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Submarine Memorial - San Leandro, California

Submarine Memorial at San Leandro
In 1986 the torpedo at the memorial site was put in place by the San Francisco Chapter of USSVWWII.  To accomplish the initial installation the necessary funds were raised nationwide over a six month period.

Dedicated on 11 November 2001
Lost Boats Memorial for the State of California
USS ARGONAUT SS-166 & USS GRAMPUS SS-207
San Francisco - Oakland Bay Marina, San Leandro CA

Marble plaques that list the lost crews are shown on each side of the torpedo.

The plaques are engraved with the names of all crew members and were placed at the site along with a 35 ft. flag pole. The stars and stripes now wave above the memorial honoring the crews of the two "Lost Boats".


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



The marble plaques adjacent to the torpedo are inscribed
with the roster of crew members lost on the two submarines.
Complete rosters of lost crew members may be
seen in detail at the SUBNET websites:
ARGONAUT  SS-166   ||    GRAMPUS  SS-207
Note: SUBNET is not a USSVI website - Use backbutton to return here.
Plaques were designed by Jim Carpenter.


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