Monday's Are For Remembering...

21 May 1917

The auxiliary yacht USS Christabel engaged  the UC-56 twice off the coast of Spain while escorting a British merchantman.  That afternoon an oil slick was spotted by Christabel's crew and later was spotted the wake of the submarine. Depth charges were dropped, but the submarine escaped, and returned to harass the convoy that night. At about 11:00pm lookouts on Cristabel sighted a periscope and immediately maneuvered to fire depth charges. Several successive hits damaged the U-boat, but it escaped and had to cruise on the surface to Santander to prevent its sinking. The crew of UC-56 were interned by Spain, but the U-boat was scuttled rather than be handed over. During the action, a few depth charges became loose aboard Christabel, and at great personal risk Ensign Daniel Augustus Joseph Sullivansecured them, earning him the Medal of Honor.

21 May 1943

The Italian submarine Gorgo was most likely sunk off Oran by the US destroyer USS Nields. USS Nields was on a anti-submarine patrol out off Oran when a British aircraft reported a submarine contact. At 1716 hours Nields established a sound contact. At 1718 hours she dropped a pattern of 9 depth charges. At 1723 the sound contact was regained and another 9 depth charges were dropped. At 1731 and 1741 hours more depth charges were dropped. Within seconds of the last attack, oil patches were observed. This, most likely, meant the end of the Italian submarine Gorgo.

USS Rich (DE-695) Memorial Service

Last week during the reunion for the USS Rich (DD-820), we remembered the sailors who are on eternal patrol after the USS Rich (DE-695) hit a mine in Normandy on June 8, 1944.  Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.  

USS Rich (DE-695) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort, the first US Navy ship named in honor of Lieutenant Ralph M. Rich (1916–1942) who was awarded the Navy Cross for his leadership as a fighter pilot off Enterprise during the Battle of Midway.