. She was re-named USS Ozark on 02 March 1909 and the name was freed up to be used on the battleship USS Arkansas (BB-33) when her construction started in 1910.

USS Ozark was assigned to the District of Columbia Naval Militia from 1910-1913. After that, she began conversion to a submarine tender, to support the rapidly growing submarine force.

As a submarine tender, USS Ozark operated along the US East Coast and off the Gulf Coast of Mexico. She sailed throughout Central America as far as the Panama Canal Zone.

In January, 1916, USS Ozark was serving as a tender for USS E-2 (SS-25). E-2 was having new, experimental batteries installed at the time. On the morning of 16 January, 1916, these batteries exploded. E-2's Commanding Officer, LT Charles Maynard "Saavy" Cooke, a native Arkansan, was aboard Ozark at the time of the explosion and personally led rescue and firefighting teams into the still burning submarine, saving the lives of nine men.

USS Ozark was decommissioned in 1919.

In Memoriam - USS Darter / USS Shark / USS Tang - Lost 24 October 1944

24 October 1944 was the single worst day for the U.S. Submarine Service in World War II. Three submarines were lost.

Their stories have been told before on this blog, and can easily be found elsewhere, but a brief summary is:

USS Darter (SS-227) ran aground and was scuttled. Fortunately, the entire crew was saved.

USS Tang (SS-306) was sunk by a "circular run" of her own torpedo.

USS Shark (SS-314) was sunk by Japanese forces.

Graphic courtesy of the National War College Military Image Collection

In Memoriam - USS Escolar (SS-294) - October 17, 1944

The career of USS Escolar (SS-294) was tragically short. She set out on her first patrol on September 23, 1944 under the command of Cmdr. W. J. Millican, leaving Midway to conduct operations in the Yellow Sea alongside Croaker (SS-246) and Perch (SS-313) as part of a wolf pack known as "Millican's Marauders".

On September 30, a message was received from Escolar, stating that she had engaged a gunboat; however, the message was abruptly cut off, and no further communications were received by U.S. shore bases from Escolar. However, Perch and Croaker maintained short-range radio contact with Escolar until October 17, after which they were unable to raise her by radio. She was not heard from again and was reported as presumed lost November 27.

It is believed that Escolar was the victim of Japanese mines laid in the Yellow Sea, as post-war investigations into Japanese anti-submarine warfare records found no mention of her.

In Memoriam - USS Dorado (SS-248) - Sunk 12 October 1943

Commissioned on 28 August 1943, USS Dorado (SS-284) left the submarine base at New London, CT on 06 October, 1943 bound for the Panama Canal.

She never arrived.

There are three possible causes of Dorado's loss:

1. U-214, a German submarine, laid mines outside the entrance the Panama Canal only a few days before Dorado's scheduled arrival and Dorado may have struck one of them.
   


2. She may have been accidentally sunk by U.S. aircraft. A PBM Mariner conducted two attacks on surface submarines on the night of 12 October. However, one of those attacks was actually on U-214, as she recorded the attack in her log book, which survived the war.


3. She may have suffered some kind of operational accident, such as an uncontrolled dive, a fire, or a "circular run" of her own torpedoes (a fate that claimed two other American submarines during the war).

Since no debris was found at the time, it is generally believed that Dorado fell victim to U-214's mines. However, until her final resting place is located, the truth will never be known.

In Memoriam - USS Wahoo (SS-238) - Sunk 11 October 1943

Commissioned in May, 1942, USS Wahoo (SS-238) had little success on her first two war patrols.

However, on 31 December, 1942, LCDR Dudley W. "Mush" Morton took command.
Over the next three war patrols, Wahoo attacked a number of Japanese ships, sinking twelve, despite the defective and unreliable torpedoes that plagued American submarines during the period.

In addition, Wahoo took time to stop and assist the crew of a becalmed fishing vessel, providing them with food and water.

On her seventh war patrol in the Sea of Japan in September 1943, Wahoo sank four more ships. However, she was apparently damaged during one of her attacks and began leaking oil.

While exiting her patrol area through the narrow La Perouse Strait on the northern end of the Japanese home islands, Wahoo was spotted by a shore battery, then by a Japanese anti-submarine aircraft, which reported seeing an oil slick on the surface which allowed them to spot the conning tower. The aircraft dropped two bombs and reported a "gushing of oil and bubbles." Over the next seven hours, Japanese aircraft conducted fourteen attacks, dropping a number of bombs. Japanese patrol ships also dropped depth charges. A translation of the Japanese attack report, along with photographs, is available online.

Wahoo was lost with all hands.

CDR Morton is credited with sinking 19 ships for a total of 55,000 tons, making him the third most successful submarine commander in World War II. He received four Navy Crosses, the last one posthumously.

Despite being lost before a reliable torpedo was in the hands of the submarine fleet, Wahoo ranks seventh among all submarines in World War II in terms of number of ships sunk.

Postscript
Beginning in 1990, an international group began searching for Wahoo's final resting place. She was located in 2005 and based on the underwater photographs, positively identified in 2006. On 08 July 2007, the U.S. Navy, as part of a joint exercise with the Russian Navy, held a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of Wahoo's loss.

In Memoriam - USS S-44 (SS-155) - Sunk 07 October 1943

Commissioned in 1925, USS SS-44 (SS-155) completed four war patrols during World War II. She sank three ships and damaged a fourth.

IJN Kako

One of the ships sunk was the heavy cruiser Kako, sunk on 10 August 1942. The previous night, Kako and three other cruisers had participated in the first Battle of Savo Island, sinking four Allied heavy cruisers, damaging a fifth cruiser and damaging two destroyers with only moderate damage to themselves.

Kako was the first major Japanese warship sunk by the single-handed action of an American submarine, and S-44's successful attack pointed the way for the successful prosecution of the war against the Japanese Navy.

S-44 departed on her fifth war patrol on 26 September, 1943 out of Attu, Alaska. During the night of 07 October, S-44 made radar contact with a vessel that the crew believed was a small merchant ship. The decision was made to attack on the surface and sink the small vessel with the submarines 4"/50-caliber deck gun.

S-44's 4"/50 Deck Gun

Unfortunately, the "merchant ship" turned out to be the Ishigaki, a Shimushu-class escort armed with three large guns and four machine guns. Outgunned, S-44 attempted to submerge, but was unable to do so before being hit in the control room, the forward battery compartment, and elsewhere throughout the submarine.

The order to abandon ship was given, and a pillow case was put up as a makeshift flag of surrender. The shelling continued and only eight men made it into the frigid Arctic waters before S-44 sank. Two men were picked up by Ishigaki and remained prisoners of the Japanese until the war ended.

Ishigaki was sunk by USS Herring (SS-233) on 31 May 1944.

All photographs courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

In Memoriam - USS Seawolf (SS-197) - Sunk 03 October 1944

USS Seawolf (SS-197), under the command of LCDR A.M Bontier, was sunk by U.S. forces on 03 October 1944 while on her 15th war patrol. She was carrying supplies and 17 U.S. Army personnel to Samar, in the central Philippines.

On the morning of 03 October, a U.S. task group was attacked by the Japanese submarine Ro-41. USS Shelton (DC-407) was torpedoed and sunk in the attack.

Shortly after the attack, a plane from the escort carrier USS Midway (CVE-63), sighted a submarine on the surface, and dropped two bombs on it as it was submerging, even though the submarine was in an established safety zone for U.S. submarines. USS Rowell (DE-403) steamed into the area and detected the submerged Seawolf. Believing the submerged contact to be a Japanese submarine, Rowell attacked, even though the submarine tried to send a series of dashes and dots with her underwater signalling equipment. Rowell's attack resulted in an underwater explosion, and debris rose to the surface.

Seawolf was the only U.S. submarine known sunk by American forces in World War II. 102 men, including the 17 U.S. Army personnel, were lost.

After the war, it was learned by Ro-41 successfully escaped detection by US forces. She would be sunk with all hands by USS Haggard (DD-555) on 22-23 March 1945.


LCDR Bontier had been the Commanding Officer of USS Razorback when she was commissioned.

October is National Archives Month - If You Love History, Thank an Archivist

October is National Archives Month.

Archivists are the people who work, largely "behind the scenes" to collect, catalog and preserve the many documents that a museum holds.

Cataloging is far more than just creating an inventory. Descriptions of the material are written to help future researchers decide if the material is relevant to their project. Often the material is digitized so that it can be made available through the Internet.

For example, AIMM has all of the World War II deck logs and patrol reports in digital format on the website. This way, if someone wants to look through the deck logs, they don't have to travel to Washington, DC to the National Archives to read the originals.

Creating digital copies also reduces wear and tear on fragile and rare originals. AIMM has only a few copies of the World War II cruise book.

In Memoriam - USS Cisco (SS-290) - Sunk 28 September 1943

USS Cisco (SS-290) was lost on her first war patrol. Operating out of Port Darwin, Australia, she left on her patrol on 18 September, but returned that evening due to a malfunction in her main hydraulic system. After repairs, she sailed on the 19th. She was never heard from again.

After the war, an examination of Japanese records revealed that on 28 September, an attack was made on "a sub tailing oil" by both aircraft and Japanese naval vessels, including the Gunboat Karatsu, the former US river gunboat USS Luzon (PR-7) which had been salvaged by the Japanese after being scuttled in Manila Bay in May, 1942.

The men aboard the former American warship did not enjoy their victory for long. IJNS Karatsu was sunk a few months later by USS Narwhal (SS-167).

In Memoriam - USS S-51(SS-162) - Sunk 25 September 1925

USS S-51 (SS-162) sank after being struck by the merchant steamer City of Rome in Long Island Sound off Block Island.

S-51 was on the surface at night with City of Rome approaching from her port side. S-51, in accordance with the Nautical Rules of the Road at the time, was required to maintain her course and speed. However, because of her design, S-51's white masthead light obscured her red side light which would have warned the officers aboard City of Rome that they needed to change their course.

The lookouts and officers aboard City of Rome were unable to see the red side light until moments before the collision. Until that time, they saw a single white light, which indicated they were overtaking a vessel, not approaching one from the side.

Only three of the 36 men aboard S-51 were able to abandon the stricken submarine.

Salvage of the USS S-51 covered a ten month span of difficult and hazardous diving, and a special diver training course was made part of the operation. The submarine was finally raised and towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. The salvage operation was headed by Commander Edward Ellsberg and chronicled in his famous book On the Bottom which is available in the AIMM Library

In the ensuing court case, the district court and the Circuit Court of Appeals found S-51 at fault for having improper lights.

The Navy argued that it was not practicable to have such small submarines comply with the literal provisions of the law, and that, as a special type of warship, S-51 was not under legal compulsion to comply with the law. The court responded by saying if these statements were correct, then submarines "should confine their operation to waters not being traversed by other ships."

New Museum Exhibit

LCDR Bob Walls, USN (ret), donated his personal dress sword and scabbard to the museum. LCDR Walls served aboard three other submarines before reporting aboard Razorback as Executive Officer under CDR Talbert, a position he still held when Razorback was decommissioned in 1970.

LCDR Walls now lives in Kaneohe, on the island of Oahu.

Neither Rain nor Snow nor Dark of Night...

Our annual return to fall hours doesn't mean that work has stopped around the museum. In fact, the spring and fall months probably involve more work for the museum staff, rather than less. We have a full schedule of maintenance, research and new exhibits planned, not to mention a number of school groups, birthday parties and overnight groups in the coming weeks.

Today, museum Duty Officer Joe Mathis spent part of his day climbing up and down the rocks along the waterfront, picking up trash.