USS Razorback - Rescue Submarine

43 years ago today, Razorback reprised the role of "rescue submarine", a role that she played successfully during World War II and again in 1963, when she rescued seven men off of a sunken yacht in the middle of the Pacific.

On the night of 08 August, 1967, Razorback was operating off the California coast, conducting routine ASW (anti-submarine warfare) training. That night, she was training with Bullfrog 28, an S-2E "Tracker" aircraft from VS-41 (Anti-Submarine Squadron 41), just like the aircraft in the photo above.

During the exercise, Razorback's sonar operators picked up unusual sounds. Then, her radiomen were unable to contact the small airplane, so Razorback quickly surfaced.


Despite the poor weather conditions and overcast skies, Razorback quickly located a small life raft with two survivors from the airplane. One Razorback crewmember volunteers to dive into the frigid (48-degree) water and help one of the men who appeared to be having trouble staying afloat.
More information about this rescue, as well as more photographs, are available on the AIMM Website.

AIMM would like to thank the Tailhook Association for locating a high-quality photograph of a S2-E from VS-41, and allowing us to use it.