P.O.D.

SSN 680 Plan of the Day

Submarine Patrol Reports

Out browsing the 'net the other day. Ran across a site full of submarine links that I'd never seen before, for some odd reason, called COBLINKS. The site has a link to WWII boat patrol reports from the Navy Historical Center. Makes for some interesting reading if you have the time.

I was struck by this entry in the Patrol Report from the USS Sea Robin's first war patrol - and you thought you had bad days onboard.

 

USS SEA ROBIN (SS407)
c/o Fleet Post Office
San Francisco, Calif.

December 22, 1944 (Cont)

Slowed to 8 knots and headed into slight swell. There were no white caps. Sent three auxiliarymen on deck with proper tools and wearing life belts. Two auxiliarymen were in the superstructure and one was tending them on deck. Commanding Officer, Navigator, as well as Officer of the deck, were on the bridge and a quartermaster was stationed aft on cigarette deck to watch men working on deck.

At 2325 received freak cross sea which swept across aft deck, about one foot deep. Quartermaster saw man go overboard to port. Man was lying flat on deck when he went over the side and it is believed that he was injured by striking his head on 5" gun or deck. He made no outcry and did not struggle. Immediately went to man-over-board stations, cut in Dead Reckoning Tracer (DRT), and maneuvered ship to recover man.

Man lost was GRIFFIN, Thomas Wilson, 842-34-29, MoMM2c, V-6, USNR. GRIFFIN was an excellent swimmer and had life belt. Put eight lookouts on watch and with alternate calling and listening and use of DRT searched area for seven hours during darkness. A two mile square area about the point was searched.


December 23, 1944

At 0401 Contacted Guardfish by SJ radar. She informed us she would assist with our search. At daylight she joined us for a coordinated search. With her help and use of DRT searched during next six hour period a ten square mile area about the point GRIFFIN was lost overboard.

No results. The search was given up as hopeless at 1115 as the man was not on the surface of the water. It is believed that he was injured and sank immediately after going over the side. Position was Lat. 20-16.0° N, Long. 114-56.0° E.


0837 Guardfish dived.

 

Hard reading, but a good reminder that many sacrificed far more than we did in serving their country, whether it was the enemy or the sea.

My comments Subscribe RSS
Community Builder Avatar
Albert Frankel
AMEN!
0
Show comment form
Share the good stuff, shipmate!
0
Shares

OPSEC Policy

The Cold War Boats Association prohibits the posting of Classified material on the the coldwarboats.org website.

Any documents, photographs, audio or video recordings, or artifacts that are currently considered Classified are not permitted, and will be removed.

Any information that could compromise the operational security of active duty personnel, commissioned ships, or their missions is not permitted, and will be removed.

Access to personally identifiable information (PII) of active-duty service members or information related to the crews of submarines currently in full or limited commission is restricted to administrators only.

Full details of the Cold War Boats Association's Security Policy can be found at: www.coldwarboats.org/security.

Questions and concerns should be directed to the Security Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Copyright Information

 
 
© 2024 Brad Williamson
and/or the
Cold War Boats Association
or respective image owners
 
All Rights Reserved
 
Permission is granted for not-for-profit reproduction
of text and images under the condition that
all attribution as to owner and source is included,
and additionally, when republished electronically, a link to is provided.
 
 

Privacy Policy

The Cold War Boats Association is committed to protecting your personally identifiable information (PII). 

This information, your PII,  includes your email, your street address, your phone number(s), your personal records (such as a DD-214) and various other related information.

Your PII will never be shared, given, sold, or rented. It will not be accessible by others, except by administrators or moderators of the www.coldwarboats.org website as necessary in the performance of their duties.

Your use of the www.coldwarboats.org website is your acknowledgement that these limitations are understood.

Full details of the Cold War Boats Association's Privacy Policy can be found at: www.coldwarboats.org/privacy.

Questions and concerns should be directed to the Privacy Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

0
Shares