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THE BELLS LEFT BEHIND
by Colonel Charles A Jones USMCR
Article and three images copied from HERE
USN pub:  Undersea Warfare Magazine

The year 2000 saw two occasions - one a celebration, one a tragedy - marking the role of the submarine in the modern world. The celebration was that of the Submarine Force of the U.S. Navy marking 100 years of service to the nation. The tragedy was the loss of the Russian submarine Kursk, a grim reminder of the dangers submariners face.

These occasions reminded me of two ship's bells I saw on Oahu in 1999 when I lived at the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor while on a period of active duty in the Marine Corps. The bells - from the submarines USS WAHOO SS-238 and USS ARGONAUT SS-166 - were two unique reminders of the dangers submariners faced during another era, that of the submarine war waged in the Pacific in World War II.

The WAHOO's bell is in the USS BOWFIN Museum. Anchored nearby is the BOWFIN SS-287 herself, one of several World War II submarines preserved as floating memorials. Touring the BOWFIN and the museum revived my interest in World War II submarines. Long ago, I learned that the Navy lost 52 submarines in that war, but the fact had no human dimension for me until I took the tours and started reading. What resulted was a new perspective on "the silent service."

First, submariners do not enjoy the publicity that other branches of service do. Many can name the pilot of the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb or the photographer who took the famous picture of the Iwo Jima flag raising. But who can name the U.S. submarine with the most confirmed sinkings during the war? Also, who remembers that Admiral Chester Nimitz, a submariner himself, began his successful tour as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, on 31 December 1941, at a ceremony aboard the submarine USS Grayling SS-209? A keen eye can make out the submarine's bell mounted on the conning tower in the photograph of the ceremony.

Second, the U.S. submarine campaign took a catastrophic toll of Japanese shipping and succeeded, while German and Japanese submarine campaigns failed.

Third, submarines did more than sink ships. They laid mines, delivered supplies, and served as lifeguards for downed aviators. Submarines saved numerous Army Air Forces and Naval aviators, including Navy pilot George Bush, our future president, rescued by a submarine in 1944 after his plane crashed.

Fourth, submarine attacks were not always carried out at a distance while submerged, with impersonal torpedo salvoes. The deck guns and small arms onboard World War II submarines encouraged surface combat, which was fatal for many men, including Chief Pharmacist's Mate Arthur BEEMAN, killed while aiding a wounded officer during a surface attack. Beeman Center on the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, is named for him. LCDR Reggie Raymond, a Prospective Commanding Officer, was killed by an enemy bullet while on the bridge of the USS SCORPION SS-278, firing a Browning Automatic Rifle at a Japanese ship.

Fifth, individual bravery was recognized by many decorations, including six Medals of Honor awarded to submarine commanders: Samuel DEALEY, Eugene FLUCKEY, Howard GILMORE, Richard O'KANE, Lawson RAMAGE, and George STREET. One wolfpack commander, Captain John P. CROMWELL, also received a Medal of Honor. Three of these Medal recipients - CROMWELL, DEALEY, and GILMORE - were lost in action and received theirs posthumously. Their "tombstones" are in military cemeteries in the Pacific, where they are listed on tablets among the names of those missing in action.

Sixth, submarine duty was a lonely job with unique hazards. Aircrew have parachutes and crash landings; surface ship crews can abandon ship; infantrymen can find a hole or run. A depth-charged submariner had only one place to go: where he was.

Finally, the casualties were great. Memorials at the BOWFIN Museum and at the Submarine Base list the 52 submarines lost, implicitly marking the deaths of over 3,500 submariners, most of whom remain lost at sea in graves that will never be found. Many losses were the subject of a grim communique such as this one in 1945: "The Submarine USS BULLHEAD SS-332 is overdue from patrol and presumed lost."

One of those lost was the USS ROBALO SS-273, and her Commanding Officer, Manning Kimmell. That was the second great tragedy of the war for his father, Admiral Husband Kimmel, former Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, who was relieved after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

A display case in the BOWFIN Museum has a memorial to these losses: the bell of the USS WAHOO. For practical reasons, submarines left their bells behind when leaving on patrol. If a bell were left in its exposed topside mount behind the conning tower, it could make unwanted noise; if taken below, it would occupy space and present a hazard. The WAHOO exhibit notes a more ominous reason for leaving the bells behind: the ship's bell would be a memorial if the submarine never returned. The WAHOO's bell in fact serves as such a memorial: she was lost in 1943 with all hands, including her highly successful commander, Navy Cross recipient Dudley "Mush" MORTON, credited with 19 sinkings in one year.

From the chapel's belfry, lost submarines are mourned by tolling ARGONAUT's bell.The story of the WAHOO's bell gave me some context when I read a sign at the Submarine Base chapel and learned that the USS ARGONAUT left her bell behind before leaving on patrol, and that very bell was eventually mounted in the belfry above. I suddenly realized that the haunting, dull sound of a bell I kept hearing on Sundays was the bell of the ARGONAUT.

I attended a Sunday service at the chapel and learned that each Sunday, the congregation remembers one of the 52 lost submarines by reading its name and ringing the ARGONAUT's bell. The bell has reminded them of Sam DEALEY and the USS HARDER SS-257, killing several destroyers in one patrol; of John CROMWELL stating that he would go down with the USS SCULPIN SS-191 rather than let himself be captured and risk divulging secrets under torture; and Howard GILMORE giving his famous order - "Take her down" - to ensure the safety of the USS GROWLER SS-215 at the cost of his own life. But the bell was also a reminder of the ARGONAUT herself. I learned more about her. She was commissioned in 1928 as V-4, becoming ARGONAUT in 1931. Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney visited her. Richard O'KANE served on ARGONAUT before commanding the USS Tang SS-306, where he earned a Medal of Honor. ARGONAUT and USS NAUTILUS SS-168 took Carlson's Raiders to Makin Island in 1942, partly because they were our largest submarines - and they returned to a heroes' welcome at the submarine piers, not far from where the chapel would be built and dedicated in 1944.

The Submarine Base Chapel, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Submarine Base Chapel, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Yet, my learning experience remained incomplete without seeing the bell itself, so I obtained the able assistance of Religious Program Specialist First Class Sam Prado, who indulged my intense, incurable interest in military history. He was as curious and determined as I was, so we made the difficult climb into the very small belfry and photographed a bell stamped "U.S.S. ARGONAUT 1928." Befitting a large ship, it is a large bell, perhaps two feet in diameter, weathered and stained by over 50 years of service. Sadly, this very bell rings on occasional Sundays for ARGONAUT herself. In December 1942, the submarine departed Pearl Harbor for what would be her third and final patrol, which ended when she was sunk attacking a Japanese convoy near Bougainville on 10 January 1943. The entire crew of 105 was lost.

Ship's bell of USS ARGONAUT SS-166 - lost in combat in 1943.
Still serves at the chapel of the Submarine base, Pearl Harbor.

Submarine warfare has changed much since then, as shown by a comparison of BOWFIN with a modern submarine. Deck guns are gone. Man-to-man combat on the surface has yielded to more sophisticated, technology-oriented missions. At the piers near the chapel, however, modern submarines still have bells, but they ring for function and ceremony, not as memorials. At the chapel itself, a bell left behind does ring in remembrance, turning all Sundays into Veterans and Memorial Days as ARGONAUT's bell rings for lost crews, including her own.

Colonel Charles A. Jones is a writer living in Norfolk, Virginia and a judge advocate in the Marine Corps Reserve, serving as a drilling reservist at the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic. He is grateful to Chaplain CDR Dick Pusateri and RP1 Sam Prado, of Submarine Base Pearl Harbor, for their assistance in providing information about, and access to, ARGONAUT's bell. He also appreciates the assistance given by Charles Hinman and Nancy Richards of the BOWFIN Museum.

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