C OLUMBUS BASE SUBMARINE VETERANS VOLUME 11, ISSUE 1 January 2015 ALL SEAS ARE NAVIGABLE Welcome New Shipmates Mike Milenovic, FTB2 (SS) qualified on the USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) was in attendance and brought his son, Sea Cadet Jacob Milenovic. Joe Stimer, STS (SS), left the USN in 2014. He is a friend of Geoff Durbin. Todd VanKirk, IC3 (SS) qualified on the USS George C Marshall (SSBN-654) is our newest Farewell Shipmate It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the passing of our shipmate Cecil E Johnson. He qualified on the USS Dogfish (SS-350) in 1961 and was an IC2(SS). Cecil had been qualified in submarines over 50 years and was a Holland Club member. Columbus Base will make a $100 donation to the USSVI Scholarship Fund in Cecil's memory. Sailor, Rest your oar. We have your watch.
Tolling of the Boats Page 2 USS Scorpion (SS-278) Lost on Jan 5,1944 with the loss of 76 officers and men in the East China Sea, on her 4th war patrol. It is assumed she was sunk by a mine. USS Argonaut (SS-166) Lost on Jan 10, 1943 with the loss of 102 officers and men off Rabaul, on her 3rd war patrol. While attacking a convoy, she torpedoed a Jap destroyer who along with 2 other destroyers depth charged her. As she tried to surface, the destroyers sunk her by gun fire. USS Swordfish (SS-193) Lost on Jan 12,1945 with the loss of 89 officers and men somewhere near Okinawa, on her 13th war patrol. Probably was lost to a mine. USS S-36 (SS-141) Lost on Jan 20, 1942 with no loss of life, on her 2nd war patrol. She ran hard aground on a reef and radioed for help. The entire crew was rescued by a Dutch ship after they scuttled her. USS S-26 (SS-131) S-26 was lost at 2223 on 24 January 1942, in the Gulf of Panama about fourteen miles west of San Jose Light in three hundred feet of water. There were three survivors, two officers, one of whom was the Commanding Officer, and one enlisted man. Official Navy Photographs OUR CREED To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds and supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America and its Constitution.
P a g e 3 BELLS Left Behind The ship's bell of USS Argonaut (SS-166) - lost in combat in 1943 - still serves at the chapel of the Submarine base, Pearl Harbor The year 2000 saw two occasions - one a celebration, one a tragedy - marking the role of the submarine in the modern world. The celebration was that of the Submarine Force of the U.S. Navy marking 100 years of service to the nation. The tragedy was the loss of the Russian submarine Kursk, a grim reminder of the dangers submariners face. These occasions reminded me of two ship's bells I saw on Oahu in 1999 when I lived at the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor while on a period of active duty in the Marine Corps. The bells - from the submarines USS Wahoo (SS-238) and USS Argonaut (SS-166) - were two unique reminders of the dangers submariners faced during another era, that of the submarine war waged in the Pacific in World War II. The Wahoo's bell is in the USS Bowfin Museum. Anchored nearby is the Bowfin (SS-287) herself, one of several World War II submarines preserved as floating memorials. Touring the Bowfin and the museum revived my interest in World War II submarines. Long ago, I learned that the Navy lost 52 submarines in that war, but the fact had no human dimension for me until I took the tours and started reading. What resulted was a new perspective on "the silent service." First, submariners do not enjoy the publicity that other branches of service do. Many can name the pilot of the B- 29 that dropped the atomic bomb or the photographer who took the famous picture of the Iwo Jima flag raising. But who can name the U.S. submarine with the most confirmed sinkings during the war? Also, who remembers that Admiral Chester Nimitz, a submariner himself, began his successful tour as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, on 31 December 1941, at a ceremony aboard the submarine USS Grayling (SS-209)? A keen eye can make out the submarine's bell mounted on the conning tower in the photograph of the ceremony. Second, the U.S. submarine campaign took a catastrophic toll of Japanese shipping and succeeded, while German and Japanese submarine campaigns failed. Third, submarines did more than sink ships. They laid mines, delivered supplies, and served as lifeguards for downed aviators. Submarines saved numerous Army Air Forces and Naval aviators, including Navy pilot George
Page 4 Bush, our future president, rescued by a submarine in 1944 after his plane crashed. Fourth, submarine attacks were not always carried out at a distance while submerged, with impersonal torpedo salvoes. The deck guns and small arms onboard World War II submarines encouraged surface combat, which was fatal for many men, including Chief Pharmacist's Mate Arthur Beeman, killed while aiding a wounded officer during a surface attack. (Beeman Center on the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, is named for him.) LCDR Reggie Raymond, a Prospective Commanding Officer, was killed by an enemy bullet while on the bridge of the USS Scorpion (SS-278), firing a Browning Automatic Rifle at a Japanese ship. From the chapel's belfry, lost submarines are mourned by tolling Argonaut's bell. Fifth, individual bravery was recognized by many decorations, including six Medals of Honor awarded to submarine commanders: Samuel Dealey, Eugene Fluckey, Howard Gilmore, Richard O'Kane, Lawson Ramage, and George Street. One wolfpack commander, Captain John P. Cromwell, also received a Medal of Honor. Three of these Medal recipients - Cromwell, Dealey, and Gilmore - were lost in action and received theirs posthumously. Their "tombstones" are in military cemeteries in the Pacific, where they are listed on tablets among the names of those missing in action. Sixth, submarine duty was a lonely job with unique hazards. Aircrew have parachutes and crash landings; surface ship crews can abandon ship; infantrymen can find a hole or run. A depth-charged submariner had only one place to go: where he was. Finally, the casualties were great. Memorials at the Bowfin Museum and at the Submarine Base list the 52 submarines lost, implicitly marking the deaths of over 3,500 submariners, most of whom remain lost at sea in graves that will never be found. Many losses were the subject of a grim communique such as this one in 1945: "The Submarine USS Bullhead [SS-332] is overdue from patrol and presumed lost." One of those lost was the USS Robalo (SS-273), and her Commanding Officer, Manning Kimmell. That was the second great tragedy of the war for his father, Admiral Husband Kimmel, former Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, who was relieved after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A display case in the Bowfin Museum has a memorial to these losses: the bell of the USS Wahoo. For practical reasons, submarines left their bells behind when leaving on patrol. If a bell were left in its exposed topside mount behind the conning tower, it could make unwanted noise; if taken below, it would occupy space and present a hazard. The Wahoo exhibit notes a more ominous reason for leaving the bells behind: the ship's bell would be a memorial if the submarine never returned. The Wahoo's bell in fact serves as such a memorial: she was lost in 1943 with all hands, including her highly successful commander, Navy Cross recipient Dudley "Mush" Morton, credited with 19 sinkings in one year. The story of the Wahoo's bell gave me some context when I read a sign at the Submarine Base chapel and learned that the USS Argonaut left her bell behind before leaving on patrol, and that very bell was eventually mounted in the belfry above. I suddenly realized that the haunting, dull sound of a bell I kept hearing on Sundays was the bell of the Argonaut. I attended a Sunday service at the chapel and learned that each Sunday, the con-
gregation remembers one of the 52 lost submarines by reading its name and ringing the Argonaut's bell. Page 5 The bell has reminded them of Sam Dealey and the USS Harder (SS-257), killing several destroyers in one patrol; of John Cromwell stating that he would go down with the USS Sculpin (SS-191) rather than let himself be captured and risk divulging secrets under torture; and Howard Gilmore giving his famous order - "Take her down" The Submarine Base Chapel, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. - to ensure the safety of the USS Growler (SS-215) at the cost of his own life. But the bell was also a reminder of the Argonaut herself. I learned more about her. She was commissioned in 1928 as V-4, becoming Argonaut in 1931. Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney visited her. Richard O'Kane served on Argonaut before commanding the USS Tang (SS-306), where he earned a Medal of Honor. Argonaut and USS Nautilus (SS-168) took Carlson's Raiders to Makin Island in 1942, partly because they were our largest submarines - and they returned to a heroes' welcome at the submarine piers, not far from where the chapel would be built and dedicated in 1944. Yet, my learning experience remained incomplete without seeing the bell itself, so I obtained the able assistance of Religious Program Specialist First Class Sam Prado, who indulged my intense, incurable interest in military history. He was as curious and determined as I was, so we made the difficult climb into the very small belfry and photographed a bell stamped "U.S.S. ARGONAUT 1928." Befitting a large ship, it is a large bell, perhaps two feet in diameter, weathered and stained by over 50 years of service. Sadly, this very bell rings on occasional Sundays for Argonaut herself. In December 1942, the submarine departed Pearl Harbor for what would be her third and final patrol, which ended when she was sunk attacking a Japanese convoy near Bougainville on 10 January 1943. The entire crew of 105 was lost. Submarine warfare has changed much since then, as shown by a comparison of Bow-fin with a modern submarine. Deck guns are gone. Man-to-man combat on the surface has yielded to more sophisticated, technologyoriented missions. At the piers near the chapel, however, modern submarines still have bells, but they ring for function and ceremony, not as memorials. At the chapel itself, a bell left behind does ring in remembrance, turning all Sundays into Veterans and Memorial Days as Argonaut's bell rings for lost crews, including her own. Jones is a writer living a judge advocate in serve, serving as a Office of the Staff Marine Corps Forces, to Chaplain (CDR) Sam Prado, of Sub- Harbor, for their assis- information about, and bell. He also appreci- Colonel Charles A. in Norfolk, Virginia and the Marine Corps Redrilling reservist at the Judge Advocate, U.S. Atlantic. He is grateful Dick Pusateri and RP1 marine Base Pearl tance in providing access to, Argonaut's ates the assistance given by Charles Hinman and Nancy Richards of the Bowfin Museum.
Cadets Reflect on Marching in Pearl Harbor Memorial Page 6 By: alan froman (this Week Community News: Grove City Record) r As President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "Dec. 7, 1941, (is) a date which will live in infamy." For 31 Central Crossing High School Junior ROTC cadets and the 21 adults who accompanied them, Dec. 7, 2014, will be a day full of meaning that will stay with them forever. The students traveled to Hawaii to participate in this year's Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade Dec. 7. Central Crossing was the first high school from a non-battleship state to be invited to participate in the parade. To be able to participate in such an important and solemn event was a high honor for the students, the school and the Naval Junior ROTC program, said Sgt. Major Donald Bocook, a Central Crossing naval science instructor. The NJ ROTC unit was one of 52 units participating in the annual parade this year, he said. Approximately 150,000 people viewed the parade, said Capt. Peter MacKay, senior naval science instructor. "To have all those people viewing and cheering for our unit -- I think it made our cadets stand taller and walk prouder," MacKay said. For many of those who traveled to Hawaii, the highlight was the group's trip to the USS Arizona Memorial. "I know it was for me," Bocook said. "When we laid a wreath there, nobody spoke. After we watched a 22-minute documentary we rode a boat to the memorial and it was very quiet. "You can lean over and see the battleship still sitting underwater and still leaking oil and you think of those who lost their lives on Dec. 7. It's emotional," he said. "I think our cadets felt that, too." One of the special opportunities the group had was to visit the USS Columbus, a fast-attack submarine, MacKay said. The students also had time for fun, attending some luaus during their six-day trip, Bocook said. The experience "was everything I thought it would be, and more," said sophomore Courtney Elrod. Visiting the USS Arizona "was extremely emotional," Elrod said. "And having the chance to participate in the parade, I felt part of something bigger than myself. I was proud to help pay tribute those lost at Pearl Harbor." For junior Katie Seymour, the experience was life changing. "I felt kind of humbled it," she said. "How many people in NJ ROTC get the chance to go to Hawaii and participate in the Pearl Harbor remembrance? You walk down the parade route and there are no gaps along the route, there are so many people. They are all there to celebrate and remember those who were lost." Participating in the parade and visiting the Arizona "was really sad, but at the same time it made you feel like an American," sophomore Mathew Burchwell said. Central Crossing family science teacher Daphne Hedgecock was one of the adults who accompanied the students.
Page 7 "They represented the school and our community so well," she said. The flight attendants from American Airlines paid special compliments about the students' decorum and one employee at the hotel remarked that in 30 years, he had never seen a better behaved or more outstanding group of young people, Hedgecock said. On Dec. 18, state Rep. Cheryl Grossman (R-Grove City) presented a proclamation from the Ohio House of Representatives honoring the Central Crossing NJ ROTC for its participation in the Pearl Harbor event and for all of its accomplishments. Grossman was instrumental in "putting us in touch with people who helped make this trip possible," Bocook said. "When the invitation for this trip first came up, I met with her and I kept saying, 'if' we can go. She stopped me right away and said, 'You will be able to go on this trip.' " Bocook said several local entities also especially helpful, including the city of Grove City, Wal- Mart, Mid-Ohio Marine Foundation and Mount Carmel Health System. The cadets also worked hard on a myriad of fundraisers to help pay for the trip, he said. "So many people or businesses sent in donations, from $5 to $5,000 -- and the $5 donations were just as important as the larger ones," Bocook said. The school has received a standing invitation to participate again in the Pearl Harbor parade, he said. "It's probably too short of a time to go again in 2015, but we'd like to try to arrange to make a return trip in 2016," he said. Members of the Central Crossing Naval Junior ROTC and the adults who accompanied them during their trip to Pearl Harbor made a visit to the USS Columbus, a fast-attack submarine currently in service and based at the port.
Page 8 COLUMBUS BASE Call to Order: 1300 Base Commander, Jim Tolson called the meeting to order. Dave Creekmore, COB, led in the salute to the flag. Co-Chaplain Walt Fleak gave the invocation. Tolling of the lost boats was conducted by Co-Chaplain, Sharon Lloyd and COB, Dave Creekmore. Welcome to all by Base Commander, Jim Tolson. There were 29 members and guests present. Secretary s Report: December report is in the Green Board with no comments. Shared a Hello from Woody Cook. Treasurer s Report: Jim Koogler reported on the status of the Treasury through the end of December 2014. Webmaster s Report: Cliff Dodson reported no known issues with the website. He is working on updating the Base Sailing List. If someone has a newer picture they would like to use in the Sailing list, Cliff recommended emailing it to him. Chaplain s Report: Sharon Lloyd sent a card to the George Trace family to express our sympathy. Cards were signed for John Pendleton and Sam Templeton. Bruce and Judy Rinehart were at the meeting and gave an update on the continuing chemo treatments.. Membership Report/Introductions: New members and guests in attendance included: Mike Milenovic, FTB2 (SS) qualified on the USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) was in attendance and brought his son, Sea Cadet Jacob Milenovic. Todd VanKirk, IC3 (SS) qualified on the USS George C Marshall (SSBN-654) is our newest member. He was not able to stay for the whole meeting. Joe Stimer, STS (SS), left the USN in 2014. He is a friend of Geoff Durbin. We all made introductions of our submarine experiences Committee Reports: Activities February 7, 2015 Noon Base Meeting, American Legion, Leasure-Blackston Post 239, 700 Morning Street, Worthington, OH 43085.
Page 9 Unfinished Business: 2015 Membership renewal for non-life Members. $30 check for USSVI and Base to Jim Koogler. Base dues only is $10. Bob Imel renewed his membership. Question was asked How can we support the Green Board Editor? Jan Creekmore, Editor Emeritus, recommended sending articles to Dorothy Cook, new Editor. USSVI is still maintaining War Time Veteran Status so contributions are tax deductible in most cases. For the good of the Order: Had an initial trip report of the Central Crossing NJROTC visit to Pearl Harbor for Pearl Harbor Day participation. Sounds like they had a great time visiting USS Columbus. Geoff Durbin shared about his visit to USS Columbus last fall. Geoff served with the new COB. Geoff also donated an old gauge to the submarine museum. Storekeeper Frank Lloyd had numerous hats and patches for sale. 50/50 drawing winner Sharon Lloyd Jan Creekmore Peanut Brittle Bill Meyer Peanut Brittle Dave O Carroll Hot Chocolate Jim Tolson Peanut Brittle Russell Shaeffer Wine Bob Frier Chocolate Bread Announcement of the next meeting: Next Columbus Base meeting February 7, 2015 Noon, Social Hour 1300, Meeting American Legion Leasure-Blackston Post 239, 700 Morning Street, Worthington, OH 43085. Appreciation was extended to Sharon Lloyd for the cupcakes and Rick Freeman for the deviled eggs and slaw. They were a great addition to lunch. Closing prayer (Benediction) was given by Co-Chaplain, Walt Fleak. Adjournment of meeting Commander, Jim Tolson Submitted by Jim Tolson for Woody Cook, Base Secretary
Page 10 Commander s Corner By Jim Tolson Welcome to 2015. Columbus Base is off to a good start. Our January meeting had 29 attending including several new shipmates. One of the visitors just got off the boats in 2014. Thanks again to Sharon Lloyd for bringing cupcakes and Rick Freeman for bringing deviled eggs and cold slaw for our lunch. It was a treat. Jan Creekmore is handing the Green Board newsletter baton to Dorothy Cook, Woody s wife. Be sure to pass any good submarine articles to Dorothy so she can share them with all of us. Her email address is cookys@aol.com. You can also send articles to our Base Secretary Woody Cook and he can share them with Dorothy. USSVI has qualified for War Veteran Status for 2015 by having 90% or more of our membership serve during wartime. This allows any donations to USSVI to be Tax Deductible. Columbus Base shipmate records have been checked to make sure our status is correct. If you have any questions about your status, let me know. Something to keep in mind, when you go on Eternal Patrol, Columbus Base is willing to participate in your funeral service, if you desire. We have participated in church services, funeral home visitation time and grave side services. Make sure your family knows your wishes. Reminder: Jim Koogler and I are collecting 2015 dues from the last few shipmates owing $30 National & Base dues or just $10 Base dues. A check made out to Columbus Base can be mailed to Jim Koogler, 2402 Lyncross St, Grove City, OH 43123. Call Clutch or me with any questions. Stay safe. Hope to see you at the next meeting. Activities Feb 7, 2014 Columbus Base Monthly Meeting at American Legion Leasure-Blackston Post 239, 700 Morning Street, Worthington, OH 43085. 1200 social & sea story hour, 1300 meeting March 7, 2015 Columbus Base Monthly Meeting at American Legion Leasure-Blackston Post 239, 700 Morning Street, Worthington, OH 43085. 1200 so- cial & sea story hour, 1300 meeting
Page 11 February Birthdays Robert Holt 2-3 Pres. Lincoln 2-12 The Conn Base commander Jim Tolson Vice Commander Tim Barker Remember to bring your donations of coffee, tea and / or hot cocoa to the monthly base meeting. Your donations are very much appreciated by the veterans at the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Clinic Treasurer Jim Koogler Secretary Woody Cook Chaplain Sharon Lloyd / Walt Fleak COB Dave Creekmore Membership Chairman Jim Tolson Storekeeper Frank Lloyd Web Master Cliff Dodson Editor s Note If you have comments or articles, please contact the base newsletter editor. Dorothy Cook at e-mail: cookys@aol.com Editor Dorothy Cook Activates Chairmen's Tolson's