Submarine R-12 Memorial Dedication

All Hands are invited to join the Ocean State Chapter of the Submarine Veterans of World War II and the U.S Submarine Veterans, Inc. Rhode Island Base at a dedication ceremony for a memorial to the submarine USS R-12 (SS 89), lost on 12 June, 1943.

The ceremony will be conducted at 1PM on Saturday, 6 October, rain or shine. A "Tolling the Boats” ceremony will also be conducted, remembering all 52 submarines lost during WW II. The ceremony will be conducted at the WW II Submarine Memorial, located at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Route 2 in Exeter, R.I.

Invited guests and speakers include The Honorable Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the Commanding Officer of the USS Providence (SSN 719).

Chaplain from Naval Base Newport Manuel Biadog and the Silver Dolphins Color Guard from Submarine Base Groton will be providing their services for the memorial dedication.

(Photo: National Archives)

USS R-12 (SS 89) June 12, 1943 - 42 Men Lost

On June 12, 1943 between 12:20 and 12:25pm the R-12 was underway to conduct a torpedo practice approach. As she completed preparations to dive and was riding on vents, the forward battery compartment began to flood. The collision alarm was sounded. The Commanding Officer from the bridge gave orders to blow main ballast and close the hatches. The R-12 sank in an estimated 15 seconds from the sounding of the collision alarm. The Commanding Officer, two ships officers and three enlisted men were on the bridge at the time and were the only survivors. Those lost include four U.S. Naval officers, and thirty-six U.S. Naval enlisted men, and two Brazilian observers.

It was the opinion of the Court of Inquiry that the cause of the loss of R-12 was unknown, but probably was caused by the rapid flooding of the forward part of the ship through a torpedo tube.

The R-12 rests in six hundred feet of water near the Key West, FL submarine operating area.

(Photo: National Archives)

Sailors Lost On USS R-12 (SS 89) 6-12-1943

Almeida, A. G. D. LT (Brazilian Navy)

Bacon, G. W. EM3

Bronson, R. B. F2

Buckley, J. J. SM1

Cashell, F. E. ENS

Clayton, H. L. CSMA

DeMoura, J. L. LT (Brazilian Navy)

Flisher, R. F. F1

Garbulsky, L. E. S2

Graziani, F. P., Jr. GM1

Hall, J. C., Jr. EM3

Harman, E. L., Jr. CRMA

Horton, J. U. LTJG

Horvath, J. S. TM1

Knapp, H. H. S2

Krigbaum, E. CMOMMA

Kymer, L. V. MOMM2

LeVan, C. B. S1

Lobeck, H. P. TM3

Mathis, C. V. TM3

McKibben, P. R. EM1

Moncada, J. MM1

Mullis, A. J. F2

Ness, G. W. S2

Noonan, P. L. S2

Rabbit, J. H. RM3

Rafferty, E. J. MM2

Schnake, L. E. F1

Scott, C. "R" F2

Secor, H. R. RM2

Shellenberger, H. H. F3

Smith, C. S. S2

Starks, R. N. LT

Sullivan, D. C. RM3

Thompson, R. A., Jr. S2

Unger, J. D. LTJG

Vincent, E. W. MOMM2

Walker, N. W. MOMM1

Walsh, E. F. MOMM2

Wheeler, K. J. SC3

Young, W. D. STM2

Zimmerman, G. A. F3

Of the 52 Submarines lost in WWII the R-12 (SS 89) is designated as the lost boat for the State of Rhode Island.

Tribute to the Lost Boats of WWII

During WWII the US Submarine Service lost 52 Submarines, 375 Officers and 3,131 Enlisted Men.

The United States submarine service represented only 1.6% of Navy personnel at the time but suffered the highest percentage of casualties within any of the services; a casualty rate of about 22 percent. They also exacted a terrible price on the enemy accounting for 55% of all the Japanese ships sunk; this included a full third of the Japanese Imperial Navy.

Typically the loss of Submarine included the loss of the entire crew...


I put together this video as a 2007 Memorial Day tribute to those still on "Eternal Patrol".

The Final Patrol

Lord, this departed shipmate with dolphins on his chest is part of an outfit known as the best.

Make him welcome and take him by the hand. You'll find without a doubt he was the best in all the land.

So, heavenly Father add his name to the roll of our dear departed shipmates still on patrol.

Let him know that we who survive will always keep their memories alive.

Poem from COMSUBPAC Lost Boats web site

USS Scorpion (SSN-589) - 39 years ago

Posted so we do not forget that the dangers of the sea and how the service of submariners during hot wars and cold conflicts can exact a toll that still remains a mystery.




















USS Scorpion SSN-589 (US Navy photo)
Photo location was Naples Italy and was taken a little over 1 month before her loss.

The following officers and men were lost with Scorpion (SSN-589).

Officers	Chief Petty Officers
Commander Francis Atwood Slattery, Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander David B. Lloyd, Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Daniel P. Stephens Lieutenant John Patrick Burke Lieutenant George Patrick Farrin, Lieutenant Robert Walter Flesch Lieutenant William Clarke Harwi Lieutenant Charles Lee Lamberth Lieutenant John C. Sweet Lieutenant (j.g.) James W. Forrester, Jr. Lieutenant (j.g.) Michael A. Odening Lieutenant (j.g.) Laughton D. Smith	TMC Walter William Bishop, Chief of the Boat (COB) MMC(SS) Robert Eugene Bryan RMC(SS) Garlin Ray Denney RMCS(SS) Robert Johnson MMCS(SS) Richard Allen Kerntke QMCS(SS) Frank Patsy Mazzuchi EMC(SS) Daniel Christopher Peterson HMC(SS) Lynn Thompson Saville ETC(SS) George Elmer Smith, Jr. YNCS(SS) Leo Williazm Weinbeck MMC(SS) James Mitchell Wells
Enlisted Men
FTG3(SS) Keith Alexander M. Allen IC2 Thomas Edward Amtower MM2 George Gile Annable FN(SS) Joseph Anthony Barr, Jr. RM2(SS) Michael Jon Bailey IC3 Michael Reid Blake MM1(SS) Robert Harold Blocker MM2(SS) Kenneth Ray Brocker MM1(SS) James K. Brueggeman RMSN Daniel Paul Burns, Jr. IC2(SS) Ronald Lee Byers MM2(SS) Douglas Leroy Campbell MM3(SS) Samuel J. Cardullo MM2(SS) Francis King Carey SN Gary James Carpenter MM1(SS) Robert Lee Chandler MM1(SS) Mark Helton Christiansen SD1(SS) Romeo Constantino MM1(SS) Robert James Cowan SD1(SS) Joseph Cross FA Michael Edward Dunn ETR2 Richard Philip Engelhart FTGSN William Ralph Fennick IC3(SS) Vernon Mark Foli SN Ronald Anthony Frank CSSN(SS) Michael David Gibson IC2 Steven Dean Gleason STS2(SS) Michael Edward Henry SK1(SS) Larry Leroy Hess ETR1(SS) Richard Curtis Hogeland MM1(SS) John Richard Houge EM2 Ralph Robert Huber TM2(SS) Harry David Huckelberry EM3 John Frank Johnson IC3(SS) Steven Leroy Johnson QM2(SS) Julius Johnston, III FN Patrick Charles Kahanek TM2(SS) Donald Terry Karmasek ETR3(SS) Rodney Joseph Kipp MM3 Dennis Charles Knapp	MM1(SS) Max Franklin Lanier ET1(SS) John Weichert Livingston ETN2 Kenneth Robert Martin ET1(SS) Michael Lee McGuire TMSN Steven Charles Miksad TMSN Joseph Francis Miller, Jr. MM2(SS) Cecil Frederick Mobley QM1(SS) Raymond Dale Morrison QM3(SS) Dennis Paul Pferrer EM1(SS) Gerald Stanley Psopisil IC3 Donald Richard Powell MM2 Earl Lester Ray, Jr. CS1(SS) Jorge Luis Santana ETN2(SS) Richard George Schaffer SN William Newman Schoonover SN Phillip Allan Seifert MM2(SS) Robert Bernard Smith ST1(SS) Harold Robert Snapp, Jr. ETM2(SS) Joel Candler Stephens MM2(SS) David Burton Stone EM2 John Phillip Sturgill YN3 Richard Norman Summers TMSN John Driscoll Sweeney, Jr. ETM2(SS) James Frank Tindol, III CSSN Johnny Gerald Veerhusen TM3 Robert Paul Violeiti ST3 Ronald James Voss FTG1(SS) John Michael Wallace MM1(SS) Joel Kurt Watkins MMFN Robert Westley Watson TM2 James Edwin Webb SN Ronald Richard Williams MM3 Robert Alan Willis IC1(SS) Virgil Alexander Wright, III TM1(SS) Donald H. Yarsbrough ETR2(SS) Clarence Otto Young, Jr.