A commentary on the critera for counting lost submarines

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1999 - A commentary by Jim Christley on the subject of counting lost boats in the "Tolling the Bell/Boats" ceremony. Which submarines to include? Which to exclude? Under what circumstances? And the historical rationale for the decision.

This page is a combination of two separate USSVI/ INTERNET BASE BBS postings by Jim Christley over the past two years. Some minor text layout modifications were made.

Counting THE LOST BOATS

by Jim Christley

I have read with some interest the debate about the "tolling the bell" ceremony and regard any effort to limit memory of submarines lost to simply the 52 boats which were lost during the period of US involvement in WWII to be a disservice to our shipmates past, present and future.

Here is my take on the subject.

Serving one’s country in the military service is a dangerous business. During wartime when someone is actively trying to kill you it is more dangerous. There is a common bond shared by individuals who share this danger. It is an inherent duty of those individuals to remember that some of their number has not survived the danger. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, they have given the "last full measure of devotion".

The United States Naval Submarine Force has suffered grievous losses at the hands of enemies of the United States and in the arms of the sea. We have lost whole submarines and their entire crews. We have lost shipmates, friends, and relatives. It is well that we should remember them for it for it makes us more aware of the bond that we have, of the danger we faced and our shipmates continue to face and of the sacrifice that we have not yet been called on to make. But it is beholden to us that we remember them all.

In 1949, the PRELIMINARY DESIGN BRANCH of the BUREAU OF SHIPS issued a multivolume work, which formalized the LESSONS LEARNED in ship design in World War II. This work detailed damage to selected submarines and listed "Depth Charge, Bomb, Mine, Torpedo and Gunfire Damage including Losses in Action".

The 52 submarines listed in the LOSSES IN ACTION became the core listing for US submarine losses.

The criteria for which submarines made the list is generally straight forward. It included (6 criteria):

SUBMARINES LOST...

Submarines, however severely they were damaged, that returned to port were not counted in the list of 52. Even if they were finally listed as a total loss (SALMON SS-182).

The period for actions for which a lost submarine could be listed was the period of U.S. declared involvement in WW II: 7 December 1941 to 15 August 1945.

The portion of WW II from September 1939 to December 1941 was not included for submarines even though losses occurred during this period.

The list is complete and accounts for all submarines that were lost while under US flag during the stated period [ of WW-II ]. It formed the basis for constructing memorials and monuments, correspondence and publications and on several occasions is cited as the official number of US submarines lost. That core listing should not be changed because it not only determines the criteria by which we expand the listing, but it has for the past 50 years become tradition.

It is my profound belief that we can only add to the list as we expand into the ENTIRE HISTORY of the US Submarine Force. We cannot remove any boat from the core list of 52. [Further,] the "blood or steel" argument about boats lost without loss of crew is on the face not productive and will cause an immeasurable rift in our brotherhood. Just the same, to exclude any Submarine Force loss not [included] in the period of US involvement in WWII is divisive, and does nothing to further the avowed effort to preserve the history for our country.

SUBVETS/WWII is perfectly correct in only commemorating the 52 boats. Their charter is clear on this point. They do not speak for the entire history of the force. If SUBVETS/WWII holds a memorial service and tolls the bell for the 52 losses that is perfectly all right. That service is a memorial for WWII.

To make a COMPLETE LISTING one must add several submarines. (We lost no more due to enemy action.)

Using the [above] stated criteria, the listing of the 52 boats is not complete for ALL WARTIME LOSSES by the US Submarine Force. [Furthermore] a service that commemorates the ENTIRE HISTORY [starting in 1900] of the force MUST NOT EXCLUDE the non-WWII losses.

We lost F-1 on 17 December 1917, during World War I, by collision at sea.

By stranding and foundering, we lost H-1.

By collision we lost O-5, S-51, S-4 and STICKLEBACK.

We also lost the ALLIGATOR during the Civil War but she was not a commissioned vessel.

By criteria 4 we lost SCORPION (reasons are conjectured but not confirmed).

Due to material or operational causes we lost F-4, SQUALUS, O-9, COCHINO and THRESHER.

This adds thirteen more boats to the list of 52 bringing the total to sixty-five.

Thus, if you memorialize the entire history of the Submarine Force, the total losses amount to 65 submarines.

If you memorialize all wartime losses and only count "US involvement in declared wars", the total is 53 submarines.

If you do not wish to count F-1, and wish to be correct, then S-26 should be removed -- they were both lost for the same reason and during a declared war.

If you memorialize the boats lost during the period of US involvement in WW II, the total is fifty-two.

NOTE: There are other criteria that could be used to count a loss. One could count SALMON and add NATHANIEL GREENE, BONEFISH and others. A case could be made for inclusion of S-48, and others which sank. One could remove boats that were scuttled or on which there were no crew losses. One could make arguments for many variations of inclusion.

However, our history should reflect that we lost 53 submarines during wartime -- and that we lost sixty-five commissioned submarines in our entire history since 1900..

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