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The information shown here was excerpted
from a press release of the SAN FRANCISCO CHAPTER of the UNITED STATES
SUBMARINE VETERANS of WWII. The press release and images were provided
by Jim Carpenter. Jim is a former President of the San Francisco Chapter
of Submarine Veterans, having served 2 years in that position.
A tribute to Submarine Veterans On 11 November 2001 the San Leandro Submarine memorial was dedicated in a ceremony that was attended by about 175 people at the San Leandro Marina. There was a bell ringing for 65 lost submarines. (52 lost during WWII, 10 prior, and 3 after). Patriotic music was furnished by the Aahmes Shrine Legion of Honor Band, and submarine veterans unveiled the monuments. The Mayor of San Leandro and Rear Admiral Metcalf spoke. History of the "Lost Boat" memorials for each state In January 1960 each State Commander of Submarine Veterans of WWII, was requested to select a "Lost Boat" for his state to commemorate. California selected the USS. ARGONAUT. Records are not clear, but according to research, the USS GRAMPUS was assigned or selected to be commemorated by Washington D.C. Later, at the end of 1984 or early 1985, California agreed to also include the USS GRAMPUS, along with the USS ARGONAUT. Since then, California and New York each have two boats and all other states have one. How the San Leandro memorial was expanded When Jim Carpenter, who spent almost 22 years on submarines, became President of the San Francisco Chapter of Submarine Veterans he learned there was no memorial site in California to honor the ARGONAUT and the GRAMPUS. Because he felt we needed to honor those lost crews he started a fund raising campaign to place a memorial at the submarine torpedo memorial in San Leandro. During the year prior to the memorial dedication Carpenter wrote numerous letters, contacting hundreds of submarine veterans all over the United States, and ultimately reaching his goal. More submarine history During WWII, 465 skippers took 263 boats and 16,000 men out on 1736 patrols, spending 79,838 days at sea. They sank 1,178 merchant ships and 214 Naval vessels. Of the 263 submarines, 52 and 3,617 men never returned. In this same period, the Germans lost 781 U-boats, the Japanese lost 130 and the Italians lost 85.
If you need more information, you can Email Jim Carpenter, Immediate past president of the San Francisco Chapter of WWII Submarines Veterans. Email: j-m@ix.netcom.com |