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1
OOGA OOGA
July 2010
PALMETTO BASE SUBMARINE VETERANS
NEWSLETTER
OUR CREED: To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in
the pursuit of duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds,
and supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater
accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of
America and its constitution.
Handwritten on the back reads: "This is the series of "P" Boats built in '38-'39; Pike (SS-173),
Porpoise (SS-172), Permit (SS-178), Shark (SS-174) ,& Tarpon (SS-175). Picture was taken in San
Diego - The Pike & Porpoise are the only ones afloat today." From left to right: Shark, Permit,
Perch, Porpoise, Tarpon & Pike. "This Picture has been Officially released by the Navy
Department."
2
Palmetto Base Officers
Base Commander
Tommy Richardson
Vice Commander: Brian Steffen
Jr. Vice Commander: D. W. Eggleston
Treasurer: J. P. Watson
Chaplain: Bob Miller
Webmaster: Mark Basnight
Secretary: Fernando Iglesias
Chief of the Boat: Jim “Snake” Stark
Storekeeper: Brian Steffen
Events Chair: Allen “Buzz” Danielson
Liaison Officer: D. W. Eggleston
Committee Chair: Tom O’Brien
Ship’s Photographer: Jim Null
Bereavement Chair: Randy Browning
Kap(SS) for Kid(SS) Chair: Don Van Borsch
Members
Milt Berky
Randy Browning
James L. Charbonneau
Tracy R. Charbonneau
Judy Cline
Ronald Friend
Charlotte Friend
Julian Galloway
Joseph E. Gawronski
Joseph L. Geiger
Glenn E. Harris
Stoney Hilton
Michael House
John Jeffries
Charlie Kerr
Jim W. Kint
James N. Kirby
George “Scram” Kokolis
John J. Krause
Harold R. Lane
William M. Lindler
Charlie MacKenzie
Eddie McVicker
Mark Morgan
Charles Murray (MOH)
Tom Paige
Larry Peay
Rebecca Richardson
Sam Sanders
Ted R. Schneeberg
James P. Scott
Leonard M. Snell
John Solis
L. E. Spradlin
Jerry Stout
Clarence Teseniar
Larry Thomas
Jeffro M. Wagner
Mark Wright
3
June 22, 2010
Attendees Mark Basnight
Milt Berkey
Randy Browning
David S. Castro
D. W. Eggleston
Lonnie Franklin
Julian Galloway
John J. Krause
Jim Null
Tom O’Brien
Larry Peay
Ted Schneeberg
Vince Seay
L. E. Spradlin
James Stark
Brian Steffen
Tommy Richardson
Thomas Tompson
Jeffro Wagner
J. P. Watson
Minutes
• 18 Members and 2 guests were present
• March minutes were voted on and accepted
• Treasurer’s Report ($4,147.64) and Kap(SS) for Kid(SS) ($3,515.43) was voted on and
accepted.
• Base Commander welcomed everyone and discussed the base’s day at Camp Chemo.
• Senior Vice Commander discussed military discounts and passed out a list of
participating merchants.
• Storekeeper showed the members the new base patch, which is a representation of the
base flag.
• Brian Steffen showed the members his new United States Submarine Book, which he
purchased of Amazon.com.
• Randy Browning reiterated the importance of everyone sending the base secretary and
e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected] to verify your e-
mail address.
• Base Commander and Base Photographer the garage sale to raise funds for the new
float and requested donations from the members.
• Base Commander and Base Photographer told the members that we have a good start
on the new float as the COB purchased a trailer for $350.00 with the understanding that
the base will reimburse him when we have sufficient funds.
• Base Commander and Base Photographer discussed the fly aways and the importance of
based participation.
4
• Junior Vice Commander discussed the GA/SC base meeting in Aiken and the new
Regional Commander.
• Junior Vice Commander reminded the membership of the Spirit of Lake Murray Cruise
on September 25th.
• Junior Vice Commander made a motion to make Charles Murray, World War II Medal of
Honor recipient, and honorary base member, which was unanimously approved by the
membership.
• COB thank everybody for their continuing efforts with Kap(SS) for Kid(SS) and requested
volunteers for the July 24th and 25th gun show at the Jamil Temple.
• Base Photographer informed the membership of a National Geographic special about
the USS Florida (SSGN 728) at 8:00 PM on July 24th.
• Lonnie Franklin SC Archaeology Society discussed the Robert Gibbs memorial and
requested the base undertake a joint endeavor with the SC Archaeology Society to
restore it to its former state with bronze screw, anchor and chains.
• Since there was no depth charge material, the hat was passed and $92.00 was collected
for float building fund.
David Castro Clarence Teseniar
Michael House – July 6th
Clarence Teseniar – July 9th
George Kokolis – July 27th
5
CAMP CHEMO
Allen “Buzz” Danielsen, Eleanor Null, Jim Null, Tom O’Brien, Tom Paige, Larry Peay, Tommy
Richardson, Krystine Schneeburg, Ted Schneeburg, Jim Stark, Don Van Borsch and Janette Van
Borsch attended Camp Chemo with our Kap(SS) for Kid(SS) Program.
6
7
8
Although Camp Chemo has passed, we still need to stay focused on this important program.
Although we are not curing cancer, we are contributing to the morale and welfare, not only of
the children we interact with, but their families as well. I ask that each of you contribute
whatever time and resources you can to continue growing this program and to continually keep
each of these children and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
9
Dates in American Naval History
July 1
1797 - Naval Regulations passed by Congress
1800 - First convoy duty; USS Essex escorts convoy of merchant ships from East Indies to U.S.
1801 - U.S. squadron under Commodore Dale enters Mediterranean to strike Barbary Pirates
1850 - Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy
1851 - Naval Academy adopts four year course of study
1911 - Trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1. The designer, Glenn Curtiss, makes first flight in
Navy's first aircraft, A-1, at Lake Keuka, NY, then prepares LT Theodore G. Ellyson, the
first naval aviator, for his two solo flights in A-1.
1914 - Prohibition of alcohol begins in the Navy
1916 - Establishment of informal school for officers assigned to submarines at New London, CT
1918 - USS Covington hit without warning by two torpedoes from German Submarine U-86 and
sank the next day
1933 - USS Constitution commences tour of principal U.S. seaports.
1946 - 1st of 2 detonations, Operation Crossroads nuclear test
1951 - Responsibility for the Government of Trust Territories transferred from Navy to
Department of Interior.
1972 - Date of rank of Rear Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., who was first U.S. Navy Admiral of
African-American descent.
July 2
1923 - Commissioning of Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC.
1926 - Distinguished Flying Cross authorized by Congress.
1937 - Amelia Earhart disappears in Pacific. Navy conducts extensive unsuccessful search
1945 - USS Barb (SS-220) bombards Japanese installations on Kaihyo Island, Japan; first
successful use of rockets against shore positions.
1946 - Establishment of VX-3 to evaluate adaptability of helicopters to naval purposes.
1950 - USS Juneau and 2 British ships sink 5 of 6 attacking North Korean torpedo boats and
gunboats.
1967 - During Operation Bear Claw, Seventh Fleet Amphibious Force conducts helicopter
assault 12 miles inland at Con Thien.
July 3
1898 - At Battle of Santiago, Cuba, RADM Sampson's squadron destroys Spanish fleet
1950 - USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict.
VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first
10
combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.
July 4
1776 - American colonies declare their independence from Great Britain
1777 - John Paul Jones hoists first Stars and Stripes flag on Ranger at Portsmouth, NH.
1801 - First Presidential Review of U.S. Marine Band and Marines at the White House.
1831 - U.S. concludes indemnity treaty with France.
1842 - First test of electrically operated underwater torpedo sinks gunboat Boxer
1863 - Confederates surrender of Vicksburg, MS, gives Union control of Mississippi River.
July 5
1814 - Sloop-of-war Peacock captures British Stranger, Venus, Adiona, and Fortitude.
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur's squadron arrives at Tripoli to collect reparations for
seizure of American merchant ships in violation of Treaty of 1805.
July 6
1747 - Birth of John Paul Jones at Arbigland, Scotland.
1898 - Armed Auxiliary Dixie captures Spanish Three Bells, Pilgrim, and Greeman Castle
1908 - CDR Robert Peary sails in Roosevelt from New York to explore Arctic.
1911 - First naval aviation base established at Annapolis, MD.
1920 - Test and first use of radio compass in aircraft off Norfolk, VA
1943 - Night Battle of Kula Gulf results in loss of 2 Japanese destroyers and USS Helena.
1976 - 1st women enter Naval Academy.
July 7
1798 - Congress rescinds treaties with France; Quasi War begins with Frigate Delaware
capturing French privateer, Croyable.
1846 - Commodore John D. Sloat lands at Monterey and claims California for U.S.
1916 - Thomas A. Edison becomes head of Naval Consulting Board which screens inventions for
use by the Navy
1948 - First six enlisted women sworn into Regular Navy. The Navy WAVES in Naval Reserve,
who were the first to transfer to the Regular Navy, were Kay Louise Langdon, Aviation
Storekeeper First Class; Wilma Juanita Marchal, Chief Yeoman; Frances Teresa Dovaney,
Storekeeper, Second Class; Edna Earle Young, Yeoman, Second Class; Doris Roberta
Robertson, Teleman, Second Class; and Ruth Flora, Hospital Corpsman, First Class.
July 8
1778 - Allied French fleet under Comte d'Estaing arrives in America.
1853 - Commodore Matthew C. Perry sails his squadron into Tokyo Bay.
1879 - USS Jeannette departs San Francisco to explore Arctic.
1944 - Naval bombardment of Guam begins.
July 9
1846 - Sailors and Marines from USS Portsmouth occupy and raise flag over San Francisco.
1944 - Organized Japanese resistence ceases on Saipan, Marianas.
1960 - USS Wasp departs Guantanamo Bay to support United Nations effort to calm the newly
independent Congo.
July 10
1934 - USS Houston takes Franklin Delano Roosevelt on first visit of U.S. President to South
America.
1943 - Naval gunfire help Allied troops land on Sicily. It was first extensive use of LST's and
11
smaller landing craft to deliver heavy equipment over the beach.
1945 - 14 carriers from Third Fleet carriers begin air strikes on Japanese Home Islands which
end 15 August.
July 11
1798 - Reestablishment of Marine Corps under the Constitution.
1918 - Henry Ford launches first of 100 Eagle boats.
1919 - Pay Corps renamed Supply Corps
1943 - Gunfire from U.S. cruisers and destroyers stop German and Italian tank attack against
Army beachhead at Gela, Sicily.
July 12
1836 - Commissioning of Charles H. Haswell as first regularly appointed Engineer Officer.
1916 - North Carolina is first Navy ship to carry and operate aircraft
1921 - Congress creates Bureau of Aeronautics to be in charge of all matter pertaining to naval
aeronautics.
1951 - Ninth Naval District forces assist in flood relief work in Kansas City through 20 July
1953 - United Nations Fleet launches heavy air and sea attack on Wonsan; Major John Bolt,
USMC becomes first jet ace in Marine Corps.
1988 - SECDEF approves opening Navy's Underwater Construction Teams, fleet oiler,
ammunition ships, and combat stores ships to women.
1990 - Commander Rosemary B. Mariner becomes first woman to command an operational
aviation squadron (VAQ-34).
July 13
1863 - USS Wyoming battled Japanese warlord's forces.
1939 - Appointment of RADM Richard Byrd as commanding officer of 1939-1941 Antarctic
Expedition.
1943 - During Battle of Kolombangara in Solomon Islands, U.S. lost USS Gwin. (DD-433) while
Japanese lost light cruiser Jintsu.
July 14
1813 - LT John M. Gamble, the first marine to command a ship in battle (prize vessel Greenwich
in capture of British whaler Seringapatam)
1853 - Commodore Matthew Perry lands and holds first meeting with Japanese at Uraga, Japan
1882 - Sailors and Marines from 4 U.S. ships land to help restore order at Alexandria, Egypt.
1945 - U.S. warships bombard Kamaishi, Japan; first naval gunfire bombardment of Japanese
Home Islands.
1950 - U.S. Marines sail from San Diego for Korean Conflict.
1952 - Laying of keel of USS Forrestal, the first 59,900 ton aircraft carrier.
July 15
1870 - Act of Congress establishes Pay Corps, which later becomes the Supply Corps.
1942 - First photographic interpretation unit set up in the Pacific.
1958 - In response to request by President of Lebanon, Sixth Fleet lands 1,800 Marines at Beruit
to support Lebanese government against Communist rebels.
July 16
1862 - Congress creates rank of Rear Admiral. David G. Farragut is named the first Rear Admiral
1912 - Rear Admiral Bradley Fiske receives patent for torpedo plane or airborne torpedo.
1915 - First Navy ships, battleships Ohio, Missouri, and Wisconsin transit Panama Canal.
1945 - First atomic bomb test at Alamogordo, NM.
12
July 17
1858 - U.S. sloop Niagara departs Queenstown, Ireland, to assist in laying first trans-Atlantic
telegraph cable.
1898 - Santiago, Cuba surrenders to U.S. Naval forces.
1927 - First organized dive bombing attack in combat by Marine Corps pilots against Nicaraguan
bandits who were surrounding U.S. Marine garrison at Ocotal, Nicaraguan.
1944 - Ammunition explosion at Naval Magazine, Port Chicago, CA.
1975 - Docking in spaceof the U.S. Apollo (Apollo 18) and Soviet Soyuz (Soyuz 19) space craft.
This was the first manned space flight conducted jointly by the 2 nations. Former naval
aviator Vance D. Brand was the Apollo Command Module Pilot. The Apollo craft was in
space for 9 days and 7.5 hours. Recovery was by USS New Orleans (LPH-11).
July 18
1775 - Continental Congress resolves that each colony provide armed vessels
1779 - Commodore Abraham Whipple's squadron captures 11 prizes in largest prize value of
Revolutionary War.
1792 - John Paul Jones dies in Paris, France
1813 - U.S. Frigate President captures British Daphne, Eliza Swan, Alert and Lion.
1920 - Naval aircraft sink ex-German cruiser Frankfurt in target practice.
1943 - German submarine shoots down K-47, the first and only U.S. airship lost during WW II.
1947 - President Harry S. Truman delegates responsibility for the civil administration of former
Japanese mandated island to the Secretary of the Navy.
1966 - Launch of Gemini 10 with LCDR John W. Young, USN as Command Pilot. Mission involved
43 orbits at an altitude of 412.2 nautical miles and lasted 2 days, 22 hours, and 46
minutes. Recovery was by HS-3 helicopter from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7).
1973 - Task Force 78, Mine Countermeasures Force, departs waters of North Vietnam after
completing their minesweeping operations of 1,992 tow hours for the cost of
$20,394,000.
July 19
1812 - USS Constitution escapes from British squadron after 3 day chase off New Jersey
1886 - Atlanta, the first steel-hulled American cruiser armed with breechloading rifled guns, is
commissioned.
1897 - LT Robert E. Peary departs on year long Arctic Expedition which makes many important
discoveries, including one of largest meteorites, Cape York.
1918 - Armored cruiser USS San Diego sunk off Fire Island, NY by a mine laid by U-156.
1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs second Naval Expansion Act.
July 20
1846 - First visit of U.S. warships (USS Columbus and USS Vincennes) to Japan is unsuccessful in
negotiating a treaty.
1960 - In first launch of Polaris missile, USS George Washington (SSBN 598) successfully fires 2
operational Polaris missiles while submerged off Florida.
1964 - Four Navy divers enter Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off
Bermuda for 11 day experiment.
1969 - Former Navy pilot Neil Armstrong is first man to set foot on the moon. While taking the
first step, he said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Armstrong was Commander of Apollo 11 which during its 8 day mission landed on the
Sea of Tranquility. Recovery was by HS-4 helicopters from USS Hornet (CVS-12).
13
July 21
1823 - After pirate attack, LT David G. Farragut leads landing party to destroy pirate stronghold
in Cuba.
1944 - Invasion and recapture of Guam begins.
1946 - In first U.S. test of adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, XFD-1 Phantom
makes landings and takeoffs without catapults from Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1987 - Navy escorts first Earnest Will Convoy in the Persian Gulf.
July 22
1802 - Frigate Constellation defeats 9 Corsair gunboats off Tripoli.
1905 - Body of John Paul Jones moved to Annapolis, MD for reburial.
1953 - U.S. ships laid down heavy barrage to support UN troops in Korea
1964 - Four Navy Divers (LCDR Robert Thompson, MC; Gunners Mate First Class Lester
Anderson, Chief Quartermaster Robert A. Barth, and Chief Hospital Corpsman Sanders
Manning) submerge in Sealab I for 10 days at a depth of 192 feet, 39 miles off Hamilton,
Bermuda. They surfaced on 31 July 1964.
1974 - Evacuees from the coup on Cyprus arrive on board Navy vessels in the Mediterranean.
Operation ended on 24 July.
July 23
1947 - First Navy all jet squadron (VF-17A) receives its first aircraft (FH).
1948 - USS Putnum (DD-757) evacuates U.N. team from Haifa, Israel and becomes first U.S.
Navy ship to fly the U.N. flag.
1950 - USS Boxer sets record crossing of Pacific to bring aircraft, troops, and supplies to Korea
at start of the Conflict
1958 - USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departs Pearl Harbor for first submerged transit of North Pole.
1993 - Sarah Deal becomes first women Marine selected for naval aviation training.
July 24
1813- Sailing Master Elijah Mix attempts to blow up British warship Plantagenet with a torpedo
near Cape Henry, Virginia.
1944 - Following 43 days of naval gunfire and air bombardment, Naval Task Force lands Marines
on Tinian.
July 25
1779 - Amphibious expedition against British in Penobscot Bay, ME
1863 - U.S. Squadron bombards Fort Wagner, NC
1866 - Rank of Admiral created. David G. Farragut is appointed the first Admiral in the U.S. Navy
1898 - Landing party from armed yacht Gloucester occupies Guanica, Puerto Rico.
1912 - First specifications for naval aircraft published.
1934 - First President to visit Hawaii, Franklin D. Roosevelt, reaches Hilo on board USS Houston
1941 - Bureau of Ordnance issues first Navy "E"certificates (for excellence) for industry.
1943 - Launching of USS Harmon (DE-72), first ship named for African-American.
1990 - USS Cimarron rescues 25 refugees adrift southeast of Subic Bay, Philippines.
July 26
1812 - Frigate Essex captures British brig Leander
1912 - First airborne radio communications from naval aircraft to ship (LT John Rodgers to USS
Stringham)
1942 - CAPT Joy Bright Hancock appointed Director, Women's Naval Reserve.
14
1948 - President Harry S. Truman orders desegregation of the Armed Services.
1954 - 3 aircraft from USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) shoot down 2 Chinese fighters that fired on
them while they were providing air cover for rescue operations for a U.K. airliner shot
down by a Chinese aircraft.
July 27
1953 - Koean War armistice signed at Panmunjon, Korea and Korean cease-fire went into effect
at 10:00 PM.
July 28
1915 - Sailors and Marines land in Haiti to restore order
1916 - Navy establishes a Code and Signal Section which initially worked against German
ciphers and tested the security of communications during U.S. naval training maneuvers.
1926 - Team of scientists from Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Carnegie Institution
determine height of the Ionosphere through use of radio pulse transmitter developed by
NRL
1945 - USS Callaghan (DD-792) is last ship sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack, off Okinawa.
1973 - Launch of Skylab 3, the second manned mission to the first U.S. manned space station,
was piloted by MAJ Jack R. Lousma, USMC with CAPT Alan L. Bean, USN as the
Commander of the mission and former Navy electronics officer, Owen K. Garriott as
Science Pilot. The mission lasted 59 days, 11 hours and included 858 Earth orbits.
Recovery by USS New Orleans (LPH-11).
July 29
1846 - Sailors and Marines from U.S. sloop Cyane capture San Diego, CA
1918 - Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt visits Queenstown, Ireland
1945 - U.S. warships bombard Hamamatsu, Japan.
1967 - Fire on board USS Forrestal killed 134 members of the crew.
July 30
1918 - Units of First Marine Aviation Force arrive at Brest, France
1941 - Japanese aircraft bomb USS Tutuila (PR-4) at Chungking, China; First Navy ship damaged
by Axis during World War II.
1942 - FDR signs act establishing WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
During World War II, over 80,000 officer and enlisted women served in the WAVES.
1944 - Naval Task Force lands Army troops near Cape Opmarai, New Guinea.
1945 - Japanese submarine, I-58, sinks USS Indianapolis (CA-35) in Philippine Sea; 316 out of
1,199 crew survived.
1967 - Fire on board USS Forrestal off the coast of Vietnam results in death of 134 crew.
July 31
1815 - Commodore Stephen Decatur concludes agreement with Bey of Tunis to compensate
U.S. for seizure of merchant ships during the War of 1812.
1865 - East India Squadron established to operate from Sunda Strait to Japan.
1874 - Commissioning of USS Intrepid, first U.S. warship equipped with torpedoes
1912 - First attempt to launch an airplane by catapult made at Annapolis.
1964 - All-nuclear task force with USS Long Beach, USS Enterprise, and USS Bainbridge leaves
Norfolk, VA to begin voyage, Operation Sea Orbit, to circle the globe without refueling.
They returned on 3 October.
15
Chevrons
Chevron is a French word meaning rafter or roof, which is what a chevron looks like; two
straight lines meeting at an angle just as rafters do in a roof. It has been an honourable
ordinarie in heraldry since at least the Twelfth Century. Ordinaries are simple straight line forms
that seem to have originated in the wood or iron bars used to fasten together or strengthen
portions of shields. Other ordinaries include the cross, the diagonal cross or "x," the triangle,
the "y," and horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. The chevron was a basic part of the colorful
and complicated science of heraldry. It appeared on the shields and coats-of-arms of knights,
barons and kings.
Chevrons were thus easily recognized symbols of honor. That might by why French soldiers
started wearing cloth chevrons with the points up on their coat sleeves in 1777 as length of
service and good conduct badges. Some British units also used them to show length of service.
In 1803 the British began using chevrons with the points down as rank insignia. Sergeants wore
three and Corporals two. Perhaps they wore them with the points down to avoid confusion
with the earlier length of service chevrons worn with the points up. Some British units also
used chevrons of gold lace as officers' rank insignia. British and French soldiers who served in
our Revolutionary War wore chevrons as did some American soldiers. In 1782 General George
Washington ordered that enlisted men who had served for three years "with bravery, fidelity
and good conduct" wear as a badge of honor "a narrow piece of white cloth, of angular form"
on the left sleeve of the uniform coat.
In 1817 Sylvanus Thayer, the superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, used
chevrons to show cadet rank. From there they spread to the rest of the Army and Marine Corps.
From 1820 to 1830 Marine Captains wore three chevrons of gold lace with points down on each
sleeve above the elbows of their dress uniforms. Lieutenants wore one or two gold lace
chevrons depending on whether they were staff or command officers. Marine
Noncommissioned Officers started wearing cloth chevrons with the points up as rank insignia in
1836. They had been wearing them for three years as length of service badges. In 1859 they
began wearing chevrons in about the same patterns they do today.
Starting in 1820 Army company grade officers and Sergeants wore one chevron with the
point up on each arm. The officers' chevrons were of gold or silver lace, depending on the
wearer's branch of service. Captains wore their chevrons above the elbow while Lieutenants
wore theirs below. Sergeant Majors and Quartermaster Sergeants wore worsted braid
chevrons above the elbow while other Sergeants and Senior Musicians wore theirs below.
16
Corporals wore one chevron on the right sleeve above the elbow. By 1833 the Army and
Marine company grade officers had stopped wearing chevrons and returned to epaulettes as
rank insignia. Sergeants of the Army dragoons then began wearing three chevrons with points
down and Corporals two. All other NCOs wore cloth epaulettes to show their rank. From 1847
to 1851 some Army NCOs wore chevrons with the points up on their fatigue uniform jackets but
still used cloth epaulettes on their dress uniforms. After 1851 all Army NCOs wore chevrons
with points down until 1902 when the Army turned the points up and adopted the patterns
used today, two chevrons for Corporals, three for Sergeants and combinations of arcs and other
devices beneath the chevrons for higher grades of Sergeants.
The stripes worn by Air Force members date from 1948. The basic design was one of several
presented to 150 NCOs at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington D.C., in late 1947 or early 1948.
Some 55 percent of the NCOs preferred that design so on March 9, 1948, General Hoyt S.
Vandenberg, then the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, accepted their choice and approved the
design. Naturally, it took some time to obtain and distribute the new stripes so it could have
been a year or more before all Air Force members got them.
Whoever designed the stripes might have been trying to combine the shoulder patch worn
by members of the Army Air Forces during World War II and the insignia used on aircraft. The
patch featured wings with a pierced star in the center while the aircraft insignia was a star with
two bars. The stripes might be the bars from the aircraft insignia slanted gracefully upward to
suggest wings. The silver grey color contrasts with the blue uniform and might suggest clouds
against blue sky.
Most enlisted service members wear chevrons or stripes to show their ranks. The exceptions
are the lowest three grades of Navy and Coast Guard Seamen and the Army Specialists. The
Seamen wear one, two or three diagonal stripes or "hashmarks" on their sleeves. These stripes
first appeared on the cuffs of sailors' jumpers in 1886. Petty Officers and Seamen First Class
wore three stripes, Seamen Second Class two stripes and Seamen Third Class one stripe.
Shortly after World War II the Navy moved the stripes to its Seamen's upper arms, as did the
Coast Guard. Army Specialists wear an insignia that combines a spread eagle and, depending on
the pay grade, arcs--sometimes called "bird umbrellas." The eagle and arcs are mounted on a
patch that suggests inverted chevrons. The badge appeared in 1955 as part of an effort to
differentiate between the Army's technical or support specialists who were not NCOs and the
NCOs.
17
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18
USS S-28 (SS-133)
Lost on:
7/4/1944
Lost on July 4,1944 with the loss of 50 crew members. She was conducting training exercises off Hawaii with the US Coast Guard Cutter Reliance. After S-28 dove for a practice torpedo approach, Reliance lost contact. No distress signal or explosion was heard. Two days later, an oil slick was found near where S-28. The exact cause of her loss remains a mystery.
US Navy Official Photo
BC Patch
NavSource.org
Class: SS S Commissioned: 12/13/1923 Launched: 9/20/1922 Builder: Fore River Shipbuilding Co Length: 219, Beam: 22 #Officers: 4, #Enlisted: 34 Fate: Brief contact with S-28 was made and lost. All attempts to establish communications failed. A Court of Inquiry was unable to determine the cause of the loss of S-28. 50 men lost.
19
USS Robalo (SS-273)
Lost on:
7/26/1944
Lost on July 26,1944 with the loss of 84 crew members while on her 3rd war patrol. She struck a mine about 2 miles off the coast of Palawan. Three men survived and swam ashore, then imprisoned by the Japanese. Unfortunately, they were put on a Japanese destroyer and lost when that destroyer was sunk.
US Navy Official Photo
NavSource.org
NavSource.org
Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 9/28/1943 Launched: 3/9/1943 Builder: Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co Length: 311, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: Sunk by Japanese mine in South China Sea 26 July 1944. 78 lost, 4 more lost in captivity.
20
USS Grunion (SS-216)
Lost on:
7/30/1942
Lost on July 30,1942 with the loss of 70 crew members while on her first war patrol near Kiska Harbor. She radioed that she sank two sub-chasers and damaged a third, but was never heard from again. Her loss remains a mystery.
US Navy Official Photo
BC Patch
NavSource.org
Class: SS 212 Commissioned: 4/11/1942 Launched: 12/22/1941 Builder: Electric Boat Co (General Dynamics) Length: 312, Beam: 27 #Officers: 6, #Enlisted: 54 Fate: Ordered back to Dutch Harbor after reporting intense ASW activity off Kiska (Aleutians).Grunion was never heard from nor seen again. Reported overdue, assumed lost with all hands 5 Oct 1942. Probably lost Aug 1942. 70 men lost.