Brief Career of CSS Arkansas Started Nearly 150 Years Ago

On the morning of 12 July 1862, nearly 150 years ago, the Ironclad Ram CSS Arkansas, her guns manned by Confederate soldiers from Missouri, set sail on her maiden voyage...

Construction work on CSS Arkansas began in Memphis, TN in October, 1861. She was supposed to have been delivered to the Confederate Navy by January, 1862.

However, she was still incomplete in May 1862, when Union forces closed in on Memphis. In order to prevent her capture, she was towed up the Yazoo River into Mississippi to the area of Greenwood, MS. Her incomplete sister ship, CSS Tennessee, was burned when Memphis fell to Union forces. It was hoped that, safe from capture, the much-needed warship could be quickly completed.

However, when her newly appointed Commanding Officer, CAPT Isaac N. Brown arrived, he found the engines in pieces, the guns without their needed carriages and the railroad iron, intended as armor, lying at the bottom of the river. CAPT Brown ordered a recovery mission and the armor was pulled out of the mud. CAPT Brown then had his ship towed to Yazoo City, MS, where he pressed both local craftsmen and 200 Confederate Army soldiers into service as construction crews. Forges were borrowed from nearby farms. Men who refused to work were arrested.

After five weeks of toil under the Mississippi summer sun, Arkansas was fully outfitted, lacking only the curved armor intended for her stern and pilot house. Complete or not, the ship had to get underway - river levels were falling, and Arkansas was in danger of being trapped.

On the morning of 12 July 1862, 147 years ago today, CSS Arkansas, her guns manned by Confederate soldiers from Missouri, set out for Vicksburg, then under siege by Union forces.

Within a few miles, Arkansas was forced to stop. Steam from her boilers had leaked into the forward powder magazine, soaking the gunpowder and rendering it useless. A clearing was located on the bank of the river. The wet gunpowder was spread out on tarpaulins in the hot summer sun to dry. With constant attention, and by shaking and stirring the powder, it was dry enough to use by sundown and the Confederate Navy's newest ship was ready for action...

To be continued...

Artwork courtesy of the Naval Historical Center

New Deck Logs Online

USS Razorback's deck logs for 1948 have been scanned and uploaded to the website.

These deck logs provide a window into the world of submarine operations in the period immediately following World War II.

Each month is a separate Adobe PDF file.

The deck logs can be found on the AIMM Website.

Perils of the Noon Meal - Part 3

The following completes a reprint of an article originally published in the April-June 2001 Issue of American Submariner Magazine, the official publication of the U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc. and reprinted with the author's permission.

Perils of the Noon Meal

Part Three
By Maurice Lee Barksdale CS2(SS)
USS Razorback (SS-394)

Another time, we were submerged and I was in the middle of serving the second sitting for the noon meal. All was well. The crew was muttering their usual complaints about the meal while asking for seconds. The Exec had the Conn, and I heard the command, “Prepare to snorkel”. One of my mess cooks was qualified, and he immediately started to assist me in rigging the After Battery for snorkel (I had just made Commissaryman Second Class). We finished the checklist, and I yelled into the Control Room, “After Battery rigged for snorkel”. Minutes later, I heard the Exec give an order that I had heard hundreds of times, “Commence snorkeling”.

The quiet of the boat was shattered by the familiar sound of diesel engines coming alive. Suddenly, the entire sequence was interrupted by the groaning, high-pitched sounds of exhaust gases desperately searching for an outlet. This was followed by an extremely loud sequence, which meant that hot air was giving up its attempt to escape, and was retreating back to the engine housing. There was total silence as all of the engines shut down. I looked directly overhead at the snorkel exhaust valve. The indicator was in the “locked” position. I began to think many things. Why did I volunteer for submarine duty? Would it be possible to swim back to port? Were there any openings in my old anti-submarine squadron? I heard the Exec yell from the Conning Tower, “Who is the duty cook”? “Barksdale”, yelled my ‘friends’ in the Control Room. “Ask Barksdale to come up to the Conning Tower”, bellowed the Exec. I stepped through the after battery hatch into the Control Room desperately trying to think up a logical reason why the snorkel exhaust valve was not in the “Power” position. I was brain dead. As I looked at my “buddies” in the Control Room for help, it suddenly appeared that I had been stricken with bubonic plague, as no one seemed to know me. There were many giggles.

I finally thought, “Maybe the Exec will remember that nice chocolate pie that I sent up to the Wardroom last week”, or “Maybe he will think about the nice New England Pot Roast that he likes so much”. The only thing the Exec was thinking about was why the snorkel exhaust valve was not in the “Power” position. “Barksdale, did you hear the order to prepare to snorkel?”

“Yes sir!”

“What did you do?”

“I started to work through the snorkel checklist, sir!”

“Did you complete the check list?”

“Yes sir!”

“Then what happened?”

“I, I, I must have…”

“You must have what?”

The Exec was a good guy, but he was very unhappy, as the Division Commander was in one of the surface craft monitoring our movement. He reminded me that I had just made Second Class, that I wore the Dolphins of a qualified submariner, and strongly suggested that I would have neither if the Razorback was not snorkeling in a very short period of time. Needless to say, all was well when we received our second command to “Commence snorkeling”.

Several months later, I was able to redeem myself from all of my past transgressions. Yes, it was during the noon meal. We were working with aircraft. They were the cat, we were the mice. Up and down, up and down, all morning. My most important job, as the duty cook, was to yell into the Control Room as we dove, “Main Induction shut and locked”. This particular morning, the Chief Gunner’s Mate was working the Christmas Tree (yes, we had a Gunner’s Mate and a Boatswain’s Mate on the Razorback. Now take that, you Nukes). The diving alarm sounded, and I looked up at the main induction. I started to shout, “Main Induction shut and loc…”, when I noticed that the main induction had just shifted to the “Open” position. I yelled into the Control Room, in a voice that could be heard in Brooklyn, “Gunner, you just opened the main induction”. Things happened fast. “Blow the forward group. Blow the after group”. It was the fastest surface that I ever remember. I received an “Atta boy” from the Captain, Exec, COB, and many others.

I still do not like the noon meal, and when friends and associates ask me to “do lunch”, I usually reply, “No thanks. Been there, done that”.

Perils of the Noon Meal - Part 2

The following continues a reprint of an article originally published in the April-June 2001 Issue of American Submariner Magazine, the official publication of the U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc. and reprinted with the author's permission.

Perils of the Noon Meal

Part Two
By Maurice Lee Barksdale CS2(SS)
USS Razorback (SS-394

One day I was cooking pork chops for lunch. We were submerged, and everything was peaceful and nice. I was seasoning the pork chops with a two-pound can of pepper that had a lift off top with holes. As I was shaking the can of pepper, the top came off, and I heard something go “whoosh”. The galley exhaust system had completely inhaled the can of black pepper, and it was now making its rounds through the ventilation system. I heard coughs and sneezes immediately, in the Forward Engine Room, followed by Maneuvering, After Torpedo Room, Forward Torpedo Room, Forward Battery, Control, Conn, Radio, Sonar, and finally my pepper returned to me in the After Battery. Tears were streaming down numerous eyes, and I became very unpopular fast! Next came the “Surface, Surface, Surface” klaxon, and the smell of fresh air as the boat was ventilated. Then came a visit by the COB, Exec, and the Captain. The Captain always called me, “Barks”. Through eyes as red as tomatoes, he said, “Barks, are you a communist agent, or are you trying to sabotage this boat?”

“No sir”, I replied. “I’m just trying to cook the noon meal”. Two-pound cans of black pepper were no longer allowed on the U.S.S. Razorback.

Perils of the Noon Meal - Part 1

The following is a reprint of an article originally published in the April-June 2001 Issue of American Submariner Magazine, the official publication of the U.S. Submarine Veterans, Inc. and reprinted with the author's permission.

Perils of the Noon Meal

Part One
By Maurice Lee Barksdale CS2(SS)
USS Razorback (SS-394

I graduated from submarine school in December 1960, and was assigned to the USS Razorback (SS-394). The Razorback was operating out of San Diego, California, which made me very happy. I had spent the first two years of service as an “airdale”, at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Kingsville, Texas. I was ready for sea duty. One of these days I will tell you how I went from an anti-submarine patrol squadron to submarine duty-but that can wait. I received my “Crow”, as a Third Class Commissaryman while in sub-school, and I was prepared to create great meals for my new shipmates. The Razorback was an old diesel boat that had been converted to a guppy snorkel. To me, she was beautiful! The crew was funny, friendly, and extremely competent in submarine operations. The first thing that I was told, after reporting aboard, was that we were heading for “Westpac” in three weeks. I said, “What’s Westpac?” We stopped in Pearl Harbor, Guam, Chichi Jima, and finally arrived in Yokosuka, Japan. I was very familiar with the Razorback by then, and was well along my qualification schedule. All of my shipmates helped me to understand the nuances of the Razorback. By the time we made it home to San Diego, I was close to completing my qualification sheet, and I knew the After Battery like the back of my hand. I qualified in September, 1961.

The Razorback had three cooks. One stood the bake watch, and the other two rotated the daily cooking chores. I loved to bake, but I usually stood cook watch. I never liked cooking the noon meal. Something would always go wrong. Breakfast was fine, soup and sandwiches for the afternoon watch was fine, the evening meal was fine; however, I always had problems with the noon meal. Once we were operating out of San Diego with a Destroyer squadron, and I heard the diving alarm. Instead of the usual down angle, we must have stood on our head at ninety degrees (well, maybe not ninety degrees, but it seemed like it.) All of the noon meal ended up on the galley deck. I was very unhappy. Another time, we were submerged, and the diving officer decided that it would be a good time to practice the “Emergency surface” drill. Once again, the noon meal stopped on the galley deck. I yelled at everyone in the control room, but no one seemed to be impressed.

Parts 2 and 3 will follow in the coming days...

If You Weren't Here, You Missed a GREAT Party!

AIMM and WAND co-operated for the annual 4th of July picnic and fireworks viewing this past Saturday. This is an annual event which supports both the museum and the construction and maintenance of the Beacon of Peace and Hope, which is being built at Riverfront Park.

The weather cooperated (unlike Riverfest) and, as you can see, the picnic was well attended. Live music was provided by a local band, "Damn Bullets" until time for the fireworks to start...

Webcam is Down

We are aware the webcam is down.

AIMM does not control the webcam. The people responsible have been notified.

More Improvements to the tour

One of the improvements made during the Razorback veteran's work week in April was the restoration of the Small Arms locker.

All Navy ships carry a variety of small arms, usually pistols and rifles, both for security and for emergencies.

During World War II, Razorback carried .45 caliber pistols, M1 carbines, shotguns, and Thompson submarine guns.

Modern American submarines generally carry M-16 rifles, shotguns, and .45 caliber or 9mm pistols.

During her service in the Turkish Navy as Muratreis, she would have likely carried AK-74 rifles, the modern version of the AK-47.

The guns on display are non-functioning replica weapons.

The Turtles are Back in Town

Now that the weather has turned warmer (OK, hotter), and the river has slowed down, the turtles have returned to the banks of the Arkansas River.


As you can see, we have a wide variety of basking turtles, from Common and Mississippi Map turtles to the Red-Eared Slider.

Digital Submarine History Available from AIMM

AIMM has finished digitizing a collection of over 100 commemorative booklets from submarines.

These booklets date from as far back as the 1930s to as recently as last year, and cover a wide variety of submarines, including diesel-powered submarines like USS Razorback, some of the earliest nuclear powered submarines and even the most modern submarines like USS Seawolf (SSN-21).

Many of these booklets are very rare, as only limited numbers were printed and handed out only to those who actually attended the event.

A complete list of the booklets in our collection can be found at:

http://www.aimm.museum/booklets.asp

If you have a booklet you would like to contribute to the collection, please contact the museum. If you would like to "loan" your booklets to us, we would be happy to scan them and return them to you.

New Exhibit at AIMM

New AIMM volunteer Mike Hopper recently completed a new exhibit on the monitor USS Arkansas (BM-7).

(Photograph from the Library of Congress archives)

The second U.S. Navy ship to bear the state's name, the monitor Arkansas was the lead ship of her class, and one of the last monitors built for the U.S. Navy as they transitioned from sail to steam in the period around the turn of the last century.

Monitors were the first vessels built with guns in rotating turrets, rather than being fixed in place. Steam powered and built with armored hulls, they revolutionized naval warfare during the American Civil War.

However, they suffered from one major defect. With their low decks, the had poor seagoing capability. In fact, the first such vessel, USS Monitor, sank during the Civil War not from enemy fire, but during a storm off Cape Hatteras.

(Photograph from the U.S. Navy History and Heritage Center, Washington, DC)

The monitor Arkansas, commissioned in 1902, was designed to take advantage of the previous 40 years of ship design since USS Monitor had been built. For example, she was able, during her career, to sail as far south as the Panama Canal.

After serving as a training vessel at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD for several years, she was renamed USS Ozark in 1909 in order to free up the name "Arkansas" for a battleship then under construction (USS Arkansas (BB-33), which served in both World War I and World war II).

Largely obsolete due to rapidly advancing technology, she was converted to a submarine tender, to provide support to a new type of warship that was, in turn, revolutionizing naval warfare all over again.

She was decommissioned after World War I and sold for scrapping in 1922.

New Digitial Submarine History at AIMM

AIMM is continuing to add to its online digitial archive of submarine documentation.

The first is a recruiting brochure from WWII, titled "See Action Now! with the Submarine Service" It describes the "many modern comforts and conveniences" found aboard a submarine. A sample dinner menu is given:

Tomato Soup
Sirloin Steak
Brown Gravy - Baked Potatoes
Fresh Frozen Corn and Peas
Salad
Fresh-Baked Rolls - Butter - Jam
Strawberry Shortcake
Coffee

This booklet describes how submarine sailors get "responsbility and advancement", "rewards", "the highest pay in the Navy" and "Above all - ACTION!"

This second brochure from the 1960s with its somewhat contrived title includes information aimed at teens, as it describes training programs for high-school students. However, it also describes the advanced technical training for programs such as nuclear power and ballistic missiles.

Each of these brochures provides a window into the Navy's past, and electronic copies are available upon request. Just send an e-mail to the AIMM staff.

In Memoriam - USS Gudgeon (SS-211) - Declared Lost - 07 June 1944

USS Gudgeon (SS-211) was a Tambor-class submarine commissioned on April 21, 1941. Her initial assignment after shakedown was at Pearl Harbor. She was away on a training mission when the base was attacked on December 7, 1941. She immediately returned to base and on December 11 she was sent on her first war patrol. This photograph shows Gudgeon as she appeared in the Summer of 1941, just before the war started:

Gudgeon was a submarine of “firsts.” She was the first American submarine to be sent on an offensive war patrol. She was the first American submarine to patrol along the Japanese coast itself. On January 27, 1942 Gudgeon became the first American submarine to sink an enemy warship in World War II, the Japanese submarine I-73.

Gudgeon would eventually complete 11 successful war patrols. She tallied a total of 14 confirmed kills equaling 71,372 tons sunk. She won the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars.

Gudgeon got underway for her 12^th war patrol on April 4, 1944. After stopping at Johnston Island on April 7, 1944 for fuel, she was not seen or heard from again. On 7 June 1944, Gudgeon was officially declared overdue and presumed lost.

A postwar examination of Japanese records did not uncover an attack that could be tied to Gudgeon's loss with certainty.

However, a recent book, Find 'Em, Chase 'Em, Sink 'Em by Mike Ostland, ties Gudgeon's loss to an experimental Japanese ASW aircraft squadron, the 901st Kokutai, deployed to the Iwo Jima area with a MAD, or Magnetic Anomaly Detector. This would have allowed the Japanese aircraft to detect a submerged submarine, and according to Japanese records for this squadron, a MAD-equipped aircraft detected a submarine during the night of April 17-18, 1944 and tracked the submarine all night. As dawn approached, a bomber, with a pair of 250-KG (600 lb) bombs was sent to attack the sub. According to the Japanese records, both bombs struck...

"...the first hit the bow and the second hit the bridge. [A] big yellow-green explosion was seen in the center of the boat."

Fuel was observed spouting from the submarine in a "big pillar", then spreading in a large pool as the submarine foundered.

While is is not definative proof, this report does provide the best clues to Gudgeon's loss.

In Memoriam - USS Herring (SS-233) - Sunk 01 June 1944

USS Herring (SS-233) was one of only a handful of American submarines to see combat in the Atlantic. Shortly after being commissioned, Herring was sent to the Mediterranean to support Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. During her maiden war patrol, she sank the Vichy French cargo ship Ville du Havre.

Remaining in the Atlantic, and based out of Rosneath, Scotland, Herring was credited with sinking the German submarine U-163 (some accounts credit a Canadian corvette with the sinking). Her fifth war patrol in the Atlantic ended with her return to New London, CT.

Operating out of Pearl Harbor, Herring was lost on her eighth war patrol. Her last contact with other American forces was a rendezvous with USS Barb (SS-220) on the afternoon of 31 March, 1944. Both submarines were to patrol the Kurile Islands area and cooperate in attacks if possible.

An examination of Japanese records after the end of the war revealed Herring's fate.

Shortly after leaving Barb's company, Herring made contact with a convoy of three merchant ships escorted by a single destroyer. Herring attacked and sank the Japanese destroyer Ishigaki and one of the merchant ships. The remaining two merchant ships were sunk by Barb. Barb also rescued a survivor of the Japanese destroyer.

The next morning, Herring sank two merchant ships, the Hiburi Maru and the while both vessels were at anchor at Matsuwa. However, a shore battery located Herring and scored two direct hits on the conning tower. According to Japanese records, after this, "bubbles covered an area about 5 meters wide, and heavy oil covered an area of approximately 15 miles."

USS Razorback Returns to Summer Hours

With warmer weather (and hopefully lots of sunshine) finally back in the Natural State, we are returning to our summer hours.

We are now open:

Wednesday - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Thursday - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday - 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Monday - Closed
Tuesday - Closed

The last tour will start 30 minutes before closing.

If you would like more information, please call the museum at 501-371-8320.

Famous Submarine Accident has Arkansas Connection

On May 23, 1939, while conducting routine training, the newly commissioned submarine USS Squalus (SS-192) suffered a catastrophic main induction valve failure and sank.

The main induction valves are the valves that allow air into the submarine for the main diesel engines. When the submarine submerges, the diesel engines are turned off and the induction valves are closed. In 1920, the failure to close the main induction valve on submarine S-5 (SS-110) cause the submarine to sink. Fortunately, the crew was able to escape.

Despite the many new safety features installed aboard submarines in the nearly 20 years following the S-5 accident, somehow, the main induction aboard Squalus failed, allowing the four compartments in the back of the submarine to flood, killing 26 men.

The partially flooded submarine sank to the bottom, coming to rest in 240 feet of water, beyond the normal limits of the diving technology of the day. The crew deployed the submarine's forward Emergency Buoy and her exact location was quickly determined. Rescue ships arrived and 41 hours after the initial accident, the 32 men who survived the initial accident were rescued without further harm.

The Arkansas Connection
Among the men stationed aboard Squalus was Torpedoman First Class Sherman Luther Shirley, a graduate of North Little Rock High School.

Torpedoman Shirley was planning to marry a young lady he had met in the area and a fellow crewmember, Electrician's Mate Lloyd B. Maness, was to be his best man.

Unfortunately, Torpedoman Shirley was among the 26 men killed.

Thanks to the generosity of his family (who still live in the area), a number of photographs, including the one above, have been donated to AIMM and are often on display.

Enduring Mystery - The Loss of USS Scorpion (SSN-589) Lost With All Hands - 22 May 1968

Forty years ago, on 22 May 1968, the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was lost with all hands in the Atlantic while returning from a deployment to the Mediterranean.

Ninety-nine officers and crew lost their lives.

Scorpion's hull was located in 10,000 feet of water, approximately 400 miles southwest of the Azores. She is in four major pieces:

• Forward hull section (including torpedo room and part of the operations section)
• After hull section (the aft section of the engine room has "telescoped" into the forward part)
• The sail
• The propeller and shaft

The exact cause of the sinking will likely never be known for certain.

There are several books about Scorpion's loss in the AIMM library.

The Court of Inquiry report has been declassified and is available through the U.S. FOIA Site.

John Walker Arrested

Picture - USS Razorback crewman in the radio room - 1960s

Twenty four years ago today, on the afternoon of May 18th, 1985, John Anthony Walker, a retired U.S. Navy Warrant Officer and former enlisted radioman, was arrested by the FBI for spying for the Soviet Union.

On that day, the FBI uncovered a spying operation, born out of pure greed, that had started in the 1960s and lasted nearly 20 years. It has been described as "the most damaging Soviet spy ring in history."

In the early 1960s, BEFORE he began spying for the Russians, John Anthony Walker was assigned to USS Razorback.

He would later serve on many different submarines.

After being caught, John Walker agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and investigators in exchange for his son Micheal (who was also involved in spying, but only in a minor role) receiving a light sentence. Micheal also agreed to testify and after being convicted, was paroled in 2000 after serving 15 years in prison.

John Anthony Walker was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Jerry Whitworth, John Walker's partner in the spy ring was sentenced to 365 years in prison.

John Walker will not be eligible for parole until 2015 at the earliest. He will have served 30 years of his life sentence at that time and will be 78 years old.

There are several good books about John Walker in the AIMM reference library.

(The above picture is NOT John Walker).

More Things to See on the Website

In addition to adding things to see inside Razorback, we've also been working on adding new things to see on the website as well.

AIMM has a small, but growing collection of submarine plaques. While space prevents us from displaying more than a few at a time (and we also need plaques to complete exhibits), we have put pictures of nearly every plaque in our collection on our website.

Some of the plaques are very plain, others, like the USS Cutlass plaque shown above, are very colorful.

The plaques are under "Multimedia", then under "Artifacts".

The direct link to the plaques page is here.

More Things to See Inside

Thanks to the generosity of Captain Talbert, Razorback's last American Commanding Officer, we have been able to make Razorback look even more "lived in".

His dress white hat is now on display inside the Captain's cabin.

It looks like the Captain stepped away from his office. He should be back in just a moment...

New on the Website - Index to The American Submariner

AIMM has been working with the U.S. Submarine Veteran's, Inc. (USSVI) to create electronic versions of all available back issues of their publication, The American Submariner.

Originally titled The Submarine National Review, USSVI has published this magazine since the 1960s, usually on a quarterly basis.

Each issue contains information about the organization's day-to-day operations, but they also contain a treasure trove of information about submarine history, including many personal stories not published elsewhere.

At the present time, 112 issues, from 1966 to 2000 have been scanned. (It takes approximately 1 hour to scan each issue.)

Issues from 1966 to 1999 have been indexed to show the submarines mentioned in each issue, as well as titles and subjects of articles and names of individuals featured. (It takes approximately an hour to index each issue, especially the larger ones.)

The index is available at http://www.aimm.museum/American-Submariner.asp

The electronic copies of each issue have been provided to USSVI and will be hosted on their website. Copies are also available, upon request, to museum patrons, or via e-mail request to the museum (gstitz@aimm.museum).

AIMM would like to thank John Barr, Katelyn Abel, Andy Zonner and the other volunteers and staff who have put so many hours into this project.

AIMM Closed due to High Water

The Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service of the National Weather Service has revised its projections for the Arkansas River for the coming days.

The river level, normally maintained at around 8-11 feet is currently at 17'.

Due to the continuing rain (and forecasted rain), the river level is now expected to rise an additional 2 feet and remain high through the weekend.

Therefore, the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum will be closed this weekend.

We plan to resume normal operations, including previously scheduled school tours, next week.

For further information, please contact the museum at 501-371-8320.

Razorback Deck Logs Now on the Web

All U.S. Navy ships keep a deck log. This is an official, legal, record of all the vessel's activities, including changes in personnel (both new officers and sailors arriving and old crew departing); departure from, and arrival at, port; firing weapons (including serial numbers of torpedoes); and other activities.

At the end of the year, the ship sends the signed deck logs to the Navy for storage. After a period of time, the deck logs are declassified and transferred to the National Archives in College Park, MD for researchers to examine.

Some of Razorback's WWII deck logs have been scanned and are now on the AIMM website.

Sometimes the entries are serious, such as when Captain's Mast is held.

Tuesday, 04 April 1944
"1130 - The Captain held mast and assigned punishment as follows: ABLE, A.B., TM3c, AWOL 19 hours; Three weeks loss of liberty; BAKER, B.C., MoMM2c, AWOL 19 hours; Three weeks loss of liberty."
(names have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty, and the curator)

Sometimes, the entries are, "just the facts":

Saturday, 8 April 1944
"1600 - Received from Naval Ammunition Depot, Hingham, MA, 40 rounds 4" 50 cal common ammuntion SPDN 5802 FP; 60 round 4" 50 cal HC ammunition SPDN 5802 FP; 5040 20mm HEI, 2520 rounds 20mm HEI, 180 rounds 20mm BLP, 10,800 rounds .30 cal, 3600 rounds .45 cal ball; 50 rounds 12 gauge shotgun; 5000 rounds .22 call ball."

Occaisonally, a bit of humor sneaks into the entry, intentional or not.

Sunday, 7 May 1944
"1905 - DOE, E.F., EM2c and DOE, G.H., BM2c, returned absent without leave; both men were under the influence of alcoholic beverage."

Sometimes, the humor is intentional. On New Years Day, it is traditional that the officer on watch compose a poem for the very first entry of the year.

1 January 1947
"0 to 4 - While on the beach we hoped to be,
In Pearl we lie in berth Sail Three.
Around us moored, our fleet and craft,
CINCPAC is here, SOPA,
From SOQ the cheers are faint,
They greet New Years, we scrape old paint,
Still, raise your glass and drink a toast,
A toast of milk, we’re on our post.”

In Memoriam - USS Lagarto (SS-371) - Sunk May 3, 1945

While on only her second combat patrol USS Lagarto (SS-371) was sunk with all hands by the Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka. The minelayer reported making a depth charge attack on a submerged submarine in 30 fathoms of water.

In 2005, a group of private deep-sea divers discovered Lagarto's wreck in the Gulf of Thailand in 225 feet of water, well short of Lagarto's maximum diving depth. The divers found a large rupture in the submarine's hull, indicating that one of the Japanese depth charges exploded in very close proximity to the submarine.

In 2006, U.S. Navy divers surveyed and photographed the wreck and confirmed her identity.

The minelayer responsible for sinking Lagarto was in turn sunk by an American submarine, USS Hawksbill (SS-366) 12 days later.

For more information about the discovery of USS Lagarto, please visit the website of the divers who discovered her in 2005.

SS Sultana - The Forgotten "Titanic" of Arkansas

On the morning of April 27th, 1865, just a few weeks after the end of the Civil War and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the worst maritime disaster in American history occurred, right here in Arkansas waters.

The side-wheel steamship Sultana, shown above, exploded and burned on the Mississippi River, just a few miles upstream from Memphis, TN. The burning hulk drifted to the Arkansas side of the river, finally sinking near Mound City, Arkansas before dawn.

Approximately 1,800 men were killed.

Most of the men killed were Union soldiers just released from Confederate Prisoner of War Camps including Cahaba and the infamous Andersonville prison.

When Sultana exploded, many men were forced into the cold waters of the Mississippi, which was swollen with with spring flood waters. Many drowned, while hypothermia claimed others. All but two of Sultana's officers, including her Captain, were killed.

An exact toll can never be determined, because the official records were known to be incomplete (for example, a number of dead men were identified, but were not on the passenger list). Many bodies were never recovered at all. A number of victims were buried in mass graves in the Memphis area.

Only a single photograph of Sultana is known to exist. It was taken at Helena, Arkansas by T.W. Banks and clearly shows the severe crowding of the decks.


Because this disaster took place so soon after the end of the Civil War and just days after the assassination of President Lincoln (and the day after John Wilkes Booth and co-conspirator David Herold were finally captured), it was largely overshadowed by the greater tragedies the nation had faced.

A blog is maintained about the Sultana disaster and several books have been written about it. One, Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors, was originally published in 1892 and is available on Google Books.

There is also an online, searchable database of Sultana passengers.

Congressman Vic Snyder has introduced H.R. 329 to recognize the anniversary of the disaster.

Top illustration - a drawing from Harper's Weekly, originally published in the May 20th, 1865 issue.

Bottom illustration - Library of Congress

In Memoriam - Corpral Charles L. Gilliland, US Army

Not many people know it, but there is a U.S. Navy ship sailing the oceans today named for a Korean War hero from Arkansas.

USNS Gilliland (T-AKR-298) is a Large, Medium Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off Cargo vessel, or LMSR. A single LMSR can carry enough ammunition, food, water, fuel, equipment and other supplies to sustain up to 20,000 troops for 15 days.

On April 25, 1953, Corporal Charles L. Gilliland of Mountain Home, Arkansas was killed near Tongmang-ni, Korea while serving in the U.S. Army.
He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.

The citation reads:

"Cpl. Gilliland, a member of Company I, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. A numerically superior hostile force launched a coordinated assault against his company perimeter, the brunt of which was directed up a defile covered by his automatic rifle. His assistant was killed by enemy fire but Cpl. Gilliland, facing the full force of the assault, poured a steady fire into the foe which stemmed the onslaught. When 2 enemy soldiers escaped his raking fire and infiltrated the sector, he leaped from his foxhole, overtook and killed them both with his pistol. Sustaining a serious head wound in this daring exploit, he refused medical attention and returned to his emplacement to continue his defense of the vital defile. His unit was ordered back to new defensive positions but Cpl. Gilliland volunteered to remain to cover the withdrawal and hold the enemy at bay. His heroic actions and indomitable devotion to duty prevented the enemy from completely overrunning his company positions. Cpl. Gilliland's incredible valor and supreme sacrifice reflect lasting glory upon himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service."

For more information about Corporal Gilliland, please visit the MSC Medal of Honor Recipient web page.

For more information about USNS Gilliland, please visit her home page.

For more information about the LMSR program, please visit the program information web site.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph

In Memoriam - USS Grenadier (SS-210) - Scuttled 22 April 1943

While patrolling the Indian Ocean, USS Grenadier (SS-210), was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack. Her crew attempted to make repairs, but were forced to scuttle the submarine when Japanese ships closed in.

Grenadier was lost on her sixth war patrol.

Her entire crew was captured. Four men died as prisoners of war.

Additional information and photographs can be found at the Naval Historical Center website.

Patch from the AIMM collection, donated by Sue McLaughlin.

New Books in the Library

The following books have been donated to the AIMM / USSVI Library:



Images of America - Naval Submarine Base New London by David J. Bishop, traces the history of the "Submarine Capital of the World" from its beginnings in 1868 as a post-Civil War storage depot for drydocked ships. This book has nearly 200 photographs, many from the archives of the Submarine Force Library and Museum.




Images of America - Electric Boat Company by James S. Reyburn examines the history of the company that designed and built many of America's most advanced submarines, from USS Holland in 1900, through the first nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus in 1955 and the first nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, USS George Washington and right up to USS Virginia (SSN-774). This book features more than 200 archival photographs, many never before published.

New Pictures (and other stuff) from Captain Talbert

Captain Talbert, the last American Commanding Officer visited his submarine recently.

As always, we were happy to see a former Razorback sailor "come home", as it were.

Captain Talbert generously donated a number of artifacts from his personal collection. Among these were a number of photographs and documents.

We will be adding these to the website as soon as possible, and featuring many of them here on the AIMM Blog.

Here is the first, a "Change of Command" booklet from when (then LCDR) Talbert took command of Razorback from CDR William Biggar on 19 December 1969.

The entire booklet has been scanned as an Adobe PDF file and is available to anyone on request. It will be on the website shortly.

In Memoriam - USS Thresher (SSN-593) - Lost 10 April 1963

46 years ago, USS Thresher (SSN-593) became the first American nuclear powered submarine to be lost.

Thresher was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, the same shipyard were Razorback was built. Commissioned in 1961 as the lead ship of her class, she conducted extensive training and trials in 1961 and 1962.

On April 10th, 1963, following an overhaul, Thresher returned to sea. During her deep-diving tests, while near her test depth (in excess of 1,000 feet) Thresher apparently suffered a failure of a pipe fitting somewhere in the Engine Room.

The leak almost certainly caused an automatic shut-down of the nuclear reactor, and a combination of loss of power, flooding and a previously unknown fault in the ballast system caused Thresher to sink below her test depth.

At approximately 2,000 feet below the surface, Thresher's hull imploded, killing all 129 men aboard instantly.

After an extensive underwater search, Thresher's wreckage was positively identified in 8,400 feet of water.

Following a Court of Inquiry, the "SUBSAFE" program was developed to correct the design and construction problems that led to Thresher's loss.

For additional information about USS Thresher, please visit the Naval Historical Center web site.

Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.