Submarinememorial

For the enlightenment of our guests who possibly do not understand the significance of our ceremony of "Tolling the Boats," I shall attempt to give you a brief explanation of this solemn remembrance of our shipmates, the officers and enlisted men who sacrificed their lives aboard submarines in the service of our country.

It is true that the sea has always taken its toll of seamen. This is especially true for the submariner. Over the years, some four thousand young men have lost their lives in circumstances serving our country in the U.S. Submarine Force. In all, a total of seventy-two U.S. submarines have been lost in war and in peace. It is also true that no maritime power has ever survived unless its men have been willing to fight back with successively better ships manned by

professional seamen who have profited by the lessons learned from the past. And, those of us who go to sea in today's submarines, or those who will do so in the future, are forever indebted to those submarine sailors who gave their lives testing different innovations in submarine warfare during times of peace.

These losses, while tragic, have served to provide us with invaluable knowledge to inable us to improve succeeding classes of submarines and are but gallant extensions of the traditions of duty, of professional competence, and self-sacrifice which has always been the hallmark of the U.S. Submarine Force.

The U.S. Submarine Force came into existence on October 12, 1900, with the commissioning of the USS Holland (SS-1). The early 1900s was a period of intense development, resulting in adoption of the gasoline engine for surface propulsion, the periscope, and improvement in double hull design. By 1906, with most of the fleet in the Atlantic, the Secretary of the Navy approved submarines as the only way to defend the west coast of the United States if attacked. Yet, on the eve of World War I, 1914, the U.S. Submarine Force only numbered 34 submarines.

Despite these set backs, the U.S. Submarine Force continued to grow. Immediately following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December, 1941, with the Pacific Fleet now in ruins, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, a submariner himself, upon taking command as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, recognized the true military value of the submarine. In January 1942, he raised his official flag on the submarine Grayling and upon relinquishing command after the war he took down his flag aboard the submarine Menhaden. "It was to the

Submarine Force," stated Nimitz, "that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of great peril."

And that they did. This small force, composed of about 50,000 men, including staffs and back-up personnel (less than 2% of the U.S. Navy's personnel) by wars end, consisting of 288 submarines, inflicted a staggering 55% of Japan's maritime losses. Of approximately 6,000,000 tons comprising the entire Japanese merchant fleet, from 1941 through 1945, U.S. submarines sank 1,113 Japanese merchant marine vessels for a total of 4,859,634 tons. During that same period, U.S. submarines sunk 214 naval warships for an additional 577,626 tons, about a third of all Japanese warships destroyed. But seldom, if ever in history, had so small a naval force accomplished so much. Japan's war effort depended on its shipping. It was sunk in the main by U.S. submarines.

However, these successes did not come without a price. 52 American submarines were lost during World War II. Many of our numbers were lost in the performance of these duties. Some men lost their lives individually, but in most cases the report "submarine overdue--presumed lost" was the epitaph for both submarine and men. A few were rescued by the Japanese and imprisoned until the war's end. From these were then learned the fate of their ship and crew. The price, overall, was that the U.S. Submarine Force suffered the

highest percentage of losses of any branch of the Armed Services. Over 3,500 submariners quietly paid the ultimate price in the defence of their country which quickly earning the U.S. Submarine Force the nickname The Silent Service. Seven of these submariners were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II; two posthumously.

More than fifty (50) years have lapsed since these men of World War II departed on their eternal patrol, but we of the United States Submarine Veterans and U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II endeaver to keep alive the memory of our departed shipmates at every gathering of our organizations. We do this by honoring their memory in prayer and by "Tolling the Boats" -- calling the roll of those submarines which we lost... in that war.

Shortly following the war, under the personal direction of Hyman G. Rickover, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) cast off her lines and made way for the first time on nuclear power, once again revolutionizing naval history. Since the commissioning of the USS Holland (SS-1) and USS

Nautilus, the Submarine Service has maintained a standard of excellence, innovation and camaraderie without peer in any other Service of the Armed Forces.

Still, no one close to the Submarine Service can reflect on those tragic times without again experiencing the shock and sadness felt upon learning of the loss of the USS Thresher (SSN-593) and USS Scorpion SSN-589).

And yet, these losses added an awareness to these initial emotions; the submariners and those persons closely associated with this branch of the service today know feelings of kinship, of pride, of gratitude and of profound respect for the gallent men lost on all these submarines. They

are remembered not as men who were, but as men who are; men, who because of dedication to their profession, have given us greater knowledge of its mysteries, and opened broader paths for its exploration and use. For us they live, as specific individuals each contributing in his special skill to this ever-broadening knowledge. To us they will be more vivid in memory for much longer time, than others who in the physical sense, are nearby.

They, all of them, have served you and this great land of ours in a way far beyond the contributions of most of us. Their contributions continue, by providing others close to this undersea Navy, new challenges, new ideas, and new operational methods. No, they are not nearby, but to us who know them they are very real in contribution in memory in spirit.

In the true tradition and fighting spirit of the submariner of World War II, our nation's submarine sailors through war and peace have and continue to live, fight, and at times, die in the silence of the cold depths of the sea, but through their dedication, deeds, and supreme sacrifice, have left behind a legacy of the highest standards of performance and conduct.

Today, we the submarine veterans, continue to assemble to pay honor and tribute to those shipmates, who are still on patrol, and the submarines that are their eternal resting place.