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December of 1941 found USS SEALION (SS-195), commissioned in 1939 and the veteran of one war patrol, in the midst of a routine overhaul at Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. She would never make it back to sea. On [...]

On 25 November 1942, USS SILVERSIDES (SS-236) completed her third war patrol when she pulled into Brisbane, Australia. By 17 December the boat had refitted and was headed back out. Within days she was passing the Louisiade Archipelago, a string [...]

IREXGRAMS, familygram messages from USS IREX (SS-482), were sent out by the C.O., D.V. Murray, to the families of the entire crew on at least four occasions during a deployment that lasted from the fall of 1964 into the new [...]

ALVIN (DSV-2) is a deep-diving research submersible that is operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, although she is owned by the Navy. ALVIN, which began her service in 1964, has carried up to three people at a time on [...]

Today’s submarine sea story comes from Larry Smith, who served aboard USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (SSBN-600). It is entitled, “The Barber Chair.” […]

On 18 December 1917, the U.S. Navy issued a brief statement revealing that “the American submarine [USS] F-1 [SS-20] has been rammed and sunk by the submarine [USS] F-3 [SS-22].” The incident had happened the day before in the waters [...]

On 17 December 1927, USS S-4 (SS-109), an eight-year-old S-class submarine, was running submerged just off the coast of Provincetown, MA, conducting speed and maneuverability tests between the two white buoys that marked the beginning and end of a measured [...]

John MacKenzie was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on 7 July 1886; he enlisted in the Navy on 20 December 1902 when he was just 16 years old. He was discharged five years later, but returned in 1917 when the United [...]

USS GRAYLING (SS-209) stood out from Fremantle, Australia, on her eighth war patrol on 30 July 1943. The boat was fresh off a 24-day refit and had a brand-new C.O., Lieutenant Commander Robert M. Brinker. (His predecessor, Lieutenant Commander John [...]