13 November 1976 the USS Los Angeles (SSN 688), lead boat of its class, was commissioned in Newport News, Virginia. By 2007 Los Angeles would be the oldest submarine in the U.S. Fleet. As part of tradition the wardroom of the oldest submarine in the Navy carries
Read more →16 Nov 1943 SS 226 Corvina 82 killed all hands lost Torpedoed while on surface off Truk 19 Nov 1943 SS191 Sculpin 63 killed 41 taken prisoner after absorbing 18 depth charges the boat was badly out of trim and surfaced. The CO Commander Cromwell was injured
Read more →2 September 1944 – Future President George H.W. Bush is shot down off the island of Chichi Jima (near Iwo Jima). He was rescued by the USS Finback (SS 230) which was stationed in the area just for that purpose. It rescued five aviators, the most dramatic
Read more →27 August 03 – The USS Connecticut (SSN 22) was participating in ICEX 2003, and surfaced through the artic ice near the North Pole. Some of the crew were playing a hastily organized game of football while others hit golf balls, or engaged in a contest to
Read more →21 August 1964 – USS Daniel Boone (SSBN 629) on this date became the first SSBN permanently assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Eventually the two crews would spend “Off Crew” in Hawaii, flying back and forth to Guam where the Daniel Boone was stationed. © Gregg Smith
Read more →14-15 August 1942 – S-39 (SS 144) While on Patrol in the Coral Sea the SS 144 ran aground in heavy seas off Rossel Island. The 21 by 10 mile volcanic island it lies at the end of the Louisiade Archipelago, about 230 miles Southeast of New
Read more →9 August 1944 – While on her 6th war patrol the USS Bowfin (SS\AGSS 287) spotted four freighters near the harbor for Minami Daito. Launching a torpedo for each target two were hit and sunk and a third was damaged. The fourth ‘stray’ torpedo hit a pier,
Read more →31 July 1944 Lawson Ramage, Commanding Officer of the USS Parche SS 384, penetrated the screen of a Japanese Convoy and initiated a surface action by crippling a freighter. He then redirected action against the two lead tankers sinking one and damaging the second. Ramage calmly ordered
Read more →25 July 1945 USS Toro (SS 422), while on lifeguard duty, rescued three British aviators afloat on a raft. Two days later a U.S. Army Air Corps Flier in a crippled P-51 Mustang circled Toro and was rescued after parachuting out. Within the next several days she
Read more →JULY 1 July 1975 The end of an Era. USS Tiru (SS 416) named for the “Tiru” a member of the Lizardfish family, was the last of the World War Two design of the Balao class and subsequently was the last submarine of that World War II
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