OOGA OOGA

NOVEMBER, 2008

PALMETTO BASE SUBMARINE VETERANS

NEWSLETTER

Base Commander – Ron Friend

Palmetto Base Members

Joe Gawronski – Vice Commander Russ “Pappy” Cline - Treasurer

DW Eggleston – Secretary Mark Basnight – Chaplain

Tommy Richardson – Public Relations Jim “Snake” Stark – Chief Of Boat

Brian Steffen – Storekeeper Jerry Stout – District 4 Commander

Milt Berkey James Charbonneau Tracy Charbonneau

Judy Cline William Cox Allen “Buzz” Danielsen

Mae Friend Joe Geiger Kelly Grantham

John Green Glenn Harris Stoney Hilton

Mike House Jim Kirby John Krause

Dick Lane Bill Lindler Ken Middleton

Bob Miller Tom O’Brien Rebecca Richardson

Sam Sanders Ted Schneeberg Leonard Snell

John Solis LE Spradlin Jeffrey Wagner

=============================================================================

Treasury Summary Report

1/2/2008 Thru 10/21/2008

Balance - $836.61

Complete report not available at this time

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.

Base Commander – Ron Friend

10-31-08

UNITED STATES SUBMARINE VETERANS INC.

Palmetto Base

Minutes – October 21, 2008

Meeting called to order by Vice Commander, Joe Gawronski.

Fourteen members were present (list attached).

Minutes of the September 16, 2008 meeting were approved.

Total in the treasury is $836.61.

It was recommended and approved to present Bob Oswald a submarine flag for

his hospitality at our October base outing.

The submarine flag was distributed to those that had purchased them and Brian

Steffen, our base storekeeper now has possession and responsibility for the

flags.

2009 National and Base dues are now due. Deadline is Jan. 1, 2009. Dues

should be submitted to the base treasurer, Russ Cline. National is $20 and Base

$15.

Plans for the Veterans Day parade and the memorial ceremony for Robert Gibbs

who was lost on the Squalus were discussed in some detail.

The interim submarine float has been completed and will be in the parade.

The sub vet float is scheduled to follow the White Knoll high school JNROTC drill

team, color guard and band.

Tommy Richardson (PRO) is arranging for the news coverage.

The depth charge contributed $66 to the base treasury.

Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at the CRAB

SHACK in Lexington. Time is 1800 social, 1900 business.

Respectfully submitted,

DW Eggleston, Base Secretary

Members Present

Russ Cline

DW Eggleston

Joe Gawronski

Gil Kaelin

John Krause

Bob Miller

Tom O’Brien

Tommy Richardson

Ted Schneeberg

John Solis

LE Spradlin

Jim Stark

Brian Steffen

Jeffro Wagner

November Birthdays

TROLL KROUSE – Thur. Nov. 13

O’BIE O’BRIEN – Sat. Nov. 15

PALMETTO BASE OCTOBER OUTING

Many thanks from the sub vets to the committee of Tommy, Snake, Buzz and Rebecca who did

all the work and organization of our outing. Those who didn’t attend missed a real good time

and should seriously consider not being AWOL again. What you missed is punishment enough.

Special thanks to Bob Oswald who allowed us to use these quality facilities. We should consider

him a good friend of the “PHIN”.

What a beautiful spot for an outing and with perfect weather

S.C. Submarine Veteran flag is flying.

Committee member and executive chef,

Tommy Richardson welcomes all to the

outing and the cuisine.

Three top chicken pickers were selected to

help prepare the feast. District CO, Jerry

Stout and Base XO, Joe Gawronski under

direction of Buzz Danielsen, committee

member and assistant chef.

Duty taster and duty spice control at work. “QUALIFIED”

COB, Snake Stark, says seconds are in order. What do you mean? You don’t like country?

What an outing, we got to do this again! Hope they will let me be on the next Committee.

Palmetto Base Submarine Float to be used in the Lexington Veterans Day parade on

Sunday, November 9, 2008 ( Construction location and materials provided by Jim “snake” Stark

our base COB)

Base interim submarine float under construction

Submarines, “The Ultimate In Stealth”

Roughead calls boats „the ultimate in stealth‟ MCLEAN, Va. — Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead jokes that his fellow surface warfare officers believe he‟s gone to the “dark side,” but he‟s proud of it. “I love submarines,” he said Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Naval Submarine League. Roughead said in a former job as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, he considered the undersea force his “killer arrow in the quiver,” and not a Cold War leftover as some perceived. “As a commander in the Pacific you rely on submarines more than anything else,” he said. “There‟s nothing that represents the ultimate in stealth like a U.S. Navy submarine.” Submarines are used extensively these days for intelligence gathering and surveillance and now as CNO, Roughead said he has heard more debriefs from submarine commanders home from patrol than from returning — and higher-ranking — strike group commanders. Calling American submariners the “most professional and competent force we have,” he said the community nonetheless faces a growing fleet of undersea competition with 40 nations operating 350 subs with a projected 280 more on the way. “They are not bush league submarines,” he said, noting that not all are allies. “These are pretty capable boats we‟ll have to deal with.” Roughead also said the Navy needs to “move aggressively” toward fielding unmanned underwater vehicles, as well as unmanned aircraft. The theme of this year‟s two-day event is the operational debut of the four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines converted to carry a high load of conventional ordnance and to conduct larger force special operations missions. The SSGNs Ohio and Florida are currently on deployment, Michigan will deploy in the coming weeks and Georgia deploys in 2009.

United States Submarines lost in November

USS Albacore (SS-218)

View Ship's Log for SS-218

View full profile of SS-218

View several memorials for 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.

Class: SS 212

Commissioned: 6/1/1942

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.

Launched: 2/17/1942

Builder: Electric Boat Co (General

Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27

#Officers: 4, #Enlisted: 54

USS Growler (SS-215)

View Ship's Log for SS-215

View full profile of 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.

Class: SS 212

Commissioned: 3/20/1942

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.

Launched: 11/22/1941

Builder: Electric Boat Co (General

Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27

#Officers: 5, #Enlisted: 54

USS Scamp (SS-277)

View Ship's Log for SS-277

View full profile of SS-277

View several memorials for 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.

Class: SS 212

Commissioned: 9/18/1942

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.

Launched: 7/20/1942

Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard

Length: 307, Beam: 27

#Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54

USS Corvina (SS-226)

View Ship's Log for SS-226

View full profile of SS-226

View several memorials for 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.

Class: SS 212

Commissioned: 8/6/1943

Fate: Sunk by Japanese submarine south of

Truk on 16 Nov 1943. 82 men lost.

Launched: 5/9/1943

Builder: Electric Boat Co (General

Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27

#Officers: 4, #Enlisted: 54

USS Sculpin (SS-191)

View Ship's Log for SS-191

View full profile of SS-191

View the memorial for 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.

Class: SS 188

Commissioned: 1/16/1939

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.

Launched: 7/27/1938

Builder: Portsmouth Navy Yard

Length: 311, Beam: 27

#Officers: 5, #Enlisted: 50