PALMETTO BASE SUBMARINE VETERANS NEWSLETTER …palmetto-subvets.org/Newsletters/November 2010.pdfPalmetto Base Hall of Fame, Palmetto Silver Star Award Honorary Members Judy Cline

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OUR CREED: To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in

the pursuit of 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.

OOGA OOGA

PALMETTO BASE SUBMARINE VETERANS NEWSLETTER

November 2010

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Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, in San Diego harbor, California, 24 December

1934. The submarines are (from left to right): Cachalot (SS-170) , Dolphin (SS-169) , Barracuda

(SS-163), Bass (SS-164), Bonita (SS-165), Nautilus (SS-168), and Narwahl (SS-167).

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Palmetto Base Officers

Base Commander

Tommy Richardson

Vice Commander: Brian Steffen

Jr. VCDR: D. W. Eggleston

Secretary: Fernando Iglesias

Treasurer: J. P. Watson

Chaplain: Bob Miller

Chief of the Boat: Jim “Snake” Stark

Webmaster: Mark Basnight

Storekeeper: Brian Steffen

Events Chair: Allen “Buzz” Danielson

Liaison Officer: D. W. Eggleston

Committee Chair: Tom O’Brien

Ship’s Photographer: Jim Null

Bereavement Chair: Randy Browning

Kap(SS) 4 Kid(SS) Chair: Don Van Borsch

Newsletter Editor: Randy Browning

Members Milt Berky

David Castro

James L. Charbonneau

Tracy R. Charbonneau

Lonnie Franklin

Ronald Friend

Julian Galloway

Joseph E. Gawronski

Joseph L. Geiger

Glenn E. Harris

Stoney Hilton

Michael House

John Jeffries

Charlie Kerr

James N. Kirby

Arnold Kirk

George “Scram” Kokolis

John J. Krause

Harold R. Lane

William M. Lindler

Charlie MacKenzie

Mark Morgan

Tom Paige

Larry Peay

Ted R. Schneeberg

James P. Scott

Vince Seay

Leonard M. Snell

John Solis

L. E. Spradlin

Jerry Stout

Clarence Teseniar

Thomas N. Thompson

Jeffro M. Wagner

Medal of Honor Winner, Holland Club, Past District Commander, Past Base

Commander, Past Vice Commander, Past Secretary, Past Treasurer, Past Chaplain,

Palmetto Base Hall of Fame, Palmetto Silver Star Award

Honorary Members Judy Cline Charles Murray

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October 19, 2010

Attendees Milt Berkey

Randy Browning

D. W. Eggleston

Julian Galloway

Dave Greenbaum

Veronica Hunter

Fernando Iglesias

John Krause

Bob Miller

Eddie McVicker

Mark Morgan

Jim Null

Tom Paige

Larry Peay

Ted Schneeberg

John Solis

L. E. Spradlin

Jim “Snake” Stark

Brian Steffen (Acting)

Thomas Thompson

Jeffro Wagner

J. P. Watson

Minutes

• 20 Members and 2 guest were present

• Minutes from previous meeting were approved as written.

• Treasurer’s Report $2,096.04 (Kap(SS) for Kid(SS): $2,135.18 and Float Fund: $283.00)

voted on and approved.

• Dave Greenbaum addressed our base membership and expressed how impressed he

was about our base and its members. He then read his letter, “They Deserve Our

Respect”, to the membership and presented, as a gift to each member, a copy of the

print with the same name. He told us he has other items (i.e., shirts, mugs, etc.)

available for sale at his cost; he stated he will not make a penny off a veteran, will only

charge the actual cost of the item. A copy of his letter will be attached to the email

containing these minutes.

• Base Christmas Party: COB addressed the membership and told us that Gilligan’s would

not be available on December 14th as we had previously hoped. However, Thursday,

December 16th is available. The membership decided that would be a good date. So

now, our Base Christmas Party will be held at Gilligan’s in Lexington, on Thursday,

December 16th, 6 – 9 pm.

• Veterans Day Parade/Memorial: Junior Vice Commander addressed the membership

regarding the upcoming Veterans Day Parade and Robert Gibbs’ Memorial. Since the

COB and the Committee Chair will not be able to available, several other absences, time

restraints and condition of the float, he made a motion to cancel the parade and

memorial. A discussion was held by our membership and it was decided that we will

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hold on canceling the parade for now, but the Memorial Service at St. Stephen’s

Lutheran Church will go as planned. Randy Browning was selected by the membership

to be the POC in charge of the memorial services, and the following members

volunteered to help and be present at the service: Randy Browning (POIC), Bob Miller,

Jeffro Wagner, Larry Peay, Jim Null and Mark Morgan

• Care Packages for Our Troops: Base Chaplain told us that thanks to the donations from

his veterinary friend, Dr. Alan W. Harris, we have 240 flea collars to send to our troops.

The value of each flea collar is $7.00 each, for a grand total of $1,680.00. Junior Vice

Commander will print a certificate of appreciation for the doctor and his practice and

also completed a donation receipt to be sent to Dr. Harris. The secretary will create a

Thank You card to be signed by our Base Commander to be sent to the Dr. Harris and his

practice as well.

• SC Arms Collectors Association: COB advised us that he will like to present a certificate

of appreciation to the SC Arms Collectors Association during their upcoming conference

in appreciation for their support/help with the K4K Program. Junior Vice Commander

will a certificate which will be presented to the association by the COB.

• U.S. Submarines Book: A copy of this book was donated by Tom Thompson to our

membership. We will raffle this copy during our upcoming Base Christmas Party on

December.

• Storekeeper spoke about a new base log sticker available for $3 each, plus other items

available for sale, such as our base flag for $35 each.

• Silver Star Award: Vice Commander addressed the membership about the new Silver

Star Award. This award will be presented to an exemplary member of our base

membership. The recipient of the award will be selected by the Base Commander, at his

discretion, and will be presented at our Christmas Party . One recipient may be chosen

per year, but not necessarily every year as deemed by the base commander.

• Vice Commander exhorted the membership to be part, and participate, in school talks

when feasible, to bring awareness of our military, our missions, and our experiences.

• Vice Commander told us that he still has the plaque and certificate for Charles Murray

and since we have not been able to arrange for a presentation of the award, he asked if

we would decide to mail it. L. E. Spradlin stated that he sporadically sees Col Murray,

and would prefer that he tries to contact him before we mail the plaque/award.

• Vice Commander informed us about the upcoming offers from local

restaurants/businesses in honor of the veterans on Veterans Day (Applebee’s, Golden

Corral, Duncan Doughnuts)

• Ed McVicker explained that he worked for the city of Lexington and talked about how

some parks offer tree dedications to honor any deserving person. Just an idea in case

we are looking to do something special in honor of someone who deserves it.

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• Base Secretary advised the membership about email from Don Van Borsch regarding his

knee and progress of his recovery. Don hopes to feel better soon and be able to join us

on our next base meeting.

• Depth Charge: $75.00. L. E. LE Spradlin was the winner!

Thomas Paige – November 4th

Larry Peay – November 9th

Troll Krause – November 13th

Tom O’Brien – November 15th

J. P. Watson – November 21st

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Robert Gibbs’ Memorial and Lexington Veteran’s Parade

Randy Browning , Allen “Buzz” Danielson , D. W. Eggleston , Bob Miller, Jim Null,

Larry Peay, Jeffro M. Wagner, Mark Morgan and Ted R. Schneeberg conducted the Robert Gibbs

Memorial Service at St. Stephens Chapel and dedicated a wreath the grave site.

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Mark Basnight , Randy Browning , Allen “Buzz” Danielson , D. W. Eggleston , Jim Null, Larry Peay, Jeffro M. Wagner, Eddie McVicker, Mark Morgan and Ted R. Schneeberg

participated in the Lexington Veteran’s Parade.

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They returned … Thousands of them… No, they numbered in the hundreds of thousands… Faces

weather beaten, tanned… Smiling as they stepped down from trains all over America. Smiling

that smile, universally recognized as that 'Damn!! It's great to be home!' smile.

They were home again… Those that were left. The survivors of a generation who left their

homes and families to undertake the obligation of freedom-loving men to go into combat and

ultimately defeat some of the most vile proponents of evil. They wore the story of their deeds

and where they had been in rows of multi-colored, mute reminders above their pockets. What

they had seen… What they had done and the personal losses they had suffered, would forever

be in their minds when they looked up at their national colors floating gently in the breeze.

They are rapidly passing into the cold pages of history. The awesome respect in which they

were held a half-century ago has given way to the gentle view point of the Monday Morning

Quarterbacking of those who have grown up in a world of safety and extravagance… Of

promiscuity and excess made possible because of their self-sacrifice.

Soon it will be impossible to find a combat pilot who stared at oncoming aircraft through a

rotating propeller blade… A sailor who passed 40 mm shells to a loader in a battleship gun tub…

A soldier who carried rifle ammo in eight round clips and ate crap that resembled dog food out

of an olive drab can… In a Dutch ditch… In the rain.

Men who fought wars that lasted years, rather than days and ended with a clear-cut result. For

those of us who rode boats that went below the surface, there were men who rode our boats

when the close aboard sound of fifty pounds of TNT detonating would be clearly heard through

several inches of steel. That 'steel' was U.S. built pressure hull and audible public prayer could

be heard in every compartment. And when it was over, hardened men could hug each other,

secure in the knowledge that no one would feel that they might be gender-confused.

These same men knew the sound of torpedo hits and the telltale sound of the result of such

hits as the bulkheads of an enemy target collapsed while the enemy vessel made it's way to the

bottom. Pressure-folding steel is a sound most of us will never hear, thanks to what these men

did.

They had executed their war way beyond the established battle lines… Deep within the home

waters of the Jap Empire. At a time when the Jap emperor and his militaristic toadies were

assuring their easily duped people that they were secure, the people of Japan witnessed their

merchant ships burning all along their coastal horizons. Ships, whose burning hulks were

disappearing nightly, compliments of our Undersea Warriors.

So they returned … What was left of them. They crossed the brow of boats that wore freshly

painted enemy flags... Flags that chronicled their kills… A silent statement of their contribution

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to our victorious effort in the Pacific. It may have been a Silent Service, but little Jap flags

painted on the sides of conning towers made it clear that the presence of our submarine force

had been felt.

And above the jumper pockets of the men crossing to the pier, could be found the sterling silver

representation of a submarine. The pin itself and each star worn below it, represented a war

patrol which resulted in excess of ten thousand tons of enemy shipping sent to the bottom. The

man or men who wrote the requirements for the awarding of that insignia wrote those

requirements in such rigid and specific terms that the pin has never been watered down and

reduced to the 'Crackerjack' prize that so many other military badges have become.

Today, the U.S. Submarine Combat Patrol Pin remains a symbol of men who have gone to sea

and have drawn blood in defense of their country and way of life at the risk of their personal

safety… If not the sacrifice of their futures.

Someday, the powers that decide such things, will come to their senses and will stop naming

our submarines after geographical locations and hack politicians and start naming our undersea

warships after the heroes who wore 'The Pin'. Why they feel compelled to look elsewhere

when we have such towering heroes of our own makes no sense to this old E-3. They named a

whole class of tin cans after Admiral Arliegh Burke, proving that they can do it right... At times.

But, the men who parked torpedoes in the sides of so many enemy ships, held no inflated sense

of their own importance. When you try to thank the old meat-eaters, they always reply with,

"Hell, I was young, scared and just doing my job."

Volunteering for submarine duty in wartime has never been routinely expected of U.S. Sailors.

Volunteering has never been an exercise in goat-roping the timid and reluctant. The Draft

Board never forced any citizen to fill the ranks of the Submarine Service. Any man, who found

wartime employment inside a pressure hull, was there because he put himself there.

"Just doing my job."

Right.

Who in their right mind would choose a line of work that included sitting, sweat-soaked in

darkness, 400 feet below fresh air and sunshine listening to canisters of high explosive detonate

and shatter gauge faces and incandescent bulbs?

No, can't buy,

"Just doing my job."

To buy that, would mean that our Submarine Force was comprised of the worlds largest

collection of complete raving lunatics. The last idiot who called a World War II submariner a

complete lunatic is still trying to get used to his new glass eye, figuring out how to talk with his

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new teeth and walk upright.

They are ours… They handed us an unblemished record of service 'faithfully performed'… A

gallant record of deeds performed by incredibly brave and dedicated men.

Their ranks thin daily. We do not have a lot of time left to buy them a beer… Listen to their

amazing stories and thank them for what they gave us and left in the pages of the history of The

United States Navy.

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CPO Standards Contributed by: Mike McCaffrey, Admiral (retired USN)

Never forget this, a Chief can become an Officer, but an Officer can never become a Chief.

Chiefs have their standards!

Recollections of a Whitehat.

"One thing we weren't aware of at the time, but became evident as life wore on, was that we

learned true leadership from the finest examples any lad was ever given, Chief Petty Officers.

They were crusty old bastards who had done it all and had been forged into men who had been

time tested over more years than a lot of us had time on the planet. The ones I remember

wore hydraulic oil stained hats with scratched and dinged-up insignia, faded shirts, some with a

Bull Durham tag dangling out of their right-hand pocket or a pipe and tobacco reloads in a worn

leather pouch in their hip pockets, and a Zippo that had been everywhere. Some of them came

with tattoos on their forearms that would force them to keep their cuffs buttoned at a

Methodist picnic.

Most of them were as tough as a boarding house steak. A quality required to survive the life

they lived. They were, and always will be, a breed apart from all other residents of Mother

Earth. They took eighteen year old idiots and hammered the stupid bastards into sailors.

You knew instinctively it had to be hell on earth to have been born a Chief's kid. God should

have given all sons born to Chiefs a return option.

A Chief didn't have to command respect. He got it because there was nothing else you could

give them. They were God's designated hitters on earth.

We had Chiefs with fully loaded Submarine Combat Patrol Pins, and combat air crew wings in

my day...hard-core bastards who remembered lost mates, and still cursed the cause of their

loss...and they were expert at choosing descriptive adjectives and nouns, none of which their

mothers would have endorsed.

At the rare times you saw a Chief topside in dress canvas, you saw rows of hard-earned, worn

and faded ribbons over his pocket. "Hey Chief, what's that one and that one?" "Oh hell kid, I

can't remember. There was a war on. They gave them to us to keep track of the campaigns."

"We didn't get a lot of news out where we were. To be honest, we just took their word for it.

Hell son, you couldn't pronounce most of the names of the places we went. They're all depth

charge survival geedunk." "Listen kid, ribbons don't make you a Sailor." We knew who the

heroes were, and in the final analysis that's all that matters.

Many nights, we sat in the after mess deck wrapping ourselves around cups of coffee and

listening to their stories. They were light-hearted stories about warm beer shared with their

running mates in corrugated metal sheds at resupply depots where the only furniture was a few

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packing crates and a couple of Coleman lamps. Standing in line at a Honolulu cathouse or

spending three hours soaking in a tub in Freemantle, smoking cigars, and getting loaded. It was

our history. And we dreamed of being just like them because they were our heroes. When

they accepted you as their shipmate, it was the highest honor you would ever receive in your

life. At least it was clearly that for me. They were not men given to the prerogatives of their

position.

You would find them with their sleeves rolled up, shoulder-to-shoulder with you in a stores

loading party. "Hey Chief, no need for you to be out here tossin' crates in the rain, we can get

all this crap aboard."

"Son, the term 'All hands' means all hands."

"Yeah Chief, but you're no damn kid anymore, you old coot."

"Horsefly, when I'm eighty-five parked in the stove up old bastards' home, I'll still be able to

kick your worthless butt from here to fifty feet past the screw guards along with six of your

closest friends." And he probably wasn't bullshitting.

They trained us. Not only us, but hundreds more just like us. If it wasn't for Chief Petty Officers,

there wouldn't be any U.S. Navy. There wasn't any fairy godmother who lived in a hollow tree

in the enchanted forest who could wave her magic wand and create a Chief Petty Officer.

They were born as hot-sacking seamen, and matured like good whiskey in steel hulls over many

years. Nothing a nineteen year-old jay-bird could cook up was original to these old saltwater

owls. They had seen E-3 jerks come and go for so many years; they could read you like a book.

"Son, I know what you are thinking. Just one word of advice. DON'T. It won't be worth it."

"Aye, Chief."

Chiefs aren't the kind of guys you thank. Monkeys at the zoo don't spend a lot of time thanking

the guy who makes them do tricks for peanuts.

Appreciation of what they did, and who they were, comes with long distance retrospect. No

young lad takes time to recognize the worth of his leadership. That comes later when you have

experienced poor leadership or let's say, when you have the maturity to recognize what leaders

should be, you find that Chiefs are the standard by which you measure all others.

They had no Academy rings to get scratched up. They butchered the King's English. They had

become educated at the other end of an anchor chain from Copenhagen to Singapore. They

had given their entire lives to the U.S. Navy. In the progression of the nobility of employment,

Chief Petty Officer heads the list. So, when we ultimately get our final duty station assignments

and we get to wherever the big Chief of Naval Operations in the sky assigns us, if we are lucky,

Marines will be guarding the streets, and there will be an old Chief in an oil-stained hat and a

cigar stub clenched in his teeth standing at the brow to assign us our bunks and tell us where to

stow our gear... and we will all be young again, and the damn coffee will float a rock.

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Life fixes it so that by the time a stupid kid grows old enough and smart enough to recognize

who he should have thanked along the way, he no longer can. If I could, I would thank my old

Chiefs. If you only knew what you succeeded in pounding in this thick skull, you would be

amazed. So, thanks you old casehardened unsalvageable son-of-a-bitches. Save me a rack in

the berthing compartment."

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain

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Dates in American Naval History

November 1

1841 - "Mosquito Fleet" commanded by LCDR J. T. McLaughlin, USN, carries 750 Sailors and

Marines into the Everglades to fight the Seminole Indians.

1941 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt places Coast Guard under jurisdiction of Department of

the Navy for duration of national emergency.

1967 - Operation Coronado IX began in Mekong Delta

1979 - Beginning of retirement of Polaris A-3 program begins with removal of missiles from USS

Abraham Lincoln. Last Polaris missile removed in February 1982.

November 2

1943 - In Battle in Empress Augusta Bay, U.S. cruisers and destroyers turn back Japanese forces

trying to attack transports off Bougainville, Solomons.

1968 - Operation Search Turn began in Mekong Delta.

November 3

1853 - USS Constitution seizes suspected slaver H. N. Gambrill.

1931 - Dirigible USS Los Angeles makes 10 hour flight out of NAS Lakehurst, NJ, carrying 207

persons, establishing a new record for the number of passengers carried into the air by a

single craft.

1943 - Battleship Oklahoma, sunk at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, is refloated.

1956 - USS Cambria (APA-36) removes 24 members of United Nations Truce Commission team

from the Gaza Strip.

1956 - USS Chilton (APA-38), USS Thuban (AKA-19), and USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30) evacuate

more than 1,500 U.S. and foreign nationals from Egypt and Israel because of the fighting.

1961 - After Hurricane Hattie, helicopters from USS Antietam begin relief operations at British

Honduras providing medical personnel, medical supplies, general supplies, and water.

November 4

1967 - Landing craft from USS Navarro (APA-215) rescue 43 men from British SS Habib Marikar

aground on a reef at Lincoln Island in the Tonkin Gulf.

1971 - USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636) launches a Poseidon C-3 missile in first surface launch

of Poseidon missile.

November 5

1775 - Commodore Esek Hopkins appointed to Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy.

1915 - In AB-2 flying boat, LCDR Henry C. Mustin makes first underway catapult launch from a

ship, USS North Carolina, at Pensacola Bay, FL.

1917 - German submarine torpedoes USS Alcedo off French coast.

1923 - Tests designed to prove the feasibility of launching a small seaplane from a submarine

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occur at Hampton Roads Naval Base. A Martin MS-1, stored disassembled in a tank on

board USS S-1, was removed and assembled. Then the submarine submerged allowing

the plane to float free and take off.

1944 - TF 38 (Vice Admiral John S. McCain) begins 2 days of carrier strikes on Luzon, Philippines.

1945 - Ensign Jake C. West (VF-41) makes first jet landing on board a carrier, USS Wake Island

(CVE-65).

November 6

1851 - U.S. Navy expedition under command of LT William Lewis Herndon, on a mission to

explore the valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, reaches Iquitos in the jungle region

of the upper Amazon after their departure from Lima, Peru.

1941 - On Neutrality Patrol, USS Omaha (CL-4) and USS Somers (DD-381) intercept the German

blockade runner Odenwald disguised as U.S. freighter, board her after the German crew

abandoned the ship, and brought the ship to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the boarding

party was awarded salvage shares.

1942 - First officer and enlisted women from training schools report for shore duty around the

USA.

1951 - Soviet aircraft shoot at Neptune Patrol bomber (VP-6) on weather reconnaissance

mission near Siberia. U.S. aircraft fails to return.

1967 - Helicopter from USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) rescues 37-man crew of Liberian freighter Royal

Fortunes aground on reef in Tonkin Gulf

November 7

1861 - Naval forces under Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont capture Port Royal Sound, SC.

1881 - Naval Advisory Board submits report recommending the new ships in U.S. Navy be

constructed of steel instead of iron.

1973 - War Powers Resolution becomes law.

November 8

1861 - CAPT Charles Wilkes seizes two Confederate diplomats from the British steamer Trent,

causing an international controversy with Great Britain (known as the Trent Affair).

1942 - Operation Torch (Allied landings in French Northwest Africa). American forces land at

Casablanca. French naval forces attack U.S. Navy ships and 13 French ships are sunk

without a loss to the U.S.

1956 - Navy Stratolab balloon (LCDRs Malcolm D. Ross and M. Lee Lewis) better world height

record soaring to 76,000 feet over Black Hills, SD, on flight to gather meteorological,

cosmic ray, and other scientific data.

1975 - Over 100 Sailors and Marines from USS Inchon (LPH-12) and USS Bagley (DE-1069) fight a

fire aboard a Spanish merchant vessel at Palma.

November 9

1921 - USS Olympia arrives at the Washington Navy Yard from France carrying the body of the

Unknown Soldier for internment at Arlington National Cemetery.

1950 - Task Force 77 makes first attack on the Yalu River bridges. In first engagement between

MIG-15 and F9F jets (USS Philippine Sea), LCDR William T. Amen (VF-111) shoots down a

MIG and becomes first Navy pilot to shoot down a jet aircraft.

1956 - Secretary of the Navy proposes the Polaris missile program to the Secretary of Defense.

November 10

1775 - Congress votes to raise two battalions of Continental Marines, establishing the Marine

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Corps.

1941 - U.S. escorted convoy WS 12, carrying 20,000 British troops to Singapore, sails from

Halifax

November 11

1870 - Navy expedition to explore the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, southern Mexico, commanded

by CAPT Robert W. Shufeldt, enters the Coatzacoalcos River to begin a survey for

possible interoceanic canal. Support provided by USS Kansas and USS Mayflower.

1918 - Armistice ends World War I.

1920 - Lenah S. Higbee becomes the first woman to be awarded the Navy Cross. It was awarded

for her World War I service.

1921 - Washington Naval Conference begins.

1943 - Two Carrier Task Forces strike Japanese shipping at Rabaul, sinking one carrier and

damaging other ships. Raid was first use of SB2C Curtiss Helldivers in combat.

1954 - November 11 designated as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars

1966 - Launch of Gemini 12, with CDR James A. Lovell, Jr., USN the command Pilot. Mission

lasted 3 days, 22 hours and 34 minutes and included 59 orbits at an altitude of 162.7

nautical miles. Recovery by HS-11 helicopter from USS Wasp (CVS-18).

1981 - Commissioning of first Trident-class Nuclear Powered Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine,

USS Ohio (SSBN-726).

November 12

1912 - LT Theodore Ellyson makes first successful launching of an airplane (A-3) by catapult at

the Washington Navy Yard.

1940 - CNO Admiral Stark submits memorandum to Secretary of the Navy on 4 plans if U.S.

enters war. He favors the fourth one, Plan Dog, calling for strong offensive in the Atlantic

and defense in the Pacific.

1942 - First day of the three days of fighting in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on USS Iowa (BB-61) to go to the Allied

conferences at Teheran, Iran, and Cairo, Egypt.

November 13

1776 - Captain John Paul Jones in Alfred with brig Providence captures British transport Mellish,

carrying winter uniforms later used by Washington's troops.

1942 - Loss of USS Juneau (CL-52) during Battle of Guadalcanal results in loss of five Sullivan

Brothers.

1943 - Fifth Fleet carriers begin long range night bombing attacks on Japanese positions in

Gilberts and Marshalls in preparation for landings.

1957 - First firing of Regulus II bombardment missile.

November 14

1846 - Naval forces capture Tampico, Mexico.

1910 - Civilian Eugene Ely pilots first aircraft to take-off from a ship, USS Birmingham (CL-2) at

Hampton Roads, VA. He lands safely on Willoughby Spit, Norfolk, VA.

1941 - Order to withdraw Marines at Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China.

1944 - Carrier aircraft attack Japanese shipping in Philippines sinking five ships and damaging

one.

November 15

1882 - LCDR French Chadwick reports to American Legation in London as first Naval Attache.

1942 - Although U.S. lost several ships in Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Naval Force under Rear

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Admiral Willlis Lee, USS Washington (BB-56), turns back Japanese transports trying to

reinforce Guadalcanal. The Japanese never again try to send large naval forces to

Guadalcanal.

1960 - First Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine, USS George Washington (SSBN-598), leaves

Charleston, SC, on initial fleet ballistic missile patrol.

November 16

1776 - First salute to an American flag (Grand Union flag) flying from Continental Navy ship

Andrew Doria, by Dutch fort at St. Eustatius, West Indies.

1856 - Barrier Forts reduction began at Canton China.

1942 - Navy's first Night Fighter squadron (VMF(N)-531) established at Cherry Point, NC.

1963 - President John F. Kennedy on USS Observation Island witnesses launch of Polaris A-2

missile by USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619).

1968 - Operation Tran Hung Dao began in Mekong Delta.

1973 - Launch of Skylab 4 under command of LTC Gerald P. Carr, USMC. The missions lasted 84

days and included 1,214 Earth orbits. Recovery by USS New Orleans (LPH-11).

November 17

1917 - USS Fanning (DD-37) and USS Nicholson (DD-52) sink first enemy submarine, U-58, off

Milford Haven, Wales.

1924 - USS Langley, first aircraft carrier, reports for duty.

1941 - Congress amends Neutrality Act to allow U.S. merchant ships to be armed. Navy's

Bureau of Navigation directs Navy personnel with Armed Guard training to be assigned

for further training before going to Armed Guard Centers for assignment to merchant

ships.

1955 - Navy sets up Special Projects Office under Rear Admiral William F. Raborn, USN, to

develop a solid propellant ballistic missile for use in submarines.

November 18

1890 - USS Maine, first American battleship, is launched.

1922 - CDR Kenneth Whiting in a PT seaplane, makes first catapult launching from aircraft

carrier, USS Langley, at anchor in the York River.

1962 - USS Currituck (AV-7) rescues 13 Japanese fishermen from their disabled fishing boat

Seiyu Maru, which was damaged in Typhoon Karen.

November 19

1813- Capt. David Porter claims Marquesas Islands for the United States.

1943 - Carrier force attacks bases on Tarawa and Makin begun.

1943 - USS Nautilus (SS-168) enters Tarawa lagoon in first submarine photograph

reconnaissance mission.

1961 - At the request of President of Dominican Republic, U.S. Naval Task Force sails to

Dominican Republic to bolster the country's government and to prevent a coup.

1969 - Navy astronauts CDR Charles Conrad Jr. and CDR Alan L. Bean are 3rd and 4th men to

walk on the moon. They were part of Apollo 12 mission. CDR Richard F. Gordon, Jr., the

Command Module Pilot, remained in lunar orbit. During the mission lasting 19 days, 4

hours, and 36 minutes, the astronauts recovered 243 lbs of lunar material. Recovery by

HS-4 helicopters from USS Hornet (CVS-12).

November 20

1856 - CDR Andrew H. Foote lands at Canton, China, with 287 Sailors and Marines to stop

20

attacks by Chinese on U.S. military and civilians.

1917 - USS Kanawha, Noma and Wakiva sink German sub off France.

1933 - Navy crew (LCDR Thomas G. W. Settle, USN, and MAJ Chester I. Fordney, USMC) sets a

world altitude record in balloon (62,237 ft.) in flight into stratosphere.

1943 - Operation Galvanic, under command of Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance, lands Navy,

Marine, and Army forces on Tarawa and Makin.

1962 - President John F. Kennedy lifts the Blockade of Cuba.

November 21

1918 - U.S. battleships witness surrender of German High Seas fleet at Rosyth, Firth of Forth,

Scotland, to U.S. and British fleets.

November 22

1914 - Title Director of Naval Aeronautics established.

November 23

1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Admiral William D. Leahy as U.S. Ambassador to

Vichy France to try to prevent the French fleet and naval bases from falling into German

hands.

November 24

1852 - Commodore Matthew Perry sails from Norfolk, VA, to negotiate a treaty with Japan for

friendship and commerce.

1964 - USS Princeton (LPH-5) completes 7-days of humanitarian relief to South Vietnam which

suffered damage from typhoon and floods.

1969 - HS-4 from USS Hornet (CVS-12) recovers Apollo 12's all-Navy crew of astronauts,

Commanders Richard Gordon, Charles Conrad, and Alan Bean, after moon landing by

Conrad and Bean.

November 25

1775 - Continental Congress authorizes privateering.

1943 - In Battle of Cape St. George, 5 destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 23 (Captain Arleigh

Burke) intercept 5 Japanese destroyers and sink 3 and damage one without suffering any

damage.

1961 - Commissioning of USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65), the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier,

at Newport News, VA.

November 26

1847 - LT William Lynch in Supply sails from New York to Haifa for an expedition to the River

Jordan and the Dead Sea. His group charted the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee to

the Dead Sea and compiled reports of the flora and fauna of the area.

1940 - Sixth and last group of ships involved in Destroyers-for-Bases Agreement transferred to

British at Nova Scotia.

November 27

1941 - Chief of Naval Operations sends "war warning" to commanders of Pacific and Asiatic

Fleets.

1961 - Navy reports first use of its cyclotron at Harvard University to treat a human brain

tumor. After three treatments, the tumor of the 2-year old patient shrank by eighty

percent.

November 28

1775 - Congress adopts first rules for regulation of the "Navy of the United Colonies."

1941 - USS Enterprise (CV-6) sails from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine aircraft to

21

island.

1942 - Ensigns George W. Carlson and Mac A. Cason, SC, USNR organize rescue parties to help

rescue people from the fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, MA . They are

credited "the cause of saving more lives than any other single agency."

November 29

1775 - CAPT John Manley in schooner Lee captures British ordnance ship Nancy with large

quantity of munitions.

1890 - First Army-Navy football game (Navy won 24 to 0).

1929 - CDR Richard Byrd makes first flight over South Pole.

1944 - USS Archerfish (SS-311) sinks Japanese carrier Shinano, world's largest warship sunk by

any submarine during World War II .

November 30

1942 - In Battle of Tassafaronga, last major naval action in Solomons, U.S. force prevents

Japanese attempt to reprovision the Japanese troops on Guadalcanal. Six U.S. ships are

damaged in the action.

22

Brief History of Punishment by Flogging in the US Navy

Warnings against the excessive use of flogging were written as early as 1797 by Captain Thomas

Truxtun and in 1808 by Surgeon Edward Cutbush. A proposal to abolish flogging was first

introduced in Congress in 1820 by Representative Samuel Foot, but it was unsuccessful.

Congressman Foot was the father of Andrew Hull Foote, who was later an admiral in the Civil

War. In 1831 Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury issued an order that said until Congress

changed the existing laws governing punishment in the Navy, whenever such laws allowed a

discretion in the use of punishments, he recommended that in the case of seamen,

commanding officers should first resort to fines and badges of disgrace, and other forms of mild

corrections rather than using "the humiliating practice of whipping." Later, Secretary of the

Navy James K. Paulding issued an order to commanding officers that flogging was to be

administered in accordance with the law and always in the presence of the captain. The New

York Evening Star newspaper praised Secretary Paulding's action. It also reprinted some

material from the Norfolk Herald concerning the arrival of the sloop-of-war Vandalia in Norfolk

after a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico under Captain Uriah P. Levy. The Herald noted that Captain

Levy had kept his ship in prime condition without the use of flogging. The story told of Levy's

system discipline and substitutes for the lash including badges of disgrace. The editorial of the

Evening Star on Levy and material from the Norfolk Herald were reprinted without comment in

the January 1840 issue of the magazine, Army and Navy Chronicle. But Lieutenant George

Mason Hooe brought charges against Levy for "scandalous and cruel conduct, unbecoming to

an officer and a gentleman" in ordering a substitute punishment for a boy in the ship. The boy,

who was 16 to 18 years of age, was charged with mimicking an officer of the ship. Unwilling to

flog the boy, Levy ordered him tied to a gun with his trousers lowered. A small quantity of tar,

variously described as the size of a silver dollar to the size of a man's head, was applied with

oakum to his buttocks along with some parrot feathers. Levy was tried by a court martial and

sentenced to be dismissed from the service. President John Tyler reviewed the findings. He

said that Levy had acted within the spirit of Secretary Woodbury's order. While Levy had

resorted to "an entirely disgraceful punishment" his motives were good, the punishment drew

no blood and caused no harm. Tyler reduced Levy's sentence to a twelve month suspension.

The court martial of Levy probably made many other officers unwilling to employ substitutes

for flogging. Levy continued to oppose the practice and reportedly wrote newspaper articles on

the subject. Other line officers who opposed the use of flogging were Captains Robert F.

Stockton, Lawrence Kearney and John C. Long.

Meanwhile men who identified themselves as former sailors were presenting their views to the

public. In 1840 William M. Murrell published a book entitled Cruise of the Frigate Columbia

23

Around the World. In it he recounts how men received twelve lashes for trivial offences such as

having dirty pots or failing to close the door of a toilet. He himself received twelve lashes for

failing to properly mark a piece of clothing and for accidentally spilling ink on the deck. Murrell

condemned the flagrant use of authority, but he believed that flogging should be retained for

some offences such as stealing.

The year 1840 also saw the publication of Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, in

which he recounted his experience as a merchant sailor in the brig Pilgrim. He presented a

description of a terrible flogging in the ship in 1839 and of living under tyranny in the ship. But

in the last chapter he doubted the expediency of abolishing flogging. In 1841 a former enlisted

man named Solomon Sandborn published a pamphlet entitled An Exposition of Official Tyranny

in the United States Navy which set forth instances of the abuse of various regulations by

officers and called for the abolition of flogging . Other former enlisted men also published

accounts of their naval service and of abuses of authority by officers.

In the public mind, especially in the North, the practice of flogging was often associated with

the treatment of convicts and slaves, and it was believed to be contrary to the democratic spirit

of the times and the ideals of the United States. Support for this view came from Willliam

McNally, who claimed to be a former sailor. In 1839 he published a work on Evil Island Abuses

in the Naval and Merchant Service in which he argued that sailors were treated worse than

slaves. He cited instances where more than the legal number of lashes were inflicted in

floggings. He also argued that flogging kept Native American men from joining the Navy. This,

in turn, led to a shortage of manpower in the Navy and merchant service which led both to

resort to using foreign-born sailors. Reformers said that if American citizens were decently

treated, they would be more likely to serve in both the Navy and merchant service. Such

reformers also argued that the Navy's daily issue of grog, or whiskey mixed with water, was the

source of many of the disciplinary problems. Therefore if the grog ration was abolished there

would be less need for flogging. If flogging was abolished the service would be more attractive

to American men. The American Seamen's Friend Society, a religious based organization, was

in the forefront of the movement to eliminate grog and flogging. It included among its

membership some naval officers. In the 1840's a number of civilian groups began to petition

Congress to abolish flogging.

One reflection of this movement came in 1847 when John P. Hale of New Hampshire was

elected to the Senate by an anti-slavery party. Earlier Hale had served as a Democratic

Representative from New Hampshire, and in 1844 and 1845 he introduced amendments to bills

that would abolish flogging in the Navy. These efforts were unsuccessful. Following his return

to Washington he announced to the Senate his intention to abolish flogging. Between

December 1849 and June 1850 the Senate received 271 petitions from the citizens of various

states urging the end of flogging. In 1850 the Secretary of the Navy sent an inquiry to a number

of naval officers asking for their opinions on whether flogging and grog could be eliminated

without damage to the Navy. Of the 84 replies received by the secretary, only seven officers

thought that flogging should be discontinued. Therefore when Senator Hale succeeded in

getting a law passed in September 1850 abolishing flogging in the Navy and merchant marine,

there were a number of naval officers who thought that the legislation was misguided.

24

Meanwhile in March 1850 Herman Melville's novel, White-Jacket, or The World in a Man-of-

War was published. It contained a chapter on flogging and others on its evil effects and

unlawful use. He called for its abolition. Some naval officers took exception to Melville's

remarks and wrote rebuttals, a few of which were published in newspapers or pamphlets. The

document reproduced above, A Plea in Favor of Maintaining Flogging in the Navy, may have

been inspired by Melville's novel, by the action of Congress, or by the campaign of some

officers and civilians to restore the practice of flogging. This effort was decisively defeated after

a speech in the Senate in 1851 by Senator Robert F. Stockton of New Jersey, a former Navy

captain. Naval officers had to adjust to new conditions, and there was increased pressure on

Congress to enact new regulations. In March 1855 Congress passed a law for the more efficient

discipline in the Navy. This established a system of summary courts martial for minor offences.

It could sentence guilty men to a solitary confinement, with or without single or double irons,

and/or a diet of bread and water for a limited time. It could also give bad conduct discharges.

In 1862 Congress gave the force of law to a major revision of all Navy regulations that reflected

a more progressive view of discipline.

Note: In September 1846, after the death of his father, Andrew Hull Foote added an "e" to his

last name.

25

Navy Announces First Sub Officer Assignments for Women Defence Talk, 25 October 2010

WASHINGTON: Two dozen women will begin reporting to four submarines by the end of next

year, marking a new milestone in the 110-year history of the submarine force, Navy officials

announced today.

Six female officers each will join the crews of the USS Wyoming, USS Georgia, USS Maine and

USS Ohio, Navy Submarine Group 10 officials announced in a news release. Three female

officers will be assigned to each of the subs’ two crews.

The Wyoming and the Maine are nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, and the Georgia

and Ohio are nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines. Submarines of these two classes are

assigned two full crews, known as blue and gold crews, which rotate between sea and shore

duty to maximize the time a submarine can spend in its assigned area.

Two of the women in each crew will be submarine officers, and the third female officer will be a

warfare-qualified supply officer. They will be assigned to their first submarine duty station after

nuclear power school, prototype training and the Submarine Officer Basic Course. They are

expected to report to their assigned submarines beginning in December 2011.

Navy Lt. Rebecca Rebarich, the submarine group’s public affairs officer, said today the new

submarine officers were commissioned through the U.S. Naval Academy, ROTC programs and

Officer Candidate School. All 24 women have been identified and will join their new crews at

about the same time, but the Navy is not releasing their names while they undergo training.

“We want them to be able to focus on what they’re doing while they’re in training,” Rebarich

explained. “Today’s announcement is part of the process of integrating women into submarine

crews. This is just another step.”

Submarine Group 10 is commanded by Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, who leads the Navy’s Women

on Submarines Task Force.

The Navy’s integration of women into submarine crews has been under way since Defense

Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress in February the service wanted to add women to

its submarine crews. Following a congressional review, Navy officials announced April 29 they

would begin accepting women’s applications for submarine officer training.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former Navy surface warfare officer, declared his goal of

integrating women into the submarine forces soon after taking office in May 2009. Adm. Gary

Roughead, chief of naval operations, seconded Mabus’s initiative. The admiral said in a

statement released in September 2009 that his experience commanding a mixed-gender

surface-combatant ship makes him very comfortable integrating women into the submarine

force.

The Navy first allowed women to serve on surface noncombatant ships in 1973 and on surface

combatant ships in 1993.

26

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28

USS Albacore (SS-218)

Lost on:

11/7/1944

Lost on Nov 7, 1944 with the loss of 86 men when she was sunk off northern Hokkaido. Winner of two Presidential Unit Citations, Albacore was on her eleventh war patrol and struck a mine while running submerged near a Japanese patrol craft that had detected her.

US Navy Official Photo

www.bcpatch.com

NavSource.org

Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 6/1/1942 Launched: 2/17/1942 Builder: Electric Boat Co (General Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: Albacore was assumed to have been lost. According to Japanese records captured after the war, a submarine assumed to be Albacore struck a mine very close to the shore off northeastern Hokkaido on 7 November. 86 men lost.

29

USS Growler (SS-215)

Lost on:

11/8/1944

Lost on Nov 8, 1944 with the loss of 84 men when she was sunk in the South China Sea. Winner of two Navy Unit Commendations, Growler was on her 12th war patrol, and was lost while attacking a convoy, probably as a result of a depth charge attack or victim of a circular run by one of her own torpedoes.

US Navy Photo

NavSource.org

NavSource.org

Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 3/20/1942 Launched: 11/22/1941 Builder: Electric Boat Co (General Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: The wolfpack, headed by Growler, closed a convoy for attack. The order to commence attacking was the last communication ever received from Growler. She was listed as lost in action against the enemy, cause unknown. 85 men lost.

30

USS Scamp (SS-277)

Lost on:

11/9/1944

Lost on Nov 9, 1944 with the loss of 83 men near Tokyo Bay. On her 8th war patrol, she may have been damaged by a mine and was trailing oil, which helped Japanese coast defense vessels locate her and destroy her with depth charges.

US Navy Photo

BC Patch

NavSource.org

Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 9/18/1942 Launched: 7/20/1942 Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard Length: 307, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: From records available after the war, it appears that Scamp was sighted by Japanese planes and reported depth charged by a coast defense vessel to the South of Tokyo Bay. 83 men lost.

31

USS Corvina (SS-226)

Lost on:

11/16/1943

Lost on Nov 16, 1943 with the loss of 82 men when she was sunk just south of Truk. Corvina was on her 1st war patrol and appears she was lost to the torpedoes of a Japanese submarine.

US Navy Official Photo

Mike Smolinski

NavSource.org

Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 8/6/1943 Launched: 5/9/1943 Builder: Electric Boat Co (General Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: Corvina topped off with fuel at Johnston Island and was never heard from again. Sunk by Japanese submarine south of Truk on 16 Nov 1943. 82 men lost.

32

USS Sculpin (SS-191)

Lost on:

11/19/1943

Lost on Nov 19, 1943 with the loss of 40 men near Truk. Severly damaged by depth charges after attacking an enemy convoy, Sculpin continued to fight on the surface. When the captain was killed, the crew abandoned ship and scuttled Sculpin. 41 men were taken prisoner; only 21 survived the war. Among those not abandoning ship was CAPT Cromwell,aboard as a potential wolfpack commander, he rode the Sculpin down, fearing that vital information in his possession might be compromised under torture. For this, CAPT Cromwell was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Navy Photo / NavSource.com

www.bcpatch.com

NavSource.org

Class: SS 188 Commissioned: 1/16/1939 Launched: 7/27/1938 Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard Length: 311, Beam: 27 #Officers: 5, #Enlisted: 50 Fate: Scuttled in the Gilberts Archipelago on her 9th patrol. The Commanding Officer CDR.Connaway was killed. Capt. Cromwell went down with the ship and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his act of heroism and devotion to country.