THE LEGEND OF THE SILENT SERVICE

Various classes of U.S. Navy SS-class and SSN submarines from pre-WWII with some serving into the 1970s.

As we look back over the growing distance of time, submarine veterans realize, our service in the Navy’s submarine force was an important pinnacle of life experiences. The shipmates we served with, we carry a special bond for life.

Life under the sea in a nuclear powered submarine is packed full of a myriad of systems to understand and operate in the performance of our missions while surviving for months under the ocean. These are amazing experiences to reminisce upon.

Most of us did not spend much time reading submarine history when we served, when we weren’t in school we were doing what most young sailors are up to doing, often getting into trouble or trying to stay out of it. Much of the history learned came from submarine school where gallantry and heroism of submariners of the past adorn the walls of the memorials throughout the base in Groton, Connecticut. We’ll never forget the immortal last order of WWII Commander Howard W. Gilmore shouting “TAKE HER DOWN!” as he lay mortally wounded on the bridge of the USS Growler SS-215, engaged in close combat with an Imperial Japanese warship.

When we trained to serve on submarines we needed to get heavy on the latest equipment, operations and strategies relevant to the day. We were too busy responding to the demands of understanding the working details and operations of the submarines we served on. We didn’t think too much about legacy as young men, most of us not far graduated from high school when we became QUALIFIED IN SUBMARINES and awarded the coveted Submarine Dolphins. Living the submariner’s life was more than enough.

Various classes of US. Navy SSN class submarines from 1960s through current times.

When devoting some time to reflect, not only of the bold actions of the generation of Cold War submariners, but beyond to theSilent Service as a whole, from today’s technology rich multi-mission environment to the total warfare of WWII, we can be faced with a heightened and broadened picture of the silent service’s reality and how we were and are an important part of it.

To understand the crisis and relation of the powerful nature of the submarine in unrestricted war is to developed a deep respect for the vision, the innovation and the heroic daring of the WWII submariners. America was caught on her heels by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and the initial small fleet of submarines responded in the fight for survival. Those who fought in the fleet subs overcame many epic obstacles including archaic doctrine and tactics, long deployments far from any support and deep in enemy territory, short upkeep periods in-between, the horrific experience of depth charging, the close and closed often fetid and oxygen depleted nature of surviving submerged, and the supreme frustration of their own torpedoes that failed to perform in a variety of ways including some  that circled back home in that nightmare scenario.

Another unique problem encountered by U.S. submarines on patrol, often operating in radio silence secret deep in enemy held seas and needing to frequently run on the surface to recharge batteries, was being attacked by allied aircraft who were unable to identify U.S. submarines or were just too exuberant to exercise any care.

Nevertheless, despite being shot at by our own fighter planes when not involved in joint operations, the Silent Service provided the best safety nets for downed pilots. Many were rescued by the submarines going into harm’s way often within range of the enemy planes and shore batteries. Perhaps the most famous rescued pilot was President George H.W. Bush, then a young navy lieutenant.

Machine and man were destined to be drawn together to fight the unrelenting forces of the ocean and of the enemy.  The intelligent resourcefulness, tenacity, fortitude, collaboration, and lack of tolerance for bullshit embodied by the U.S. Navy submariners were instrumental in turning the tables on a powerful foe in dramatic fashion – leading to ultimate victory.

The impact of WWII leadership in submarine warfare and the establishment of a well maintained and leading edge U.S. Navy submarine force, ready for war but with a vision of peace, has shaped the world as we know it.

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Two of the Silent Service’s legends of WWII, Dick O’Kane and Skipper Dudley “Mush” Morton return to Pearl Harbor from Wahoo’s3rd war patrol in 1943.

IMPACTING NAVAL WARFARE

In World War II, there were seven submarine captains who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their “Conspicuous Gallantry and Intrepidity at the risk of this life above and beyond the call of duty…” They are:

CAPT  John Philip Cromwell, USS Sculpin

CDR Samuel David Dealey, USS Harder

RADM Eugene Bennett Fluckey, USS Barb

CDR Howard Walter Gilmore, USS Growler

RADM Richard H. O’Kane, USS Tang

VADM Lawson P Ramage, USS Parche; and

CDR George Levick Street, III, USS Tirante.

To offer you a snapshot of the impact of the WWII Fleet submarines, I want to quote RADM Richard “Dick” O’Kane from his book “Wahoo”.

“Our submarines sank over 1,300 merchantmen, half again the number sunk by all other forces combined. Over 200 warships were sunk, which exceeded even the number sunk by U.S. Naval Air; and, in addition, there were 300 special missions. All of this was accomplished by a force manned by only 2% of the United States Navy’s personnel. After the war, Japanese admirals and generals alike place U.S. submarine operations first in the factors leading to the fall of the Empire.

“The results were not achieved without the most severe penalties…”

52 submarines were lost out of about 263 that made war patrols and 3,505 shipmates are still on patrol“our submarines had the highest casualty rate in the armed forces, six times that in surface ships, for boats engaged the enemy continuously throughout the war, except for about 3 weeks between 2-month patrols.”

Navy Medal of Honor – source quietwarriors.wordpress.com – (image may be subject to copyright).

 

 

Support the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum

Don’t miss the opportunity to support the legacy of the Silent Service while providing recognition of SSN-698with a tax-deductible gift. It’s a twofer. Make your donation before January 1st 2020 in our effort to achieve special honors for USS BremertonSSN 698. Donations of any amount are welcome!

The museum is involved in a substantial and exciting new revitalization of their facility to help better educate the public about the Silent Service. As alumni of the Bremertonwe have an opportunity to help make an impact as well as driving at achieving special sponsorship status and recognition with respect to USS Bremerton SSN-698. Please click on the link/image of the Bowfin below for more information.

All donations are made through the Bowfin.org websiteand go directly to their renovation and expansion efforts. Corporate sponsors welcome.

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Captain Wes Bringham dub-honors 698

as the “American Classic”

Go to this link for the story and video. or click on the image

CDR Wes Bringham and the famous O’Kane cribbage board.

 

 

698 LOOKING FORWARD

USS Bremerton, the most senior not yet de-commissioned submarine in the United States Navy, is currently at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard preparing for her date with destiny. Decom ceremony and reunion in Bremerton are tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2021, that puts BadFish on course for a 40 year run.

Cheers – from RMCS(SS) Don Jones, Plankowner, SSN698

 

SAVE THE 698

Join the Movement. Are you passionate about preserving the USS Bremerton in any way shape or form after her decommissioning for the benefit of the public and of naval history? You are invited to a new closed group forum on Facebook “SaveThe698” to be involved in public discussion related to Saving 698. You can see the group site by clicking HERE.

Copyright © 2019 bremertonreunion.net

 

 

THE “AMERICAN CLASSIC”

Editor’s notes:

The following article is a republication of an original work in 2016 by contributing writer and plankowner Russ Woods who offers his insights to life on the Bremerton during the early days as she began her ocean going journey out of the shipyards. Although we in the early generations of 698 crews did not refer to our boat as the BadFish, Russ offers this as a token of respect all the submariners who were ever part of the vital life blood and spirit of the Bremerton.

Not only does Russ Woods offer valuable crew member insights of the early years of the Bremerton, he also offers it with a certain retrospective sharpness, humility and self-disclosure that I appreciate as a fellow submariner and shipmate.

For the volunteers who fulfilled the mission of the United States Navy’s Silent Service, those precious years often become a legacy we never planned on.

“American Classic” is the age-defying honor publicly given to the BadFish by then Bremerton Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Wes Bringham, in the Kitsap Sun video published on February 28, 2016. To see the popular video featuring Captain Bringham, go to the link at the bottom of the page.

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The new shining star of the US Navy’s submarine fleet, USSBremertonarriving in Bremerton, Washington, Fall 1982. Image courtesy of Donald Jones, Plankowner, USS Bremerton.

 

 

USS BREMERTON: AN “AMERICAN CLASSIC”

By Russ Woods

In my time I served in three different submarines: Bremerton, Henry M. Jackson and Michigan. I was fortunate enough to be a Plankowner in Bremertonand Henry M. Jackson.

I must confess in my youth I did not demonstrate the affection for my Submarine as I seem to these days. I was just as quick to make comments like “This boat sucks” or “I hate this boat” as many of my shipmates did at one time or another. Case in point “C.A.R.T.” – If you were there you know what this means.

How naïve I and we were. As many of you have experienced or at least heard, the ’98 boat was a problem child. She was impudent and cantankerous. She did not seem to want to come out of the gate. We, my Plankowner shipmates and I, collectively through hard work, inspiring dedication and endurance of significant hardships brought her out. We were also one of the last to hear the phrase “Rig for Rickover”. Those who were there know exactly what that means.

How were we to know then we were serving in a history-making Warship? The first clue should have been her maiden voyage around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean, where she performed flawlessly while we troublemakers steered her into troubled waters and performed sneaky spy stuff on the unsuspecting Soviets and the hapless Libyans motoring around in shallow waters that they felt they were the masters of. Yea, not so, says Badfish 698.

Then a short few months later our girl goes out on a pleasure cruise to visit her namesake city and allow us steely eyed denizens a “fun run” to reward us for our great service to America. But in an instant the Badfish phone rang and Uncle Sugar needed us to re-think our priorities and turned our “fun run” into a Spec-Op. And of course our thoroughbred answered the call and hit full stride on our run to the Pacific North West to counter Ivan’s nefarious plans. She made history then by becoming the fastest submarine in the fleet and by extension the fastest in the world.

The Captain’s log from commissioning forward reads of one challenging exploit after another that our girl accepted and excelled at.

When I reflect back on my sometimes crappy attitude that at times I demonstrated I feel a strong pang of regret deep inside my soul. I am hopeful any of my shipmates who occasionally shared my bad behavior have been fortunate enough to feel remorse for their wicked tongue that blasphemed against what is now our pride.

She is now beyond a shadow of a doubt the finest of the 688 class. Testimony to the professionalism of her first august crew and every single crewman who has served in her since. We my shipmates own a part of history. No matter what those evil yard birds do to her after she is finally decommissioned, she will always belong to the Ages. Her name will be there at the top of the list of longest serving submarines in our country’s history. Our great grandchildren and beyond will see her name in Jane’s fighting Ships. They will be able to say with pride, “My great-grandfather served in her.”

Yes, any of us who besmirched her name even once should feel justly ashamed. Because USS BremertonSSN 698 was taking us all on a ride in history. Marking us as a very privileged group. A brotherhood of the Badfish, an “American Classic”.

russwoodsRuss Woods,Plankowner, back in the day.

 

 

****

698 News

Support the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum

Don’t miss the opportunity to support the legacy of the Silent Service while providing recognition of SSN-698 with a tax-deductible gift. It’s a twofer. Make your donation before January 1st 2020 in our effort to achieve special honors for USS Bremerton SSN 698. Donations of any amount are welcome!

The museum is involved in a substantial and exciting new revitalization of their facility to help better educate the public about the Silent Service. As alumni of the Bremerton we have an opportunity to help make an impact as well as driving at achieving special sponsorship status and recognition with respect to USS Bremerton SSN-698. Please click on the link/image of the Bowfin below for more information.

All donations are made through the Bowfin.org website and go directly to their renovation and expansion efforts. Corporate sponsors welcome.

Click on me! USS Bowfin.org

 

Captain Wes Bringham dub-honors 698 as the “American Classic”

Go to this link for the story and video. or click on the image

CDR Wes Bringham and the famous O’Kane cribbage board.

 

LOOKING FORWARD

USS Bremerton, the most senior not yet de-commissioned submarine in the United States Navy, is currently at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard preparing for her date with destiny. Decom ceremony and reunion in Bremerton are tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2021, that puts BadFish on course for a 40 year run.

 

SAVE THE 698

Join the Movement. Are you passionate about preserving the USS Bremerton in any way shape or form after her decommissioning for the benefit of the public and of naval history? You are invited to a new closed group forum on Facebook “SaveThe698” to be involved in public discussion related to Saving 698. You can see the group site by clicking HERE.

Copyright © 2019 bremertonreunion.net

 

 

Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum – 698 Group Sponsorship

I posted this article on my personal website since originally it began as a personal donation to the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum also known was USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park. It quickly morphed into something larger than myself and something worthwhile to share with the alumni.

The museum is involved in a substantial revitalization of their facility and as alumni of the Bremerton we have an opportunity to help make an impact as well as possibly achieving special sponsorship status with respect to our boat. Please click on the link/image of the Bowfin below for more information.

All donations are made through the Bowfin.org website

USS Bowfin SS-287. Source Bowfin.org

 

 

LOOKING FORWARD

USS Bremerton, the most senior not yet de-commissioned submarine in the United States Navy, is currently at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard preparing for Decommissioning.

 

SAVE THE 698

Join the Movement. Are you passionate about preserving the USS Bremerton in any way shape or form after her decommissioning for the benefit of the public and of naval history? You are invited to a new closed group forum on Facebook “SaveThe698” to be involved in public discussion related to Saving 698. You can see the group site by clicking HERE.

Copyright © 2019 bremertonreunion.net