Lost Boats
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died...rather we should thank God that such men lived...
~ George S. Patton
Lost on 25 SEP 1925 with the loss of 33 officers and men when it was struck by the merchant steamer SS City of Rome off Block Island, NY.
Only three survivors of the 36 men on board the ill-fated submarine were recovered.
Sunk with the loss of 40 officers and men after a collision with the Coast Guard's USS PAULDING (CG 17), formerly a US Navy destroyer (ex-DD 22).
Salvaged in 1928 and recommissioned.
On 23 MAY 1939, USS SQUALUS suffered a catastrophic valve failure during a test dive off the Isle of Shoals. Partially flooded, the submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in 240 feet of water.
Commander Charles Momsen and Navy divers on USS FALCON (ASR 2) rescued thirty-three survivors use the diving bell he invented. Twenty-six men drowned in the after compartments.
Later USS SQUALUS was raised and recommissioned as USS SAILFISH. In an ironic turn of fate, USS SAILFISH sank the Japanese aircraft carrier carrying surviving crew members from USS SCULPIN, which had located USS SQUALUS after sinking in 1939.
USS SAILFISH was sold for scrapping to Luria Brothers of Philadelphia, PA.
Her conning tower stands as a memorial to the lost crew of USS SQUALUS at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME.
Lost on 20 JUN 1941 with the loss of 33 officers and men when it sank off Isle of Shoals, fifteen miles from Portsmouth, NH.
USS O-9 submerged at 0738 to conduct deep submergence tests and the boat did not surface thereafter but was crushed by the pressure of the water at a depth of 402 feet.
Severely damaged on 10 DEC 1941 while tied up in Cavite Navy Yard, Philippines, during a Japanese air attack with the loss of four men.
The destruction of the Navy Yard made repairs of the severe bomb damage impossible, and USS SEALION was ordered destroyed
To prevent her from falling into enemy hands, she was scuttled in-place at Cavite in Manila Bay.
All salvageable equipment was taken off, depth charges were placed inside, and the explosives were set off to prevent her from being made useful to the enemy.
One other USS SEALION crewman was later captured and died in POW camp.
Lost with no loss of life on her second 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.
Lost with all hands except three, including 46 officers and men in the Gulf of Panama on her second war patrol.
She was rammed by the USS PC-460 and sunk within seconds.
The CO, XO, and one lookout on the bridge were the only survivors.
Lost on 11 FEB 1942 with the loss of 59 officers and men on her first war patrol.
USS SHARK was the first US submarine sunk by enemy surface craft during WWII in the Pacific.
She was most likely sunk by depth charges, reported as the victim of unknown causes.
Lost on 03 MAR 1942 near Java with no immediate loss of life while on her first war patrol.
USS PERCH survived two severe depth chargings in less than 200 feet of water by three Japanese destroyers. The crew abandoned ship and scuttled her.
Fifty-nine officers and men were taken prisoner, and were transported to a POW camp at Ofuna, Japan where they were forced to work mines until the close of WWII.
Fifty-three survived the war, six died as POWs.
Lost on 19 JUN 1942 when it grounded off Amchitka Island.
She was on the surface in poor visibility, charging batteries, and drifted into the shoals. When she could not be freed and started listing, the captain transferred the entire crew to shore 400 yards away)in relays using a three-man rubber raft. The entire crew was subsequently rescued by a PBY Catalina aircraft.