Henry is a little farm town on the Illinois River and seems an unlikely place for a submarine memorial.   However, the WWII submarine hero, Capt. Cromwell grew up in Henry IL.

Captain John P. Cromwell   Bio source:   http://www.ussvi.org/names/kopfndex.htm

Captain John P. Cromwell, born in Illinois in 1901, graduated from the Naval Academy in the class of 1924, and the Submarine School in 1927. He served in S-24, ARGONAUT (SM1), a minelayer, BARRACUDA (SS-163), and commanded S-20 in 1937. His wartime billets were all Submarine Division Commands until, in early November 1943, he was ordered to SCULPIN (SS-191) as Wolfpack Commander, should one be formed.

On 29 November Commander Submarine Pacific ordered the wolfpack activated but never heard from SCULPIN. It was not until after the war that the survivors of the scuttled SCULPIN revealed that she had been so severely damaged by depth charges on 18 November that (she) was forced to fight it out on the surface with a destroyer - and lost. The Commanding Officer, Commander Fred Connoway, and others were killed, but Captain Cromwell chose to go down with the ship to protect the privileged information he held.

He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Legion of Merit.

Image and information (where not otherwise indicated) were contributed by Bob Falardeau, a son of a submariner. He said::

"The torpedo monument certainly catches your eye as you approach the park.

A bronze plaque is located nearby with Captain Cromwell's citation. It's a simple and modest memorial to Captain Cromwell and all submariners who sacrificed their lives for our country in WWII. The other (Lost Boats) plaque is very similar to the one I saw at the Naval Academy.

My late father was a submarine officer who served in SPINAX and DIABLO. I was very proud of him. May God bless all American submariners, past present and future."