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Posted on 05/09/2004 12:01:55 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 HISTORICAL REFLECTION "Clear the bridge! Take her down!" yelled Commander Howard W. Gilmore, sacrificing his own life to save his submarine and crew. Medal of Honor Citation for Commander Howard W. Gilmore  For distinguished gallantry and valor above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of the USS Growler during her Fourth War Patrol in the Southwest Pacific from 10 January to 7 February 1943. Boldly striking at the enemy in spite of continuous hostile air and antisubmarine patrols, CDR Gilmore sank one Japanese freighter and damaged another by torpedo fire, successfully evading severe depth charges following each attack. In the darkness of night on 7 February, an enemy gunboat closed range and prepared to ram the Growler. CDR Gilmore daringly maneuvered to avoid the crash and rammed the attacker instead, ripping into her port side at 11 knots and bursting wide her plates. In the terrific fire of the sinking gunboat’s heavy machineguns, CDR Gilmore calmly gave the order to clear the bridge, and refusing safety for himself, remained on deck while his men preceded him below. Struck down by the fusillade of bullets and having done his utmost against the enemy, in his final living moments, CDR Gilmore gave his last order to the officer of the deck, “Take her down.” The Growler dived; seriously damaged but under control, she was brought safely to port by her well-trained crew inspired by the courageous fighting spirit of their dead captain. Submarine Hero – Howard Walter Gilmore by Edward Whitman - Naval Science Advisor at the Center for Security Strategies and Operations (CSSO) at the Techmatics Division of Anteon Corp. in Arlington, VA. The first U.S. submariner to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II, CDR Howard W. Gilmore, lost his life in a selfless act of heroism that has become one of the most inspiring legends of the Submarine Force.  Gilmore was born in Selma, Alabama, in 1902 and served first as an enlisted Sailor before entering the U.S. Naval Academy by competitive examination. He graduated from the Academy in 1926, standing 34th in a class of 456. Before the war, Gilmore had served as the executive officer of USS Shark (SS-174), and in a colorful incident during that time, narrowly survived an assault by a group of thugs in Panama, who cut his throat during an excursion ashore.  USS Shark (SS-174) In March 1942, four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he took command of the new USS Growler (SS-215), fourth boat of the 81-ship Gato (SS-212) class and sailed her to the Pacific theater.  USS Growler (SS215) Operating out of Pearl Harbor, Growler was one of seven submarines assigned picket duty north and west of the islands as part of the Hawaii defense force during the early phases of the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Later that month, she embarked on her first war patrol in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands, where Gilmore attacked three Japanese destroyers off Kiska, sinking one and severely damaging the other two, while narrowly avoiding two torpedoes fired at him in return. In early August, Gilmore took Growler on her second and most successful war patrol in the East China Sea near Taiwan, sinking four merchant ships totaling 15,000 tons, before returning to Hawaii in late September.  In October 1942, Growler sailed from Pearl Harbor to Brisbane, Australia, by way of Truk in the Caroline Islands, both to support the blockade of that Japanese bastion and as part of a general repositioning of submarine assets ordered by ADM Chester Nimitz during the early struggle for the Solomon Islands. Gilmore and Growler scored no kills on this third war patrol but arrived safely in Brisbane in mid-December.  Growler departed Brisbane on New Year’s Day 1943 for her fateful fourth war patrol, targeting Japanese shipping lanes between Truk and Rabaul in the Bismarck Archipelago. On 16 January, Gilmore sighted an enemy convoy, maneuvered inside the escorts, and sank Chifuku Maru, a 6,000-ton passenger-cargo ship. He was unsuccessful in subsequent attacks on a small convoy and a converted gunboat, but on the night of 6-7 February, while charging batteries on the surface, Gilmore spotted the 900-ton provision ship Hayasaki and manned the bridge for a surface attack.  With Growler still a mile away, however, Hayasaki’s watch saw the on-coming submarine, and Hayasaki turned to the attack herself, attempting to ram her assailant. As the small ship charged out of the darkness, Gilmore sounded the collision alarm and shouted, “Left full rudder!” – to no avail. Perhaps inadvertently, Growler hit the Japanese adversary amidships at 17 knots, heeling the submarine 50 degrees, bending sideways 18 feet of her the bow, and disabling the forward torpedo tubes.  Simultaneously, the Japanese crew unleashed a murderous burst of machine gun fire at Growler’s bridge, killing the assistant officer of the deck and a lookout, while wounding Gilmore himself and two other men. “Clear the bridge!” Gilmore ordered as he struggled to hang on to a frame. As the rest of the bridge party dropped down the hatch into the conning tower, the executive officer, LCDR Arnold Schade – shaken by the impact and dazed by his own fall into the control room – waited expectantly for his captain to appear. Instead from above came the shouted command: “Take her down!” Realizing that he could not himself get below in time if the ship were to escape, Gilmore chose to make the supreme sacrifice for his shipmates. Schade hesitated briefly – then followed his captain’s last order and submerged the crippled ship. Surfacing some time later in hope of reattacking the Hayasaki, LCDR Schade found the seas empty. The Japanese ship had, in fact, survived the encounter, but there was no sign of Gilmore, who apparently had drifted away in the night. Schade and Growler’s crew managed to control the ship’s flooding and limped back to Brisbane on 17 February. Taken immediately into dry dock, Growler was repaired and fought again – at first under the command of LCDR Schade, and then under CDR Thomas B. Oakley, Jr.  Sadly, she was lost on her 11th war patrol in November 1944, while attacking a Japanese convoy south of Mindoro in the Philippine Islands. Growler received eight battle stars for her role in the Pacific War. For sacrificing his own life to save his ship, CDR Howard Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Subsequently, the submarine tender Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) was named for him and sponsored by his widow.  Christening of Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16), at Mare Island Navy Yard, CA., 16 September 1943, by ship's sponsor Mrs. Howard W. Gilmore. Looking on are Mrs. F. A. Graf, Capt. W. E. Malloy and RADM W. L. Friedell, Shipyard Commander. US Navy photo 6500-43 Dated 9/16/1943. Even today – over 50 years later – “Take her down!” remains one of the legendary phrases of the U.S. Submarine Force.  Sheet Music Cover  USS Growler (SS-215) was launched on 2 November 1941 at the Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut, and commissioned on 20 March 1942. (Then) LCDR Howard Gilmore was her first commanding officer. Growler was an early member of the Gato (SS-212) class, which then represented the highest stage of development reached by U.S. fleet submarines prior to World War II. Eventually, 81 Gatos were launched between May 1941 and November 1943: 41 by Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut; 18 by the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Navy Yard; eight by the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; ten by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin (from whence they were barged down the Mississippi to New Orleans); and four by Cramp Shipbuilding, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Gato-class ships were followed in series construction by the Balao (SS-285) class, first launched in October 1942, but the brunt of the Pacific submarine campaign was borne by the earlier boats. Consequently, 21 of the Gato class – over a quarter – were lost in World War II, most with all hands. Growler’s principal characteristics – typical for a Gato-class fleet boat – are listed here:  Displacement: Surfaced: 1,526 tons Submerged: 2,424 tons Length: 311’ 9” Beam: 27’ 2” Draft: 15’ 3” Speed: Surfaced: 20.25 knots Submerged: 8.75 knots Endurance: 11,000 nm at 10 knots, surfaced Armament: 10 21” torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft) 1 4”/50 deck gun 4 machine guns Complement: 66 men      |
A number of years later, I practiced there for a year. Blacks and Whites remembered me from the 60's. They said, "Doc, didn't you used to work as an orderly at New Vaughn Memorial? You helped my Momma when she was sick."
Nautilus SS 168 and Growler SS 215 in dry dock, Pearl Harbor, July 28, 1942
Floating drydock YFD-2 is at left, with USS Alywin (DD-355) inside. Small drydock in center holds USS Growler (SS-215) and USS Nautilus (SS-168). USS Litchfield (DD-336) and an ARD floating drydock are in Drydock # 2, in right center. Drydock # 1, at right, contains USS West Virginia (BB-48). Submarines partially visible alongside 1010 Dock, in the extreme upper right, are USS Trout (SS-202) and USSPollack (SS-180).
from www.subsowespac.org/ SilentHunter.htm
Pampanito (Gato class) engine room
FReeper devolve is in contact with a Pampanito vet.
Mother's Day recognizes and honors that special guardian who fought like a mama lion to give us a chance.
After an eleventh-hour medical crisis compounded by a half-dozen "specialists" getting an oar in without bothering to consult re potentiation of competing prescriptions the quintet of sibs were playing a tension-easing game of Trivial Pursuit with our mother when the question came up "Where did Israeli intelligence grab Adolf Eichmann?" We knew the danger had passed briefly when her reply was quick and witty, "By the balls."
Sic semper tyrannis and On to Fallujah.
Just in from the politico-medical intel analyst:
...her reply was quick and witty, "By the balls."
Now there is a woman I could relate to!
"Where did Israeli intelligence grab Adolf Eichmann?" We knew the danger had passed briefly when her reply was quick and witty, "By the balls."
Sounds like your mom and mine would get along great!
Every clinton crony available is coming out from under their rock now that election time is here.
The statistics, as I recall, indicated much higher than average loss for crews on their first few missions. Apparently a learning curve involved, as one would expect.
As far as submarine patrols against Japan, if I recall correctly the boats were lost in six patrols or less. Top of my head I cannot remember any American boats lasting more than six patrols. The submarine service became incredibly aggressive, following the lead of Morton's Wahoo. Wahoo was lost in the Sea of Japan.
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