Tag: Gato-class submarine

There’ll Be a Commotion Down Under The Ocean

With the war over and things finally settled down, US Submarine Veterans began to return to their homes and family. They were still keenly aware of the deep sacrifice the Sub Force had made, and the reasons why so many had died there was still a reluctance to talk about how they had carried out the destruction of the Japanese Empire.

But in newspapers around the country, stories began to appear that gave the public a taste of what the Sub force had been through and what it had accomplished. In Bogalusa, LA, a multi-part series was run, telling the stories of submarine veterans from the area who had served on the USS Ray SS-271.

On June 6, 1946, almost a year after the war had ended, one of these articles appeared. In it were the lyrics to “The Submarine Song,” without attribution or any author listed.

Continue reading “There’ll Be a Commotion Down Under The Ocean” →
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USS Snook SS-279

 

When we talk about the legacy of the U.S. Submarine Force during the Second World War, we often gravitate toward the celebrated names—Tang, Wahoo, Barb. But woven just as tightly into the silent steel of America’s wartime submarine story is the USS Snook (SS-279), a Gato-class boat launched in 1942 that would go on to serve valiantly and vanish mysteriously in the closing months of the war. Her story begins with the hard-earned lessons of a young submarine fleet still feeling its way through the murky depths of undersea warfare.

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Wahoo On The Warpath

Before the sun ever rose on March 24, 1943, the USS Wahoo (SS-238) had already made a name for herself. She was not just another Gato-class submarine; she was the boat sailors whispered about with awe and admiration. Under the relentless and fearless command of Lieutenant Commander Dudley “Mush” Morton, Wahoo had become a wolf in the water—bold, cunning, and, above all, lethal. Morton had replaced “Pinky” Kennedy after two patrols of frustrating near-misses and faulty torpedoes, and from the moment he gave that now-famous talk—declaring Wahoo “expendable” and inviting any unwilling soul to walk away—her character changed. Continue reading “Wahoo On The Warpath” →

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